What is it?
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."
This, the most widely used description of sustainability, comes from a report by the Brundtland Commission in 1987. See also 'Sustainability in a nutshell'.
Why is sustainability important?
Why has sustainability become such an issue recently? Has not the planet always sustained its human and wildlife populations, and will it not always do so? Is not the essence of life in-suppressible and will it not always bloom in some form or another? Yes, of course the force of nature has the power of healing and regenerating - but every system has its limits.
Life flourishes and is abundant when the environmental conditions are right and the ecological systems are in balance. Ecosystems are complex and some are quite fragile. A shift in the point of balance can have quite severe effects on whole sectors of an ecosystem. Likewise with environmental systems, such as climate. A relatively small input, like a small increase in greenhouse gases can cause a large shift in weather patterns and ocean currents.
While accepting that change at all levels and in all spheres is an inevitable part of life, the challenge is to manage those changes so as to minimise the impact on the environment and living world. Thereby maximising the continued survival and richness of this world - in other words living sustainably.
The global situation
The ecological footprint of mankind exceeds the biocapacity of planet earth. More about footprints below.
(1 global hectare = 1 hectare of average bioproductivity)
The carrying capacity of the planet was exceeded in the late 1970s and mankind's activities have been eating into nature's capital since. The overshot of demand made on the environment and the consequential decline in wildlife species are shown in the two charts.
The Living Planet Index is a measure of the population of wildlife species devised by WWF as part of their ongoing research into terrestrial and aquatic habitats throughout the world.
For mankind to live sustainably the average footprint per person needs to be reduced by 23% to 1.67 ha, allowing for a 12% reserve for biodiversity.
Further detail can be had visiting the WWF - website or viewing the 'Living Planet Report 2002' from in the information page to the left.
Calculating environmental demands - Ecological footprints
One way of quantifying the size of the impact of your lifestyle upon the planet is to calculate your 'ecological footprint'. The ecological footprint of a person, a product, a city or nation is the sum of all its impacts expressed as hectares of land of global average bioproductivity. This is the area of land that can sustainably support the demands made and absorb the pollution caused. (For more information see books to the left.)
National footprints compared
In the chart, the average ecological footprint per citizen of a few nations are compared with the world average and that which is available per person.
It can be seen that the Mozambicans, as a nation, live quite sustainably, whereas we in the UK, we need to significantly reduce our footprint.
David Pearson reminds us that, "those who have the luxury of being able to consider conservation, rather than survival, have the greater responsibility for the survival of all of us."
How can I live more sustainably?
For a light hearted but revealing look at the subject you can have a quick and rough assessment made of your personal ecological footprint by using an ecological footprint calculator, links to a few are included in the page on calculators.
There are a whole range of things we can be doing to reduce our ecological footprint without necessarily emigrating to Mozambique! There is a lot that can be done here in Warwick District. The main areas of environmental impact are associated with:
- Shelter, i.e. in connection with housing, domestic activities and place of work
- Food, especially food that has travelled miles around the world or a long way up the food chain
- Transport, to work and jetting to holidays etc. (see actual cost of flying in links to the left)
The impact in these three areas for an average westerner is approximately equal and surprisingly large.
For further advice on reducing impacts in these areas - see the relevant section of this website, others such as the Save Energy website (link in left hand panel) and publications such recycling directories etc.
Chances for the planet?
A change of direction is clearly called for - the tends are in the wrong direction. The human population is rising fast. Pollution is increasing, the rate of extinction of species has not been so high since the end of the dinosaur period. There is hope in form of environmentally friendly technologies coming along, increased awareness and action on sustainability issues. The question being; will these changes be sufficient and come into effect soon enough?
UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro 1992 - 'The Earth Summit'
This conference resulted a joint declaration, a statement on environmental protection taking into account the need for developing nations to improve their economies and social structures. It was quite remarkable that so many countries attended the event and actually signed up to the declaration. The hard work will, of course, be putting it all into action. The report is extensive; areas covered include social and economic aspects, developing countries, all areas of environmental protection including climate change, involvement of various groups including farmers, scientists and Agenda 21 groups such as Action 21.
To read the document click on United Nations Conference on Environment and Development on information page.
Thinking globally act locally
Each one of us can make a tremendous difference. Aware of the world situation; let us see what can be achieved in Warwick District.