Group 15: Responsibility for Tackling Sustainability By: Thomas Gregory (0569107); Rodney Moody (0569608); Eamonn O

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Group 15 Responsibility for Tackling
SustainabilityBy Thomas Gregory (0569107)
Rodney Moody (0569608) Eamonn ODonnell
(0788272)l Owen OMalley (0562677)IMS3
Sustainability Module, March 2008
SustainableEngineering_at_Edinburgh
Case Study Major, rapid change is necessary to
tackle sustainability, as recommended in the
Stern Review. Germany is an excellent example of
a country that has already done this in the past
to tackle its position as the largest polluter in
Europe. Action was taken at the beginning of the
1990s6, resulting in the largest reduction in
pollution emissions of any major European
country1. This was achieved through regulatory
measures, economic incentives, education,
training, information and advice6. Technical
approaches included efficient and rational use
of energy at all levels of energy supply 6and
substitution of carbon-intensive fuels by less
carbon-intensive fuels and/or carbon-free
fuels6.
Introduction Everyone has a role to play in
tackling sustainability issues, however some
parties have a greater role than others. In
particular the West must recognise its ability to
affect change internationally both thorough
internal change and the export of knowledge and
technology.
Why the West Must Act One of the growing problems
is the fact that many developing countries are
now aspiring to a western lifestyle. This
requires us to act more sustainably to both
reduce our impact and the impact of those
developing nations to avoid a predicted rise in
world resource consumption of 7002. Many
renewable technologies are too expensive for
developing countries to implement and they also
lack the technical knowledge. However solutions
must involve the local communities they serve and
be appropriate to the local conditions and
knowledge, in order to avoid implemented
solutions being abandoned3. A good example of
this is the SPARKLE programme (Sustainability
Planning for Asian Cities Making Use of Research,
Know-how and Lessons from Europe), transferring
knowledge of sustainable urban land use and
transport policies to Asian countries.

• Conclusions
• Everyone must act to effect the necessary
  changes, with governments introducing legislation
  and incentives to ensure action is taken on both
  a national and a global scale.
• People must ensure pressure is maintained on
  governments to guarantee action is taken by their
  governments and to aid sustainability by changing
  their lifestyles.
• Developed nations must make certain developing
  nations do not develop in the unsustainable
  fashion of the past, repeating mistakes already
  made by developed nations.

• What Needs to Change
• Education
• Action requires informed judgement. People need
  to be educated on both the problems facing the
  world and solutions for tackling sustainability.
• The global consensus necessary for action cannot
  occur without public pressure applied to
  governments, which requires education about the
  issues.
• Education will reduce problems associated with
  semantics and politics, such as that surrounding
  global warming. We live in a world with finite
  resources, meaning that we must act sustainably.
• Political/Social
• Whole life consideration of everything needs to
  be undertaken, especially to overcome the
  political horizon of the next election4 as
  sustainability issues are long term issues that
  require immediate action.
• Sustainability will not be achieved without a
  change in peoples attitudes, resulting in the
  necessary change in lifestyles.
• Technology
• Technology has a role to play in implementing
  sustainable solutions, however technological
  solutions must be flexible to avoid being trapped
  by solutions that work now but do not have the
  flexibility to adapt to the future5.

• References
• http//www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/pictures/2002/
  1203apollo17/earth.jpg, Accessed March 2008
• 1 http//geodata.grid.unep.ch/, accessed
  March 2008
• 2 Goldblatt, D. Sustainable Energy
  Consumption and Society, Springer, 2005.
• 3 Hahn, N. Singleton, D. Sustainable
  Poverty Alleviation Changing Role for
  Engineers, Proceedings of the ICE, Civil
  Engineering, 2004, 157
• 4 de Silva, T. et al, Why Civil Engineers
  Should Address the Sustainability Agenda,
  Proceedings of the ICE, Engineering
  Sustainability , 2007, 160.
• 5 Ashley, R. Editorial 1 From Technology
  Entrapment to Adaptability, Proceedings of the
  ICE Engineering Sustainability, 2007, 160.
• 6 Houghton, R. et al, Carbon Dioxide
  Mitigation in Forestry and Wood Industry,
  Springer-Verlag, 1998, 375pp.

The above graphs1 show the disproportionate use
of resources, using energy consumption as an
example, by the West relative to its population.
It also clearly indicates the impact of the rapid
expansion of Asian economies. This will
exacerbate the global situation if sustainability
is not addressed.