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Running Head : SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable Development in the 21st Century : A Speech Delivered to the

Annual Convention of the Citizens for a Greener Planet

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Friends , the 20th century ushered in an era of rapid economic growth and technological advancement in many countries all over the world Unfortunately , such developments have placed a heavy burden on our planet . For the past couple of decades , there has been a growing realization that the ongoing development is unsustainable - we are endangering our natural resources and environmental systems

by living beyond our means (The Sustainable Development Unit , 2005

The problems that arose from these developments led to the idea of a sustainable development . The most frequently used definition of sustainable development comes from the Brundtland Report : Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED] , 1987 as cited by International Institute for Sustainable Development [IISD] 2007 . Perhaps such definition will be made clearer by the following examples

Let us go back in time to the ancient civilization on Easter Island It is said that when the first Polynesian colonists arrived on Easter Island , they found themselves on a pristine paradise (Diamond , 1995 The forests were unspoiled and palm trees were plenty . The inhabitants however used up the island 's natural resources with the needs of the future generation . Forest trees were felled and made into charcoal at such an alarming rate . There was also no move to replace trees that were cut . Palms also suffered the same fate Pollens of palms and other woody shrubs and trees either decreased or disappeared instead pollens of grasses which ultimately replaced forests multiplied (Diamond , 1995 . After a few more centuries , the palm finally became extinct . Eventually , the island 's growing population is cutting down more forest trees than the forest could regenerate . Animals in the island were also not spared . Birds and shellfishes were overexploited until all species of

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these animals became extinct . As the food supply dwindled , the inhabitants resorted to eating the most available meat on the island - humans . Cannibalism became common and the warrior class rose into power replacing the hereditary chiefs . The fall of the Easter Island civilization is one of the grimmest in history : people started out with very abundant resources but soon wiped their forests out and caused the extinction of almost all animal species on the island

Let 's move forward to the present time . Our ever increasing population is in danger of following the Easter Island 's inhabitant 's steps . The Amazon Basin for example , supporting approximately 300 million hectares of forest , is being cleared at an alarming rate (Camill , 1999 . Peasant farmers are sometimes pushed to carry out slash-and-burn activities in to feed impoverished families . Although reports have shown that deforestation rates in the Amazon are declining , ranching , logging and agricultural activities still contribute to the continued...