Sustainable Development
NCERT Class 11 • Indian Economic Development • Chapter "Environment and Sustainable Development"
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It joins three concerns in one idea: economic growth, social equity today, and fairness towards the generations that come after.
Meaning and Conditions
- The idea rests on intergenerational equity, that is fairness between the present and future generations.
- It requires that the stock of natural capital handed to the next generation is not less than what this generation received.
- Renewable resources should be used at a rate no faster than their regeneration.
- Non renewable resources should be depleted only as fast as substitutes are developed.
- Waste generation should stay within the environment's absorptive capacity.
- Growth that destroys soil, water and air is therefore not development at all in this framework.
Strategies for Sustainability
- Non conventional energy such as solar and wind replaces polluting fossil fuel.
- Mini hydel plants on hill streams generate power locally without large dams and displacement.
- Liquefied petroleum gas and improved chulha in rural homes cut indoor smoke and firewood use.
- Compressed natural gas for urban transport reduces vehicle emission.
- Biocomposting and organic farming restore soil health and reduce chemical runoff.
- Biopest control uses natural predators and plant based pesticide instead of chemicals.
- Traditional knowledge, recycling, rainwater harvesting and afforestation support all of these.
- Public transport, energy efficient buildings and waste segregation cut urban pressure on the environment.
- The polluter pays principle places the cost of pollution on the one who causes it.
- Community managed forest, pasture and water bodies often protect resources better than open access does.
- International cooperation is needed because pollution and climate change cross national boundaries.
- Sustainability therefore combines technology, law, incentives and changed habits, not any one of them alone.
- Local knowledge of farmers and forest dwellers is a resource for sustainability, not an obstacle to it.
| Strategy | What It Replaces |
|---|---|
| Solar and wind power | Fossil fuel generation |
| Mini hydel | Large dams with displacement |
| Improved chulha and LPG | Smoky firewood cooking |
| Organic farming | Heavy chemical fertiliser use |
Sustainable development — development that meets present needs without reducing the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Fairness between present and future generations is called — intergenerational equity
- Small power plants on hill streams are called — mini hydel plants
- Natural predators used against pests is — biopest control
- Renewable resources should be used within their — rate of regeneration
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- Sustainability is measured by the stock of natural capital passed on, not by the flow of income in a single year.
- Mini hydel and decentralised solar matter in hill and remote areas because the cost of extending a grid there is far higher than local generation.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Sustainable development means stopping growth | It means growth that does not reduce future capacity | ✓
✗ It concerns only the environment | It joins growth, present equity and future fairness | ✓
✗ Renewable resources can be used without limit | They must be used within their rate of regeneration | ✓
Ek nazar me
- Sustainable development protects the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
- It rests on intergenerational equity and on maintaining natural capital.
- Renewables within regeneration; waste within absorptive capacity.
- Strategies: solar and wind, mini hydel, LPG and improved chulha, organic farming.