Chapter 3 - Sustainability—A New

Direction for Development

 Overview
• UNCED: A Hope-giving Earth Summit

• SD Dimensions
• A Safe and Just Space for Humanity
• From UNEP (1972) to UNEA (2012)

• Principles of Sustainable Resource Use

• Four Worldviews—Four SD Visions
• A Theory of Leading Organisational Change
UNCED: A Hope-giving Earth Summit

• Twenty years after Stockholm Conference on the Human

Environment coincided with the wave of environment concern and
international optimism/co-operation
• Well prepared by a series of negotiation rounds and conferences
(prep-coms)
• Five multi-lateral environmental agreements (MEAs) opened for
signature
 SD Dimensions
• Brundtland Report: ‘SD is a type of development which meets
the needs of the present generation without compromising the
opportunities for future generations to meet their needs.’

• Economic dimension: Wealth creation

• Social dimension: Distribution of costs and benefits

• Environment dimension: Impacts on the planet

A Safe and Just Space for Humanity
• Upper limit: Ecological boundaries
o Already exceeded: Bio-diversity loss, climate change and nitrogen
cycle
o Within limits: Atmospheric aerosol, chemical pollution, freshwater
use, land-use change, ocean acidification, phosphorus cycle and
stratospheric ozone depletion

• Lower limit: Social conditions for dignified life

o Education for all, clean energy for all, food security, gender equality, access to health
care, living wage, decent jobs, resilience to shocks, social equity, water and sanitation,
and a voice in matters relating to one’s living environment
From UNEP (1972) to UNEA (2012)
• Established at Stockholm Conference in 1972
• Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya

• A relatively small UN programme

• Achievements: Millennium Assessment, Global Mercury Partnership,
Finance Initiative, Green Economy Report
• Weaknesses: Only quarter of UN Members on its council, relies on
donations, and is far from other UN centres
• Since 2012: Reformed to UN Environment Assembly for more influence
Principles of Sustainable Resource Use

• Reducing input flow:

o Efficiency improvement
o Input substitution
o Reuse and recycle

• Managing output flow:

o Pollution control
o Remediation
o Restoration
Four Worldviews—Four SD Visions

• Bio-environmentalist: Get society back within safe ecological limits

through strong sustainability
• Institutionalist: Create strong agencies, treaties and other arrangements to
push the world towards inclusive and SD
• Market liberal: Grow the world out of economic, social and environmental
issues by eliminating government and market failures
• Social green: Free the world of oppressive economic, social and
environmental structures that privilege the few
A Theory of Leading Organisational
Change
1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Form a guiding coalition
3. Formulate a strong vision and strategy
4. Communicate them on every occasion
5. Enable the organisation to make the change
6. Plan short-term gains
7. Reinforce results and keep the change going
8. Anchor the change in the organisation’s structures
End of Chapter 3
Sustainable development thinking
helps make wise decisions regarding
people’s needs today by taking into
account the long-term impacts of
human action on other people
groups (near and far) and the natural
environment.