Sustainable development is an
organizing principle for meeting
human development Human development may refer to:
* Development of the human body
* Developmental psychology
* Human development (economics)
* Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development
* Human evolution
Human evoluti ...
goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the
natural resource
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...
s and
ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...
on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet
human needs without undermining the
integrity
Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.
In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. In ...
and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development was defined in the 1987
Brundtland Report
__NOTOC__
''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published on October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland's, former Norwegian Prime M ...
as "Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of
future generations
Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...
to meet their own needs".
[United Nations General Assembly (1987]
''Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future''
Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 – Development and International Co-operation: Environment. As the concept of sustainable development developed, it has shifted its focus more towards the
economic development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...
, social development and environmental protection for future generations.
Sustainable development was first institutionalized with the Rio Process initiated at the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. In 2015 the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
adopted the
Sustainable Development Goals(2015 to 2030) and explained how the goals are integrated and indivisible to achieve sustainable development at the global level.
[ ]
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License The 17 goals address the global challenges, including
poverty, inequality,
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
,
environmental degradation, peace, and justice.
Sustainable development is interlinked with the
normative concept of
sustainability.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
formulated a distinction between the two concepts as follows: "''Sustainability'' is often thought of as a long-term goal (i.e. a more sustainable world), while ''sustainable development'' refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."
The concept of sustainable development has been criticized in various ways. While some see it as paradoxical (or an
oxymoron) and regard development as inherently unsustainable, others are disappointed in the lack of progress that has been achieved so far.
Part of the problem is that "development" itself is not consistently defined.
Definition
In 1987, the United Nations
World Commission on Environment and Development
The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pé ...
released the report ''Our Common Future'', commonly called the
Brundtland Report
__NOTOC__
''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published on October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland's, former Norwegian Prime M ...
.
The report included a definition of "sustainable development" which is now widely used:
Related concepts
Sustainability
Development of the concept
Sustainable development has its roots in ideas about
sustainable forest management, which were developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
[Ulrich Grober: Deep roots ]
A conceptual history of "sustainable development" (Nachhaltigkeit)
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, 2007 In response to a growing awareness of the depletion of timber resources in England,
John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's diary, or ...
argued, in his 1662 essay ''
Sylva'', that "sowing and planting of trees had to be regarded as a national duty of every landowner, in order to stop the destructive
over-exploitation of natural resources
The exploitation of natural resources is the use of natural resources for economic growth, sometimes with a negative connotation of accompanying environmental degradation. It started to emerge on an industrial scale in the 19th century as the e ...
." In 1713,
Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a senior mining administrator in the service of Elector
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
pl, Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery
, image = Frederick Augustus I of Saxony by Marcello Bacciarelli (ca 1808-1809).png
, caption = Portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli (1809)
, succession = King of Saxony
, coron ...
published ''Sylvicultura economics'', a 400-page work on forestry. Building upon the ideas of Evelyn and French minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, von Carlowitz developed the concept of managing forests for
sustained yield.
His work influenced others, including
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...
and
Georg Ludwig Hartig
Georg Ludwig Hartig (September 2, 1764 – February 2, 1837) was a German forester.
Education
Hartig was born at Gladenbach, in present-day Hesse. After obtaining a practical knowledge of forestry from his uncle at Harzburg, he studied from 17 ...
, eventually leading to the development of the science of forestry. This, in turn, influenced people like
Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...
, the first head of the
US Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
, whose approach to forest management was driven by the idea of wise use of resources, and
Aldo Leopold whose
land ethic
A land ethic is a philosophy or theoretical framework about how, ethically, humans should regard the land. The term was coined by Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) in his '' A Sand County Almanac'' (1949), a classic text of the environmental movement. T ...
was influential in the development of the
environmental movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
in the 1960s.
Following the publication of
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book '' Silent Spring'' (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental ...
's ''
Silent Spring
''Silent Spring'' is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading d ...
'' in 1962, the developing environmental movement drew attention to the relationship between economic growth and
environmental degradation.
Kenneth E. Boulding
Kenneth Ewart Boulding (; January 18, 1910 – March 18, 1993) was an English-born American economist, educator, peace activist, and interdisciplinary philosopher.David LatzkoKenneth E. Boulding Commentsat personal.psu.edu. Accessed 24 April 200 ...
, in his influential 1966 essay ''The Economics of the Coming
Spaceship Earth'', identified the need for the economic system to fit itself to the ecological system with its limited pools of resources.
Another milestone was the 1968 article by
Garrett Hardin
Garrett James Hardin (April 21, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American ecologist. He focused his career on the issue of human overpopulation, and is best known for his exposition of the tragedy of the commons in a 1968 paper of the same t ...
that popularized the term "
tragedy of the commons
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
". One of the first uses of the term sustainable in the contemporary sense was by the
Club of Rome in 1972 in its classic report on the ''
Limits to Growth
''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...
'', written by a group of scientists led by
Dennis and
Donella Meadows
Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows (March 13, 1941 – February 20, 2001) was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books ''The Limits to Growth'' and '' Thinking In Systems: A Primer''.
E ...
of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. Describing the desirable "state of global equilibrium", the authors wrote: "We are searching for a model output that represents a world system that is sustainable without sudden and uncontrolled collapse and capable of satisfying the basic material requirements of all of its people."
That year also saw the publication of the influential ''
A Blueprint for Survival
''A Blueprint for Survival'' was an influential environmentalist text that drew attention to the urgency and magnitude of environmental problems.
First published as a special edition of ''The Ecologist'' in January 1972, it was later published in ...
'' book.
In 1975, an
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
research group prepared ten days of hearings on "Growth and Its Implication for the Future" for the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
, the first hearings ever held on sustainable development.
In 1980, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...
published a world conservation strategy that included one of the first references to sustainable development as a global priority and introduced the term "sustainable development".
Two years later, the United Nations
World Charter for Nature
The World Charter for Nature was adopted by United Nations member nation-states on October 28, 1982. It proclaims five "principles of conservation by which all human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged."
# Nature shall be respected ...
raised five principles of
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
by which human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged.
Since the
Brundtland Report
__NOTOC__
''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published on October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland's, former Norwegian Prime M ...
, the concept of sustainable development has developed beyond the initial intergenerational framework to focus more on the goal of "socially
inclusive and environmentally
sustainable economic growth".
[ In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development published the ]Earth Charter
The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, ...
, which outlines the building of a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. The action plan Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
for sustainable development identified information, integration, and participation as key building blocks to help countries achieve development that recognizes these interdependent pillars. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasizes that broad public participation in decision-making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development.
The Rio Protocol was a huge leap forward: for the first time, the world agreed on a sustainability agenda. In fact, a global consensus was facilitated by neglecting concrete goals and operational details. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) now have concrete targets (unlike the results from the Rio Process) but no methods for sanctions.
Dimensions
Sustainable development, like sustainability, is regarded to have three dimensions (also called pillars, domains, aspects, spheres and globalized etc.): the environment, economy and society.
Critique
The concept of sustainable development has been and still is, subject to criticism, including the question of what is to be sustained in sustainable development. It has been argued that there is no such thing as sustainable use of a non-renewable resource
A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic mat ...
, since any positive rate of exploitation will eventually lead to the exhaustion of earth's finite stock; this perspective renders the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
as a whole unsustainable.
The sustainable development debate is based on the assumption that societies need to manage three types of capital (economic, social, and natural), which may be non-substitutable and whose consumption might be irreversible. Natural capital
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...
can not necessarily be substituted by economic capital. While it is possible that we can find ways to replace some natural resources, it is much less likely that they will ever be able to replace ecosystem service
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...
s, such as the protection provided by the ozone layer, or the climate stabilizing function of the Amazonian forest.
The concept of sustainable development has been criticized from different angles. While some see it as paradoxical (or an oxymoron) and regard development as inherently unsustainable, others are disappointed in the lack of progress that has been achieved so far. Part of the problem is that "development" itself is not consistently defined.
The vagueness of the Brundtland definition of sustainable development has been criticized as follows: The definition has "opened up the possibility of downplaying sustainability. Hence, governments spread the message that we can have it all at the same time, i.e. economic growth, prospering societies and a healthy environment. No new ethic is required. This so-called weak version of sustainability is popular among governments, and businesses, but profoundly wrong and not even weak, as there is no alternative to preserving the earth’s ecological integrity."
Pathways
Requirements
Six interdependent capacities are deemed to be necessary for the successful pursuit of sustainable development. These are the capacities to measure progress towards sustainable development; promote equity within and between generations; adapt to shocks and surprises; transform the system onto more sustainable development pathways; link knowledge with action for sustainability; and to devise governance arrangements that allow people to work together
Environmental Characteristics of Sustainable Cities
A sustainable city is an urban center that improves its environmental impact through urban planning and management. For the definition of an eco-city, imagine a city with parks and green spaces, solar-powered buildings, rooftop gardens, and more pedestrians and bicycles than cars. This is not a futuristic dream. Smart cities are actively moving towards greener urban ecosystems and better environmental management.
Environmental sustainability concerns the natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses ...
and how it endures and remains diverse and productive. Since natural resources
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...
are derived from the environment, the state of air, water, and climate is of particular concern. Environmental sustainability requires society to design activities to meet human needs while preserving the life support systems of the planet. This, for example, entails using water sustainably, using renewable energy and sustainable material supplies (e.g. harvesting wood from forests at a rate that maintains the biomass and biodiversity).
An unsustainable situation occurs when natural capital
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...
(the total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. The concept of sustainable development is intertwined with the concept of carrying capacity. Theoretically, the long-term result of environmental degradation is the inability to sustain human life.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
/ref>
Important operational principles of sustainable development were published by Herman Daly in 1990: renewable resources should provide a sustainable yield (the rate of harvest should not exceed the rate of regeneration); for non-renewable resources there should be equivalent development of renewable substitutes; waste generation should not exceed the assimilative capacity of the environment.
Land use changes, agriculture and food
Environmental problems
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
associated with industrial agriculture
Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of crops and animals and animal products like eggs or milk. The methods of industrial agriculture include innovation in agricultural machinery and f ...
and agribusiness are now being addressed through approaches such as sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
, organic farming
Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
and more sustainable business practices. The most cost-effective climate change mitigation options include afforestation, sustainable forest management, and reducing deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
. At the local level there are various movements working towards sustainable food system
A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agr ...
s which may include less meat consumption, local food
Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system.
Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to con ...
production, slow food
Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and re ...
, sustainable gardening
Sustainable gardening includes the more specific sustainable landscapes, sustainable landscape design, sustainable landscaping, sustainable landscape architecture, resulting in sustainable sites. It comprises a disparate group of horticultural i ...
, and organic gardening. The environmental effects of different dietary patterns depend on many factors, including the proportion of animal and plant foods consumed and the method of food production.
Materials and waste
As global population and affluence have increased, so has the use of various materials increased in volume, diversity, and distance transported. Included here are raw materials, minerals, synthetic chemicals (including hazardous substances
Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...
), manufactured products, food, living organisms, and waste.[Bournay, E. ''et al.''. (2006)]
''Vital waste graphics 2''
The Basel Convention, UNEP, GRID-Arendal. . By 2050, humanity could consume an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year (three times its current amount) unless the economic growth rate is decoupled from the rate of natural resource consumption Resource consumption is about the consumption of non-renewable, or less often, renewable resources. Specifically, it may refer to:
* water consumption
* energy consumption
** electric energy consumption
** world energy consumption
* natural gas c ...
. Developed countries' citizens consume an average of 16 tons of those four key resources per capita per year, ranging up to 40 or more tons per person in some developed countries with resource consumption levels far beyond what is likely sustainable. By comparison, the average person in India today consumes four tons per year.
Sustainable use of materials has targeted the idea of dematerialization, converting the linear path of materials (extraction, use, disposal in landfill) to a circular material flow that reuses materials as much as possible, much like the cycling and reuse of waste in nature. Dematerialization is being encouraged through the ideas of industrial ecology
Industrial ecology (IE) is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modelled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resource ...
, eco design and ecolabelling
Ecolabels (also "Eco-Labels") and Green Stickers are labeling systems for food and consumer products. The use of ecolabels is voluntary, whereas green stickers are mandated by law; for example, in North America major appliances and automobiles us ...
.
This way of thinking is expressed in the concept of circular economy, which employs reuse, sharing
Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...
, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
to create a closed-loop system, minimizing the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...
, pollution and carbon emissions. Building electric vehicles has been one of the most popular ways in the field of sustainable development, the potential of using reusable energy and reducing waste offered a perspective in sustainable development. The European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
has adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan
The European Green Deal, approved 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. An impact assessed plan will also be presented to increase the ...
in 2020, which aims at making sustainable products the norm in the EU.
Biodiversity and ecosystem services
In 2019, a summary for policymakers of the largest, most comprehensive study to date of biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
and ecosystem service
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...
s was published by the . It recommended that human civilization will need a transformative change, including sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
, reductions in consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
and waste, fishing quotas and collaborative water management.
The 2022 IPCC report emphasizes how there have been many studies done on the loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...
, and provides additional strategies to decrease the rate of our declining biodiversity. The report suggests how preserving natural ecosystems, fire and soil management, and reducing the competition for land can create positive impacts on our environment, and contribute to sustainable development.
Management of human consumption and impacts
The environmental impact
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
of a community or humankind as a whole depends both on population and impact per person, which in turn depends in complex ways on what resources are being used, whether or not those resources are renewable, and the scale of the human activity relative to the carrying capacity of the ecosystems involved. Careful resource management can be applied at many scales, from economic sectors like agriculture, manufacturing and industry, to work organizations, the consumption patterns of households and individuals, and the resource demands of individual goods and services.[Brower, M. & Leon, W. (1999). ''The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists''. New York: Three Rivers Press. .]
The underlying driver of direct human impacts on the environment is human consumption.[Michaelis, L. & Lorek, S. (2004)]
"Consumption and the Environment in Europe: Trends and Futures."
Danish Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Project No. 904. This impact is reduced by not only consuming less but also making the full cycle of production, use, and disposal more sustainable. Consumption of goods and services can be analyzed and managed at all scales through the chain of consumption, starting with the effects of individual lifestyle choices and spending patterns, through to the resource demands of specific goods and services, the impacts of economic sectors, through national economies to the global economy. Key resource categories relating to human needs are food, energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...
, raw materials and water.
Improving on economic and social aspects
It has been suggested that because of rural poverty and overexploitation, environmental resources should be treated as important economic assets, called natural capital
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...
. Economic development has traditionally required a growth in the gross domestic product. This model of unlimited personal and GDP growth may be over. Sustainable development may involve improvements in the quality of life for many but may necessitate a decrease in resource consumption Resource consumption is about the consumption of non-renewable, or less often, renewable resources. Specifically, it may refer to:
* water consumption
* energy consumption
** electric energy consumption
** world energy consumption
* natural gas c ...
. "Growth" generally ignores the direct effect that the environment may have on social welfare, whereas "development" takes it into account.
As early as the 1970s, the concept of sustainability was used to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems". Scientists in many fields have highlighted ''The Limits to Growth
''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...
'', and economists have presented alternatives, for example a ' steady-state economy', to address concerns over the impacts of expanding human development on the planet. In 1987, the economist Edward Barbier published the study ''The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development'', where he recognized that goals of environmental conservation and economic development are not conflicting and can be reinforcing each other.
A World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
study from 1999 concluded that based on the theory of genuine savings (defined as "traditional net savings less the value of resource depletion and environmental degradation plus the value of investment in human capital"), policymakers have many possible interventions to increase sustainability, in macroeconomics or purely environmental. Several studies have noted that efficient policies for renewable energy and pollution are compatible with increasing human welfare, eventually reaching a golden-rule steady state.
A meta review in 2002 looked at environmental and economic valuations and found a "lack of concrete understanding of what “sustainability policies” might entail in practice". A study concluded in 2007 that knowledge, manufactured and human capital (health and education) has not compensated for the degradation of natural capital in many parts of the world. It has been suggested that intergenerational equity can be incorporated into a sustainable development and decision making, as has become common in economic valuations of climate economics.
The 2022 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report discussed how ambitious climate change mitigation policies have created negative social and economical impacts when they are not aligned with sustainable development goals. As a result, the transition towards sustainable development mitigation policies has slowed down which is why the inclusivity and considerations of justice of these policies may weaken or support improvements on certain regions as there are other limiting factors such as poverty, food insecurity, and water scarcity that may impede the governments application of policies that aim to build a low carbon future.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a CEO-led organization of over 200 international companies. The Council is also connected to 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations.
Its origins ...
published a Vision 2050 document in 2021 to show "How business can lead the transformations the world needs". The vision states that "we envision a world in which 9+billion people can live well, within planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries is a concept highlighting human-caused perturbations of Earth systems making them relevant in a way not accommodated by the environmental boundaries separating the three ages within the Holocene epoch. Crossing a planetary ...
, by 2050." This report was highlighted by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' as "the largest concerted corporate sustainability action plan to date – include reversing the damage done to ecosystems, addressing rising greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...
and ensuring societies move to sustainable agriculture."
Gender and leadership in sustainable development
Gender and sustainable development have been examined, focusing on women's leadership potential and barriers to it. While leadership roles in sustainable development have become more androgynous over time, patriarchal structures and perceptions continue to constrain women from becoming leaders.[Shinbrot, Xoco A., Kate Wilkins, Ulrike Gretzel, Gillian Bowser. "Unlocking women’s sustainability leadership potential: Perceptions of contributions and challenges for women in sustainable development." World Development 119 (2019): 120-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.03.009] Some hidden issues are women's lack of self-confidence, impeding access to leadership roles, but men can potentially play a role as allies for women's leadership.
Barriers
There are barriers that small and medium enterprises face when implementing sustainable development such as lack of expertise, lack of resources, and high initial capital cost of implementing sustainability measures.
Globally, the lack of political will Political will is defined as "the extent of committed support among key decision makers for a particular policy solution to a particular problem." It is also considered by political scientist Linn Hammergren to be "the slipperiest concept in the po ...
is a barrier to achieving sustainable development. To overcome this impediment, governments must jointly form an agreement of social and political strength. Efforts to enact reforms or design and implement programs to decrease the harmful effects of human behaviors allow for progress toward present and future environmental sustainability goals. The Paris Agreement exemplifies efforts of political will Political will is defined as "the extent of committed support among key decision makers for a particular policy solution to a particular problem." It is also considered by political scientist Linn Hammergren to be "the slipperiest concept in the po ...
on a global level, a multinational agreement between 193 parties intended to strengthen the global response to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
by reducing emissions
Emission may refer to:
Chemical products
* Emission of air pollutants, notably:
**Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue
** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion
** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...
and working together to adjust to the consequent effects of climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. Experts continue to firmly suggest that governments should do more outside of The Paris Agreement, there persist a greater need for political will Political will is defined as "the extent of committed support among key decision makers for a particular policy solution to a particular problem." It is also considered by political scientist Linn Hammergren to be "the slipperiest concept in the po ...
.
Another barrier towards sustainable development would be negative externalities
In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...
that may potentially arise from implementing sustainable development technology. One example would be the development of lithium-ion batteries, a key element towards environmental sustainability and the reduction in reliance towards fossil fuels. However, currently with the technology and methodology available, Lithium production poses a negative environmental impact during its extraction from the earth as it uses a method very similar to fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
as well as during its processing to be used as a battery which is a chemically intensive process. One suggested solution would be to weigh the possibility of recycling as this will cut down on the waste of old lithium as well as reducing the need for extracting new lithium from the ground, however, this sustainable development solution is barred from implementation by a high initial cost as studies have shown that recycling old technology for the purpose of extracting metals such as lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
and cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...
is typically more expensive than extracting them from the ground and processing them.
Sustainable Development Goals
Education for sustainable development
Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a term used by the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and is defined as education that encourages changes in knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to enable a more sustainable and just society for all. ESD aims to empower and equip current and future generations to meet their needs using a balanced and integrated approach to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
was the first international document that identified education as an essential tool for achieving sustainable development and highlighted areas of action for education. ESD is a component of measurement in an indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG) for "responsible consumption and production". SDG 12 has 11 targets and target 12.8 is "By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature." 20 years after the Agenda 21 document was declared, the ‘Future we want’ document was declared in the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, stating that "We resolve to promote education for sustainable development and to integrate sustainable development more actively into education beyond the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development."
One version of education for Sustainable Development recognizes modern-day environmental challenges and seeks to define new ways to adjust to a changing biosphere, as well as engage individuals to address societal issues that come with them In the International Encyclopedia of Education, this approach to education is seen as an attempt to "shift consciousness toward an ethics of life-giving relationships that respects the interconnectedness of man to his natural world" in order to equip future members of society with environmental awareness and a sense of responsibility to sustainability.
For UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, education for sustainable development involves:
The Thessaloniki Declaration, presented at the "International Conference on Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability" by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and the Government of Greece (December 1997), highlights the importance of sustainability not only with regards to the natural environment, but also with "poverty, health, food security, democracy, human rights, and peace".
See also
*Climate change education (CCE) Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change ...
*Environmental education
Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...
*Global citizenship education Global citizenship education (GCED) is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. The two main elements of GCE are ' global ...
* Human population planning
Human population planning is the practice of intentionally controlling the growth rate of a human population. The practice, traditionally referred to as population control, had historically been implemented mainly with the goal of increasing po ...
* List of sustainability topics
* Outline of sustainability
*United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) 2005–2014 was an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) initiative of the United Nations. The Decade was delivered by UNESCO as lead agency, and gave rise to Regional Centres of Ex ...
References
External links
Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform of the UN
Sustainable Development Solutions Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sustainable Development
Environmental terminology
Environmental education
Sustainable development
UNESCO
Academic disciplines
Environmental social science concepts
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable building
Sustainable design
Sustainable urban planning
Sustainability