An insight into three strategies for sustainable development

While professionals are trying to devise effective strategies and approaches for sustainable development, they tend to forget that many developing and underdeveloped countries fail to implement them due to several obstacles and challenges. Here is a glimpse into the reasons why nations fail to take actionable steps for sustainable development: 

• Extreme poverty and other social ills. 
• Political instability and slow economic growth.
• Growing population and increased consumption levels. 
• Environmental deterioration and threat of climate change.
• Spread of diseases that disrupt the social fabric and productive capacity of nations.

Now, let us move to some of the most commonly deployed approaches for sustainable development. However, one must keep in mind that in order to implement these strategies, they must be propagated in a comprehensible way so that people can make them a part of their routine: 

• Deployment of non-conventional or renewable sources of energy

As most of us know, almost every country is heavily dependent on the use of natural gas, coal, and fossil fuels to run their industries, factories, machines, transportation, and more. Since these conventional sources of energy emit a massive amount of carbon and greenhouse gases, they turn out to be the biggest contributor to pollution and global warming. Therefore, investing in renewable sources of energy has been the smartest strategy to reinforce sustainable development. Solar rays, wind power, and hydropower are examples of greener and cleaner technologies that can be employed to replace other traditional sources of power. 

• Leveraging solar power through photovoltaic cells 

In India and many other countries, people utilize sunlight for different commercial and domestic purposes. In the same capacity, solar energy ^[2] or sunlight can also be converted into electricity with the help of photovoltaic cells. In simple terms, these are exclusive materials used to capture sunlight to convert it into electric energy. In addition, photovoltaic cells have the potential to be extremely useful in rural and remote areas where power supply through power or grid lines is either not possible or turns out to be very expensive.

• Practicing bio composting 

As mentioned above, one of the major challenges to sustainable development strategies is population growth, leading to a sharp spike in overall consumption levels. To meet the agricultural demands of people, farmers have completely switched to the use of chemical fertilizers leading to water pollution and soil deterioration. To prevent the chemical contamination of natural resources, one of the best strategies for sustainable development is practicing bio composting. It is the idea of mixing soil with cattle dung, plant residue, and human waste, which will provide the soil with the necessary nourishment and nutrients without causing any environmental damage.

Approaches for sustainable development are set in place by globally acknowledged international organizations. Below we have mentioned a set of principles and desirable features of actionable and successful sustainable strategies that can be implemented by people across different countries: 

• Realistic and achievable targets 

First, it is important to set observable and realistic targets that fit into the budget of the country. This will ensure that targets are achievable and the government does not have to go through any kind of financial challenges or constraints.

• Integrated and comprehensive 

Sustainable strategies should be designed to effectively integrate environmental, economic, and social objectives through supportive and robust policies. On the other hand, if this is not possible, policies must be negotiated in a participative and transparent manner. 

• Try to extend existing sustainable development strategies 

It is always better to build on existing sustainable development strategies rather than designing new ones from scratch. The idea behind this process is to improve the complementarity, coherence, and convergence between multiple policies and frameworks. In order to do this, mechanisms need to solve potential conflicts, coordinate processes, and disseminate information with accountability and transparency.

At Schneider Electric, we diligently design highly efficient products, solutions, and services for our customers in several countries. Since we have kept sustainability at the core of our business, culture, and purpose, we collectively strive to build a cleaner and more inclusive world. 

To know more about our green policies, take a look at our 6 long-term commitments under our sustainability impact program (2021-2025): 

• Promoting local initiatives.
• Upholding ethical, social, and governance standards. 
• Attempt to make the most of digital technology to preserve the environment. 
• Fostering upskilling, development, and learning for the present and future generations. 
• Ensuring that all our employees are valued and work in an environment that is conducive to their growth. 
• Investing in solutions that deliver lasting decarbonization in accordance with the carbon pledge.