Pictured: Kitty van der Heijden, Director World Resources Institute, at a lecture on ‘Sustainable Development; Illusion or Opportunity’ in Budapest.

Sustainable development is based on three fundamental pillars, namely economy, equity and ecology. Economy strives for continuous growth, the global reduction of poverty, to reach higher living standards and equity.

However, combined with our current growth in population, we have been exceeding our planetary boundaries, the constraints of our ecological systems, as our consumption and production patterns use natural resources more rapidly.

In order to preserve our climate, we need to face a number of key issues concerning our current fresh water, carbon, energy and waste usage.

Luckily awareness of the business world is slowly rising; as there are various initiatives within these sectors to move to a resource efficient and circular economy.

These show that we can change our economy, by still emphasizing growth, but not destroying the world we live in. This is what we have to aim at, on a global level.

Source: Facebook