What is Sustainability Sustainability, Part 1

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What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1

• Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman
  Director, School of Sustainability, and
  Virginia M. Ullman Professor, Natural History
  and the Environment

Presenter Name, Ph.D. Presenter Title Arizona
State University Last updated 08-20-07     
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By the end of class today, you will be able to

• Define sustainability
• Explain how sustainability is different from
  environmental advocacy

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Discussion

• What does the term sustainability mean to you?

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Websters Dictionary on Sustainability

• The ability to continue
• without interruption.

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Sustainability is Not a New Idea
Then I say the earth belongs to each generation
during its courseNo generation can contract
debts greater than may be paid during the course
of its own existence. Thomas Jefferson to James
Madison
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The nation behaves well if it treats the natural
resources as assets which it must turn over to
the next generation increased, and not impaired
in value. - Theodore Roosevelt
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We thrive and survive on planet earth as a single
human family. And one of our main
responsibilities is to leave to successor
generations a sustainable future. -Former UN
Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan
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The Environmental Movement

• The concern over conserving our natural resources
  gave birth to the environmental movement.
• Advocates for conservation urged the federal
  government to take a strong role in preservation.

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Significant Environmental Legislation

• 1872 Yellowstone is established as our first
  National Park.
• 1891 The Forest Reserve Act is passed, paving
  the way for the establishment of the Forest
  Service.
• 1916 The National Park Service is established.
• 1955 The Air Pollution Control Act is passed.
• 1963 The first Clean Air Act is passed.
• 1964 The Wilderness Act is passed, preserving
  some lands in perpetuity.
• 1969 The National Environmental Policy Act is
  passed and the Environmental Protection Agency is
  created.
• 1972 The Water Pollution Control Act is passed.
• 1973 The Endangered Species Act is passed.

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Many People Think Sustainability is the Same as
Environmental Advocacy

• But it represents a convergence of ideas from
  many different areas, especially
• Environmental Economics
• Sustainable Development
• Business
• Environmental Social Science
• Environmental and SustainabilityScience

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1. Environmental Economics

• Environmental economists are concerned with the
  economic value of ecosystem services

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• Ecosystem Services are the processes by which the
  environment produces resources that we often take
  for granted such as clean water, timber, and
  habitat for fisheries, and pollination of native
  and agricultural plants.
• -- The Ecological Society of America

• http//www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.ht
  ml

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• Ecosystem Services are commonly defined as
  benefits people obtain from ecosystems.

• The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment categorizes
  ecosystem goods and services as
• Provisioning Services such as food, fresh water,
  fuel, and fiber
• Regulating Services such as climate, water, and
  disease regulation as well as pollination
• Supporting Services such as soil formation and
  nutrient cycling and
• Cultural Services such as educational, aesthetic,
  and cultural heritage values as well as
  recreation and tourism.

US Department of Agriculture - Forest
Service http//www.fs.fed.us/ecosystemservices/int
roduction.shtml
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Specifically, ecosystems

• moderate weather extremes and their impacts
• disperse seeds
• mitigate drought and floods
• protect people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet
  rays
• cycle and move nutrients
• protect stream and river channels and coastal
  shores from erosion
• detoxify and decompose wastes
• control agricultural pests
• maintain biodiversity
• generate and preserve soils and renew their
  fertility
• contribute to climate stability
• purify the air and water
• regulate disease carrying organisms
• pollinate crops and natural vegetation
• http//www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.ht
  ml

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Discussion

• Does looking at ecosystems in terms of their
  benefits to humans make us more likely to
  preserve them?
• Do ecosystems have an intrinsic value that has
  nothing to do with humans?

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2. Sustainable Development

• The Report of the World Commission on Environment
  and Development (aka the Brundtland Report) 1987
  definition
• Development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their own needs.

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Intergenerational Equity

• The Brundtland Report (like Jefferson, Roosevelt,
  and Annan) reinforces the notion that we are
  ethically responsible to not use so many
  resources that we jeopardize the quality of life
  of future generations.

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U.N. Millennium Development Goals
http//www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

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World Summit on Sustainable DevelopmentJohannesb
urg Declaration 2005

• Reverse the loss of environmental resources
• Reduce by half the number of people who live on
  less than 1 per day, who suffer from hunger, and
  who have no safe drinking water
• Significant improvement in lives of at least 100
  million slum dwellers
• Increase decent employment, credit and income for
  the urban poor
• Transfer basic sustainable agricultural
  techniques, including natural resource
  management, to small and medium-scale farmers,
  fishers and the rural poor

http//www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_P
D/English/POI_PD.htm http//www.un.org/esa/sustdev
/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm
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Intragenerational Equity

• The U.N. Millenium Goals and the Johannesburg
  Declaration reinforce the notion that we are
  ethically responsible to not use so many
  resources that we jeopardize the quality of life
  of other people in this generation.

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Discussion

• People in developing nations aspire to the same
  standard of living that people in the United
  States enjoy.
• Is it possible to raise the standard of living
  for all people without diminishing the quality of
  life we currently enjoy in the US?
• Do we have a right to our current standard of
  living if it means that others must live in
  poverty?

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3. Sustainable Business

• Involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic
  prosperity, environmental quality, and social
  equity.
• Companies aiming for sustainability need to
  perform not against a single, financial bottom
  line, but against the triple bottom line.

--World Business Council for Sustainable
Development http//www.wbcsd.org/
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Those supportive of sustainable business
practices ask questions like--

• How much energy did it take to produce this
  product?
• Could the material in this product be made from a
  renewable resource?
• Were the people who produced this product treated
  fairly and paid a fair wage?
• Did the people who produced this product work in
  a safe environment?
• Can this product be recycled or safely disposed
  of?

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Discussion

• Are you concerned about how the products you buy
  are produced?
• Are you concerned about their impact across their
  life cycle?
• Why or why not?

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4. Environmental Social Science

• Environmental Social Scientists, including
  geographers, anthropologists, and environmental
  psychologists, are interested in the human
  dimension of creating a sustainable world.

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4. Environmental Social Science

• They study challenges such as
• the role of governmental and social institutions
• individual choices about behaving sustainably
• urbanization
• cultural preservation
• environmental justice

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5. Sustainability Science

• Environmental science, made up of many
  disciplines such as geology, chemistry, and
  biology, has long been interested in taking a
  broad view of how humans interact with the
  environment.
• Many scientists, such as those belonging to the
  National Academy of Sciences, have become
  increasingly concerned with the reconciling the
  planets environmental limits with societys
  development goals with over the long term.
• This addition of resource economics and policy
  studies has led to the development of
  sustainability science.

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Sustainability Science is a whole new field of
knowledge (Lubchenco, 2000) that is defined by
the problems it addresses rather than by the
disciplines it employs (Clark, 2007).
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• Sustainability science combines the best of the
  biogeophysical and socioeconomic sciences,
  engineering and medicine, drawing on current
  knowledge, but extending it far beyond. If she
  grows and thrives, sustainability science has the
  potential to guide humanity during the critical
  coming century.
• -- Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor and
  Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine
  Biology, Oregon State University

http//www7.nationalacademies.org/giving/shaping_t
he_future_symposium.html
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Challenges Facing the World Today

• Degradation of habitats and loss of biodiversity
• Exhaustion of natural resources
• Inequality in wealth and power
• Population growth
• Globalization
• Urbanization
• Water and food
• Climate change

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Discussion

• Solving these problems takes the work of many
  different disciplines. How does your major
  contribute to finding solutions?
• What challenges are particularly relevant to us
  in the Phoenix metropolitan area?

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So--

• What is sustainability?

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Metaphors for Sustainability
The Earth does not belong to us. We are borrowing
it from our grandchildren. Treating the Earth
as if you intended to stay Spaceship
Earth Stewards of the Earth Dont eat your seed
corn.
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• a socially acceptable, contemporary means of
  framing our enduring concerns about ethical
  dilemmas, moral choices, social justices, and
  environmental stewardship.
• --Stuart Walker

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• If you get right down to it, sustainability is
  really the study of the interconnectedness of all
  things.
• -- Barbara Lither, US EPA

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• Sustainability is about finding solutions
  (creativity), expanding options (stewardship),
  building institutions that continually learn
  (governance), and instilling a sense of justice
  (values). Ultimately, sustainability is about
  doing the right thing
• -- Chuck Redman, Director
• School of Sustainability at ASU

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• The time is always right to do what is right.
• --Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Discussion

• How has your definition of sustainability changed
  as a result of our class today?

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• You have completed Part 1 of the sustainability
  component of ASU 101.
• Your online assignment is to calculate your
  ecological footprint!