Sustainability

Sustainability is often represented diagrammatically. The figure at the top of this page suggests that there are three pillars of sustainability – economic viability, environmental protection and social equity. (Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/sustainability-society-and-you/0/steps/4618)

The Ecologist doesn’t see the human race as a separate entity from the planet and its resources, but part of it. Their motivations for preserving the planet are that nature and humanity have an inherent value and should be protected because of that. The Environmentalist sees nature or the planet as separate from the human race. It is there for humans, and as such humans should have stewardship over the world. They see the planet as something to be preserved so that humans can survive and evolve. The Economist understands the measures of unsustainability arising from a consumer led culture treating finite resources as an income, but has faith that market forces and a “business as usual” approach will result in a natural crisis aversion occurring; that the system will sort itself out through technological advances if left to its own devices. (Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/sustainability-society-and-you/0/steps/4618)

In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Today, there are almost 140 developing countries in the world seeking ways of meeting their development needs, but with the increasing threat of climate change, concrete efforts must be made to ensure development today does not negatively affect future generations. (https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability)

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. (https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/reflection-paper-towards-sustainable-europe-2030_en#:~:text=First published on,deeply rooted in European policies.)

Whether one considers sustainability to exist as a three-legged table consisting of the environment, the economy, and society, or as a dualistic relationship between human beings and the ecosystem they inhabit, there should at least be agreement that ensuring the provision of clean air, clean water, and clean and productive land is foundational to a responsible socioeconomic system. [...] If it can be agreed that a sustainable environment is a necessary prerequisite to a sustainable socio-economic system, then it also should make sense that the actions we take to remove threats to and foster environmental sustainability should contribute to such a system. (Mirelli, “Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals,” p. 3 - 4)

Natural capital - the natural environment - is defined as the stock of environmentally provided assets (such as soil, atmosphere, forests, water, wetlands), which provide a flow of useful goods or services; these can be renewable or nonrenewable, and marketed or nonmarketed. Sustainability means maintaining environmental assets, or at least not depleting them. (Goodland, “THE CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY,” p. 14)