What is sustainability?
Although there are many definitions of sustainability, almost all of them contain the central idea that “sustainability” is living our lives in ways that will allow the generations who follow us to have the same resources, opportunities, and quality of life we have today. A number of definitions can be found at the bottom of this page.
Our current prosperity – the greatest in all of human history – has come at the cost of dwindling natural resources, declining ecosystems, and increasing social inequality. Continued prosperity means finding new ways for people to thrive while keeping the Earth and its natural systems balanced and healthy.
Although we are still discovering how to be sustainable, we already know that in a sustainable world the ecological, economic, and social aspects of our lives will no longer be viewed as competing elements. Rather, they will be recognized as complementary pieces of a tightly integrated society. In such a world, decisions will be based on three important tests: Will the result be good for society? Good for the environment? Good for the economy?
No one has all the answers, and no one can do it all. But everyone can do something, and together we can find the answers we need to create a sustainable future.
The four conditions of sustainability
The Natural Step, a non-profit organization founded in 1989, offers four conditions that human society must meet to call itself sustainable. The four conditions, first articulated by an international network of scientists from different disciplines, are based on two critical pieces of knowledge. The first is that the earth operates as a sustainable, cyclical system. The second is that human society is capable of damaging nature and altering its life supporting structures and functions in only three major ways. The first three conditions identify those three causes of unsustainability. In addition, the Natural Step recognizes that social and economic dynamics drive the actions that lead to ecosystem changes. Therefore, the fourth condition focuses on those dynamics and affirms that meeting human needs worldwide is an essential part of sustainability.
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:
- concentrations of substances extracted form the earth’s crust;
- concentrations of substances produced by society;
- degradation of nature by physical means; and, in that society people are not subject to conditions that systemically:
- undermine their capacity to meet their needs.
A roadmap
Although the wording of the four conditions can be confusing on first reading, they provide very clear, readily understandable objectives for individuals, organizations, and communities wanting to design and implement actions that will move them towards a sustainable future. The objectives mirror the conditions. In order to become sustainable, then, society must:
- reduce and eventually eliminate its contribution to increasing concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust (think heavy metals and fossil fuels);
- reduce and eventually eliminate its contribution to increasing concentrations of substances produced by society (think DDT, PVC, VOC, and all the other synthetic substances that are potentially injurious to living systems, including us);
- reduce and eventually eliminate its contributions to the physical degradation of nature (think overharvesting fish and forests, the spread of invasive plants, the destruction and fragmentation of wildlife habitat); and
- reduce and eventually eliminate conditions that undermine people’s capacity to meet their needs.
The face of sustainability
In the Bow Valley, sustainability has many faces. It is a homeowner replacing an old showerhead with a new low-flow model; the Canadian Rockies Public Schools adopting “green” building standards for a new facility; a small business saving money by reducing waste or finding more efficient ways to distribute its products or services; the Towns of Banff and Canmore working to provide their residents with affordable housing; the Urban Development Institute looking at ways to cut construction waste; a developer designing mixed-use, higher-density projects that share common heating and cooling systems, and non-profit citizen groups working on behalf of the valley’s air, water, and wildlife. The list is long, and growing every day.
More Sustainability Definitions
Defining Sustainability
Here are some definitions of sustainability and sustainable development from prominent groups and experts. From the Sustainability Report website: http://www.sustreport.org/background/definitions.html
EXPERTS
Sustainable development is a journey rather than a destination.
- David Buzzelli, former member of Canada's National Round Table on Environment and Economy, and former president of Dow Chemical Canada Inc.
Growth in harmony with our environment, preserving our resource base for our economic well-being, and planning for our children's future.
- Gary Filmon, former Premier of Manitoba and Chair of the Manitoba Round Table on Environment and Economy
Development without destruction.
- Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
ORGANIZATIONS & GROUPS
Sustainable development requires environmental health, economic prosperity and social equity.
- Earth Council
Sustainable development is the achievement of continued economic and social development without detriment to the environment and natural resources. The quality of future human activity and development is increasingly seen as being dependent on maintaining this balance.
- European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (an agency of the European Commission)
Sustainability means resolving the conflict between two competing goals: the sustenance of human life and the integrity of nature. Why two competing goals? Living beyond our ecological means will lead to the destruction of humanity's only home. Having insufficient natural resources, and living in unsatisfactory and inequitable ways will cause destructive conflict and degrade our social fabric. In a sense, we are putting a new spin on the old nature vs. nurture question. How can we get nurture without destroying its ultimate source, nature?
- Redefining Progress
Sustainable development 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 this triple bottom line.
- The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Improving the quality of life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.
- World Conservation Union
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES
Each generation is entitled to the interest on the natural capital, but the principal should be handed on unimpaired.
- Canada's Commission on Conservation (in 1915)
Sustainable development means implementing a process that integrates environmental, economic and social considerations into decision making. This reinforces the World Commission on Environment and Development's conclusion that development should be sustainable for the benefit of current and future generations.
- Environment Canada
Development which ensures that the utilization of resources and the environment today does not damage prospects for their use by future generations.
- Canada's National Task Force on Environment and Economy
Living on the earth's income rather than eroding its capital. It means keeping the consumption of renewable natural resources within the limits of their replenishment. It means handing down to successive generations not only man-made wealth, but also natural wealth, such as clean and adequate water supplies, good arable land, a wealth of wildlife, and ample forests.
- The United Kingdom's Sustainable Development Strategy
PROGRAMS
Privacy Policy