Environmental Management and Health

Perspectives for a sustainable society

Chrysanthus Chukwuma,
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 Perspectives for a sustainable society
Argues that a sound and
efficient approach and policy for
the protection of the
environment and restoration of
natural recources must include
essential features which reflect
the harmoniza-tion of national
and global strategies expected
Downloaded by Universiti Utara Malaysia At 18:09 10 December 2017 (PT)
for a sustainable society. The
increasing awareness of
governments and interna-tional
organizations has culminated in
several under-takings aimed at
systemati-cally facing the
overwhelming problems
encountered in the
establishment of a global policy
for environmental management
and health for sustainable
development. This takes
account of environmen-tal
changes, patterns of economic
development and sociocultural
factors. A sus-tainable society
supports the acquisition of basic
needs with the extensive
opportunity to aspire
satisfactorily to a better life in
the present and the future.
Stresses that,
for economic sustainability to
occur, development action
must be supported with avail-
able resources within society.
The problem of the poverty-
ridden population must be
recognized. Suggests that the
resource base in a sustainable
society can be fortified through
effective, efficient and
equitable use of available
resources and economic
growth without the massive
introduction of untoward
environmental pollutants.
Environmental
Management
and Health
7/5 [1996] 5–20
© MCB University Press
[ISSN 0956-6163]
Chrysanthus Chukwuma Sr
Department of Limnology and Environmental Protection, University of
Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
change which are capable of limiting the
Introduction development of society; to configure usable
knowledge regarding these limits and alter-natives
As we enter the twenty-first century, it is high time
for obviating or abating them; and to determine the
we took stock of our environment/soci-ety, with
scientific research, institution or technology needed
respect to the 1987 report of the World Commission
in the immediate future to augment freedom of
on Environment and Development (WCED), Our
action for sustainable development[2].
Common Future, which states that “sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of
the pre-sent without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”[1]. A
sustainable society persists over generations, and is Land and natural resources
prudent and perceptive not to undermine either its
Several complex environmental problems confront
physical or social support systems; it also “meet(s)
the world, and these tend to exert an ever-increasing
the needs of the present without compromising the
pressure on an environment undergoing
ability of future generations to meet their own
deterioration. Increasing popula-tion is resulting in
needs”[1]. For social sustainability, all of a society’s
excessive natural resource consumption, and
capital, population, and technology have to be
consequentially to their exhaustion. Vital instances
moulded for sufficient and secure living standards.
of over-exploita-tion include over-cultivation and
To ensure physical sustain-ability, society’s rate of
-grazing as well as deforestation, which tend to
renewable resource use must not be in excess of its
result in loss of soil fertility, erosion, desertification
rates of regen-eration, the rate of non-renewable
and a derelict environment. Without abate-ment in
resource use must not be in excess of the rate of
further environmental damage, nat-ural resource
devel-opment of sustainable renewable substitutes,
exploitation will be difficult to control. Planning,
and the rate of pollution discharge not in excess of
especially land use and landscape planning, are
the environment’s assimilative capacity.
essential for the survival and welfare of human
beings. Envi-ronmental deterioration does not
acknowl-edge any natural or geopolitical
boundaries; thus global co-operation is necessary for
the aversion of the degradation of air, land and
The main interest of a sustainable society is
water. Nature and wildlife may tolerate envi-
qualitative development, thereby applying those
ronmental insults only to a limited extent that is not
values and appropriate knowledge and expertise of
commensurate with pressures exerted by population
choices which enhance growth, social goals and
growth, global eco-nomic and technological
sustainability. Morally and practically, a sustainable
development.
society must make provision for adequate
wellbeing, and not poverty; it would eradicate
despondency, stagnancy and high unemployment,
To a large extent, an expanse of the bios-phere
etc. Society’s current course of development does
comprises oceans, ice, mountains and deserts, with
not support ecological sustainability, and several
only a restricted percentage for habitation and
environmentalists suggest that it is not already too
late for changes which will deter future opprobrium another fertile enough for food production.
Therefore, land conserva-tion is an essential
and disaster. Our present generation has the unique
burden of responsibility for the future of our principle of land use plan-ning. Countries and global
regions with enor-mous amounts of fertile land may
society.
ultimately face depletion, despoliation or
dereliction, and for the intensively and excessively
An important challenge in the future regarding
environment and development is learning how devel-oped ones, land conservation is of even more
long-term, large-scale interac-tions can be paramount significance. Advocates of techno-logy
as a solution to uncontrolled and unplanned growth
managed appropriately for increased
improvements in ecological sustainability. The must be cognizant of the reality that global
question is to determine the long-term trends of resources are not infinite,
environmental
[5]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma and that we gradually approach our ultimate limits.
Sr Perspectives for a Invariably, by means of planning, prediction or
sustainable society projection, monitoring and the application of
Environmental controls, exploitative destruc-tive processes of our
Management and Health environment may be stemmed.
7/5 [1996] 5–20
Land is vulnerable to various forms of pol-lution
or chemical insults, some of which are of longer
duration than others. Good available land, either
arable, pastoral or forest, can be damaged by gradual
toxin accumulation including pollution from non-
point sources. Certain sources of land pollution
requiring control are the intensive and excessive
fertil-izer and pesticide application, run-off from
intensive beef or dairy units, and effluents from
mining and industrial activities.
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Globally, forests are the most severely endangered
lands, with special reference to our tropical forests
and their abundant species. The near dissipation of
our forests has exacerbated a crisis for both the
timber industry and the various species which rely
on these forests. Also, the appropriation and
management of reserve areas is of perennial interest,
with a variety of interests and oppor-tunities for
citizen involvement.
Major research for forest management must
include environmental impacts of forest cutting and
cultivation, as well as losses of soil materials,
nutrients and organic carbon to watercourses.
Living organisms rely on fresh water, a
renewable resource that includes surface waters
like streams, rivers and lakes as well as
groundwater. Fresh water constitutes less than 0.01
per cent of the overall available global water.
Groundwater is a renewable resource like surface
water, but the re-generation of the former is more
prolonged. Water cycle intervention by man occurs
in two ways:
1 the withdrawal of enormous amounts of
water rivers, aquifers and lakes; and
2 clearing vegetation from land.
Natural land conversion and deforestation decrease
natural seepage into underground aquifers, leading to
accelerated surface runoff, and resultant soil erosion.
There is uneven worldwide distribution and
consump-tion of fresh water; however, countries
with an abundant supply are presently experienc-ing
scarcity and pollution with an increase and
expansion in population, agricultural and industrial
activities. Conservation efforts which include
reduction in water consump-tion by big users,
increased efficiency by agricultural irrigation, and
the cleansing and recirculation of wastewater are
more reliable in combating water scarcity. Water
pollution results mainly from agriculture,
deforestation
[6]
that increases soil runoff and erosion, indus-trial
wastes like trace elements and poly-chlorobiphenyls
(PCBs) which concentrate at the lower levels of
rivers and lakes, mining wastes that concentrate
trace elements which leach into streams in proximity
to derelict mines, atmospheric deposition of fly ash
from incinerators, sprayed pesticides, emissions of
sulphur and nitrogen oxides from industries and
vehicles generating acidity in fresh waters, as well
as urban runoff which encom-passes trace elements
and inordinate toxic and innate substances[3,4].
Water pollution is the most evident and apparently
the most nefarious form of pollu-tion. Waterways
have the tendency to absorb continuously substantial
quantities of toxic substances, but it seems the
pollution inten-sity has reached unabsorbable levels.
Unless there is a reduction in pollution levels, the
food resources of riverine areas may become
severely diminished to the dis-benefit of future
generations. All pollution sources are liable to
contaminate our natural reservoirs from which
surface and arterial water sup-plies are obtained.
Inasmuch as surface water pollution is controlled in
several countries, few still have to conduct full
hydrological surveys required for the conservation
and protection of this most fundamental of
resources[5].
Main research areas must include biodiver-sity,
landscape ecology, habitat loss investiga-tion and
environmental monitoring, environ-mental factor
investigation governing biodi-versity in various
spatial and temporal scales, investigation of the
impacts of inten-sive land use on species and
ecosystems as well as abating and corrective
approaches to control biodiversity loss.
Development meth-ods must be in place for
studying and moni-toring temporal changes both in
the environ-ment and in biota as applicable in
terrestrial ecological monitoring and recreational
nature use. Ecosystem studies must be cen-tred on
nature reserves involving surveying of invertebrates,
plants and fungi to acquire information on the
effectiveness and ef-ficiency of conservation
measures applied and estimation of the need for
further man-agement procedures[6].
Agriculture/food crisis
For more than five centuries, the industrial-ized
countries have exploited the non-indus-trialized
countries, in return for which the latter were given
a specific amount of finan-cial aid and assistance in
the development of their administrative systems.
Exports at rock-bottom prices steadily flow from
the
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma poor to the affluent countries: timber from
Sr Perspectives for a dwindling rain forests, medicinal plants, exotic
sustainable society crops, minerals, fossil fuels and fish. These
Environmental products serve the sustenance of the rural poor in
Management and Health tropical climates. Imports from industrialized
7/5 [1996] 5–20 countries are either without adequate quality
assurance or priced at exorbitant rates, guided in
their search for unmitigated profits.
Industrial wastes, biocides and other com-plexes
hazardous to the environment and the health of the
fauna and flora are dumped in poor countries, where
enforceable legal instruments are lacking and
protests are subdued. Thus, both imports from and
exports to the affluent world have steadily caused
ecological decline in deprived nations. A trail of
clear-felled forests, poisoned and unproductive soils,
eroded and traumatized landscapes, and over-fished
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waters remain, resulting in the exacerbation of
poverty, for the nation as a whole and the rural poor
in particular.
Poverty and environmental degradation are
inextricably interrelated; they both form a vicious
circle from which there is appar-ently no escape. The
poor nations impact on their own environment
through over-population and poverty as well as
ignorance and greed, leading to excessive
exploitation of available natural resources. Within
many non-industrialized countries, the extent to
which differences exist in terms of power and
income is considerable, especially between the urban
and rural areas.
Among the rural poor, the need for domes-tic
firewood accelerates deforestation, soil erosion
results from cattle grazing, igno-rance leads to
inappropriate farming tech-niques, overuse of
chemical fertilizers and pesticides augment the trace
element concen-trations in soils and plants to toxic
levels, and inadequate waste management or
perturbation of limited water resources lead to
environmental health problems. Pesticide usage has
aided in the reduction of crop losses due to various
pest organisms, but pest resistance and food chain
accumulation of toxic components of pesticides
resulting in adverse environmental effects have
caused many of the severely toxic and persistent
chemicals to be phased out. Increasing awarenesss of
the adverse impact of pesti-cides has made it
necessary to disseminate more and better
information.
Sustainable development is an important concept
which encompasses certain applica-ble universal
principles. The industrialized countries have to be
restrained in their exploitative mechanisms in order
to narrow the schism between rich and poor
nations as well as the most-affected rural poor,
with
ardent focus on the environment in develop-ment
co-operation defined at the local level without
excessive natural resource exploita-tion[7]. From
the foregoing, the rural poor should be encouraged
to promote growth of natural resources, have
economic and social equality with sustainable use
of natural resources and environmental protection.
An extremely important dimension con-cerning
global food production entails reserves. For some
time now, the non-indus-trialized countries have not
been able to harness increased agricultural
technology to cope with their food problems. North
America, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to a
lesser extent, has maintained sufficiently sustainable
grain production by making provision for a
comfortable grain reserve. The percentage of non-
producing land, the land bank, has increased
steadily, resulting in the disappearance of this valu-
able reserve from 100 days’ reserve in 1960 to 25
days in 1975[8]. If crop disasters occur in those
countries with reserves, as are liable to occur once
or twice every century, the global food reserves
would disappear within
a year.
A substantial amount of the world fish
catch is consumed by human beings, and it
constitutes a fundamental protein source in the diet.
Overexploitation of certain fish stocks has been
taking place for a long time, causing the depletion of
several fisheries[9]. Conservation of wildlife
diversity and plant genetic stocks is crucial for the
maintenance of the development potential of new
and improved varieties beneficial for both human
beings and the environment. More-over, wild
species provide food, fibre, wood and other raw
materials for the sustenance of several productivity
needs including industry and medicine. As a
consequence, protection of wildlife resources has
reached the development stage of both the species
and ecosystem.
The needs of conservation are the advoca-tion of
pollution prevention, pollution con-trol by
comprehensive “cross-media” approaches, and
willing co-operation and intermediary mechanism
between industry and environmentalists in solving
environ-mental problems. Its attendant focus is on
expenditures and regulatory programmes regarding
environmental quality, and food conservation.
Nations can produce and/or import their own food
requirements. As regards food production, the Earth
is abun-dantly endowed with agricultural potential
and growth. An inordinate number of acres of
arable land are yet to be cultivated, and food
production by farmers could supply the daily
caloric and protein requirements of a
[7]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma global population in excess of ten
Sr Perspectives for a billion, much greater than currently in exis-
sustainable society tence[10].
Environmental An outstanding limit to food production is land.
Management and Health The actual cultivated area has slightly declined in the
7/5 [1996] 5–20 past few decades, because land losses to erosive
forces, desertification, salt build-up and urbanization
have to a certain degree exceeded new agricultural
land devel-opment[11]. Development of extra land
or restoration of eroded land, with no more losses of
land, and global doubling of yields will definitely
ensure that the Earth’s 5.4 billion inhabitants will
obtain sufficient food as well as the projected 12.5
billion inhabi-tants at the end of the year 2100.
However, in the event that there is progressive land
ero-sion, expansive land development or restora-
tion, difficulty in yield doubling, or a slower decline
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in the birth rate compared with World Bank
projections, there will be food in limited supply both
domestically and globally. The loss of the
agricultural base results from a variety of factors
such as desperation and poverty, human settlement
expansion, over-grazing and overcropping, ill-
management, unawareness, and instant economic
benefit for short-run production rather than long-run
management[12].
Environmental and resource management is
substantially dependent on an unceasing flow of
relevant information from varied data-gathering
systems. Lacking meaningful field estimations, an
effective system for the prudent protection of
human health and management of the resources of
the bios-phere would be almost impossible. Reliable
expertise and knowledge about the manner in which
the biosphere has really been responsive to human
actions is a determi-nant for effective social
responses to prob-lems of the environment. Without
such knowledge, a significant obstacle to the design
of sustainable development strategies will arise.
Monitoring systems are essential to detect
potentially irreversible trends and identify
unexpected environmental impacts[13]. Exponential
growth can be in excess of any fixed limit. The
future of agri-cultural development, for instance, is
an interacting system of environments, resources,
institutions and technologies. Suggestively, in the
immediate future envi-ronmental constraints to
agricultural devel-opment will be determined by the
prevailing resource endowments of various global
regions, particularly improvement in pro-ductivity
and arable land expansion. In the long run,
technology’s and institutions’ abil-ity will be the
determinant in a flexible response to changing
conditions[14].
[8]
Pollution
The global focus has been on pollution prob-lems
and in several countries the response has been
rectification of pollution damage. Numerous
instances, however, abound of major pollution
which are causes of concern involving air, land,
aquifers, seas and cities. A major air pollution
problem, especially in urban environments,
emanates from vehicle emissions. Lead,
hydrocarbons and other toxic chemicals can be
generated by heavy traffic in significant amounts to
endanger the flora and fauna along major
highways.
The recognition that environmental pollu-tion is a
global threat to public health has resulted in a new,
expansive environmental restoration industry. Owing
to both economic and ecological factors, biological
degradation is at present an increasingly acceptable
alter-native for hazardous waste treatment. White rot
fungi, which is the only organism causing wood
degradation, has recently been revealed to possess
characteristic biodegradation qualities. Hazardous
waste remediation con-stitutes a serious financial
dilemma for sev-eral companies which have met
with failure in sufficiently dealing with pollution
prob-lems at the inception of their activities. Organic
clean-up procedures may markedly decrease the
costs.
Moreover, an inordinate number of chemi-cals that
are biodegradable are being intro-duced as
organisms engineered for toxin degradation. There is
increasing interest in white rot fungi application for
bioremedia-tion of hazardous waste sites because it
is expected to be relatively economical; the fungi is
cultivatable in certain inexpensive agricultural or
forest wastes (for example, corn cobs and sawdust);
the fungi inocula are mass producable through
existing techniques for fungal spawn production;
and it is eco-logically sustainable for environmental
bio-remediation[15].
In industrialized countries, it is conven-tional
wisdom to apply enforceable regula-tions as a
foundation for environmental health protection. The
state’s police powers are recognized mechanisms by
which improved and sustainable environmental
quality are achievable by communities. In addition
to government incentives/subsidies, taxes or risks
which are externalizable to the general public and
internalizable in indus-trial costs, the most
conducive kind of influ-ence for pollution mitigation
to the biosphere is the impact of public opinion or
acceptabil-ity. Apparently, it is a lot to expect that in
the immediate future individual entrepreneurs and
firms will come to grips with the fact that
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma we are all entitled and have the right to clean water,
Sr Perspectives for a safe working environments, clean air, etc., and that it
sustainable society is tantamount to gross negli-gence and
Environmental irresponsiblity to infringe that right. The major
Management and Health benefits of government regu-lation and legislation
7/5 [1996] 5–20 are the definitions of what are viewed as desirable
and acceptable by the community and the
minimization of the price or economic advantage
which can be obtained by industries by cost and risk
exter-nalization of the pollutants they generate[16].
Sociocultural factors
Anthropogenic activities have always altered our
natural environment; however, the emer-gence of an
integrated global economy has augmented both the
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depth and dimension of these alterations. Our
environment today is not merely altered by
anthropogenic activi-ties, it is undergoing a
fundamental transfor-mation[17]. Anthropogenic
environmental transformation has frequently
resulted in the degradation of the productive
potential of specific ecosystems and regions. A key
chal-lenge for sustainable development strategy is
determination of how such degradation reversal
through ecosystem redevelopment and rehabilitation
can be achieved.
A usable definition of sustainability must make
quantitative and qualitative specifica-tions of the
products and services which are required from an
ecosystem[18]. These include the time frame for
performance eval-uation[18]; the social norms,
goals, incentives and costs which prompt individuals
to desire more than a substitution of a number of off-
spring; the cultural expectations and prac-tices which
cause maldistribution of income and affluence; that
essentially accentuate their perception as consumers
and produc-ers; that relate social status to material
acqui-sition; and which clearly assert human goals as
incessant material acquisition rather than need
satisfaction. They can be augmented or mollified,
technologically manipulated and accommodated
with innumerable degrees of freedom, but they
cannot be eradicated entirely[12].
A transition to sustainability requires both
voluntary social restraints on increas-ing industrial
and population growth and substantial
improvements in the technologi-cal efficiency with
which the Earth’s resources are consumed. Society
tends to set its targets in relation to materialism that
risks exceeding and eroding its capacity. An
alternative human behaviour pattern is required in
our society for success to be attained. There is a
need to depart from soci-ety’s current reactive
mode, in which society
responds only when significant problems or crises
arise, to an extensive proactive orienta-tion in which
preventive measures are used in careful anticipation
and perception. A democratic society is more open
and con-ducive to change, whereas an authoritarian
one is closed and has a narrow pursuit of goals.
Nonetheless, in several communities and nations,
there have been adoptions of stringent controls by
referendums or other popular majorities. When the
necessary situ-ations arise, pluralism and flexibility
in administration, including economic activi-
ties, afford expansive experimentation and social
change. With the acceptance of changes in one or
other community, implementation is facilitated in
others. Environmental con-sciousness raising is an
accretionary process of long duration. An expansive,
in-depth democratic commitment to nature can
create a better world in the future[19].
Exponential growth of population, capital,
resource use and pollution is still advancing in
society. It is in response to attempts to solve key
human problems, such as unem-ployment and
penury and the need to acquire status, power and
self-acceptance. According to the ex-prime minister
of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, “The global
environ-ment cannot be separated from political,
economic and moral issues. Environmental concerns
must permeate all decisions, from consumer choices
through national budgets to international
agreements. We must learn to accept the fact that
environmental consid-erations are part of the unified
management of our planet. This is our ethical
challenge. This is our practical challenge – a
challenge we all must take”.
It is essential to proceed to learn and moni-tor how
to implement changes in our lives, culture and
political system, so that govern-ment and the general
public can be informed continually and
instantaneously about both environmental and
economic conditions; incorporate actual
environmental costs in economic prices; present
economic indica-tors, such as GNP, so that costs are
not con-fused with benefits, input with welfare or
natural capital depreciation with income. Fossil
fuels, groundwaters and minerals should be
efficiently consumed as part of a wilful transition to
renewable resources. We must be watchful for
indicators manifesting environmental stress; make
information and education available for flexibility,
creativity, critical thinking and capability to redesign
both physical and social systems; bring about
protection, restoration and enhancement of the
productivity of soils, surface waters, rechargeable
groundwaters, forests, fish, game and the entire
biota. A society that
[9]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma
Sr admits and articulates its non-material needs
Perspectives for a
sustainable and discovers non-material means for its
society satisfaction would need lesser material and
Environmental
energy source and offer higher human
Management
and Health fulfilment levels[12].
7/5 [1996] 5–20
Health
Environmental health decisions are associ-ated with
a country’s political, historical and economic
features, and impact of environ-mental health
exposures. Usually, environ-mental health problems
occur due to inatten-tion and not intention. The
inattention that affords the opportunity for chance
Downloaded by Universiti Utara Malaysia At 18:09 10 December 2017 (PT)
occur-rence of certain health disasters is not inher-
ently out of negligence, callousness, indiffer-ence or
deliberate attempt to inflict untoward consequences
on the human race. It is due to a failure to have
adequate perception and response to a generally new
situation.
Operators of mines, factories, utilities and farms do
not have the intention of causing health impairment
to the communities in their jurisdictional enterprises.
They intend to conduct productive work in the best
means possible. In several instances, the scale of
their activity becomes extensive, exceeding
previously established experience and proce-dure and
could not accommodate or cope with new and
unprecedented materials or processes, thus rendering
their established ways obsolete.
The new circumstances, situations, investi-
gationary and detectionary approaches reveal the
need for change, adaptation or termination of a well-
institutionalized set of procedures. This need for
change exists because prevailing circumstances and
condi-tions permit the increasing growth of en-
vironmental health problems. These new situations
require changes in established procedures which
may generate political tension between established
institutions and protagonists of the newly recognized
health dilemma.
Understanding the necessity for technologi-cal
changes for health protection from envi-ronmental
deterioration is not as easy to accomplish as is
political understanding[16]. We need to integrate the
whole concept of health into societies all over the
non-industri-alized world and to collaborate in the
develop-ment of an appropriate sense of social
respon-sibility with respect to possibilities and
options for future generations in develop-ment,
health and health care. A compelling need therefore
exists for our creation of more opportunities to re-
order our priorities, restructure our institutions and
promote creative thinking.
[ 10 ]
The goal of environmental health strategies at
Rio clearly states that “Human beings are at the
centre of concerns for sustainable development.
They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in
harmony with nature”. The attainment of this goal
of healthy people in a healthy environment goes
beyond the application of medical technology or the
mutually exclusive overall efforts of health sectors.
Integrative and collaborative efforts by all sectors,
organizations and individuals are needed for the
provision of a sustainable and humane
socioeconomic development that will ensure a basis
for sound health. Within such collaboration and co-
operation, health professionals exhibit marked
leadership, advisory capacities, support functions
and relevant informative sources for the future[20].
Adequate housing, clean, good and safe water
supply and sanitation, employment and good
working conditions, optimum agri-cultural
productivity, well-balanced educa-tion and
educational facilities and infrastruc-ture,
commensurate income earnings, con-trolled
population growth rate, etc. comprise certain
significant areas which impact on health; resource
mismanagement and mis-appropriation as well as
haphazard and unto-ward planning mechanisms
plague most of the non-industrialized countries
today.
In non-industrialized countries, economic
pressures tend to overshadow environmental
concerns. Insufficient financial resources have
prompted the establishment of “dirty” industries
and limited environmental improvement
efforts[21]. Massive external debts push these
nations into natural resource exploitation for short-
run economic advantages, paying minimum
concern to long-term environmental impact. In
govern-ment policy determination, environmental
quality is relegated to the background in lieu of job
creation, and environmental health is not pre-
eminent relative to endemic diseases, food and
housing shortages.
Inasmuch as a unified attempt is being made in
non-industrialized nations to regu-late trace element
emission levels, only triv-ial attempts to limit trace
element discharges are made. Lackadaisical
attitudes and non-stringent environmental controls
have allowed multinational corporations to relo-
cate polluting industries to non-industrial-ized
countries, where it is possible to apply
manufacturing processes generating haz-ardous
trace elements and banned substances prohibited in
their home countries. In non-industrialized
countries, the summation of natural resource
endowments, constraints due to population growth
and economic devel-opment as well as absence of
government
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma regulations and controls, will eventually result in
Sr Perspectives for a increased toxic trace element dis-charge rates.
sustainable society
Environmental Furthermore, the local populations are more
Management and Health susceptable to toxic poisoning from their
7/5 [1996] 5–20 environments because of poor health, nutrition and
hygiene conditions, increased population density
and a population of innu-merable children and
pregnant women, who are significantly more
vulnerable to environ-mental poisoning.
Also, lacking sufficient and proper food
preservation locations, non-industrialized countries
have the propensity to consume a great percentage
of foods locally cultivated in trace element-
contaminated areas. Several endemic health
problems are capable of influ-encing the pattern and
magnitude of elemen-tal poisoning including the
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medical profes-sional’s ability to accurately
diagnose trace element-induced health
problems[21]. It would be extremely erroneous to
assume that the problem of environmental trace
element pollution is confined solely to the industrial-
ized world; a phenomenal devastation may occur in
non-industrialized nations if noth-ing is done to
effect changes in trace element generation.
The prevailing concern in the long-term existence
of externally-aided health projects[22] is principally
a result of the current global economic recession
and the imposed structural adjustment policies on
poor nations. It is, nevertheless, a fact that aid
agencies are very concerned about enhancing the
recipient’s capacity to deal with problems and their
necessary solutions. By this means, the pursuance
of realistic development and external reliance in the
long term will be averted[23].
The need has been emphasized to focus aid on the
undergirding of national capacity “for the
formulation and execution of coher-ent and
comprehensive policies and well-developed plans for
primary health care”[24]. Finding alternative
avenues to strengthen the viability and sustainability
of donor-sup-ported health projects is becoming an
inescapable obligation for both aid agencies and
recipient governments. Sustainability goes beyond
mere survival by making provi-sion for autonomous
maintenance in the absence of prolonged dependence
on external assistance. Sustainability is not just an
issue of technicality, but encompasses social, cul-
tural and political questions which will require the
development of the human and institutional will and
capacity for available resource consumption for the
sustenance of service provision. This is achievable at
every level by concentrating on strategic manage-
ment and strengthening policy and
decision-making capacity[23]. Sustainability
becomes evident in a donor-supported health project,
for instance, if desired output produc-tion promotes
the recipient to make provision for time, resources
and political support for its sustenance for the
achievement of longer term outcomes[25].
Toxic elements and wastes
The global trace element contamination of air, water,
foodstuffs and soils gives cause for concern. Only a
limited carrying capacity exists for trace elements in
an individual environmental compartment. At the
prevail-ing rate at which industrial trace element
discharge is occurring, the abilities of several
ecosystems to accommodate toxic element pollution
are undergoing rapid depreciation and the
environmental safety margin for certain fauna and
flora is fast vanishing. Previously, non-industrialized
countries gen-erated substantial amounts of industrial
trace element emissions and toxic trace element
waste and this has increased. For instance, the non-
industrialized countries’ much higher population
growth rate in comparison with that of industrialized
countries suggests a potentially expansive demand
for services and metallic goods. Population growth
has been mainly concentrated in urban areas, which
have been the conventional nerve cen-tres for trace
element pollution. The typical unplanned urban
growth of non-industrial-ized countries is usually
followed by augmented traffic and energy
consumption, unfavourable industrial sites,
accompanied by trace element pollution[26-28].
Toxic chemicals are substances which are
deleterious to biota. While some cause harm to
human beings, they may not affect flora and fauna.
For instance, a special concern is for those
substances which bioconcentrate in food chains and
accumulate without fatal impact in species utilized
for human food but express toxicity effects in human
beings. Of extreme concern are those which are
poiso-nous to both humans and other species which
functionally maintain ecological conditions
conducive for our habitation. The essential purposes
for toxic substances control include the protection of
human health as well as other fauna and flora and
the biotic ecosys-tem function[29]. Extensive
advances have been made in articulating the
scientific dimensions of handling toxic chemicals in
the environment. Scientific knowledge is in
existence for the control of any specific emis-sion,
the clean-up of any specific dump and for the
protection of the population against any specific
exposure source. These actions
[ 11 ]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma are, however, costly in terms of money, time and
Sr Perspectives for a manpower, so that their simultaneous achievement
sustainable society renders their implementation impossible. As
Environmental previously stated, the major uncertainties are not in
Management and Health the scientific ques-tions but in the policy questions,
7/5 [1996] 5–20 such as priority setting, satisfaction with the level
of “cleanliness” and the degree of spending
required to restrict the entry of chemicals into the
environment[30].
Inordinate tons of solid waste are generated and
discarded by society annually, with spe-cial
emphasis on activities involved in indus-try, mining,
forestry and agriculture. Individ-ually generated
waste is important because:
• distinct from other source of waste produc-tion,
community solid waste is usually discarded at a
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site remote from its origin;
• it is the direct responsibility of the dis-
charger; and
• with augmentation in the amounts of waste, the
ultimate disposal site diminishes.
Problems associated with hazardous sub-stances
and wastes, caused by industrial chemical
production in substantial quanti-ties and
indiscriminate and unregulated disposal
procedures can be addressed by source reduction,
emphasis on pollution prevention, increased
dependence on infor-mation tools, an integrated
multi-media approach to environmental problems
and toxic chemicals identification[3,30-32].
Waste research must entail waste preven-tion and
recycling investigation and develop-ment, adequate
disposal technology and con-cern for contaminated
soils. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) of
wastes and analytical methods including analysis of
the life cycle of diverse products and metal fluxes
are required to address these issues. A model for
waste material fluxes is needed for deci-sion support
on waste prevention, treatment and recycling,
landfill leachate management, isolation and
compaction of disposal areas having natural and
modified soil substances, as well as evaluation of
risks to waste dis-posal and contaminated soil sites.
An expan-sion of this model and approach must
include overall risk evaluation, uncertainty and deci-
sion analysis and waste EIA. Waste manage-ment is
being opted for in lieu of disposal[33].
Ecotoxicological research regarding the
environment and biota must be concerned with the
impact of chemicals and their metabolites. Emphasis
must be given to the effects of toxic substances on
essential/ beneficial microbes in various media, the
soil biota and decomposition mechanisms. The
atmospheric anthropogenic burden has sub-stantially
augmented trace element deposi-tion. It is pertinent
to estimate soil trace
[ 12 ]
element accumulation and assess their impact on
terrestrial environments as well as to undertake
research and plan for environ-mental accidents, such
as oil and chemical spills. An operational model
must be devel-oped to combat oil and chemical
spills and to estimate such spillage objectively,
including monitoring of both short- and long-term
envi-ronmental impact. Moreover, investigation of
fertilizer and pesticide impact on groundwa-ter and
chemical transport modelling in groundwater is
needed.
Climate
Global changes and warming as well as the
greenhouse effect and sea-level rise have joined the
list of ecological priorities, such as pollution,
environmental impact and the ozone layer[34].
Social processes of adapta-tion and adjustment are
the focus in human development and environment
interactions. Less is understood regarding how such
processes are responsive to long-term envi-
ronmental alterations. If social and economic
systems are configured to meet the antici-pated
impact of extensive climatic events, it is a logical
assumption that human activities should be
harmonized to a perceived climatic risk level.
Agricultural developments in response to long-term
climate changes fre-quently augment society’s
susceptibility to perturbations that may be finally
caused by other events. Interpretatively, long-term
cli-mate changes exert certain of their substan-tial
social impacts through related changes in the
frequency of extreme events. Small alter-ations in
climate seem to manifest distinct effects on the
frequency of extreme events, on risk levels and on
the course or pattern of optimum response strategies.
For instance, if farmers are wishing for the
maximization of average payoff proceed with a
specific crop during a drier season, the lowest
average payout possible would result. Invariably, the
impact of climate alteration on those who do or do
not grasp the signal and decline to adjust, can have
far-reaching consequences[35]. The most marked
instance of global pollution has been the effect of
industrial chemicals, the chlorofluorocar-bons
(CFCs) on the stratospheric ozone layer.
Undoubtedly, anthropogenic actions, particu-larly
fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, are
augmenting the atmospheric levels of greenhouse
gases. These gases cause the entrapment of heat that
would have escaped from the Earth into space.
Entrapped heat raises the Earth’s temperature in
excess of normal value. There would be unequal
distri-bution of the warming phenomenon – less at
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma the equator and more at the poles – causing the
Sr Perspectives for a ocean to expand and increase the sea level; at higher
sustainable society temperatures, the polar ice will melt in substantial
Environmental amounts accompa-nied by increased sea level and,
Management and Health consequently, flooding[36].
7/5 [1996] 5–20
The projected global climate change will
significantly impact on the hydrological cycle,
including environmental biological and chemical
reactions, with resultant alterations in land use,
followed by alterations in mater-ial input. Climate
change research should objectively analyse the
impact on the hydrology and ecology of various
media with methods which comprise empirical
investiga-tions, such as base-line and historical data
evaluation, experimental studies and mathe-matical
modelling.
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Environmental acidification must be inves-tigated
with regard to critical sulphur and nitrogen loads for
soils and waters, chemical processes governing
acidification of surface waters and the need for
acidified catchment neutralization. Critical loads of
acidifying substances, exclusively identified for
soils and waters or other relevant media, may be
applied in control strategy development for
transboundary pollutants. Where critical loads are
exceeded, they have to be mapped for the entire
country. Dynamic models for various types of media
acidification may be applied for analysing temporal
acidification development and time scales for
approaching critical loads to obviate damaging
impacts. Also necessary is an inventory of
essentially acid-sensitive waters, criteria for site
selec-tion for neutralization practices and impacts
and useful mathematical models for the assessment
of acidified water neutralization.
Energy
Human consumption of several essential resources
and production of numerous types of pollutants have
already exceeded physi-cally sustainable rates. In the
absence of substantial decreases in material and
energy flows, in the immediate future there will be
an uncontrollable reduction in per capita food output,
energy consumption and indus-trial output. The
changes required to forestall this decline include
comprehensive policy revision and practices which
control material consumption and population growth
and which promote rapid, marked enhancement in
the efficiency of material and energy con-sumption.
The transition to a sustainable society requires a
good match between long-run and short-run goals
with emphasis on equity and quality of life rather
than quanti-fied output; it goes beyond productivity
and
technology and also aims for maturity, com-
passion and wisdom[12].
In most energy policy discussions, only the
immediate energy situation is taken into account.
The most adequate energy policy is one that
provides the possibility of a sustained energy source
and supply into future generations. In the
development of a sustainable energy policy, we have
to under-stand energy consumption patterns,
efficiency concepts and optimum consump-tion of
various energy sources. Once these principles are
grasped, we will succeed in matching energy
supplies with our consump-tion of energy as well as
addressing how energy supply sustainability is
associated with other questions, such as conservation
in its entirety, population control and renewable
energy resource development[37].
Energy consumption has a higher environ-mental
impact than any other individual human activity.
Fossil fuels are responsible for in excess of 90 per
cent of global purchased energy and are a great
source of environmen-tal degradation. Coal, oil and
gas combustion give rise to air pollution as well as
acid rain which cause tree, crop and aquatic life
derangement. Fossil fuel is limited and its
consumption is the major factor in the atmos-pheric
build-up of greenhouse gases which generate climate
change[3].
There is ever-increasing evidence that
anthropogenic activities are causing global climate
change, with global warming and stratospheric
ozone depletion being the most perplexing. It is
suggested that as a result of several human activities,
including industri-alization and deforestation,
extensive concen-trations of carbon dioxide and
other detri-mental gases are being released into the
atmosphere. Owing to the increased atmos-
pheric accumulation of these gases, sunlight
penetrates and impedes the radiation of the Earth’s
heat back to space, thus leading to a warming trend
on the Earth’s surface[38-40].
Science and technology
Science and technology, in contributing to
environmental, economic and social develop-ment,
must be directed to identify and control
environmental risks and solve environmental
problems and to work for society’s common benefit.
In the context of environmental prob-lems, scientific
research and development, both domestic and global
must be promoted, particularly in non-industrialized
nations. On this score, the free flow of current scien-
tific information, expertise and experience transfer
must be supported, assisted, encour-aged and
recognized for the facilitation of
[ 13 ]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma environmental problems. Environmental and
Sr Perspectives for a developmental technologies must be made available
sustainable society to non-industrialized countries on favourable and
Environmental conducive terms which encourage their extensive
Management and Health dissemination without constituting an undue
7/5 [1996] 5–20
economic burden to non-industrialized nations.
Optimum standards, rules and regulations,
including other approaches for environmen-tal
quality control, must result from value analyses, in
contradistinction to the tradi-tional procedure which
constrictively cen-tralizes on physical effects and
objectives. Research concerned with economic
valua-tions related to environmental management
has made substantial advances but has started to
reveal several complex problems. Even prudently
estimated valuation-based standards, rules and
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regulations influencing individual, industrial and
local governmental decisions often cannot acquire
optimal envi-ronmental quality management. What
is frequently indicated is the need for extensive
direct and explicit concerted action on a more
expansive scale – for instance, by state or federal
government. Institutionally, society is not well-
equipped to implement the relevant management
systems and approaches sug-gested by economic and
engineering analyses and yet adequately designed
research for proper institutional and organizational
con-figuration has not even started.
The impact of technology, new disease risks,
pollution, etc., are all newsworthy, but news
headlines do not often offer the optimal input to an
intricate community decision. The community has to
obtain information by other mechanisms including
radio, newspa-pers and television. A vast majority of
jour-nalists have the notion that mortality figures are
more exciting than morbidity incidences, and are not
interested in being notified about pollution in the
community. Thus, the media’s influence may result
in the distortion of judgement; but
oversimplification or exag-geration of
environmental problems is a nec-essary risk if it
commands a better commu-nity response to issues of
environmental protection and development.
Women and children
Recognition of the overwhelmingly impor-tant role
that women play in humanity’s development has
not necessarily been ade-quately translated into
planning practice. According to the UN
Commission’s special rapporteur appointed by the
Secretary-General, for a study on the
interrelationship between the status of women and
family
[ 14 ]
planning on 27 November 1973, it was neces-sary
to determine:
To what extent do women compared to men have
access to knowledge, to economic resources, to
political power and what degree of personal
autonomy do these resources permit? A related and
more quan-tifiable approach is to assess the range
of choices or options available to women as
compared to men in the same society (or to women
in different societies or subgroups) in the areas of
education, employment, political life and other
relevant areas. Both approaches are based on the
assumption that low status derives from a lack of
control over material or social resources and a lack
of choice in the unfolding of one’s destiny[41].
In non-industrialized nations, women’s health status
has remained relatively low and, in the 1980s,
poverty, malnutrition and general disability in
women were ever-increasing. Many women in non-
industrial-ized nations still lack adequate basic
educa-tional opportunities, the means for health
promotion and improvement, responsible control of
their reproductive lives and improvement of their
socio-economic status with particular attention for
the provision of pre-natal care for ensuring healthy
babies.
Human resources development for the health of
children and women entails rein-forcement of
educational institutions, promo-tion of interactive
methods of health educa-tion and enhanced mass
media use for infor-mation dissemination to target
groups. This necessitates the training of additional
health and health-related workers, social scientists
and educators as well as the education of mothers,
families and communities and the undergirding of
ministries of education, health, etc. It is necessary to
promote:
• the organization of local and international
symposia and other meetings for informa-
tion exchange among agencies and groups
interested in the health of children,
youths, women and local inhabitants; and
• women’s organizations, youth groups and
local organizations for the facilitation of
health and consultation on the creation,
amendment and enforcement of legal
frameworks in order to ensure a healthy
environment[41] for the vulnerable groups
in focus.
Development co-operation must provide for
structural-functional institutions which have
economic, environmental, political and
administrative sustainability, i.e. their exis-tence
should not be dependent on external aid or
intervention. Within market economy conditions it
means that economic factors are undistorted by aid
or detract from the
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma recipient’s vital production and absorption
Sr Perspectives for a capacity.
sustainable society
Environmental
Management and Health Environmental
7/5 [1996] 5–20 protection institutions
There is no ideal blueprint in existence for
environmental institutions, but a formal high-level
agency for policy setting and implementation in all
areas should markedly lead to environmental
management improve-ment. The administrative
capacity for the analysis and implementation of
policies has often been outpaced by policy making,
how-ever. With an inordinate increase in laws, there
come into existence extensive contra-dictory
regulations which overwhelm the enforcement
capabilities of governments and their agencies. The
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resultant effect is scepti-cal perception of laws and
the environmental commitment of government as
well as emer-gent corruption. The gap between
policy formulation and implementation has to be
bridged as in the reformation of government
machinery as regards environmental ques-tions.
Institution building is a long-term process that is
dependent on local conditions, political factors,
availability of finance, man-power facilities and
other infrastructure including logistics. It is often less
difficult to enhance existing structures. In practical
terms, the structure of environmental admin-istration
is not as vital as the ability to accomplish a given
task. All government agencies need the capacity for
the setting of priorities, co-ordination and resolution
of conflicts, as well as regulation and enforce-ment.
The key is defined statutory powers to resolve
intragovernmental tussles and the ability to provide
continuity during adminis-trative changes. Policy
implementation is usually carried out by states
systematically and administratively monitoring
environ-mental problems, backed by local
government representation. Local capacity has been
weak, but, in Nigeria for instance, a provision exists,
from a 1988 decree, for the establish-ment of local
environmental protection units. The majority of these
local governments have a limited capacity to handle
environmental management responsibilities. To
pursue effective decentralization in the country, a
corresponding transfer of finance and man-power has
to occur to obviate the creation of a policy vacuum
where the centre sheds responsibilities and exposes
the inability of local government to function
effectively. The legal basis for environmental and
resource management may require the repealing of
established or outmoded laws in line with
new conceptual codifications which have to be
incorporated meaningfully into existing laws and
governmental procedures as well as traditional local
laws[42].
In recent years, there has been a gradual shift in
interest in the environment from the sole concern of
special-interest groups to the focus of the public.
The response has been tremendous with the growth
in numbers of citizens involving themselves in
various environmental efforts and an ever-increasing
number of established organizations. The
environmental movement is representative of a
massive radical social change which opposes the
dominant western global exploitative view and its
three assumptions that:
1 possibilities and benefits exist for
unrestricted economic growth;
2 technology is the solution to several
perplexing problems; and
3 a market economy and some state inter-
vention can mitigate environmental and social
problems.
Competing environmental paradigms assert that:
• limits should be set to growth;
• science and technology should be
restrained; and
• humanity must respect the delicate bal-ance
and finite resources of nature[3].
It is evident that regulations for the protec-tion of
employees from on-the-job hazards are not as strict
in most non-industrialized coun-tries in comparison
to industrialized coun-tries. Generally, working
conditions in indus-trialized countries are negotiated
as a part of collective bargaining agreements
between labour and management. Workers usually
demand conditions perceived to be safer than those
provided under prevailing standards and guidelines
or that make provision for protection against
unregulated hazards. Representatives of the various
environmental groups, trade unions and other
interests need to be especially active in this area. At a
mini-mum, they should stress the concern that
existing laws and regulations which are meant for
environmental and human health protection from
industrial and agricultural practices in developing
countries are not attenuated.
As a domestic tool, EIA needs to be applied to
proposed projects for the determination of probable
effects subject to a final decision by a competent
local authority and participant decision making.
Broad adaptation to local circumstances and
demands is essential for effective, efficient and
sustainable
[ 15 ]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma development. This is achievable with active
Sr Perspectives for a community participation in the determina-tion of
sustainable society environmental and developmental needs and
Environmental priorities resulting in a durable and fruitful result.
Management and Health
7/5 [1996] 5–20 The most effective use of natural resources is the
allocation of a larger portion of expen-diture to
community-based sustainable devel-opment. Efforts
for the solution of resource shortages by the
mobilization of extra funds must ensure equity,
efficiency, effectivity and quality of environment
and development programmes. For the achievement
of sustain-able goals, effective and efficient manage-
ment is essential. Managers should under-take needs
assessment and set priorities, organize sustainable
programmes responsive to the environment and
development needs of the population, maintain the
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infrastructure, supplies and communications
including other logistics, monitor finance and
evaluate the sustainability of programmes. Human
resources need to be developed by training and
orientation for the articulation and implementation
of sustainable programmes. Training is essential in
management skills, using and understanding
information sys-tems in co-ordination with
communities and local organizations including other
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
governmental agencies. What is actually needed is
the enactment of effective environ-mental legislation
that encompasses environ-mental standards,
management objectives and priorities in an
environment and devel-opment framework, with
domestic law devel-opment in respect of liability
and compensa-tion for environmental degradation
affecting individuals.
Population and
macroeconomic
changes
The issue of population constitutes an intri-cate and
highly political question. Within the several groups
that are directly interested in the population issue,
no consensus exists regarding the appropriate
approach. There are three broad-based approaches
about the population issue:
1 The population rate approach uses various rates,
such as birth rate, mortality, migra-tion, etc.,
which influence population growth for the
projection of future trends. It is, however,
indifferent to other influenc-ing factors, such as
availability of natural resources, capital growth
or innovative technology. Lowering the birth rate
by family planning using contraceptives is the
basis of the population rate approach.
[ 16 ]
It is not actually known how much family
planning programmes really result in decreased
fertility and birth rates.
2 The development approach asserts that
development per se slows population growth by
offering women of childbearing age alternatives
for social wellbeing, satis-faction and security
and is favoured by multilateral lending agencies.
The demo-graphic transition theory which stems
from this approach is universally inapplicable
and inconsistent.
3 The resource approach entails a wider ecological
context in effecting a relation-ship between a
population and the sup-porting resource base. A
population is not overpopulated if it can be
sustained with-out depletion of the resource base
and without environmental degradation. The
resource approach contradicts the develop-ment
approach as the requirements for social change
create the media for increased resource use[43-
45].
Unfortunately for their export earnings, non-
industrialized countries are grossly depen-dent on
minerals and agricultural commodi-ties which
fluctuate in price at a relative disadvantage to the
price of imported goods. Moreover, the commodity
market will proba-bly reduce in the future because
of increased efficiency in manufacturing and
technology resulting in decreased commodity inputs
needed for production. A mixed economy exists in
most non-industrialized nations; this may be
remedied by the increased export of manufactured
goods, improved marketing and infrastructure
development, such as transportation and
telecommunications[46].
The current reforms in industrialized coun-tries are
apparently contextually incompati-ble in non-
industrialized nations, however. In
addition to the magnitude of information needed, the
approach in industrialized coun-tries is the
augmentation of services which are often already
more than adequate and effective[47]. Wide scope
for improvement of technical efficiency through
undergirding of management and skills upgrading,
as well as improvement of service conditions, exists
in non-industrialized nations. However, a large
proportion of the population has no access to the
necessary public services. The non-indus-trialized
world can make use of ideas from recent reforms
and the privatization mecha-nism in industrialized
nations to enhance public sector efficiency. In non-
industrialized countries, a variety of changes is
imminent, but most of the poor nations are
concerned with making an in-depth examination of
the means for improvement in efficiency and
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma performance of the public sector relative to the
Sr Perspectives for a private sector.
sustainable society Therefore, there is the implication that
Environmental environmental and developmental improve-ments
Management and Health are achievable in societies if social, political,
7/5 [1996] 5–20 economic and technical resources are mobilized. The
strategy is not merely technology- or process-
oriented but a combi-nation of both. Technology
creates the condi-tions for achievement of desired
ends with expansive efficiency and effectiveness
while taking into consideration the consumptive
acceptability and effectivity of the inputs and
outputs of technology. Several non-industrial-ized
countries have embarked on large-scale economic
reforms with the commitment to structural
adjustment programmes which have entailed an
emphatic change, rather than a distinct social and
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economic struc-tural shift for most of these
countries[48].
Sustainable development does not address the
means by which the economies of indus-trialized
countries can expand in the face of ever-decreasing
space for human-generated products and wastes;
and it presumes the need for non-industrialized
countries to progress along different lines from
indust-rialized countries. However, it provides for:
1 ecological economics that integrate envi-
ronmental matters and economics in pol-icy
development resulting in the internal-ization of
environmental costs; and
2 financial support for non-industrialized
countries to slow population growth and
practise soil protection, degraded land
reforestation, energy efficiency enhance-ment,
renewable energy development and debt
reduction by establishing:
• an international environmental facility to
assist work co-ordination of existing agencies
and lending institutions on conservation
projects;
• investments for sustainable resource
consumption by the private sector by means
of a pilot “Ecovest” programme;
• innovative approaches for debt reduc-tion
and debt-for-nature swap schemes and
bilateral debt-conversion programmes; and
• a global environmental trust fund to reduce
the build up of greenhouse gases and assist in
the maintenance of the ecosystems in non-
industrialized nations[49-52].
The persistent schism separating planning and
implementation implies that focus has to be on the
perquisite conditions for plan implementation and
achievement of sustain-able development targets, as
well as the set-ting of goals and targets which are
achievable
under prevailing conditions and sustainable both in
the short and long run. It is dependent on the
clarification of the existing functional linkages
between the various levels in the economic, political
and social system which were intended for the
preparation, revision and approval of plans.
Inasmuch as there has been movement towards
organizational change within government, the
essential forces for change are the resultant influence
of the more expansive economic and political
environmental operative mechanism of government.
There has been an inordinate documenta-tion of
several problems of domestic resource management,
with anecdotal information on the documentation of
access or quality improvement through domestic
management of resources culminating in increased
access or better sustainability outcomes. This area
needs further technical support for imple-mentation
and improved experiential docu-mentation is a
matter of urgency. Administra-tive and political
realities in poverty-ridden nations contradict the
successful operative mechanisms of such a
schematic pattern and hence signal the immediate
need for progres-sive exploration of alternative
solutions.
Discussion
At present, global threats to the basic condi-tions
and necessities for life are evident, such as
increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentration, ozone layer dissipation, soil and
water acidification from sulphur emis-sions, non-
renewable resource exhaustion and environmental
contamination. Society must set out with
determination to discover a new, healthier lifestyle
by changing behav-iour, attitude and habits of
consumption to articulate fully the principle of
sustainable development. Sustainable development
means that, in the fulfilment of needs, features that
would undermine or be deleteri-ous to the quality of
life for present and future generations must be
avoided.
A key element essential to sustainability is social
mobilization through mass media. By means of
mass media, social change is being effected very
quickly; however, this is being negated by
commercialized promotion of poor health
practices[53]. Society also needs to create political,
economic and social insti-tutions to take
multifaceted approaches to dealing with domestic
sustainability prob-lems, including the development
of skilled manpower to address the problems for
our environment in order to propose and
[ 17 ]
 Chrysanthus Chukwuma implement solutions as well as monitor the
Sr Perspectives for a progress of endeavours made.
sustainable society Another key strategy for sustainable devel-
Environmental opment is the education of society to alter
Management and Health objectively its perception of the environment and to
7/5 [1996] 5–20 encourage less materialistic tendencies and more
deeply rooted pragmatism. Besides efforts to alter
attitude and behaviour, a gov-ernmental role in
planning, directing and monitoring policy
implementation and resource allocation becomes
pertinent.
The immediate future will demand optimal
government competence in both foreign and
domestic affairs and will require political
imagination, courage, innovation and leader-ship. In
the foreign sector, it is necessary to display new
thinking and radical innovations in different
Downloaded by Universiti Utara Malaysia At 18:09 10 December 2017 (PT)
dimensions, such as what relates national
governments and transnational functions as well as
regional organizations, emergent and distinctly
varied regions[54]. Domestically, there is a need to
make govern-ment effective and efficient for the
welfare of present and future generations, even
though governments have been confronted with
societal fragmentation of pluralistic organi-zations at
various times throughout history and there is a
virtual degradation of govern-ments’ capability to
reach decisions under pressure from special-interest
groups. Since they alone have legitimacy, only
national governments and their political leaders can
achieve the task that must be accomplished.
Governments must generate a modicum of
performance capability by:
• eschewing dysfunctional and obsolete
approaches which do not and will never
contribute to a better future;
• focusing on functional, productive and enhancing
approaches for improvement in our performance
and creative abilities; and
• carrying out analytical, honest and patri-otic
evaluations of our past and present trajectory as
citizens of a sustainable future.
Present and future governments must strive for the
promotion of economic growth and social
development, for the preservation or creation of
peace, law and order and for democracy as well as
respect for human rights within every nation. To put
these into effect, resources must be made available
to local governments, from both state and fed-eral
levels of government. The basis for a national effort
to develop co-operation must be the negation of
variations in wealth and wellbeing between diverse
groups within the nation. The extent to which such
differences exist is deemed objectionable from the
[ 18 ]
rationale and moral human perspective and
threatens the progress and security of any nation.
The major aims of development within society
must include:
• large-scale poverty minimization as well as its
ultimate elimination;
• obviation of domestic and global environ-
mental threats by the enhancement of
environmental improvements; and
• the promotion of democracy, equality and the
respect of human rights within society.
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[ 20 ]
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