1. On well-being, the healthy family and the community

2. The role of families

3. Women's Issues

4. Personal Sustainable Development

5. Social Development

6. Earth Charter

7. Aboriginal peoples

8. Human Rights

9. Quality of Life

The world population is becoming more urban. It is the quality of the urban environment and its well-being that constitutes a challenge to any society. Cities are the centres of economic and cultural life of a nation's population. The public wants government expenditures to be directed to areas such as urban development, health, housing, education, crime prevention, recreation, environmental pollution control, waste management, aesthetic satisfaction, and many others. 

It is important to have social indicators that can tell us about the quality and costs of  essential elements such as: educational and cultural facilities, suitable community facilities and services, proper shelter, family life, security from crime, efficient and environmentally conscious transportation, social justice, aesthetic satisfaction and minority status. 

The scale of values obtained during this World Congress is providing us with a common unit of measurement. We are now able to evaluate and compare the same categories of measurement in different cities.

Over a period of several years, indicators show which cities are able to solve their problems successfully, which are just making it, and which are not getting anywhere.

10. Global Ethics

11. Genetic resources

12. Public discussions: listening to all voices

13. Eradication of poverty

14. Wars, armed conflicts, and violence

15. Earth Management

16. Cooperation between developing and developed countries

During the past three decades, the size and composition of external capital flows to developing countries have gone through major changes.

Since the beginning of 1990 we have witnessed a rapid expansion of private capital inflows due mainly to the rapid liberalization of markets and privatization of economic activity in developing countries. The private sector has become the principal borrower.

Large amounts of capitals from foreign direct investment are now making their ways to developing countries. They are a supplementary investment to private capital inflows.

The success of the integration of developing countries into the international trading system depends largely on the effective management of their exchange rates.

17. Human health

The World Health Organization's definition of health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

Health of people is affected by pollutants. A tissue carries a pollutant burden if it contains an environmental residue greater than that needed for optimum growth and development. Human pollutant burden patterns may serve as indicators of the environmental quality. Human tissues can furnished important insights into current pollution problems. Tissue burdens in human tissues contain exposures from multiple routes and can provide important intelligence for the setting and appraisal of environmental standards. 

18. Education and training

19. Spiritual values helping a sustainable future

20. Transboundary agreements

21. Disability and globalization

22. Human evolutionary development

23. Institutions for Environmental Governance: Issues of Community Participation and Sustainable Development

24. International and interstate conflicts on the base of environmental stress

25. Social-economical problems of environmental refugees

26. Sustainable urban community development

There is a need to facilitate communication among all people in an urban community site and provide them with adequate information about a sustainable urban community development. Indicators and indices must be made available and easily translated by the users for implementation  at the site. There has to be good communications between the scientific and technical people and the users. Potential users are:

• City planners 

• Most people in an urban community, the public

• Government officials

• Regulatory and Judiciary Agencies

• Scientists and engineers

• Special interest groups

The appropriate data will be examined when specific issues arise. By adding the predictive capability of indicators we have given everyone a sound tool in the development of an urban community.

It is important to explore the extent to which the quality of the urban environment influences health, personality, well-being, and behavior.

27. Globalization

28. The Global Community: its objectives, the GCAC, the Charter, the grassroots process and the organization

29. World models to sustain Earth

30. Definition of Sustainable Development

31. Vision of Earth in Year 2024

32. The Scale of Values

33. A photo display presentation for interpreting sustainability

34. Dramatic play presentation

35. Implementation of Sustainable Development

36. Measurement and assessment of indicators

37. Population pressure

1. Ecological protection and management

Biological indicators are often used to monitor environmental quality; they can respond to many different compounds and they show cumulative effects over a period of time. They can tell us directly if there is pollution in the air or water that is harmful to life. 

  Ecosystems on land vary largely from those found in waters. They have also similarities. Terrestrial communities as well as aquatic communities are made of organisms that decompose detritus entering the system; primary producers absorb the sun's energy; herbivores feed upon the primary producers; carnivores feed upon herbivores; and omnivores. The energy efficiency of either food web is about the same. About as much as 15% of the energy in protoplasm in primary producers is passed on to the herbivores and slightly less is passed on from herbivores to carnivores.

A change in temperature and various types of pollution will affect differently species in water and those on land. We may first observe a change in sizes of population, then kinds of species, and finally the disappearance of species and a reduction of biomass.

It is an impossible task to describe and measure communities by one single index, such as a diversity index. Various models of communities must be used and as many different parameters as possible to properly describe a community. Changes in these various parameters will determine the effect of pollution. By measuring the effects of pollution on biological organisms one can monitor pollution and determine effects over time; the presence of pollution can be deduced by analyzing the structure of populations of organisms. Chemical analyses only identify pollutants at the point in time. Both approaches are necessary  to define pollution effects.

2. Sustainability of technological processes

3. Marine area management

4. Land management

5. Waste management

6. Energy management

7. Ozone layer protection

This subject has been discussed in depth in the Newsletter articles. 

8. Global warming

9. Climate changes assessment and management

World industrial activity is now profoundly affecting the atmospheric environment. It is now the number of humans and industrialization that makes the major impacts on the atmosphere. The most important changes affecting the atmosphere are due to the growth in the burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels increases carbon dioxide concentrations and air pollutants. The clearing of forested lands for agriculture and other purposes has reduced the amount of carbon absorbed by the forests and contributed to the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide. We have disturbed a fragile balance by causing chemical changes in the global atmosphere.

The most devastating effects of contamination of the atmosphere on a global scale include:

• An increase in greenhouse gas concentrations brought the warming of the climate;

• Depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer;

• Acidification of lakes and forests; and

• Toxic chemicals have contaminated our food chain on the land and in the waters.

The most sophisticated climate models take into account factors such as:

• The changes in the radiation balance of the Earth;

• Contamination of the atmosphere;

• Greenhouse gas concentrations;

• Absorption of heat by the oceans;

• The ice and snow fields;

• The hydrological cycle of precipitation; and

• The melting of glaciers and the Greenland ice cap.

A consequence of a warmer climate is a rise in global mean sea-level. Several countries will be more susceptible to inundations. We will see hundreds of millions of environmental refugees searching for land.

The mid-latitude wheat belts of the planet will dry; forest fires will wipe out most of the forests; world food markets will have to adjust to help a starving population. 

Tourism and wildlife in the tropics will be seriously affected by a temperature that is just too hot.

Tropical diseases will cause epidemics.

Major changes in evaporation and precipitation patterns will not adjust quickly enough to supply the population with water it needs to survive; agriculture will become a dying industry either because of too much water or not enough of it.

Sub-Arctic communities will disappear because of the melting of the permafrost.

It is well known that biological communities of the waters and of the land absorb and bio-accumulate toxic contaminants through the food webs. Trace concentrations deposited by the atmosphere have become harmful. They are chemicals carried through the atmosphere to seas, rivers, lakes and other streams, and subsequently into sediments and soils. Metals and chemical contaminants can be absorbed for a long time, and are in fact chemical 'time bombs'. 

10. Air pollution

In an urban community site, air usually contains materials such as nitric oxide, sulfur oxide, carbon monoxide, aldehydes, dust and many others. A city would have a department measuring indicators and indices in order to:

• Provide a daily report to the public

• Define air quality in all parts of the city

• Measure progress toward air quality goals

• Propose abatement steps 

• Alarm the public in case of danger

• Provide data to researchers

• Provide information for compliance

• Make intelligent decisions with regard to priorities of programs toward environmental improvement

Urban air pollution is a mixture of several pollutants emitted from different energy and industrial processes, and of secondary pollutants in the atmosphere. Some air pollutants are more important than others. At a given concentration some pollutants are more toxic or more unpleasant. Pollutants have different effects related to health, economics and aesthetic:

• Particulates affects visibility, aesthetic and safety

• Oxidant irritate eyes and kill plants

• Sulphur oxides affect the human respiratory system, are corrosive, and have an unpleasant odor

• Nitrogen dioxide

• Carbon monoxide

11. Water pollution

12. Measurement and assessment of indicators

The environment is our life-support system, and is certainly the most important quality system. It is hoped that the evaluation of GESDI was helpful  in bringing us closer to sustaining Earth. GESDI is the global indicator that includes all others but it should be made clear that all other indicators and indices proposed in this World Congress are standing by themselves as well and their values are not diminished. There are hundreds of indicators and indices in GESDI and they all make GESDI what it is: a meaningful global indicator.

To make our evaluation successful we need first to understand the effects of man's activities on the environment and second, find what things we should do to ameliorate the adverse effects. 

Every country has different ways of evaluating environmental quality. For instance in the United states the National Wildlife Federation has developed the Environmental Quality Index to evaluate several natural resources including air, water, soil, wildlife, forests, minerals and living space. As in the evaluation of GESDI, a number of value judgments are made during measurements. But when one focus on sustaining the Earth and its biosphere these judgments are usually fair. Trends are often used to eliminate gross errors. The costs of pollution versus the cost of pollution control  or abatement is also included in an evaluation. In the evaluation of GESDI the costs of pollution with respect to the components of the four interacting systems (environment, social, resources, and economic) are addressed head on. For instance in an urban community site, the costs of pollution with respect to property values, health, materials, vegetation, quality of life, land use, recreational activities, and aesthetics are important, and are highlighted.

Again in the United States, the most important bodies of data and standards are developed, regulated, monitored, managed and made available to the public by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality. In the evaluation of GESDI for this country, data and statistics from these agencies are mainly used along with information obtained from other sources such as the National Wildlife Federation.

Not every country has a government agency as developed as the EPA, and it can be very costly to actually make our own measurements in other countries. Permission has to be obtained. We usually rely on whatever we can obtained from government officials and groups from those countries. Satellite observations are another source of data. 

If we are to achieve effective management of Earth and its environment we need comprehensive data about the status and changes in the air, land, water and in other natural resources; the issue of the effects of  potentially hazardous chemicals on the natural resources. 

Other requirements are for making the evaluation of GESDI meaningful with respect to each of the four quality systems: environment, social, resources, economics; evaluating those aspects or impacts which are directly representative and those which are not; correlating the data; interpreting the data for the purpose of determining whether trends are interfering; predicting the environmental impact of proposed public and private actions; determining the effectiveness of programs of protecting and enhancing environmental quality; developing environmental policies; and processing the useful data into the GESDI.

The scientific community contributes enormously to the evaluation of GESDI. Our professional members are certainly and by large the most important leading representatives of the scientific community. Beyond their own university training and life experience, the World Congress on Managing and Measuring Sustainable Development has been the training grounds that have sharpened their judgment on all issues. All of our members together are certainly ready for an effective Earth Management.

13. Land Degradation

14. Environmental films to stimulate the emotional perception of ecological problems and motivate people

15. Ecological Education

16. Warershed Management

1. Global Economic Development

This group provided a clear analysis of trends in the global economy with specific references to developing countries and the challenges they are facing to achieve a stable economic growth by a faster growth. The global economy is unstable. Serious biases against the underprivileged exist.  It was found that in the world's poorest countries the interactions between trading and financial systems have had significant negative impacts on their growth. Global capital movements have kept poverty and unemployment on the rise in developing countries.  The gap between the rich and the poor is widening.  This shows a failure of The Global Community in building an equitable system of global economic governance. The effects of globalization have left behind most developing countries. Most developing countries show a trend of widening trade deficits and falling or stagnant  growth rates. Their efforts to close the payments gap through increased exports to developed countries have failed. An increase in exports required growth in world demand but world growth has been low. Export earnings were not sufficient in financing the debt. China and Chili are the only exception to this trend. They were able to succeed in managing a faster growth by increasing trade performance.

A new approach to development issues was suggested: business leaders are to conduct their affairs with responsibility, cooperation and compassion. A larger flow of private foreign investment would accelerate further growth and bring stability. Progress on access to markets in industrialized countries is the key to overcoming the payments facing developing countries. The international trading system needs to be fair to all global economies. Their are aspects leading to unfair competition. Protectionism is at its highest in developed countries.  For example, the heavy subsidization of agricultural output in the industrial countries cuts out imports from developing countries. Protectionism was also observed for industrial products such as clothing and textiles, low-tech and high-tech products. The industrialized countries were found to make use of antidumping procedures and health and safety standards against successful exporters in the developing countries.
 
 

2. Risk analysis to measure sustainable development for large construction projects

3. Integrated system of economy-environment accounting

4. Financing sustainable development

5. Measurement and assessment of indicators

6. Sustainability and Global Consumption

Oil demand by transportation accounts for 39 per cent of world commercial energy needs. Consumption in developing countries has risen much faster over decade than in the industrialized countries due to their high rate of population growth, fast urban developement, increased motorization and industrialization.

In the OECD countries, a decline in world prices does not usually stimulate consumption because taxes on oil products account for most of the price to end-users.

In multilateral trade, developing countries have three major concerns:

1. The Uruguay Round has not done much to improve market access for their exports of goods and services.

2. World Trade Organization(WTO) rules were found unbalanced in many important development related areas including the protection of intellectual property rights and use of industrial subsidies.

3. Inadequate or inexistant human and financial resources have rendered impossible the use of opportunities offered by WTO to developing countries.

Developing countries find no interest to enter into negotiations with wealthier trading partners. The increasing gap between rich and poor nations will make it even unlikely of successful multilateral trade negotiations.

7. Sustainability, lifestyle and global consumption

8. Sustainable Agriculture and World Trade

Even if all Uruguay Round concessions are implemented by the industrialized countries, there are still significant trade barriers in the form of high tariff peaks (from 12 per cent to 300 per cent or more) and tariff escalation affecting exports from developing countries. Especially in agriculture, exports from developing countries are made impossible by domestic support and subsidy programmes in industrialized countries. Future negotiations would have to include significant reductions in:

The reform of agricultural trade also has to take into account issues such as food security, particular problems of food-importing developing countries and social impacts of agricultural trade liberalization.
 

1. Resources management

2. Farming

A soil quality index is used to relate the environmental impact of continuing or sustained use of chemical compounds in crop production. We are concerned here with the use of soluble fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. We are also concerned with the management of animal manures. A more general soil quality index also includes many other wastes and pollutants.

3. Water resources protection and management

There are several water quality indices and it is important to distinguish between them. For instance there is a water quality index for a surface body of raw water to be used to sustain a fish and wildlife population. Another one would be for a water source to be treated and used as a public water supply. There are many more indices. It is important to understand the indices we are using for the evaluation of GESDI; indices must be categorized so as to give  meaning to the overall indicator. Sub-categories will bring meaning to the evaluation.

It has been shown that water of a certain quality retains that relative quality regardless of the use  for which it is being considered; water of different streams can be compared with regard to changes in quality levels using one uniformly applied rating method. In order words, in many instances it is correct to use a general water quality index.

4. Measurement and assessment of indicators

5. Energy

6. Mining

7. Tourism

8. Forest Issues and Sustainable Forestry

9. Fresh Water Resources, Clean Air and Human Rights

10. Oil and Gas Industry

Oil is by far the most important primary commodity to both industrialized and developing countries. Whenever members of OPEC increased oil prices the effect usually means a lower demand  and an increased output by non-OPEC suppliers. Since OPEC cannot stop the gradual erosion of its market share it has to abandon its policy of restricting supplies. They contribute to oversupply because they have to produce more in order to stop erosion of revenues. A downward trend in prices is established which can be reversed only if all OPEC members together cut output.

The lowering of trade and investment barriers, security of supply, deregulation, privatization and advances in petroleum technologies have been the very important aspects that have shaped the industry over the past decade. Large mergers have also shaped the industry significantly by reducing the cost of doing business.

Today the pricing system is ruled by future markets. Traders make future transaction prices based on expectations of market conditions. Consumers and speculators are able to react rapidly to shifts in supply or demand.
 

11. Manufacturing Industry, Consumption and Sustainability

12. Power Industry