Sustainable Development

Sustainable development

Sustainable development refers to a mode of human development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while ensuring the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. The term 'sustainable development' was used by the Brundtland Commission, which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

The people now living on the earth are using more natural resources than all previous generations. And let's not forget the serious imbalance these days: 20% of the world's population uses 80% of the planet's resources!

The world's population doesn't stop growing, and we always want more of everything. Everyone has the right to a proper standard of living, and yet the Earth's resources are limited.

What can we do?

This 2 concrete examples of sustainable development:

Forests, often abandoned, are being managed again: old trees have been felled and wood waste from forestry and other industries such as chips and pallets have been recuperated. Wood is a renewable resource, so Lithuania is planting new trees to continue using this source of energy. Burning wood instead of gas or oil reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In this way, Lithuania is respecting a good part of its global environmental protection commitments.

And this is how the TEOR, the Rouen East-West transportation project saw the light of day. It looks like a bus, but it is not just a bus nor is it really a train. Of course, it has wheels, but the thing that really sets it apart is its own dedicated corridor. No other vehicle can get in its way. The bus is large enough to carry a lot of passengers and is adapted to the needs of disabled passengers. Since it has nothing to fear from traffic jams, it is fast and is always on time. Moreover, it doesn't pollute much.

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