Barriers to sustainable development in developing countries

Introduction

As much as sustainable development is largely championed by many countries in the world, the practical achievement of the same remains quite an uphill task. This is especially true for developing countries. In fact, many people up to now view sustainability as an unachievable concept, owing to the already dilapidated state of the earth. Global warming is already at an advanced state and the general condition of the environment is bad already and grows worse and worse with every rising of the sun. The situation right now is one in which the right concept is in the mind of humans but very little is practically done. A good number of developed countries have taken the right steps towards the application of sustainable practices in the construction industry. On the contrary, the developing countries are still are yet to adopt sustainable practices on a large scale. This is despite the efforts of the concerned organizations to sensitize these countries on sustainability issues. The top organizations at the forefront of the sustainability campaign are the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT). This essay seeks to unearth the factors that contribute to the failure to adopt sustainable practices in construction in developing countries.

Sustainable Development Goals

Khale (2014) defines sustainability as the habit of preserving the world processes of productivity indefinitely through the replacement of resources used with others of better value without deteriorating the natural biotic systems. In other words, it is a long term strategy on how to achieve economic development without negatively affecting the environment so that the coming generations remain with adequate natural resources (Gifford, 2004). As such, with sustainable development, the needs of the current generation are met and the needs of the future generations are protected. Sustainable development is a multi-faceted ideology in that it involves environmental, social, and economic dimensions (Rudawska, Renko and Bilan, 2013). To enable the countries in the world to have a tangible and workable plan to follow, the UN proposed a number of Sustainable Development Goals. These are outlined below:

Sustainable Development Goals as proposed by the UN

In 2015, the UN Sustainable Development Summit was held in the City of New York. The discussion was documented in a report titled Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this report, 17 Sustainable Goals are listed. Some of the goals tackle social issues, others economic issues, personal issues, environmental issues, and physical issues (Sustainabledevelopment.un.org, 2015). This adequately paints the multi-faceted image of sustainability. The 5 goals relating to sustainable construction are as follows:

1. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all - By 2030, all inhabitants of planet earth should have access to clean drinking water at a fair price. Open defecation should also be a thing of the past by 2030. Also, the pollution of water resources should be greatly reduced. No hazardous chemicals and materials should be dumped into water bodies.

2. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all - By 2030, a great proportion of the world population should have access to renewable energy for daily use. All homes in developing countries should be supplied with modern and sustainable energy services.

3. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation - By 2030, there should be adequate infrastructure to support both economic development and the well-being of the dwellers of all countries. Also, all existing infrastructure and retrofit industries should be upgraded so that they become energy-efficient in all aspects.

4. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable - By 2030, all families should have access to affordable housing. Slums should be upgraded to better quality standards so that the dwellers have access to all the basic services. The transport system should be adequately safe for all users, including vulnerable groups such as women, children, the disabled, and the elderly.

5. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts - By 2030, all countries in the world should be able to shield their citizens from the destructive effects of climate-related hazards. No large-scale deaths of people should be witnessed whenever natural disasters strike.

6. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development - By 2025, the levels of pollution of the seas and oceans should be significantly reduced. No debris should be deposited in great amounts into the ocean. The release of nutrients into the ocean should also be reduced. Coastal ecosystems should also be well managed to avoid instances of considerable negative effects.

7. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degeneration, and halt biodiversity loss - By 2020, degenerated forests should be restored by practicing afforestation and reforestation. Freshwater ecosystems should be adequately conserved. Mountain ecosystems should also be adequately conserved.

By outlining the expected goals, it is easier to understand why developing countries find it hard to adopt sustainable practices in construction activities. It is now only 10 years to 2030 and yet the developing countries have a very long way to go regarding the above-outlined goals. Below is a discussion on some of the hindrances these countries face in their bid to achieve sustainable development objectives.

Main barriers to sustainable development

Sustainable development is equal to a myriad of other life issues in terms of the challenges involved. While developing countries are still majorly groping with infrastructural issues, the developed countries have mostly achieved the infrastructural objectives, but are now dealing with social and health-related sustainability issues. By definition, developing countries are those with less developed industrial base and low Human Development Index. On the extreme end is the least developed countries, which are even poorer than the developed countries. Developing countries are largely characterized by inadequate access to clean drinking water, poor levels of sanitation, non-satisfactory hygiene, energy deficiency, excessive pollution, numerous cases of tropical diseases, many cases of road accidents, overall poor infrastructure, extensive poverty, widespread illiteracy, malignant corruption amongst government officials, and bad governance, among many others. Some of the developing include Zimbabwe, Zambia, Yemen, Vietnam, Venezuela, Uruguay, Ukraine, Uganda, Turkey, Tunisia, Tanzania, Syria, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Rwanda, Peru, Pakistan, Malawi, Kiribati, Hungary, Guinea, and Gabon, among many others (IMF, 2018).

For all the above-mentioned countries, below is a general breakdown of the factors that make the attainment of sustainable development quite difficult.

Inadequate capital

For sustainable development to be achieved, there should be enough capital in control by the concerned countries. Capital not only points to financial resources. Other forms of capital include natural capital (renewable and non-renewable natural resources, ecosystem services), economic capital (financial capital, tangible assets, intangible assets), and social capital (human resources, health, skills, education, motivation). These three major categories of capital should exist in an optimum balance in order for sustainable development to be realized. Most of the developing countries considerably fall short of all these three forms of capital. As such, they are left with no option but to go on with their old system of development, which may not be sustainable at all. Sustainable development is also dependent on the financial decisions made by the concerned economic agents. Quite a number of developing countries have exhibited poor financial decisions by these agents. The result is a perpetuation of the old system of operation (Sawa, Lai, and Ikkatai, 2011).

War

Xuefei (2011) reports that war and conflict is the largest enemy of sustainable development. The basic reason is that it erases the basis for development. In times of war, there is scarcely any development opportunity. For countries without war, development goes on exponentially. A good example is Sweden and Switzerland. These countries have had more than 100 years of peace. The positive impact is seen in the humongous level of development in this country. On the contrary, war has ripped many countries of the opportunity to develop. Good examples of countries riddled with war are Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somali, and Rwanda. War directly causes damage to the existing infrastructure. Within a very short period of time, considerable damage can be done on infrastructure that has taken years to build. Of equal negative effect is the psychological trauma that comes with war. This causes the citizens to be disillusioned and lose the meaning of life. Such lack of motivation places them at a point they see no need for development (Figenschau, 2019).

Natural disasters

The world right now is more vulnerable than ever before to the effects of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. This is because of the current high population of the world, and climate change and environmental degradation that has resulted from global warming. Therefore, a flood happening now is generally more severe than a flood that happened say 100 years ago. When such disasters strike, many human lives are lost and a lot of infrastructure is destroyed. Recovering from such disasters can normally take many years. For the least developed countries, full recovery may never be realized because of inadequate capital. Reconstruction of destroyed buildings, roads, railways, ports, and services is highly expensive. Diseases are also common after such natural disasters due to destruction and pollution of water supply networks. A sick population cannot engage in sustainable development strategies (Guo et al., 2015).

Governmental conflict

The priority of governments in developing countries is another great hindrance to sustainable development. It is a fact that going the sustainable way may not be as profitable as using the old methods of construction. Up to now, there are governments that prioritize profits over sustainable development. For instance, Poland has huge reserves of coal. Coal is not a renewable source of energy. The use of coal has been discouraged because of the high carbon footprint associated with it. It is expected that the government of Poland would be on the forefront to discourage the mining of coal. However, in a bid to please the citizens so that they could vote for them, the government increased funding for the coal mining operations. The same is witnessed in other sectors such as construction. Non-sustainable practices in the construction industry goes on because it is inexpensive in the short run and the different stakeholders in the construction industry only look at the profits they can amass (Robinson, 2006).

Rapid population growth

As earlier mentioned, one characteristic of developing countries is poor family planning techniques. The effect of this is exponential population growth. As years go by, resources become increasingly stretched. There is undue pressure on the little natural resources. Coupled with poverty, the quality of life is greatly compromised. Large families end up squeezing in small houses. Slum dwellings keep increasing instead of decreasing. Services such as water supply and natural gas supply to homes becomes stretched to the point of periodic rationing. Upgrading such slum dwellings becomes very difficult. This way, vast populations keep living in squalid conditions with no hope of future improvements. Investors also are left option less in such conditions. What is called low cost housing usually turns out to be very expensive because of the poor infrastructure present in the developing countries. Investors therefore shy off from the construction of low cost housing because of the predicted low returns. Moving towards sustainability becomes very difficult (Healey, 2000).

Corporate influence

Transnational corporations have over the past 3 decades been on a rise. Some corporations are even richer than the entire population of given developing countries. With such a degree of financial might, the corporations can exert undue influence in matters of sustainability. A number of corporations have been on the spotlight over lack of environmental responsibilities. They do not care about carbon emission or pollution of the environment. For instance, in the construction industry, the construction equipment used consume a lot of energy. In many cases, there are no better alternatives, and so energy consumption remains high (Robinson, 2006).

Corruption

Corruption among government officials is another major barrier to sustainable development. A number of developing countries are given development funds by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other financial institutions. Instead of all the money being used for development, the government officials keep large amounts for personal use. When the structures meant to be constructed using the funds come up, the job is shodily done because of the little funds remaining. Such structures have a short lifespan and pose great danger to the lives of the occupants and users. This is not sustainable development. While law breakers should face the law, corruption sees to it that they go Scott free. For instance, some construction firms release harmful substances into the ecosystem and then bribe the government officials so that they remain silent on the issue. It seems that, as long as one has money, he can bribe his way out of any illegal act. The result is a detraction on the effort to achieve the sustainable development goals (Robinson, 2006).

Conclusion

Although developing countries are faced with a large number of problems that derail the efforts towards sustainable development, it is still possible to meet the SDGs. What is required is deliberate effort by all stakeholders to work towards the sustainable development goals. A great deal of effort is required of the policymakers and all persons in authority. Normally, the common man is at the mercies of the leaders. It is upon the leaders to set the pace towards sustainable development and the citizens will easily join in the efforts. It all starts with sensitization. By constantly reminding the leaders and the electorates of the need to adopt sustainable practices, they will in the long run see the need and start doing whatever is in their means. Sustainability issues should first of all be included in school curricula so that the young minds are taught to embrace the concept of sustainability from a young age. For the leaders, regular seminars should be held on sustainability issues within the country. With time, most of the barriers discussed above will be overcome.

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