Building sustainable futures: An ever changing policy agenda

Abstract

The rapid growth of population in the twentieth century and its continuation in the twenty-first century (pushing the world population to over 7 billion), together with ever-increasing demands on our planet's dwindling natural resources, has created a crisis of enormous magnitude that can no longer be denied. Numerous global initiatives led by the United Nations (UN) and other international and national agencies, aimed at the growing impact of environmental damage on every aspect of our lives, have created a sense of urgency to act (and to act now) before it is too late.