Page 19 - “GREENING” THE CONTENT IN CXC® SYLLABUSES

E-LEARNING MODULES AND LEARNING GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

1.2: Understanding Sustainability.

Objective 3: Discuss the need for Sustainability.

Read to Learn!

The Earth is our only home, where survival and

development are dependent on its capacity to

meet our needs, without compromising the needs of

future generations. Sadly, the climate and other
environmental crises are accelerating at an

unprecedented rate, and we are not ready for

it. According to the United Nations Secretary General:

Biodiversity is collapsing. One million species are at risk of
extinction. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes. Deserts are spreading. Wetlands are

being lost. Every year, we lose 10 million hectares of forests. Oceans are overfished -- and choking

with plastic waste. The carbon dioxide they absorb is acidifying the seas. Coral reefs are bleached

and dying. Air and water pollution are killing 9 million people annually – more than six times the
current toll of the pandemic. And with people and livestock encroaching further into animal

habitats and disrupting wild spaces, we could see more viruses and other disease-causing agents

jump from animals to humans. Let us not forget that 75 per cent of new and emerging human
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infectious diseases are zoonotic . Additionally, the World Economic Forum 2020 recognised that
the top five global risks in terms of likelihood for 2020 are all environmental – they include

extreme weather events, failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation, environmental

damage and disasters such as oil spills and radioactive contamination, major biodiversity loss and

natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms.

9 https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sgspeech-the-state-of-planet.pdf
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