Welcome

ENG 519 Sustainability

Prof Charlie Fairfield

 +61 (0) 8 8946 6140
 charlie.fairfield@cdu.edu.au
 Purple 12.2.09

Slide 1 of 23
The town common

Slide 2 of 23
There is stress on our economic, social, and
environmental systems.
Earth’s population is now around 7.9 billion,
expected to exceed 9.7 billion by 2050.
http://data.worldbank.org/country
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Excess consumption + increased poverty
= pressure on the environment

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Land degradation

Slide 4 of 23
River
pollution

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Wildlife under threat

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Depletion of the ozone layer

Slide 7 of 23
“Greenhouse gas” lies and myths
Including: beneficial H2O and CO2 … consider others.

Slide 8 of 23
Approx. 40% of people suffer from water
shortages. Many do not have access to safe
drinking water.

2.8 billion people live on less than $2 per diem.

About 11 million children die per annum from

preventable causes, due to a lack of: nutrition,
sanitation, health, and education.

Slide 9 of 23
 All the above suggest our current
development is unsustainable.

So the concept of sustainable development has

emerged.
For development to be sustainable, it must take
account of:
Socio-ecological factors, as well as economic ones;
The living and non-living resource base;
Long-term AND short-term advantages and
disadvantages of alternative actions.

Slide 10 of 23
In 1987 the World Commission on Environment
and Development published what has become
known as the “Brundtland Report”, which started
with:

Slide 11 of 23
“The Earth is one but the world is not. We all
depend on one biosphere for sustaining our
lives. Yet each community, each country,
strives for survival and prosperity with little
regard for its impact on others. Some
consume the Earth’s resources at a rate that
would leave little for future generations.
Others, many more in number, consume far
too little and live with the prospects of hunger,
squalor, disease, and early death.”

Slide 12 of 23
The Paris Treaty
https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?sr
c=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-
d&chapter=27&clang=_en
One in a series of very expensive actions…
There have been many events and initiatives, up
to and including, COP26:
hhttps://ukcop26.org/
These set a wide range of unattainable targets:

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• To diversify energy supply and substantially increase
the global proportion of renewable energy sources
• To improve access to reliable, affordable,
economically viable, socially acceptable and
environmentally sound energy services and
resources
• To accelerate the development and dissemination of
energy efficiency and energy conservation
technologies
• To develop integrated water resource management
and water efficiency plans
• To achieve significant reductions in the current rate
of loss of biological diversity.
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Sustainable development has been defined.
Targets have been set
Sustainability has been incorporated into
national and business planning.

Wonderful words and plans.

But…

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How do we achieve sustainable
development?

How do we measure our progress toward

achieving it?

Progress in implementing sustainable

development has been slow, and remains
mainly theoretical for the majority of people.

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Sustainable development does not mean only better
management of the environment.
Just “greening” the economy and ignoring the need
for poverty reduction and the redistribution of
opportunity will not ensure long-term sustainability.
True sustainability considers:
• social equality
• environmental impact
• economic well-being
True sustainability ensures a satisfying quality of life
for everyone.
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In the planned World Summit on Sustainable
Development, 2018 (http://wsds.teriin.org/):
“fundamental changes in the way societies
produce and consume are indispensable for
achieving global sustainable development.”

We are seeing increasing energy efficiencies and a

lower consumption rate of raw materials.
But the amount of waste generated has increased
as consumption of goods and services increases.

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Today, economic growth = more consumption
of resources = more waste (pollution)
Economic growth must be separated from
adverse environmental impacts (waste
production, use of hazardous materials,
greenhouse gas emissions) to achieve
sustainable development.
Industry should strive to achieve more value
from lower inputs of materials and energy while
reducing emissions.

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Businesses must become more “eco-efficient”, by:

• Reducing material requirements

• Reducing energy intensity
• Reducing toxin dispersion
• Enhancing material recyclability
• Maximising sustainable use of renewables
• Extending product durability
• Increasing the service intensity

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“Factor 4”:
halve resource use and double wealth
(production)
Also “Factor 10”:
tenfold reduction in resource consumption
- but only in industrialised countries, the
reasoning being that these countries use
the most resources.

Equity is important.
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Why all this emphasis on reduction of resource use?
World economy:
1950 $6.2 tn
1990 $31 tn
2000 $42 tn
2020 $86 tn (https://data.worldbank.org/)
After Chinese attacks on Australian exports?
By 2030?
Increased economic activity = increased consumption
Is this consumption sustainable?
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Current consumption and production appear to be 25%
higher than the earth’s sustainable carrying capacity

10
45

Population x 109
40
35
30 output
$ x 1012

25 consumption

5
20
15 population
10
5
0

0
1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 2040
Year

How long can we continue increasing consumption?

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