The Problem

Why should we be concerned about Science's contribution to Sustainable Development?

The problems currently facing the long term health of our planet have arisen from the impact of the evolution of the human population. Our species moved from being organised around principles of small, autonomous and nomadic groups directly connected to nature to being highly complex and extremely large groups, interrelated to varying degrees but increasingly disconnected from the natural environment. This development, particularly since the start of the Industrial Revolution, has increasingly led to unreasonable demands upon the various earth systems. Thus we see, for instance, the global water system failing to respond to changes in other systems, such as the atmosphere, brought about by current human population demands.

There is, anthropocentrically maybe, a lot of Science in these statements. The irony is that Science itself is partially responsible for our current predicament as, for example, it fuelled the Industrial Revolution. However, Science can also be a force for good in that, used appropriately, those same methods and their outcomes can be used to address our past failings. So, morally there is an argument for a Science which is oriented towards Sustainable Development. Furthermore, the hope is that when young people - the future custodians of our planet after all - see that Science can solve problems as well as create them then they may well be encouraged to play a part in all our futures.