In the 21st century, there is a need to empower people on various issues of sustainability. Based on a global perspective, there are various aspects of unsustainable development, which involve economic, political, environmental, and social. As a matter of fact, the economy of the world is teetering, the inequality between the rich and the poor is tremendously increasing, there is the rise in global temperatures, as well as political instability. This ascertains the need to empower people to make sustainable choices. The process of achieving sustainable development puts people at the centre of progress. Despite many efforts, the concept of sustainable development has not been build to be a reality globally1.
Undeniably, it is crucial to empower people in making sustainable choices. The unsustainable behaviors and choices made by people in the globe are impacts of lack of basic needs, human resilience, human rights, as well as human security. These issues preclude individuals from making real choices2. Therefore, in order to empower individuals in society to make sustainable choices, it is essential to focus on fundamental of development. Influencing the society has a greater impact on the globe, and heightens our behaviors to sustainability. Empowerment begins when people have choices to make, of which people lack these choices3.
There are important aspects in this chapter that are tremendously important, not only to the current generation, but for the achievement of sustainable development. Putting much concern on delivering fundamentals of development forms the basis of achieving sustainable development and making right choices. This will include promotion of human right, eradication of poverty, advancing on human security issues, and promoting gender equality4. Education is also crucial on issues of sustainability. In educations matters, advancing vocations and secondary education strengthens the human resource factor of development. In fact, it develops required skills to capitalize on opportunities as well as address the challenges.
In matters of sustainability, the economy is important in transforming the globe. The recent global economic crisis almost took the world by surprise questioning the availability og global economic governance. The improvement of the economy will automatically be seen in the lives of people. Other fundamental issues in the chapter include ozone layer, poverty eradication, undernourishment and hunger, forest conservation, health, education, water and sanitation and energy.
Arguably, in the 21st century technology is very crucial for any development. Therefore, in addressing the issues of sustainable development technology and innovations form the basis of future global stability. In fact, modern communication and information technology is a salient example in the process of sustainability. Through technology, the rural areas are become part of global arena5. For example, the most influential technology is internet and cellular technology. Moreover, in the addressing of disaster rick adaptation and reduction is critical in achieving sustainability. In general perspective, disasters can be a setback to already achieved developments. In this case, the most vital aspect of disaster adoption is focusing on resilience. Additionally, disaster reduction incorporates emergency management, mitigating damage and avoiding disaster6.
Aspects in the chapter on sustainable development can be achieved in various ways. In every economy, human resource is the driver of all other development aspects, which include political, economic, environmental or social. Therefore, the most vital move is to empower the human resource through education. Undeniably, education helps individual in making decisions and moving forward other components of development7. Despite the availability of technology, without knowledge and skills among the population renders it invalid. Hence, sustainable development in making real choices can be achieved through education empowerment.
Nevertheless, security is also a vital concern in the development. Individuals and property should be provided with security. Lack of security in society will put all development objectives to a standstill. For example, in countries where insecurity is high there is an inverse relationship with development. Hence, issues of sustainable development are solitary be achieved if security is tremendously addressed. Another way to achieve the sustainable development is to focus on a political economy; this will take into consideration the economic, environmental and social costs of inaction and action. As a matter of fact, this will incorporate the modern measures of prosperity and growth, this sort of indicators go beyond the normal GDP to adding components of sustainable development.
Gender equity is also another way of achieving various components of sustainable development. In this case, women need to be empowered economically, of which it should be the center of achieving various sustainability objectives. In the global community, improving equity and eradicating poverty need to be major priorities8. Basically, advancement on gender related issues is part of crucial developmental prerequisite. In many countries, women need to be empowered on political leadership and decision-making participation. Nevertheless, empowering women break the barriers related to women rights such as inheritance and ownership of land, reproductive health and swings social characters among women and men9.
In order to achieve the above stated issues, Australian government needs to adopt various approaches to be part of global move towards sustainable development. Australian government need to put more emphasis on achieving the millennium development goal on the provision of universal education level. This will impart knowledge and skill required for sustainable growth10. Additionally, women in Australia need to be empowered; this is because of their economic benefits when given a chance to participate fully in the economy. This can be done by improving accessibility of women on financial and capital services, land resources meant to improve agricultural sustainability, as well as improving market accessibility11.
Undeniably, environment sustainability is crucial in the economy. The government of Australia needs to implement policies that will reduce carbon emission and other forms of pollution. In fact, the government of Australia has proposed the process of implementing carbon tax. Whereby, Australians will be forced to pay a lot of money when the bill on carbon tax will be in place. The move has raised contentious issues, but it is now official that Australia will have carbon tax. This will secure a sustainable and clean environment for clean energy future for all generations of Australia. The legalization of carbon tax will ensure that biggest polluters in Australia pay for carbon pollution they emit. Furthermore, the Australia needs to strengthen institutional governance12. In this case, this is achieved by developing effective framework of decision making and institutions processes at regional, local and national level. The legal system also needs to focus on implementing laws and policies that will protect the rights of its people.
References
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Bennet, Anne., Kingwell, Ross & George Ross. Sustainability Issues for Agriculture in Western Australia. South Perth: Department of Agriculture, 2003
Freedman, J. & Krever, R. The delicate balance tax discretion and the rule of law. Amsterdam: IBFD, 2011.
Grimstad, Sidsel. “Developing a framework for examining business-driven sustainability initiatives with relevance to wine tourism clusters.” International Journal of Wine Business Research., 23, No. 1(2011): 62-82.
Kerstin, Johansson. Australia: Sustainability and Environmental Action. University of Colorado. Spring, 2010.
Moghe, Vidya. “Privacy management – a new era in the Australian business environment.” Information
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UN Secretariat-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability. Resilient People Resilient Planet- A Future worth Choosing. New York: United Nation, 2012
