Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. It relates to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment.
There are sustainability initiatives in place in Lanarkshire at the moment. Local Agenda 21 stems from the Rio Earth summit where 150 governments committed themselves for the first time to sustainable development. It is a blueprint for an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable planet in the 21st century. It aims to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change and tackle a wide range of other environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss and waste management. In order to achieve this, widespread action is required at the local level.
Local agenda 21 (LA21) is the key agreement made at the earth summit, which aims to involve local people in the decision making processes regarding sustainable development and wider environmental issues.
Sustainable development aims to provide a better quality of life for everyone, both now and for generations to come. In essence it is about the wise use of our economic, human and natural resources.
Every person, every household and every business consumes resources. The mark this consumption leaves on the natural world is the global (or ecological) footprint. North Lanarkshire is part of Scotland's Global Footprint Project, working in partnership with WWF Scotland, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils to reduce our local and global environmental impact.
We have one of the lowest ecological footprints in Scotland but we are still using more than our share of the planet's resources. We are committed to reducing our footprint, and we have outlined our commitment in the UK's first local authority Footprint Reduction Report.
