{"id":955,"date":"2010-02-28T19:54:02","date_gmt":"2010-02-28T19:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.internationaldiplomat.com\/?p=955"},"modified":"2010-02-28T19:54:02","modified_gmt":"2010-02-28T19:54:02","slug":"sustainable-development-geneva-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/?p=955","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable development in the Geneva region"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are all familiar with the problems\u00a0: the gap between rich and poor\u00a0; the loss of biodiversity\u00a0; climate change\u00a0; the decline in natural resources\u00a0; pollution of the air, water and soil\u00a0; acres of refuse. It is clear that the world is not working in a way that can be sustained in the long term.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.internationaldiplomat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_62341357.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-38\" alt=\"International Newspapers\" src=\"http:\/\/www.internationaldiplomat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/shutterstock_62341357-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>Accepting this situation, the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 launched \u201cAgenda 21\u201d. This is a program to ensure \u201csustainable development\u201d, that is to say development that meets the needs of the present generation without comprising the needs of future generations.<br \/>\nIf everyone on Earth used as many resources as we do in Western Europe, we would need three planets to satisfy humanity. Therefore, if the human race is to survive we must choose goods and services that consume less energy and preserve natural resources. This would mean opting for quality and sustainability and avoiding quantity and excess.<br \/>\nThe Johannesburg World Summit in 2002 required us all to become \u201cresponsible consumers\u201d. This means adopting responsible patterns of consumption hand in hand with sustainable modes of production. Sustainable living is all about consuming better by using less energy and natural resources.<br \/>\nWhen shopping, we should ask ourselves such questions as\u00a0: \u2022 Was this product traded fairly\u00a0? \u2022 Did its manufacture damage the environment\u00a0? \u2022 Did its manufacture deplete natural resources\u00a0? \u2022 Was this product manufactured under decent working conditions\u00a0? \u2022 How long will it last\u00a0? \u2022 Can it be recycled\u00a0?<br \/>\nA product whose sales price reflects these criteria may well be more expensive than its competitors. However, the money that would be saved in buying a cheaper product today may have to be paid back later \u201cwith interest\u201d in its impact on the planet.<br \/>\nNational governments and local governments are now beginning to have their own \u201cAgenda 21\u201d programs. The Canton of Geneva has produced a dossier of information sheets designed to educate people into adopting responsible and sustainable patterns of behavior. This dossier, entitled \u201cThe Geneva Guide to Sustainable Living\u201d, is available free of charge in English from\u00a0: Service cantonal du d\u00a0?veloppement durable, Quai Ernest Ansermet 18 bis, 1205 Gen\u00a0?ve. 022 388 19 40\u00a0; Fax 022 388 19 49\u00a0;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.geneve.ch\/agenda21\" rel=\"nofollow external\">www.geneve.ch\/agenda21<\/a>.<br \/>\nThe Guide can also be downloaded from the above website.<br \/>\nJohn Fox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are all familiar with the problems\u00a0: the gap between rich and poor\u00a0; the loss of biodiversity\u00a0; climate change\u00a0; the decline in natural resources\u00a0; pollution of the air, water and soil\u00a0; acres of refuse. It is clear that the world is not working in a way that can be sustained in the long term. Accepting<br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/12h71.com\/?p=955\">+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[532,539,2078],"tags":[2090,1143,3464,4246,4475],"class_list":["post-955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contributing-writers","category-english","category-geneva-international","tag-agenda-21-programs","tag-geneva","tag-john-fox","tag-rio-earth-summit","tag-sustainable-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}