Sustainable Development

We would have come across or maybe at least heard of the term “sustainable development”.  In Singapore, this term has been introduced in 1960s by the leaders of the pioneer generation (MEWR, 2015). It is what which was done progressively since then that give rise to what we have in the current modern society of Singapore. In order to achieve sustainability, none of the three pillars – economic, social and environment (MEWR, 2015) – should be underestimated and neglected of its values. However, as learned, I would like to emphasise that the economic and social capital that one is able to achieve are built upon the environmental capital that are available for us. Therefore, the environment forms the basis for sustainable development.

Though Singapore contributes to less than 0.2% of global carbon emission, our small size of only 718.3 km² [compared to the whole of our planet Earth’s surface area of 5.10006 x 10⁸ km² (NASA, 2015)] and the dense population of more than 5 million have landed us at the position of 27^th out of 137 countries based on the International Energy Agency 2011 data for carbon emission per capita (National Climate Change Secretariat, 2014). This reminded us that regardless of size, it is important that we reduce the amount of carbon emission in an effort to ensure a sustainable and liveable environment.

I strongly believe that having a sustainable development is the key to ensure that there will be a liveable environment for us and also for our future generations. To achieve sustainability, there should be more exposures of the communities to green programmes and, at the same time, education needs to be provided for the people of the current generation with regards to the importance of protecting and conserving the environment. The realisation of the importance of the environment is a significant step for individuals to hold the responsibility to play their part, like reducing wastage and conserving energy and water.

I trust that integrating greeneries to living areas can bring us closer to the environment [though still man-made] and constantly remind us of the importance of conserving the natural environment. Such integration can be through the construction of “green” buildings and creating more “green” spaces especially in the heartlands where human population are dense. It needs to be noticeable and of sufficient scale in order to achieve the desired effect.

SUGGESTION: Maybe we can have “green” bus stops and “green” playgrounds?

Note: all green mentioned here is definitely not referring to the colour green, but rather it refers to having plants that make them green…

References

Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, MEWR (2015). Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.mewr.gov.sg/ssb/. [Accessed 6 September 2015]

NASA (2015). Earth: Our Home Planet. [Online] Available at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html. [Accessed 6 September 2015]

National Climate Change Secretariat (2014). Singapore’s Emissions Profile. [Online] Available at: https://www.nccs.gov.sg/climate-change-and-singapore/national-circumstances/singapores-emissions-profile. [Accessed 6 September 2015]