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VICEnvironmental ScienceQuick questions
Unit 3: How can biodiversity and development be sustained?
Quick questions on Ecological sustainability and managing development (precautionary principle, intergenerational equity, ESD): VCE Environmental Science Unit 3
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is key principles for managing development?Show answer
Ecologically sustainable development (ESD). ESD is using, conserving and enhancing resources so that ecological processes are maintained and the total quality of life can be improved now and in the future. It is embedded in Australian law, including the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which requires major projects to be assessed for their impact on matters of national environmental significance.
What is tools that put the principles into practice?Show answer
Governments use several tools to manage development against these principles. Environmental impact assessments evaluate a project's likely effects before approval. Environmental management systems set targets and monitor performance. Triple-bottom-line reporting forces consideration of environmental and social outcomes alongside profit.
What is ecologically sustainable development?Show answer
ESD is using, conserving and enhancing resources so that ecological processes are maintained and the total quality of life can be improved now and in the future. It is embedded in Australian law, including the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which requires major projects to be assessed for their impact on matters of national environmental significance.
What is the precautionary principle?Show answer
Where there is a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, a lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason to postpone action to prevent that damage. In other words, act cautiously when consequences could be severe even if the science is not yet complete. This principle has been applied in decisions to limit fishing quotas and to restrict activities near sensitive habitats such as the Great Barrier Reef.
What is intergenerational equity?Show answer
The present generation should maintain the health, diversity and productivity of the environment for the benefit of future generations. Clearing old-growth forest or driving a species extinct removes options that future people can never recover.
What is intragenerational equity?Show answer
Fairness within the present generation also matters: the costs and benefits of development should be shared fairly, including with Aboriginal communities and others who depend directly on the land.
What is conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity?Show answer
Maintaining the variety of life and the processes that sustain it is treated as a core goal of decision-making, not an optional extra.
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