Achieving Sustainable Development in Construction Essay - 1

Achieving Sustainable Development in Construction - Essay Example In UK planning system, the notion of sustainable development is thoroughly expressed from national level, through the regional level, and finally touching the Local Development Framework. Nevertheless, how far a principle of sustainable development is adhered to in local planning could be different from one area to the other. The concept of sustainable development can be traced from various meetings held during the 1970s and 1980s. The 1972 UN Stockholm Conference on the human environment was one such initiative taken for the first time on global scale over the negative impacts of human functions causing harm to the environment. The concept of environmental security was advanced through the 1980 World Conservation Strategy planned by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in collaboration with the UN Environment Program and the World Wildlife Fund, for the welfare of mankind. Later, in 1987, the UN-sponsored Bruntland Commission issued a report, Our Common Future that attracted the attention on global poverty and degrading environment, which culminated in grabbing global attention through the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro. It paved the way on reaching global agreements over sustainable principles and action agenda over it (The Sustainability Report par. 3-7). The Brundtland Report 1987 The Brundtland Report (WCED 1987: 5)) has stressed on specific aspects of the definition of sustainable development, which is for â€Å"ensuring a better quality of life† to be attained through improved economic and environmental conditions. Sustainable development should be beneficial â€Å"for everyone†, assuring socially sustainable development. Stress is on sustainable development â€Å"for future generations†, which means all the three aspects, social, economic and environmental should be sustainable for attaining equal development of the present generation along with posterity (Lafferty 5). The Brun tland Report strives for â€Å"Common Action† on environmental policy by adhering to two methods, first, by following the ‘standard agenda’ on environmental policy, law, and institutions that create positive environmental impacts. Secondly, it advocates adhering to such policies that help in creating that positive impact. These two approaches indicate a unique way of addressing the problems and at organizations on resolving them (Lafferty 5). It is critical for the sustainability motive under the policy that its ecological aspects are discussed at the same time when other aspects such as the economic, business, energy, agricultural, industrial, and other aspects on the ditto agendas and in the same national and global level institutions are analyzed. The Bruntland Report admits it to be the leading challenge of the 1990s to include the objectives of sustainable development in the terms of reference of the government-formed committees to formulate concerned states ’ policies and planning besides managing with leading sectoral and global policies. Not only this, the concerned states are expected to take full responsibility of implementing such policies, programs, and budgets to support development that is ecologically and economically sustainable (Lafferty 5). United Nations Conference on Environment & Development, Rio de Janeiro 1992 It was an unusual UN conference on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, known as the Earth Summit. It was extraordinary because of its huge attendance and range of the issues discussed. After a lapse of twenty year in organizing another global scale conference on env