Sustainable development 1980 United Nation released the Brundtland report - defined sustainable development as 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.

Definition focus:

Conservation and enhancement of the environment by the development of new technologies
Achievement of social equality by developing countries being allowed to meet their basic needs of employment, food, energy, water and sanitation in a sustainable way
Economic growth of all countries in the word

Ideas have been taken on and further developed over past 30 years, values of Brundtland report reiterated in 1997 at a UNESCO meeting in Paris which made a further declaration regarding the responsibilities of the present generation towards future generations. Stated was responsibility of the present generation to bequeath to future generations an Earth which hadn't been irreversibly damaged by human activity. Natural resources should be used reasonably, life shouldn't be harmed by ecosystem modification and that technological progress shouldn't harm life on Earth. Key area of sustainable development is that it shouldn't hinder development but give a better quality of life both now and in the future.
UK four key sustainable areas identified:

Climate change and energy - Reducing greenhouse gas emission in the UK and worldwide while at the same time preparing for the climate change that can't be avoided
Natural resources - Limits of natural resources that sustain life ex. water, are and soil, are understood do they can most efficiently used
Sustainable communities - Places that people like and work looked after by implementing ideas like eco towns and green energy
Sustainable consumption and production - Way products are designed, produced, used and disposed of should be carefully controlled

Development of policies by large companies to make them more sustainable Large companies realised must be more sustainable - achieving this in different ways:

During the manufacturing of the product
In the recycling of packaging material
By encouraging customers to recycle products
By encouraging employees to be more sustainable in the workplace

Desire to be more sustainable led to together companies being developed to either produce equipment that allow waste products to be recycled or deal with the recycling of the products.

Food industry - Asda/Wal-Mart
Products sold in local Asda stores travelled miles last part of journey from a regional distribution centre, a large warehouse where products are stored until the local stores need them. Then sent to local stores by lorry, when the products arrive in the distribution centre, they are packed in polythene and shrink wrap. Distribution centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire used to fill a skip four times weekly and send it to landfill sites. Was costin ASda money and not sustainable problem solved by Mil-tek a company that makes machines to bale plastic. Installed a large machine in the warehouse in Didcot. All of waste plastic now put in baler and crushed to 10% of original size. Bales of plastic once weekly by a firm that recycles plastic. It's benefiting Asda which receives money for the plastic. Also benefits environment as no plastic is sent to landfill sites.

The communications industry - Nokia
Nokia concerned people don't recycle their old phones serious as more than 50% of phone users change their phone yearly, 44% of old phones left in drawers at home and never again used. Nokia attempting to persuade people to hand phones to recycling points as all phones can be recycled. Old mobiles can be used in trumpet, park benches and even gold rings manufacture. If every mobile phone user recycled one phone it would save 240,000 tonnes of raw materials. Nokia promoting campaign in stores which sell their phones with a catchy jingle on website: www.nokia.com. Website also gives information on where to find recycling points and the address to send the phone to if there is not a centre nearby.

A global company - General Electric
Large transnational corporation (TNC) which operates in many different countries. Company has introduced many policies to make it operate in a more sustainable way. One pledge is that by 2012 (two years ago) will reduce fresh water usage by 20%. Expected to save 7.4 million cubic metres of water, will be achieved by assessing their water usage and improving their water recycling. Much of the water in their boilers and cooling towers will be recycled water

Power generation - coal-fired power stations
Coal-fired power stations provide 38% of world's energy, reliance on coal as energy source and resultant pollution means coal-fired power stations need to be efficient as possible in order to produce the least amount of pollution. Coal-fired power stations emit large amount of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide. Emissions of these gases are a major contributor to acid rain and climate change. The control of these emissions have been dealt with, with varying degrees of success.

Carbon dioxide - make the power plant more efficient, most power stations only 36% efficient, if this is raised to 40% efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions will drop by 25%. Can also capture the carbon dioxide emissions from flue gases. Technology consists of amine scrubbers that use amine solutions to remove carbon dioxide from the waste gases, these can remove up to 98% of carbon dioxide from the waste gases.
Sulphur dioxide - many have systems which operate in the flue of the boiler to remove sulphur dioxide emissions by about 60%. If scrubbers are fitted into the flue the figure rises to about 95% of the emissions being removed. In Germany all coal-fired power stations have scrubbers fitted but this isn't the case in low income countries (LICs)
Nitrous oxide - Most power stations have been fitted with systems that will remove up to 70% of nitrogen emissions

Sustainability in the workplace

Use of video conferencing reduces a company's carbon footprint
Hotel companies have a policy of only washing towels if the clients ask them to, hence reducing water usage and soap powder
Schools often have separate waste bins for paper and card in their classrooms, pupils also encouraged by signs to switch off lights. Most schools also have their computers controlled centrally so that a piece of software switches all the computers off and on in the school at set times
Internet through email increasingly being used to send information and documents, means less paper is being used, many companies aim to become paperless in the future
Large companies provide employees with a variety of different bins to deal with waste products. These aren't only bins for waste paper but also other types of waste. Notices to switch off lights and turn off taps in toilets to conserve water.
Tourist destinations provide a variety of ways to recycle waste
Sustainable development in Dartmoor National Park - toilets flushed using recycled rainwater collected from roof via guttering then filtered and stored in underground storage tanks ready to use when the toilet is flushed

Management of transport in urban areas Maintaining standard of transport required for society and economy to function efficiently without placing too much pressure on the environment. In UK government said will need to take action to control the rate of traffic growth, improve the performance of vehicles and make the public aware about the environmental impacts of polluting emissions from transport. People must be encouraged to reduce dependency on cars, but affordable alternative public transport systems must be available to allow them to do this. In urban areas great dependency on cars car ownership is growing most rapidly in LICs and HICs. In Delhi, Indi number of vehicles in the city grown from half a million in 1970 to more than 5 million in 2008. Governments want people to give up using their cars and use public transport more frequently, problem is that car drivers won't use public transport until it's cheaper and more efficient. Imperative growing number of vehicles is managed to control problems of congestion and pollution - two ways to manage traffic in urban areas:

Respond to the increasing demand by building more roads, might help congestion but will eventually lead to even more vehicles and a subsequent increase in pollution levels
Reduce traffic with range of sustainable transport schemes to alleviate problems of congestion and pollution.

Sustainable transport schemes Congestion charging
Make motorists pay to travel into large urban area during periods of heaviest use, aim is to reduce the number of vehicles entering the city which will ease traffic congestion, hence lower pollution emissions. Hopefully lead to more sustainable forms of transport like walking, cycling or public transport being used. Singapore was first city to introduce congestion charging motorists her have been charged to go into the central city since 1974. Number of other cities now introduced congestion charging zones like Oslo, London and Stockholm. London introduction the congestion charge in 2003, by 2008 had had the following beneficial effects:

Traffic levels have reduced by 21%
65,000 fewer car journeys a day
Increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering the zone during the morning peak rush period
12% increase in cycle journeys within the zone
12% reduction in the emission of nitrous oxide and fine particulates

Durham, which introduced a congestion charge in 2002, has seen 85% drop in traffic entering the paying zone and Stockholm's six-month trial period saw a 25% decrease.

Park and ride
These schemes allow shoppers to their cars in large designated parking areas on the edge of the urban area and catch a bus into the town centre, this operates in 87 towns and cities in the UK. Parking is free but there is often a charge for bus travel to the city centre, sites are usually located on the main routes coming into the urban area, so are easily accessible for the greatest number of car users. Environmental reasons for park and ride are approximately 40 people will travel on one bus rather than in 40 individual vehicles, which means there is less congestion and pollution.

Cambridge park and ride - Cambridge has five park and ride sites covering all main routes coming into the city, the Madingley and Trumpington road sites are next to the M11 and Milton and Newmarket road sites are close to the A14 giving access for motorists driving into Cambridge from the surrounding area. There are 4500 parking spaces available. Double-decker buses carrying up to 70 passengers leave the parks every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Saturday which cost 2.2 pounds per day to catch the bus into the city centre. Sites are well lit and have security systems operating during opening hours, there are waiting rooms, toilets and baby changing facilities.

Other sustainable transport schemes

Car sharing where workers share lifts to work using their own cars, if half of UK motorists received a lift one day a week, vehicle congestion and pollution would be reduced by 10% and traffic jams by 20%
Designated cycle and walking paths within the urban areas, Milton Keynes is one of the best served urban areas in the UK with 273 km of cycle paths
Road lanes which only allow cars with at least two passengers to use them
Pedestrianised areas which restrict private vehicle access, but allow buses and trams to operate
Road lanes which give priority to buses ensuring they get an easy passage through congested areas.
Restricting car parking in central urban areas so motorists are forced to use public transport

Effects of resource extraction from tropical rainforests Tropicals rainforests are being destroyed at the rate of 32,000 hectares per day, size of remaining forest is 5% of the world's land surface (about). Much of the remaining area has been impacted by human activities so it doesn't contain it's original biodiversity.

Mining in Brazil
Variety of minerals extracted from the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil.
Effects:

Carajas iron ore mining project uses wood from the forest to power its pig iron plants, resulting in annual deforestation of 6100 km^2
Mercury used in gold mining which is toxic and found in high concentration in fish - 90% of all caught fish in gold mining region surrounding the River Tapajos contaminated with mercury. If eaten causes cancer and high miscarriage rates among the local tribespeople.
In state of Roraima there's been conflicts between gold prospectors and indigenous Yanomamo Indians

Oil extraction in Ecuador
Oil extracted from the Oriente region of Ecuador
Effects:

Toxic waste water mixed with crude oil seeps out of 600 unlined pits into the subsoil polluting surrounding freshwater and farmland
Hydrocarbons concentrated 200-300 more in water than permissible in water used for human consumption - stomach cancer five times more frequent in these areas and there are many more miscarriages amongst indigenous people like Huaorani.
Many plants like periwinkle which can be used to cure childhood leukemia now an endangered species

Gas project in Peru
In Camisea region large natural gas and pipeline project this is home to many Amazonian tribes - Yine, Nanti and Nahua
Effects:

Deforestation caused altered drainage patterns, habitats destroyed and animal movements to be disturbed
Also caused soil erosion and landslides resulting in the silting up of local rivers due to the silting there has been a decline in fish catches which has caused a rise in malnutrition particularly among children
tribal people have caught diseases not immune to during the 1980s half of the Nahua people died from influenza and the whooping cough caught from Shell employees
Only one in four of the Nanti live to be teenagers
Many roads through the forest have been build due to the Camisea project which has caused colonists to be attracted to area who further destroy the forest by setting up farms

Mining in Indonesia
Freeport mining company mines gold and copper in West Papua, Indonesia since 1960, the company mines an area of 3.6 million hectares stretching from the coast to the central mountain range at Timika.
Effects:

285000 tonnes of untreated mining waste dumped into the River Aghawaghon each day, pollutes the river and the coastal area by the river's mouth at Etna Gula and poisons the fish - local communities now have a shortage of water.
Crocodiles and tortoises in the area of Teluk Etna Indonesia are currently on brink of extinction due to pollution
Locals are exploited by being given the lowest paid jobs

Tropical rainforest management Tropical rainforests now being managed in different ways, one way is for government of countries to take control of their forest areas, can either be to ban any type of development or resource extraction to sustainably develop the rainforest areas. Another way is for NGOs to directly help local communities in rainforest areas.

French Guiana
Government of France that controls the rainforest in French Guiana in South America has refused to allow a gold mine. Decided after an environmental assessment was carried out, IAMGOLD, a Canadian mining company, wanted to mine gold in the Kaw Mountain area which is close to a rainforest reserve and Daw swamp which is a Ramsar-listed wetland. The area is home to 700 plant species, 100 different animals and 254 bird species. Open cast mining would've affected the biodiversity of the area and put water containing cyanide into the Kaw swamp.

Malaysia
Government rejected plans to build a coal-fired power plant at Silam on island of Borneo, decided site was too close to the ecologically sensitive areas of Darvel Bay and Danum Valley. The government decided it didn't want to pollute the area and more environmentally friendly forms of energy would need to be found. Country has vast reserves of coal and other minerals like gold. Government will not develop these resources at expense of the rainforest which has man endangered species like orang-utan. Insead gov going to develop ecotourism, emphasising the natural attractions like world-class diving and the biologically diverse tropical rainforest.

Venezuela
Since 2008 the government of Venezuela hasn't issued any more permits to mine gold or diamonds in the Imataca Rainforest Reserve or anywhere else in the country. Don't need to exploit the mineral for economic reasons, due to oil reserves, hence can afford to conserve it's forest area. Followed attacks on local people from illegal miners government will now protect both the biodiversity of the forest and local people.

Madagascar
2001 Givaudan, Swiss company sent a team to Madagascar to survey for new fragrances, developed 40 aromas, which were then sold. Company shared the profits with local communities through conservation and development initiatives.

Costa Rica
Developed rainforests in sustainable way, one of the ways is through ecotourism, many areas of country have developed tourist facilities like zip wiring and trails through the forest which are popular with the tourists. Another way is through it's plant species, the Costa Rican government has allowed the American company Merck to look for plants that can be used to make medicines or fragrances for perfumes. The Costa Rican government will get a share of the profits of any products sold.

Ecuador
Oil has been extracted from the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador since the 1960s, companies have done little to mange the effects of extraction. Recently the local indigenous people have taken the oil companies to court because of the destruction of the environment.
Texaco has agreed to pay $40 million to cover it's share of cleanup of 160 of the 600 waste pits created as well as other things bu the chief of the local Secoya tribe stated that $6 billion was needed to do a proper job.
Maxus Energy, company that extracts oil from Yasuni National Park has built an underground pipeline which has less of an environmental impact, they have provided schools for the local Huaorani and Quichua tribes and invested $60 million in environmental protection.

Bolivia
Form of management is carbon credits, developing countries can set aside some of their forests and receive carbon credits. Industrialised countries can then buy these credits of the country and in this way the developing country earns money from its forest. Largest carbon credit project in the world is in Bolivia. Project's based in the Noel Kempff National Park which has an area of 1.5 million hectares and has been a UNESCO world heritage Site since 2000. Bolivia has received 25 million pounds by selling the carbon credits of this area, money has gone straight to the communities who live in the areas as compensation. Means they are no longer dependent on logging and destroying the forest to farm to earn a living. Project's run by NGOs including the Friends of Nature Foundation the Nature Conservancy.

Nature Conservancy NGO which works with indigenous people in the Amazon Rainforest, the indigenous people now have the right to their land which is 20% of the Amazon Rainforest. Nature Conservancy works with these to people to help them develop the forest sustainably, involve the whole community in projects that usually start with ethnomapping. First step is a satellite image of the area which the locals draw onto, identifying things like the natural resources, villages and where illegal hunting, mining or logging takes place. Process can take months, when it is complete it's taken away and digitised then returned to the local people. The whole community then use to plan their use of the area.
In 2006 a training centre opened in manaus Brazil the centre trains locals how to manage their areas; the first course is how to complete the ethnomapping exercise. Fifteen students are trained at a time and learn things like GIS, remote sensing techniques, natural resource management and indigenous and environmental legislation. Students remain at the training for five months.

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This is the topic of sustainable development for the Plant for Geographical skills