Sustainability
Sustainability is the ability to continue over a long period of time. In modern usage it generally refers to a state in which the environment, economy, and society will continue to exist over a long period of time. Many definitions emphasize the environmental dimension. This can include addressing key environmental problems, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. The idea of sustainability can guide decisions at the global, national, organizational, and individual levels. A related concept is that of sustainable development, and the terms are often used to mean the same thing. UNESCO distinguishes the two like this: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal, while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."
Details around the economic dimension of sustainability are controversial. Scholars have discussed this under the concept of weak and strong sustainability. For example, there will always be tension between the ideas of "welfare and prosperity for all" and environmental conservation, so trade-offs are necessary. It would be desirable to find ways that separate economic growth from harming the environment. This means using fewer resources per unit of output even while growing the economy. This decoupling reduces the environmental impact of economic growth, such as pollution. Doing this is difficult.
It is challenging to measure sustainability as the concept is complex, contextual, and dynamic. Indicators have been developed to cover the environment, society, or the economy but there is no fixed definition of sustainability indicators. The metrics are evolving and include indicators, benchmarks, and audits. They include sustainability standards and certification systems, like Fairtrade and Organic. They also involve indices and accounting systems, such as corporate sustainability reporting and triple Bottom Line accounting.
It is necessary to address many barriers to sustainability to achieve a sustainability transition or sustainability transformation. Some barriers arise from nature and its complexity while others are extrinsic to the concept of sustainability. For example, they can result from the dominant institutional frameworks in countries.
Global issues of sustainability are difficult to tackle because they need global solutions. Existing global organizations such as the UN and WTO are seen as inefficient in enforcing current global regulations. One reason for this is the lack of suitable sanctioning mechanisms. Governments are not the only sources of action for sustainability. For example, business groups have tried to integrate ecological concerns with economic activity, seeking sustainable business. Religious leaders have stressed the need for caring for nature and environmental stability. Individuals can also choose to live more sustainably.
Some people have criticized the idea of sustainability. One point of criticism is that the concept is vague and only a buzzword. Another is that sustainability might be an impossible goal. Some experts have pointed out that "no country is delivering what its citizens need without transgressing the biophysical planetary boundaries".
Definitions
Current usage
Sustainability is regarded as a "normative concept". This means it is based on what people value or find desirable: "The quest for sustainability involves connecting what is known through scientific study to applications in pursuit of what people want for the future."The 1983 UN Commission on Environment and Development had a big influence on the use of the term sustainability today. The commission's 1987 Brundtland Report provided a definition of sustainable development. The report, Our Common Future, defines it as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The report helped bring sustainability into the mainstream of policy discussions. It also popularized the concept of sustainable development.
Some other key concepts to illustrate the meaning of sustainability include:
- It may be a fuzzy concept, but in a positive sense: the goals are more important than the approaches or means applied.
- It connects with other essential concepts, such as resilience, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability.
- Choices matter: "it is not possible to sustain everything, everywhere, forever".
- Scale matters in both space and time, and place matters.
- Limits exist.
Specific definitions
A single specific definition of sustainability may never be possible, but the concept is still useful. There have been attempts to define it, for example:- "Sustainability can be defined as the capacity to maintain or improve the state and availability of desirable materials or conditions over the long term."
- "Sustainability the long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal practice. In general, sustainability is understood as a form of intergenerational ethics in which the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do not diminish the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels of wealth, utility, or welfare."
- "Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, we also need social and economic resources. Sustainability is not just environmentalism. Embedded in most definitions of sustainability we also find concerns for social equity and economic development."
Historical usage
The term sustainability is derived from the Latin word sustinere. "To sustain" can mean to maintain, support, uphold, or endure. So sustainability is the ability to continue over a long period of time.In the past, sustainability referred to environmental sustainability. It meant using natural resources so that people in the future could continue to rely on them in the long term. The concept of sustainability, or Nachhaltigkeit in German, goes back to Hans Carl von Carlowitz, and applied to forestry. The term for this now would be sustainable forest management. He used this term to mean the long-term responsible use of a natural resource. In his 1713 work Silvicultura oeconomica, he wrote that "the highest art/science/industriousness will consist in such a conservation and replanting of timber that there can be a continuous, ongoing and sustainable use". The shift in use of "sustainability" from preservation of forests to broader preservation of environmental resources traces to a 1972 book by Ernst Basler, based on a series of lectures at M.I.T.
The idea itself goes back a long time: Communities have always worried about the capacity of their environment to sustain them in the long term. Many ancient cultures, traditional societies, and indigenous peoples have restricted the use of natural resources.
Comparison to sustainable development
The terms sustainability and sustainable development are closely related. In fact, they are often used to mean the same thing. Both terms are linked with the "three dimensions of sustainability" concept. One distinction is that sustainability is a general concept, while sustainable development can be a policy or organizing principle. Scholars say sustainability is a broader concept because sustainable development focuses mainly on human well-being.Sustainable development has two linked goals. It aims to meet human development goals. It also aims to enable natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services needed for economies and society. The concept of sustainable development has come to focus on economic development, social development and environmental protection for future generations.
Dimensions
Development of three dimensions
Scholars usually distinguish three different areas of sustainability. These are the environmental, the social, and the economic. Several terms are in use for this concept. Authors may speak of three pillars, dimensions, components, aspects, perspectives, factors, or goals. All mean the same thing in this context. The three dimensions paradigm has few theoretical foundations.The popular three intersecting circles, or Venn diagram, representing sustainability first appeared in a 1987 article by the economist Edward Barbier.
Scholars rarely question the distinction itself. The idea of sustainability with three dimensions is a dominant interpretation in the literature.
In the Brundtland Report, the environment and development are inseparable and go together in the search for sustainability. It described sustainable development as a global concept linking environmental and social issues. It added sustainable development is important for both developing countries and industrialized countries:
The Rio Declaration from 1992 is seen as "the foundational instrument in the move towards sustainability". It includes specific references to ecosystem integrity. The plan associated with carrying out the Rio Declaration also discusses sustainability in this way. The plan, Agenda 21, talks about economic, social, and environmental dimensions:
Agenda 2030 from 2015 also viewed sustainability in this way. It sees the 17 Sustainable Development Goals with their 169 targets as balancing "the three dimensions of sustainable development, the economic, social and environmental".