Sustainable Development
At the heart of the NWDA’s work is the ambition to achieve
sustainable economic development.
Sustainable Development is about living and working within our
means, so that the planet we live on can sustain our lives and the
lives of future generations. Our economic development is putting
unsustainable stress on our natural resources - which covers
environmental systems such as water, land and air, as well as those
which are non-renewable within our lifetime, such as fossil fuels,
metal ores and clay.
The Northwest needs to adapt if our economy is to grow is a
sustainable way. The region’s businesses need to adapt to new ways
of working to both respond to unavoidable climate change as well as
to reduce future affects. The NWDA’s role is to support these
businesses to become more sustainable and in doing so making sure
that the Northwest secures its future economically as well as
environmentally.
We have a number of sustainable development principles that we
need work within in order to achieve this. Achieving a truly
sustainable economy will help us to live within our environmental
limits and create a strong, healthy and just society through
promoting good governance; and using sound science responsibly.
To achieve a sustainable economy, we need to:
- Develop sustainable consumption
and production processes to live and work by, and
reward those who use resources efficiently
- Respect the limits of the planet - its environment,
resources and biodiversity - and improve our environment and make
sure that the natural
resources needed for life are available to future
generations
- Focus on both adaptation and mitigation of climate change, making sure we
respond to global warming as well as doing what we can to slow it
down and stop any future affects
- Invest in environmental and
energy technologies and promote their usage
- Meet the diverse needs of all people in existing and future
communities, promote
personal well-being, social cohesion and inclusion, and create
equal opportunities for all
To promote good governance, we need to develop strong strategies and policies and
promote them in all levels of society and to champion corporate social
responsibility to all levels of business.
To use sound science responsibly, we need to ensure policy is
developed and implemented on the basis of strong scientific
evidence. We need to take in to account scientific
uncertainty as well as public attitudes and values.
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