Environment: Component, Human-Environment Relationship & Sustainable Development

Concept of Environment

• Environment is defined as, “the sum total of living and nonliving components; influences and events surrounding an organism”.
• Environment is derived from the French word environ which means to encircle or surround while meant auctioning, i.e., environment is the interaction between organisms and nature. 
• Environment is the sum total of air, water and land interrelationship among themselves and also with the human beings, plants, animals and other Organisms.
• Living components can tolerate changes in the environment within a certain range called ‘range of tolerance’.

Components: Abiotic and Biotic

Broadly the environment comprises abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) components.

Exploring Environmental Realms: Types of Environments from Nature to Human-Made

• External environment: It is an surrounding environment  in which living beings primarily inhabit. E.g. a fish living in a natural pond.
• Internal environment: It is an inside environment of the body of  living beings. E.g. The body cavity within the fish provides an internal environment.
• Natural environment: The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and nonliving things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. E.g. forests, grasslands, savannah and deserts.
• Artificial environment: Environment that is  made artificially by humans through planned manipulation. E.g. like crop fields, cities and industrial spaces.

Human- Environment Relationship

The various approaches to human-environment relationship are determinism, possibilism and environmentalism.

• Determinism: This concept was developed by German Geographer Friedrich Ratzel, which was further expanded by Ellsworth Huntington. This approach is based on the concept of ‘nature controls human’ or ‘earth made human’. This is also known as environmental determinism. According to this approach, human beings are largely influenced by nature.
• Possibilism: This term was coined by the French historian, Lucien Febvre. Possibilism approach in the study of human-environment relationship is an offshoot of the criticism of environmental determinism. According to this approach, the pattern of human activity is the result of the initiative and mobility of human beings operating within the natural framework.
• Environmentalism or Ecological Approach: This approach emphasizes on wise and restrained use of natural resources and application of appropriate environmental management programmes, policies and strategies keeping in view certain basic principles of ecology so that already depleted natural resources are replenished, and health and productivity of nature is restored. The ecological approach is best reflected in the concept of sustainable development.

Sustainable Development: Balancing Economic Growth, Social Equity, and Environmental Preservation

• The concept of Sustainable Development was formally defined in the report titled “Our Common Future”. This report was an outcome of the deliberation of a group constituted by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) and chaired by the then Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
•  The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as the development that involves “…meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
• The concept of sustainable development is now well accepted at international, national and local levels. This has been emerging as a strong alternative model of development after a long debate and discussion since Rio Summit in1992. Sustainable development means different things to different people. 
• There are three important disciplines traditionally concerned with the processes involved in conceptualizing sustainable development. 

1. The discipline of economics is mainly concerned with growth, efficiency and the optimum use of resources. 
2. On the other hand, sociologists mainly focus on human needs and on concepts like equity, empowerment and social cohesion. 
3. Ecologists show their greatest concern for preserving natural systems, for living within the carrying capacity of the environment, and for dealing efficiently with pollution.

•  Today this sectarian approach to development adopted by the above mentioned disciplines has been rejected. Now, it has been argued that sustainable development will be achieved where the concerns of these three groups are addressed in a holistic manner.

 Sustainable Development:  Endurance, Harmony, and the Evolution from Human Needs to Rights

“Sustainability” is the capacity to endure. The word “sustainability” is derived from the latin “sustinere” (Tenere = to hold; sus= up).

• Dictionaries provide more than ten meanings for sustain, the main ones being to “maintain”, “support”, or “endure”.
•  Furthermore, as has been pointed out by Michael Redclift the sustainability discussion has gradually, over the years, moved almost imperceptibly away from “human needs” to “human rights”. 
• Therefore, Sustainability refers to a process which can be continued indefinitely without depleting the resource base on which it depends. Therefore, it is the practical goal towards which our interaction with the natural world should be directed. The guiding principles of sustainability cut across ecological, economic, social and cultural dimensions.

For centuries humans have considered the earth and environment as virtually unlimited resources but subtle and gradual changes have altered our environment in many different ways. Thus environment studies help in protection and conservation of the environment, fostering the principles of sustainable development for a balanced and lasting future.

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