What is Sustainability?

The UN World Commission on Environment and Development helped bring

the idea of sustainability onto the corporate agenda (more commonly
known as the Brundtland Commission after the name of its chairman, Gro
Harlem Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime minister). The idea of
sustainable development was first introduced by the commission,
established in 1983 to address growing concerns about "the accelerating
deterioration of the human environment and natural resources, and the
consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development."
Its famous definition of sustainable development is development that
"meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs."
 
Sustainability means fulfilling our own needs without disrupting the future
generations’ ability to meet their own needs. 
While the concept of sustainability is a relatively new idea, the movement
as a whole has deeper roots that go back to the era of social justice,
conservationism, internationalism and other past movements with rich
histories. By the end of the twentieth century, many of these ideas
had come together in the call for ‘sustainable development.’

WHY SUSTAINABILITY?

A steady interaction between human activities and the natural environment

is the foundation of the sustainable type of growth because it preserves the
chances that future generations will live in conditions at least as good as
your own.
Sustainable development seeks to strike a balance between our social,
environmental, and economic needs in order to ensure both current and
future generations' prosperity. Sustainable development is a long-term,
integrated approach to building and achieving a healthy community by
tackling economic, environmental, and social challenges together while
avoiding overuse of critical natural resources.

THREE PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY

The Brundtland report, which sustainable development gets its name from,
delineated the development of human resources in the form of reducing
extreme poverty, global gender equity, and wealth redistribution.
Sustainable development requires that a company must contribute
to economic growth, social progress and promote environmental
‘sustainability. The three key areas of sustainable development can be
understood as below:

1. Environmental Sustainability
Ecological integrity is maintained, and all of earth’s
environmental systems are kept in balance while natural resources
within them are consumed by humans at a rate such that they are
able to replenish themselves.

2. Economic Sustainability
Human communities across the globe are able to maintain their
independence and have access to the resources that they require,
financial and other, to meet their needs.

3. Social Sustainability
Universal human rights and basic necessities are attainable to all
people who have access to enough resources in order to keep their
families and communities healthy and secure.

The motivation behind sustainability is often complex, personal and

diverse. 
Sustainability as a value is shared by many individuals and organizations
demonstrating this value in their policies, everyday activities and
behaviours. Individualism has played a major role in developing our current
environmental and social circumstances. 
 
WHAT ARE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS?

The Sustainable Development Goals agenda was accepted by all

members of the United Nations in 2012 at the Rio De Janeiro Council
Meet. 
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United
Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and
prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart
are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent
call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global
partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations
must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education,
reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate
change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. 

The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world:

 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and
promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all stages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote
lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and
sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern
energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth,
full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Built resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequalities within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production pattern
13. Take urgent actions to combat climate change and its impact
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine
resources
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial
ecosystems, sustainably managed forests, combat desertification
and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global
partnership for sustainable development
 
The three "means of achieving targets" include: 

1. Increase financial resources to conserve and sustainably use

ecosystem and biodiversity
2. Finance and incentivize sustainable forest management
3. Combat global poaching and trafficking.
“It is critical for us to cultivate consciousness and compassion towards our
environment, create awareness, galvanize people, and build sustainable
innovations for sustainable development.”
- Dia Mirza

SUSTAINABLE EATING

The world’s population is expected to hit 10 billion by 2050. Ensuring

healthy diets for the expected global population, while at the same time
improving the world those people live in, will require sweeping changes to
the food industry and how we consume food sustainably. 
Some significant changes in the available edible options  include :

1. Solein - A protein made from microorganisms present in the soil,

carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity. 

2. Fish food that feeds on greenhouse gases - NovoNutrients is

producing feed for fish utilizing carbon sequestering technology to
address the expanding pressure on aquatic populations across the
world with an eco-friendly solution.

3. Lab-grown meat - Meat industries are a major contributor to the

increasing greenhouse gas quotient. To address this global issue,
meat is now produced in labs in some parts of the world. This can
significantly reduce the impact of livestock grazing while producing a
cruelty-free, sustainable protein using plant and animal cells. This will
also help the world combat climate change caused due to methane
emissions from meat processors

BLUE FOODS

Blue foods are produced from the ocean and lakes and rivers – have an
essential role to play in achieving food security, ending malnutrition and
building healthy, nature-positive and resilient food systems.
Blue foods can play a central role in achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals and the goals of the Summit – in supporting healthier,
more sustainable, more equitable food systems globally and in many of the
most climate-challenged and food-insecure communities.

1. Access to safe and nutritious food for all: Blue foods can be a
powerful tool for public health. Many blue foods are rich in essential
micronutrients, such as omega-3s, zinc, iron and vitamins A, D, and
 B12, that can reduce infant and maternal mortality, stunting and
cognitive deficits. Blue foods can also offer a healthy source of
animal protein, offering lower risks of heart disease and other non-
communicable diseases than some other sources. (Supporting SDGs
2 and 3).

2. Boosting nature-positive and sustainable food production: Blue foods

vary in their environmental footprints, but most blue food systems
provide animal-source protein with relatively low greenhouse gas
emissions and impacts on biodiversity. Some systems – such as
aquaculture of mussels and clams – actually improve the
environment in which they’re raised, filtering excess nutrients out of
the water. (Supporting SDGs 12, 14, 15).

3. Advancing equitable livelihoods and culture: Hundreds of millions of

people derive their livelihoods from small-scale fisheries. Small-scale
fisheries produce most of the fish supply for human consumption,
providing a high diversity of species to support healthy diets, and
offering communities resilience in the face of climate change and
market fluctuations. With appropriate policies, they can offer
important opportunities for women – almost half of the total workforce
in small-scale fisheries are women. (Supporting SDGs 1, 5, 8, and
10).

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

A sustainable lifestyle is an inevitable choice for mitigating global climate

change. They are capitalizing on the new opportunities presented by the
problems faced by the world today to create social businesses that focus
on a triple bottom line with social responsibility at its core, rather than as
just one function of the business.

1. Ecobrick - These are construction materials created from recycled

plastic bottles that have been densely packed with thin plastic debris.
There are tonnes of plastic debris floating around, but these bricks
offer a long-term answer. They not only assist in offering a great deal
of plastic waste a second chance at usefulness, but this solution also
makes sure that there is nearly no photodegradation and chemical
leaching. Smaller constructions, such garden walls, larger structures,
like cottages and schools, as well as furniture like benches and
chairs, can all be built using these building components.
2. Clean energy gym – Did you know, a single hour of spin class can
generate up to 3300 watts of energy and this energy is used to power
 the gym. Clean energy gyms create electricity through human
energy.
3. Air Ink – This innovation captures air pollution and soot from vehicles
to make beautiful black ink, often used by artists and painters.

STEP TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

1. Ratifying Paris Agreement

The 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Successfully
concluded in Paris after intense negotiations by the Parties
followed by the adoption of the Paris Agreement on post-2020
actions on climate change. This universal agreement will succeed
the Kyoto Protocol

2.The Clean Development Mechanism projects in India

As on 4 January 2016, 1593 out of a total of 7685 projects
registered by the CDM executive board are from India, which so
far is the second highest in the world with China taking the lead
with 3764 projects registered. Indian projects are in the energy
efficiency, fuel switching, industrial processes, municipal solid
waste, renewable energy and forestry sectors and are spread
across the country.

3. State Action Plans on Climate Change:

The State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC) aim to create
institutional capacities and implement sectorial activities to
address climate change. These plans are focused on adaptation
with mitigation as co-benefit in sectors such as water,
agriculture, tourism, forestry, transport, habitat and energy

4. Coal Cess and the National Clean Energy Fund

India is one of the few countries around the world to have a
carbon tax in the form of a cess on coal. Not only has India imposed
such a cess but it has also been progressively increasing it.

5. National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change

A National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) has been
established with a budget provision of 350 crore for the year
2015-2016 and 2016-2017. It is meant to assist in meeting the cost of
national- and state-level adaptation measures in areas that
are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate
change.
SUSTAINABLE REGENERATION

While sustainability is concerned with integrating economic, social, and

environmental goals in a holistic way to maximise benefits to current and
future generations. Regeneration produces rapid social and economic
change, and, if planned carefully, can play a major role in delivering the
goals of sustainable development.
Sustainability focuses on not harming the planet and ceasing to
irresponsibly consume its resources, and that should be the guiding
principle inherent in all human activities but this is no longer enough.
Sustainable regeneration goes a step further than sustainability, striving
not only to prevent harm, but to redress that which has already been done
and regenerate what has been lost.
We need infrastructure that can replenish and restore what the planet has
lost. We need to work for nature and create a system that is consistent with
the survival of the Earth and those who call it home. The times we are
living in demand that we become more adaptable, resilient and resolute.
Understanding the capacity of plants to adapt, and the positive impact they
generate in their environment, will help us embark on the sustainable
regeneration the planet needs.
Plants are the seed from which the environment grows. They have the
capacity to leave a positive impact on the planet and to generate an
indispensable service for the rest of its inhabitants. They take from their
surroundings the resources they need to live, but return much more to
nature than they take: enriching the soil, feeding other organisms,
capturing carbon dioxide… Indeed, they are a classic example of
sustainable regeneration.

"Sustainable regeneration seeks to create economies and communities

that thrive so that the planet can too"

GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT

The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) is a United Nations

publication aimed to strengthen the science-policy interface at the High-
Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. Drafted by an
independent group of scientists (IGS) appointed by the Secretary-General
and supported by a task team of six UN-system agencies, the GSDR is
published every four years. The previous report was launched in 2019,
while the 2023 report is currently in development.
The GSDR is meant to be an ‘assessment of assessments’, drawing upon
contributions from a wide range of experts and stakeholders from across
the world, bringing together diverse perspectives and disciplinary
backgrounds.

For the 2023 report, the IGS is seeking inputs from experts from various
disciplines (natural scientists, social scientists, policy makers, practitioners,
etc.) from across the world.

CONCLUSION

The methods used to accomplish economic progress thus far have been
detrimental to the environment in which we live. The urgent demand is for
sustainable development, which strives for growth that has minimal or no
negative impacts on the environment. The issue of meeting people's
housing, employment, and other requirements lies at the heart of the
sustainability concept. We won't have anything to leave behind for future
generations if we don't take care of the environment in which we currently
live.

“Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It

offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice,
exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.”
- Ban Ki-moon
 BIBLIOGRAPHY –

1. Green magazine journals

2. Times of India and the Hindu- News Papers
3. www.activesustainability.com
4. www.researchgate.net
5. producersmarket.com
6. www.un.org
7. sdgs.un.org
8. medium.com