What is Sustainability?

• Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Society
• General Indicators
Sustainable Development
• The issue
• Brought forward in view of challenges at a scale never seen before.
• Demographic challenge:
• Strong population growth, notably in the developing world.
• Resource challenge:
• An increasing usage of resources, renewable and non renewable alike.
• Raw materials.
• Energy.
• Food.
• Environmental challenge:
• Higher levels of environmental impacts of human activities.
• The capacity of this world to sustain its population is
compromised.
Sustainable Development
• “Sustainable”
• The process or the activity can be maintained without
exhaustion or collapse.
• Intra and Inter-generational issue.
• Capacity of a system to accommodate changes:
• Rates of use of renewable resources should not exceed their
rates or regeneration.
• Rates of use of non-renewable resources should not exceed at
which renewable substitutes are developed.
• Rates of pollution emissions should not exceed the assimilative
capacity of the environment.
Sustainable Development
• “Development”
• Development is about people, not necessarily the
economy.
• Development is a process.
• Improvement of the welfare of the population:
• Create an enabling environment for people.
• Often forgotten in the immediate concern with the
accumulation of commodities and wealth.
• Finding ways to satisfy and improve human needs.
Sustainable Development
• Conditions:
• Appropriate social, political, legal and economic conditions.
• Outcomes
• Improvement of the physical and human capital.
• Human capital:
• Improved health or knowledge.
• Improved opportunities for people to use their acquired capabilities.
• Improved work or leisure conditions.
• Physical capital:
• Improved private infrastructures.
• Improved collective infrastructures.
Sustainable Society
• Three “E”s
• Economics.
• Ecology / Environment.
• Equity (social).
• Population
• Lessen population growth and stabilize it (preferably).
• Stop subsidizing reproduction.
• Access to contraception and family planning (freedom of
choice).
• Basic material needs satisfied (social obligation?).
• Political and gender equity.
• Access to information and education.
Sustainable Society
• Ecology
• Restore the biological base (soils, forests, atmosphere
and hydrosphere).
• Agriculture supporting ecosystems (diversity and organic
recycling).
• Energy
• Minimize and abolish fossil fuels (market forces are likely
to do so).
• Shift to natural gas as an interim measure.
• Move to renewable energy sources (hydrogen, solar,
wind, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric).
Sustainable Society
• Economy
• Promotion of efficiency and recycling.
• Source materials mainly recycled materials.
• Reduce wastes in production, packaging and distribution.
• Economy like an ecosystem.
• Dematerialization of the economy.
• Spatial forms
• Rational use of space (market forces).
• Dense and compact cities.
• Multifamily dwellings.
• Alternative transportation modes:
• Leaning on mass transit, cycling and walking.
Sustainable Society
• Social forms
• Material sufficiency and frugality:
• Replacing consumerism and materialism (unlikely).
• Living according to one’s means.
• Self-worth and social status:
• Not measured primarily by possession (unlikely).
• Balance between individual rights and obligations:
• End of social welfare and the irresponsibility it creates?
• Governance
• Less government and more individual initiative.
• Global governance (common policies for common causes).
• Regional autonomy (regional issues and cultural / political differences).
• Avoid socialism and fascism (especially “world improvers”).
Global Sustainability
• Sustain economic growth
• Maximize profit
• Expand markets
• Externalize costs
• Respect carrying capacity
• Conserve and recycle
resources
• Reduce waste
• Satisfy needs
• Increase self-reliance