Impending climate change, overpopulation, poverty, depletion of resources, biodiversity loses, pollution, food security, economic crises and countless other issues are all traceable back to mankind’s unsustainable practices. Sustainability has often been deemed the only feasible approach to providing mankind with a worthwhile future.
The term “sustainability” has gained considerable support since its publication in the Brundtland Report in 1987. The acceptance of the report by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly gave the term serious political status and resulted in global following (****). Sustainability or sustainable development aims at alleviating poverty whilst improving the well-being of the planet through sustainable practices (Drexhage and Murphy 2010). Given our globalised, unsustainable practices and economic behaviour it was unsurprising that sustainability has received high interest and investment.
Sustainability is a complex concept that *** the complexity of this concept requires a systematic approach. Sustainability still remains. The requirement here is that all three pillars be sustainable to permit complete integration.
While sustainability is designed to integrate the three pillars (environmental, social and economic) it has often been partitioned as an environmental problem with focus on eco-efficiency and carbon reduction (Dyllick and Hockerts 2002). Despite the multi-disciplined approach required for true sustainability, the belief that economic growth is a sole solution to multiple problems is a controlling idea (****). This idea is the very reason sustainability received such intense focus. Natural resources are at risk of depletion and their quality compromised.
Agreeably there are claims that sust...
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...firstly researches and provides the basis of knowledge required to interpret and analyse the various models and their approaches. Secondly science seeks to communicate and make available the valuable knowledge it has attained.
Agreeably scientists are required to have a more direct role in policy and decision making particularly in society and economic matters (Mccool and Stankeey 2004). The way in which science
Science which importantly identifies, models and assesses the
Science which aims
Science which is limited in its linkages to business and society.
In conclusion, although sustainability is not implemented at the required level currently there is still hope. The controlling belief in globalization is starting to decline, providing renewed opportunities for sustainability.
“only when everything is gone will people realise we can’t eat money”
Many people with the term sustainability and have the misconception that environmentalism and sustainability portray the same idea. Although the tree metaphor is an example of nature, the government works in a similar way in terms of economy and society, as it does with the environment. All three pillars of sustainability are the foundations to a successful nation. Likewise, the three roots of the tree must balance to continue to preserve and grow. Overall, sustainability is a crucial concept as it governs all the things we need for our survival and nourishing values. It is how we use our already scarce resources to balance the economy, environment, and society effectively and thrive in the growing
Sustainability is a balance of economy and ecology. That is, how we satisfy human needs and still preserve what we have in nature. Examples of this are the forest industry and energy. We must find ways to harvest a forest without destroying the forest. Similarly, we must find practical alternatives to energy sources, such as solar and wind power, so that we don't harm the atmosphere and deplete natural resources.
The concept of sustainable development, a relatively new concept has now taken action into the structure of many present day organizations. Identified as “green growth”, the formation of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index provides a platform for managers to understand what it takes to be a sustainable organization. On the subject of sustainable development, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) sponsored by the United Nations published a report defining as,“Development that meets the needs of the current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and aspirations” (WCED, 1987). Sustainable development is composed of the following two notions. First is the idea of sustainability (to maintain), and secondly, development (to make better) (Bell, 2003). Improvement of our own lives today does not mean at the cost of damaging the quality of
The sustainability issue I am addressing is one of the most important issues we are facing today. This issue involves one of the most precious resources to man. We are composed of it, we require it to survive and we use it to create new things every day. I am referring to water, simple H2O. It is infact more valuable than gold or diamonds because without it we would be a long extinct species.
The concept of “sustainability” is a vital part of our society. Herndl compares sustainability to the concept of freedom “As you might expect, it is not easy to define a concept that has so many applications. It is equally difficult to define “freedom” in a way that makes everyone happy and captures all the fine distinctions of the concept” (Herndl xxii). The way I see it, is that sustainability is how we maintain our world and the conditions that we have under what we all exist in harmony.
“It is that which seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations.”
Sustainability is a concept with a diverse array of meanings and definitions – a widely used glamorous, ambiguous, ambivalent and vague concept that is used by different stakeholder groups in various ways. Presumably to avoid noodling over a terminology or to avoid the confrontation with a definition, most widely the concept is broken down a planning process (c.f. e.g. Döring & Muraca, 2010). That is why most common sustainability is understood as sustainable development.1
Human consumption of Earth’s natural resources will continue to climb as the human population booms. Developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America typically have the highest rates of consumption throughout the world. As time progresses, third world countries continue to develop and adopt technologies such as personal vehicles and electronics. Naturally the countries with the newly adopted technologies will need more resources to sustain and power them. Studies show that the use of electricity rose seventy percent from 1990 to 2008, just eighteen years. Sustainability is a key term when regarding natural resources. Sustainability is the idea of people be...
The renewable and nonrenewable resources that support our lives have very real limits. Many signs that we have exceeded limits of the planet's resources are evident. Living sustainably means finding ways of prospering within limits the future of the biosphere, upon which we humans depend, is in our hands Intergenerational equity calls on us to live in ways that honor the needs of future generations Intragenerational equity calls on us to act in ways that honor the rights and needs of all people alive today. The notion of ecological justice says that all species have a right to a clean environment and adequate resources. Building a sustainable society will require participation by governments, businesses, and individuals. Environmental protection and sustainable development will require cooperation of all participants. To create a sustainable society, we must focus on strategies that address the root causes of environmental problems
According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, sustainability, in essence, is concerned with ‘meeting the needs of people today, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
Sustainability simply defined to me as balancing act between the development of sustainability is necessary for both planet Earth and humans to survive. This is reinforced in the World Commission on Environment and Development report (1987) that sustainable development must meet the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations”. The Earth Charter Organization widened the idea of sustainability to respect for a culture of peace, universal human rights, nature, and economic justice (What is sustainability?, n.d.).
There are many better understandings and flaws in every subject. When it comes to the talk of sustainability in the present day world, it’s very much difficult to come up with the opinion of debate without the valid points which meets/address the issues. Addressing the issues related to sustainability are very complex in nature as they are dependent on the factors of scaling and distribution. As these factors are embedded in the society in
Sustainability Revolution: Earth, the planet we call home, is a complex system made of interdependent parts and pieces of life that are constantly changing. Earth’s planetary system has maintained a balance of dynamic equilibrium—it has been sustainable— since its beginnings about 4.5 billion years ago. This balance, however, has been progressively disrupted by us—humans— especially during the last few decades. Mother Nature has provided us with natural resources and the habitat for all species to sustain life on our planet. Since the industrial revolution, we have maintained a belief that these resources are infinite, and that economic growth and our attempts to improve our standards of living can continue forever. All forms of human economic
Sustainability or sustainable living is development that satisfies the demands of the present without compromising the competence of future generations to satisfy their own needs.
Sustainability can be seen as an arrangement that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." [2]