The issue was part of the 2011 report of the U.N. Development program (UNDP), entitled Sustainability and Equity: a Better Future for All.
The report argues that environmental sustainability is not just about focusing on the environment but encompasses a wide range of social issues. Among them are health, education, income, gender disparities and energy production, combined with protection of the ecosystem.
“Climate change, the destruction of forests, depleting resources, fisheries, the ocean, fresh water, declining quantity and quality of clean water supplies - all of those constellations of environmental factors are part of sustainability," said William Orme, a UNDP spokesperson in New York.
In addition, said Orme, the UNDP looks at sustainability as part of society, and includes social, economic and political matters, all of which he said are connected.
While the report focuses on the world's poorest countries, Orme said African countries as a group are most vulnerable to the effects of continuing climate and global warming. “Droughts, intense rainfalls, cyclones, rising sea levels - all of these things conspire almost uniquely against sub-Saharan Africa," explained Orme. Read the full report here.
Source: Kim Lewis, Voice of America.
