Sustainable development

Problem-solution essay: Sustainable Development
The current capitalist mode of production has created a range of environmental imbalances as a consequence of its economic development. With the purpose of preserving the environment, in 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland Report, which included what is now one of the most widely recognized definitions of Sustainable development: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." However, due to the fact that reducing pollution and consumption of natural resources means setting limits to growth, creating and implementing policies to promote sustainable development are challenges to any country and a problem to future generations. On the one side, developed countries want to maintain their economic power and increase their rates of growth. On the other side, underdeveloped countries claim the right of exploring resources and having the same access to development other countries had. An example of how hard is to deal with those two sides occurred during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen. The clash between developed and underdeveloped countries took place during the meeting, resulting in small shallow agreements, taking into consideration the high expectations created by media. Consequently, if measures are not taken in order to create strategies to preserve the environment, future generations will suffer from the shortage of natural resources on which humanity relies to survive.
Among the possible solutions to solve this problem, analyzing the role of civil society in this issue is a very interesting suggestion to be considered. Civil society has a powerful contribution to make in both framing and implementing effective sustainable-development policies. By the increasing use of internet and social networks, people’s movements can be mobilized with the purpose of