What is the Sustainable Development News?

A Life of Contradictions’ Sustainable Development News covers a wide range issues relating to sustainability as our world comes to grips with overpopulation, climate change and depletion of resources. These issues are diverse and complex, affecting every corner of our lives and our planet.

I trawl through news from around the world to bring you a summary of (what I think are) the best articles on sustainable development to keep you informed and inspired. You can receive a copy every other weekday, for free, by signing up on the right.  Absolutely no strings attached. 

I started this newsletter as part of my quest to know more about the current the state of play of sustainable development in the world. Now I find I’m across most of the current affairs concerning sustainability. I hope you will find it useful too.

Latest newsletters can be found on MailChimp.  There is also an archive of news from 2014-2018, which is website based and searchable.

To make the most of the news, I recommend skimming the stories and if you want to know more, click the links in the article headings to read the full story. The news will generally contain seven sections outlined below.

Energy and Climate Change

Climate change is the biggest immediate threat to life as we know it. 97% of climate scientists agree that man-made emissions are fuelling climate change.

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Environment and Biodiversity

The world is currently in its sixth mass extinction event. This section encourages you to appreciate the importance of having a healthy planet and intact ecosystems.

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Economy and Business

Ever increasing growth is the main driver of the planet’s economic model. This is clearly unsustainable on a planet of finite size and with a massive and growing human population.

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Waste and the Circular Economy

Waste is any by-product of the production of goods and services that is not considered to have any direct use for humans. Waste includes food, obsolete electronics, pollution, emissions, or wastes from animals. When it can’t be incorporated back into the environment or reused it becomes pollution.

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Politics and Society

A good society trusts and cares for its constituents creating a safer, fairer, more equitable community.

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Built Environment

Mankind has modified the planet beyond any species before it, so much so that many scientists are calling for this time to be called the Anthropocene in acknowledgement of the extent humans have influenced every area of the planet.

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Food Systems

More than 800 million people didn’t have access to adequate nutrition in 2014. Meanwhile, more than one third of food produced is thrown away.

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2 Comments

Mack · 02/12/2017 at 11:07 am

Hi Rochelle,
I saw you making a comment on the Australian “The Conversation”, and from there came to your newly founded blog here. I went to your ‘About’ section and was saddened to see you have no children. You may have now shifted your focus to saving the planet,…but I’ve got some really good? bad? news for you….the planet will look after itself….and we cannot alter / control the weather, climate, or any global temperature .
Listen to what the Trump guy says…he’s probably the first honest (politician) president….it’s a hoax.
https://sciblogs.co.nz/griffins-gadgets/2017/07/12/climate-sceptic-end-chris-de-freitas-dies/#comment-261280
God bless, and hope all goes well for your future,
Mack.
(ps …if you don’t feel comfortable publishing this comment, I’m not offended.)

    Rochelle · 11/12/2017 at 11:57 pm

    Hi Mack

    Thanks for taking the time to track down my website and make a comment.

    I obviously don’t share your views and there is nothing you could say to change my mind; as I’m sure there’s nothing I could do to change yours. You and I are a sum product of the environment, society and morals that we have grown up with. This has facilitated our world view. I’m afraid we must agree to disagree.

    One thing I am not comfortable with is your judgement of my personal decision not to have children. I do not need your ‘sadness’ for my circumstances. This was a well considered decision and I am very happy with my life. My focus has always been on bigger things than just humans because we can’t survive without the planet’s services.

    You are right that the planet will take care of itself, but our actions today will determine what that future will look like for the people that live on it.

    Kind regards
    Rochelle

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