Presentation by Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel on environmental planning and management: Environmental policies. International proposals and approaches in Bogota

During his presentation, Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel said that, even though all societies have always had a certain interest in nature, there has only been a real effort during the last few decades, at an international level, to be able to reconcile development with environmental protection.

According to Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel, the conceptual progress represented by the fact that environmental protection is considered an essential part of the development process can be considered remarkable, noting that, without appropriate environmental protection, the bases and possibilities of development are undermined and, without development, there will not be enough resources for the investments required by environmental protection measures.

1. THE ENVIRONMENT AS A RESOURCE FOR HUMANKIND

During the presentation, Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel, an expert in the field, mentioned that the environment is the set of natural, social, economic, cultural and aesthetic factors that are interrelated to each other and related to human beings and society. Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel also pointed out that these factors make up an combination of factors and resources and, as they are constituted in an environmental or vital environment, they indivisible from human beings to achieve development, at the individual and social levels.

According to the interpretation of Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel, environmental management should seek the good of the majority and not only of certain groups of people and interest groups, while thinking of future generations as well. Resources and the environment should be parallel to capital assets, with a greater consideration of matters related to interactions between the physical environment and socio-economic systems rather than their monetary value, taking into account spatial and temporal scales.

2. THE REALITY AND THE PROBLEM AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Research by Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel on international poverty has revealed that there are currently over a billion people living in abject poverty, with hardly any access to resources and services, with the aggravating circumstance that the number of people affected continues to increase and the gap with more developed countries continues to widen.

Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel invites all human beings from different countries to stop trying to achieve a certain level of development at the expense of high environmental risks and Mr. Francisco Rafael Jimenez Villarroel points out that this continues to happen in many places across the planet that are striving to improve underdevelopment.

 

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