Sustainable Development is a way of the human development that is based on the principle that our planet is finite. Sustainable development is a mode of using natural resources in a way that meets the human needs and ensures the sustainability of natural systems (including the environment), so that these needs are met by present and future generations. There are four main circles of sustainability: Economics, Ecology, Culture and Politics.
Slide 2 – Water Pollution
One of the most important trends of Sustainable Development is the increasing need to protect the water bodies (lakes, rivers, groundwater and oceans). Water pollution has a negative influence on all the organisms and plants living in the water. Lately, the water pollution became a major environmental problem that threats the Earth’s ecological balance.
Slide 3 – The Most Polluted River in the World
The Citarum River is considered as the most polluted river in the world. It is the largest and the longest river in Indonesia. The Citarum River was heavily polluted by more than five million people living in the river’s basin. Most toxic waste was contributed by the textile and other factories that contaminated the river with arsenic, mercury and other toxins.
Slide 4 – The Citarum River
An unregulated growth of the industry led to the pollution of the Citarum River. The worst thing about it is that people living on Java have adapted to the floating trash and masses of junk on the surface of the river. There is a negative economic impact of the river’s pollution: farms along the river use the river as a source of water, and their harvests are of the low quality.
Slide 5 – Health Impact
People boil the water of the river to use for drinking purposes. The boiled water of the river has no bacteria, but boiling cannot remove toxic chemicals or many heavy metals that can be found in the water of the Citarum River. People get sick, and the health of the people living in the river area is getting worse and worse. Also, people use this water for washing their clothes and bathing, which makes a negative impact on the health of the people.
Slide 6 – International Treaties
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty signed in 2013 that provides control for reduction of the mercury emissions. More than 140 countries adopted this legally binding Convention.
This treaty will require Indonesia to install scrubbers and filters on all the plants. Also, many products, such as batteries and thermometers, will be banned to be imported and exported by 2020.
Slide 7 – Action
In 2008, the Asian Development Bank announced a loan of $500 million to clean the Citarum River. Today, the condition of the water has improved, as the there is much less trash now. However, the factories continue expelling toxic waste, and much work remains to be done.
There is an Integrated Citarum Water Resources Management Investment Program (ICWRMIP) was launched to increase the awareness of this ecological issue.
Slide 8 – Conclusion
Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without protecting the water resources. Water pollution became one of the main ecological problems that threaten the lives of many people.
The Citarum River is the most polluted river in the world, and the international community has to do everything possible to remove toxic waste and heavy metals from the water.
References
Global Economic Crisis: Cengage Resource Center. (n.d.). A First Step: The Minamata Convention on Mercury. Retrieved from http://community.cengage.com/GECResource/blogs/intl_relations/archive/2013/01/20/a-first-step-the-minamata-convention-on-mercury.aspx
Rescuing The Citarum River. (n.d.). Sometimes Interesting. Retrieved from http://sometimes-interesting.com/2013/11/09/rescuing-the-citarum-river/
The Telegraph. (2014, November 4). Citarum, the most polluted river in the world? Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10761077/Citarum-the-most-polluted-river-in-the-world.html
United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.). Press Releases October 2013 - UNEP. Retrieved from http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.aspx?DocumentID=2752&ArticleID=9647
