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General Outline

Global Ecological Problems

Global ecological problems such as climate change, global warming, melting  of polar ice caps and glaciers, biodiversity loss, acid rain, deforestation or freshwater scarcity, constitute tremendous challenges to the mankind. Human impact on the environment, taking place mainly as a result of economic activities, is considered to be a major  cause of global ecological problems. 

Despite the joint efforts of the international community undertaken during the last decades e.g. adoption of the Convention on Climate Change (1992), Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997), Paris Agreement (2015), Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs (2015), global ecological problems continue to worsen in various directions and parameters in accordance with officials statistics.
 

Sustainable Development 

Protection of the environment is vital, however in the modern world it is impossible to reject economic development and social welfare. Therefore the concept of sustainable development has been elaborated by the UN and evolved throughout the world. Sustainable development, which refers to integration of economic development, environmental protection and social inclusion, constitutes the only way to find effective solutions to global ecological problems. Sustainable development presupposes economic development and social progress without harm and destruction of ecosystems of the earth. In 2015 a milestone document - Sustainable Development Gaols (SDGs) was adopted by the UN.  

However, in our times and throughout the world, including in Georgia, the potential of education and science is not fully exploited for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are predominantly promoted through actions of campaign nature rather than through education and science.
 

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 

The notion of education for sustainable development (ESD) has been elaborated and promoted by the UN in order to enhance the contribution of education in achievement of sustainable development. Education for sustainable development (ESD) aims to integrate the values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. ESD should be implemented in the formal education systems and in non-formal and informal education systems. Nowadays, there is growing recognition of ESD as a key enabler for all SDGs.

However, in the modern world the potential of education for sustainable development (ESD) is not fully used for the achievement of  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, it is necessary to take further decisive actions in the forthcoming years in the sphere of education in order to ensure that education for sustainable development (ESD) plays a key role in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 

Sustainability Science

Sustainability science is a new kind of science. According to the UNESCO, it is a science about sustainability, it focuses on issues relating to sustainable development and it supports sustainable policies. As a science, it tries to find solutions for bridging the gap between needs of humans and needs of the planet. It deals with global ecological problems from new perspectives. It focuses on interactions between environmental, economic and social systems. In the contemporary world, sustainability science has become a subject matter for ever-increasing number of books, scholarly journals and articles, masters’ degrees and PhD theses and scientific conferences. 

However, in the contemporary world the potential of sustainability science is not fully used for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, it is necessary to take further decisive actions in the forthcoming years in the sphere of science in order to ensure that sustainability science plays a key role in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
 

Environmental Rights

There is a strong interrelationship between environmental protection and human rights. A healthy environment is a pre-condition for enjoyment of human rights and environmental degradation can affect human rights negatively. A human right approach to environmental protection aims to secure that the natural world does not degrade to the point where human rights are violated. There are three main categories of environmental rights: 1. substantive right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; 2. derived environmental rights from human rights treaties, in particular from the rights to life, private life and property under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); and 3. procedural environmental rights - the right of access to environmental information, the right of public participation in environmental decision-making and the right of access to environmental justice.

Environmental rights have great potential to contribute significantly to the solution of global ecological problems (such as climate change or freshwater scarcity) and to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), however this potential is not fully used in the modern times. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the three categories of environmental rights to the fullest possible extent in order to secure environmental protection and sustainability. Environmental rights can become a key legal instrument available to the public at large in terms of securing efficient environmental policies and timely achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).