Chapter 2

Concept of sustainability
 Concept of sustainability
• There are three concepts of sustainability
1. Sustainable development
2. Sustainable society
3. General indicators
 1. Sustainable development

• The issue Brought forward in view of challenges at a

scale never seen before.
A. Demographic challenge:
• Strong population growth, notably in the developing
world.
B. Resource challenge:
• An increasing usage of resources, renewable and non
renewable alike.
–Raw materials.
–Energy.
–Food.
 C. Environmental challenge:
• Higher levels of environmental impacts of
human activities.
– The capacity of this world to sustain its
population is compromised.
• “Sustainable”
– The process or the activity can be maintained
without exhaustion or collapse.
– Intra and Inter-generational issue.
 Sustainable Development
The 340 generations of humanity

Your generation

Generations to
come
• 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 is development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
– 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.
2 Sustainable Society
Sustainable Development

Economic Environmental
Social Equity
Efficiency Responsibility

•Living conditions •Economic growth •Consumption of

•Equal opportunity •Efficiency and resources
•Social cohesion competitiveness •Materials and wastes
•International solidarity •Flexibility and stability •Risks
•Maintenance of •Production / •Rate of change
human capital. consumption •Natural and cultural
•Employment landscape
•International trade
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.
• 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”).
2 Global Sustainability •Sustain economic growth
•Maximize profit
•Expand markets
•Externalize costs
Economic Development

Socialism Conservationism

•Respect carrying capacity

•Satisfy needs
•Conserve and recycle
•Increase self-reliance
Ecologism resources
•Reduce waste
 Economic
+
-

+ +
Social Environment
- -
2 2030 Breakdown Scenario
1900 2000 2030 2100
Life expectancy Breakdown

Natural resources

Oil production

Population Industrial output

Food

Pollution
3 General Indicators

Water, materials and waste Energy and air quality

Global Sustainability

Land, green spaces

Transportation
and biodiversity

Livability
 General Indicators: What the Market
3 Can Do
Energy and air New sources of energy. Less energy intensity. Lower
quality emission levels.

Water, materials and Less water intensity. Lower material intensity (packaging)
waste Recycling system. Efficient waste disposal.

Land, green spaces Increased agricultural productivity. Manage

and biodiversity

Livability Improved health. Higher education. Global access to

information and entertainment (Internet).

Transportation Provide collective (transit) and private mobility.

 Sustainable Development
• “Sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs"
• Brundtland Commission “Our common future” 1987
• Mohan Munasinghe – three approaches
– Economic: Maximize income while maintaining a
constant or increasing stock of capital
– Ecological: Maintaining resilience and robustness of
biological and physical systems
– Socio-cultural: Maintaining the stability of social and
cultural systems
• Triple bottom line
 Economic Approach to SD
• Robert Repetto
“The core idea of sustainability is that current
decisions should not impair the prospects for
maintaining or improving future living standards.
• This implies that our economic system should be
managed so we can live off the dividends of our
resources”.
• Resources – all resources
 Ecological approach to SD
IUCN
• SD is about maintenance of essential
ecological processes and life support systems,
the preservation of genetic diversity and the
sustainable utilization of species and
ecosystems
 Social Approach to SD
Ed Barbier
• SD is directly concerned with increasing the
standard of living of the poor, which can be
measured in terms of increased food, real
income, education, health care, water supply,
sanitation and only indirectly concerned with
economic growth at the aggregate.
 The principle
• Protect the environment and at the same time fulfill
economic and social objectives
• Operational criteria:
– Economic objectives should not be maximized
without satisfying environmental and social
constraints
– Environmental benefits should not be maximized
without satisfying economic and social constraints
– Social benefits should not be maximized without
satisfying economic and environmental constraints
 The principle – meant to deliver
1. Economic growth and equity; not leaving any
region behind
2. Conserving natural resources and the
environment; for us and future generations
3. Social development; Ensure rich fabric of social
and cultural diversity, ensure rights of workers,
empowerment and at the same time ensure jobs,
education, food, health care, energy etc.
 The three core drivers of un-sustainability

• Consumption
– Use of resources beyond the reasonable limits set
by nature
• Production
– Gross inefficiencies in production.
• Distribution
– Inequitable distribution e.g. distribution of global
income between rich and poor
 Understanding the UN development
agenda
• At the beginning of the new millennium, in 2000,
world leaders gathered at the UN to shape a broad
vision to fight poverty in its many dimensions
• That vision was translated into 8 Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
• The MDG framework has guided development work
across the world for the past 20 years