The relationship between climate change and sustainable development is strong.
The least developed countries are most adversely affected by climate change and least able to cope with the anticipated shocks to their social, economic and natural systems.
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges to achieve sustainable development, and it threatens to drag millions into poverty.
Mobilizing the entire international community is essential for sustainable and balanced development that protects the environment.
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| Climate change: A threat towards achieving ‘Sustainable Development Goal |
Climate Change is a
Global Challenge to Sustainable Development
Climate Change and Sustainable Development
Climate
change is undoubtedly a powerful and even existential threat to the planet. But
the current mitigation approach, which reflects a unique focus on reducing
carbon dioxide emissions, could eventually lead to serious harm, failing to
explain the exhaustion of energy resources - and contributing mainly to climate
change.
Climate
change is one of the greatest challenges facing humankind, which calls for
mobilizing the entire international community for sustainable and balanced
development that preserves the environment.
Climate
change is a frequent phenomenon of negative impacts on the Earth's ecosystem, a
global dilemma that raises risks to the reality of economic growth as well as
to world peace and security.
Climate
change leads to a decline in operational action plans aimed at achieving the
goals of sustainable development.
Environmental
and sustainability issues and the preservation of the various environmental and
social systems that are intertwined in their social, living, economic and human
functions with their human and cultural dimension and as a natural right for
generations are considered to be a strategic focus in the plan to achieve
sustainable development goals.
Climate
Change and Water
According to
the National Research Council report, indeed, the water cycle - precipitation,
evaporation, freezing, melting and condensation that moves water from clouds to
land or ocean and vice versa - is closely linked to the energy exchange between
Earth, the ocean and the atmosphere that determines the Earth's climate.
Just as
carbon accumulation in the atmosphere contributes to climate change, the
degradation, and depletion of water resources contribute to this.
These
processes reinforce each other, with pushing and intensifying each other.
This
requires energy extraction, processing "including refining", and
intensive water use production.
The energy
sector is the largest water consumer in every developed country except
Australia, where agriculture, as in most developing countries, comes first.
In the European
Union, power plants alone account for 44% of the total freshwater consumed each
year. In the United States, this figure is about 41%.
As water
resources become more difficult, demand for the water sector increases,
groundwater must be pumped from deeper depths, and surface water must be
transported over longer distances.
In India,
for example, energy now accounts for about 90% of the cost of groundwater.
As these
processes fuel climate variability and reduce water availability and further
fuel energy demand, leading to a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.
In fact,
meeting the growing demand for electricity and meeting national targets for the
production of biofuels and other alternative fuels require more than double the
global use of water for energy production over the next quarter of a century.
The only way
to break this cycle - to mitigate climate change effectively - is to manage the
relationship between water and energy (as well as food that depends on water
and energy production).
In other
words, countries must make energy choices that are not only less carbon intensive
but less intensive in water consumption.
With the
tension of the global water supply, the shift to smart energy use in the energy
field cannot be more urgent.
Two-thirds
of the world's population - particularly in Central and South Asia, the Middle
East and North Africa - are facing serious water shortages.
Asia - the
biggest engine to increase global energy demand - is also the world's drier
continent, measured by the availability of water per capita.
In these
water-stressed areas, shortages have already begun to restrict the expansion of
energy infrastructure.
One of the
main reasons behind China's failure to develop its rock hydrocarbon industry is
inadequate water in areas where its stocks are located.
(To extract
energy from oil shale, millions of gallons of water must be released).
Increased
water stress has also increased the costs of existing power generation
projects, which could jeopardize their safety.
The drought
in Australia, which lasted from the late 1990s to 2012, has undermined energy
production, leading to higher prices.
With energy
shortages usually more severe in water-stressed areas.
We must
realize that "clean" energy in terms of carbon can be
"dirty" from the perspective of water resources.
For example,
"clean" coal, which includes carbon storage, along with nuclear
power, requires the highest level of water density.
Some
renewable energy sources, such as solar thermal power and geothermal energy,
are also highly hydrophobic.
In contrast,
solar photovoltaic and wind - renewable technology that attracts global clouds
- need no water to do their natural work.
Promoting
the development of such sources should, therefore, be a high priority.
But the type
of energy used is not the only problem. It is also important to choose the
right species of plants in the planning stage.
Alternative
cooling techniques for power generation, including dry or hybrid cooling, can
reduce water consumption (although the use of such technologies is currently
limited by low efficiency and high costs).
Power plants
should also be located in places where freshwater resources are not dependent,
but on salted, degraded or reclaimed water.
In Asia,
which now leads the world in terms of the addition of nuclear energy, most of
the new plants lie along coastal lines so these thirsty facilities can attract
more sea water.
However,
there are significant risks. Rising sea levels, as a result of climate change,
could pose a much stronger threat than natural disasters, such as the tsunami
that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011.
Moreover,
with coastal areas with high population density and economic value on suitable
coastal sites for new nuclear plants.
Although it
has more than 4,500 miles of coastline, India has struggled to implement its
planned expansion of nuclear power through coastal stations because of strong
popular opposition.
Real energy
security can only be guaranteed in the context of sustainability in resources,
climate, and environmental sustainability.
The global
focus on carbon reduction is not only to block these critical linkages, but
also to take measures that negatively affect the stability of resources.
It is time
to adopt a more comprehensive, integrated and long-term approach to the
management and planning of energy, water, and other resources, with a view to
protecting the environment on a wider scale.
Otherwise,
we will fail to meet the challenges of sustainable development we face, which
will have devastating consequences, starting with the densest regions of the
world.