• Population growth and its effects on the local, regional, urban, and global environment • Communication technology which is creating a global village with the instantaneous dissemination of information which when processed into knowledge, results in a pervasive desire of the majority of humanity to achieve improved living standards. • Current energy projects rely mainly on the combustion of fossil fuels which many countries lack affordable access to. • Lack of sustainable, environmentally benign energy supplies force people to continue to degrade their environment in order to survive. United Nations and NGO Recommendations Maurice Strong [4] Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) summarized a number of points that are relevant to both this NGO Forum and which provide the philosophical global groundwork for the solutions proposed in this paper. Some of these points are: • The quality of life for humans depends critically on the physical, social, and economic conditions in the villages, towns, and cities in which they live. • We must manage resources for our use not exhaust them. Programmes which deal with how to use resources in a manner that raises productivity, meets rising demands, yet conserves the resource base are needed. • An important component of a strategy for resource management relates to institutional arrangements and associations for ensuring responsible and fair use of resources. Additional UNCED documents [5] suggest that opportunities be created that would provide a way for the poor to increase their earning capacity by helping them to create their own jobs and improve their access to goods, services, and information. Specifically the following management related activities were suggested: 7a Generate remunerative employment and productive occupational opportunities (farm and non-farm). 7b Develop infrastructure, marketing systems, technology systems, credit systems, etc., to support the above and to widen the options of the (rural) poor. 9a Formulate and implement a cooperative programme on poverty alleviation and sustainable development ..... including rural development, access to land, promotion of credit, small and micro-enterprises, marketing systems. 9b Establish an arrangement for the coordination of actions by donors, organizations of the UN and others 35c Assist developing countries to acquire new or existing environmentally sound technologies.
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