While waste is only a partial measure of resource use, tackling waste is important if we are to achieve the improved resource efficiency essential for sustainable development. The need to look at policies together, in order to make sure that by working to improve some indicators we are not worsening others, is at the heart of this Strategy. That is why, instead of looking separately at the economy, social concerns and the environment, the Strategy is organised in broad themes, looking for example at ways of building sustainable communities and delivering a sustainable economy. The scale of the challenge 3.28 Attempts have been made to calculate the scale of the improvement in resource efficiency that will be needed to achieve sustainable development. In some cases, it is evident that there are limits to the amount of pollution we can create without causing unacceptable damage to human health or to the world we live in.
Climate change is the most high profile current example.
Substantial reductions in our consumption of fossil fuels are likely to be needed to avert catastrophic climate change. All countries will need to play their part in this. 3.30 Similar assessments can be made in some other cases, looking at the threshold levels at which significant damage is likely - in terms of the impact of air pollution on human health, for example, or the risk to fish stocks caused by over fishing. And social progress in areas such as education, health and crime are not simply questions of resource use. Although, compared with many countries, the UK's economy is highly productive and our average incomes are high, we have steadily been overtaken by other nations in both respects.