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    • What do the terms 'Sustainability' and 'Sustainable Development' really mean?

    If you are new to the area of 'sustainability', it may seem like there have been a lot of contradicting messages about the term and other terms like 'sustainable development'. While some in federal government talk about the 'long term sustainability' of the national economy, others talk about preserving our lifestyle and environment for future generations. Conservation groups talk about 'saving the bush' while community groups talk about 'social wellbeing' and the business community talks about 'long term viability' and 'shareholder value'. Many engineers (and indeed other professions) are asking themselves, "what exactly is 'sustainability' and what has it got to do with my job?".

    Many engineers are asking themselves, "what exactly is 'sustainability' and what has it got to do with my job?"

    Sustainable Development

    In 1987, the Brundtland report coined the new phrase 'sustainable development' to sum up this new paradigm of development. It defined sustainable development as, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The report helped achieve acceptance of the term 'sustainable development' (and the philosophies or 'paradigm' behind it), in mainstream governmental structures, departments and programs. Attendance at the first World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio De Janeiro, 1992) of more than a hundred world leaders and representatives from 167 countries demonstrates the growth in support for this new type of development.

    Sustainable development is academically defined as "development that improves the wellbeing and opportunities of the present generation whilst ensuring non-declining wellbeing for future generations". This simply means development that genuinely sustains and improves economic, social and environmental wellbeing with no major trade-offs, locally and globally, now and in the future.[1]

    Sustainable development is defined as "development that improves the wellbeing and opportunities of the present generation whilst ensuring non-declining wellbeing for future generations.

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    Sustainability

    A brief search on the internet will provide you with literally hundreds of links to discussions about how to define the term "Sustainability". It is tempting to be overwhelmed and stop there, but if you have time to consider this question for more than a few moments, then please use the weblinks page on this site to help you browse considered and respected websites on the topic.

    There are two photos that perhaps provide the simplest and most tangible definition that appeals to the engineering profession. Consider sustainability and the notion of dynamic equilibrium. The famous NASA photo of the earth sitting against a backdrop of space and relative emptiness reminds us that the planet is essentially a system generally requiring energy and material inputs to equal outputs if 'internal balance' is to prevail. Some things are 'sustained' while others are changed for better or for worse. There is a buffer within which the earth (the system) can comfortably rebound, and then there are limits beyond which 'anything goes'. Once we reach the limits of the system, it is difficult - perhaps impossible - to use our current models to predict the course of the future. Phenomenon like global warming, terrorism, the spiraling gap between rich and poor, plummeting species diversity can all be considered symptoms of a planet out of balance.

    Consider sustainability and the notion of dynamic equilibrium... There is a buffer within which the system can comfortably rebound, and then there are limits beyond which 'anything goes'.

    The following paragraphs are an adaptation from a recent book supported by Engineers Australia on the topic[2] :

    Concepts that clearly bring together the idea of sustaining some things and changing other things for the better are sustainable development and "sustainable genuine progress". Although the term sustainability is often now used as a shorthand for sustainable development, its meaning is probably most powerful when it is thought of as meaning simply 'the ability to sustain'. We can gain great clarity in our actions if we begin any sustainability programme with the question: 'What are we trying to sustain?' The next question to ask is: 'What needs to be done to ensure that those things are indeed sustained?'

    The sustainability programmes of individual organisations could legitimately concentrate on environmental issues, or social questions or economic questions. But for society as a whole there are things or outcomes to be sustained in all three areas. Also, sustainability programmes to ensure the survival or maintenance of ecosystems services and biodiversity and to maintain human potential in areas currently afflicted with poverty and violence will require massive levels of innovation (i.e. strategic change) and will in many cases also require massive restorative programmes.

    So, 'continuity and change' and 'means and ends' combine in interesting but practical ways to achieve sustainability of the things that society values. To sustain things that we value ethically ('ends' or highest order goals) we need massive innovation (so change in other parts of society is a 'means' to achieve the sustainability goal). If sustaining the things that we value is really important then, logically, it is vital that we achieve sustainability, otherwise the things that we have said we want to sustain will not be sustained. They will be degraded or made extinct. We need to approach sustainability goals with a very practical mindset, that is, sustainability goals are goals to be achieved, with no major trade-offs.

    The sustainability programmes of individual organisations could legitimately concentrate on environmental issues, or social questions or economic questions. But for society as a whole there are things or outcomes to be sustained in all three areas.

    If you have a few moments to look at sustainability from a more personal perspective, take the challenge of determining your "ecological footprint"on Earth, developed by a group called Redefining Progress (the quiz takes less than 5 minutes). While some of the figures and assumptions made in models such as these are hotly debated, the message of the site is clear: without genuine sustainable progress that significantly reduces our impacts on the planet, we face a future where there will simply not be enough to go around.

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    Who says 'Sustainability' is Important and Why?

    From the Horse's Mouth...

    We urge governments to take incisive action now and to adopt an integrated policy on population and sustainable development on a global scale. With each year's delay the problems become more acute. Let 1994 be remembered as the year when the people of the world decided to act together for the benefit of future generations.

    The World Academies of Science, 1994

    Over the course of the 20th century the relationship between the human world and the planet that sustains it has undergone a profound change... major, unintended changes are occurring in the atmosphere, in soils, in waters, among plants and animals, and in the relationships among all of these. The rate of change is outstripping the ability of scientific disciplines and our current capabilities to assess and advise. It is frustrating the attempts of political and economic institutions, which evolved in a different, more fragmented world, to adapt and cope... To keep options open for future generations, the present generation must begin now, and begin together, nationally and internationally.

    The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, 1987

    Never before has world opinion been so united on a single goal as it is on achieving sustainable development.

    UN, 1998 [3]

    We need a major public education effort. Understanding of these challenges we face is alarming low. Corporations and consumers alike need to recognize that their choices can have significant consequences. Schools and civil society groups have a crucial role to play. (World Environment Day, 2000)

    Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 2001

    It is up to engineers to consider sustainability in every project they design and construct & every product that is made. Sustainability is now a fundamental responsibility that all engineers must carry every day... We need to respond to the overarching responsibility for engineers in the application of our engineering education, training and experience to provide excellent sustainable engineering solutions for the benefit of our employees, clients and the community.

    Doug Jones, National President, Engineers Australia 2004

    If we (Australia) continue to waste water as we do now, water will be the limiting factor in Australia's economic development.

    David Priestly, CSIRO

    Salinity is bigger than tax reform. You can always fix a broken policy, but you can't fix a ruined food-bowl country.

    John Anderson, Australia's Deputy Leader & Leader of the National Party

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    Why the Hurry?

    (Excerpt from Natural Advantage of Nations)

    Dr Colin Butler, Australia's representative for the United Nations Millennium Assessment, writes that "In the more distant future, yet not so far away that it can be safely ignored, climate change may have even more drastic adverse effects on civilisation. Three such risks are massive sea level rise from the collapse of the Greenland or Western Antarctic Ice Shelf;[4] runaway greenhouse gas accumulation from the failure of the terrestrial carbon sink (for example as forest ecosystems change from net sinks to net sources of carbon);[5] and a significant weakening of the oceanic 'conveyor belt' which warms Western Europe."[6]

    Few people appreciate that it is the loss of ecosystem services from global warming that may end up being the largest cost of global warming. Why? Simply because so few appreciate the stress that our planet's ecosystems will be under once climate change occurs more significantly.

    While it is true that the earth has gone through climate change before of 1-6 degrees Celsius, in the past ecosystems (animals and plants) could migrate and diversify to cope with that stress. By contrast, our 'wilderness areas' are increasingly tiny and largely unconnected islands, with diminishing variety. If global warming is allowed to continue, and all the fossil fuel reserves are burnt, the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in our atmosphere will increase 6-fold. Ecosystems will not be able to migrate or diversify as they did during previous times of climate change. Scientists are already forecasting global warming of 1-6 degrees Celsius, with a doubling of the concentration of CO2. Climate change has already led to the bleaching of a significant percentage of the world's coral reefs. It will be impossible for ecosystems to migrate while we undertake this experiment with the planet[7] .

    In 2003, a report by the World Bank listed the risks of environmental damage and social unrest as major factors that, if not addressed and significant progress made, will limit the extent to which the world economy can grow.

    It has been argued that we are facing a new form of 'limiting factor' today, unlike anything our economies have faced befor? soon it will be forests not mills, fisheries not boats, that which will be the limiting factor for economic growth.

    Herman Daly, a leading academic ecological economist,
    previously working at the World Bank.


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    What are the "Millennium Development Goals" & Why do they matter?

    In September 2000, 189 nations gathered to place sustainable development as a global priority, through the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals set clear targets for the reduction of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015[8] . These goals are summarised below.

    Why reaching the Environmental Goals is so important for the other Millennium Goals.[9] (edited)
    1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger The livelihood and food security of the poor often depends on ecosystem goods and services. The poor often have insecure rights to environmental resources and inadequate access to markets, decision-making and environmental information, limiting their ability to protect the environment and improve their livelihoods and wellbeing.
    2. Achieve universal primary education Time spent by children collecting water and fuel wood reduces the time available for schooling. In addition, the lack of energy, water and sanitation services in rural areas discourages qualified teachers from working in poor villages.
    3. Promote gender equality Women and girls are especially burdened by water and fuel collection, reducing their time and opportunities for education, literacy and income-generating activities.
    4. Reduce child mortality Diseases (such as diarrhoea) tied to unclean water and inadequate sanitation, and respiratory infections related to pollution are among the leading killers of children under five. Lack of fuel for boiling water also contributes to preventable waterborne diseases.
    5. Improve maternal health Inhaling polluted indoor air and carrying heavy loads of water and fuel wood impacts significantly on women's health. This can make them less fit to bear children and place them at greater risk of complications during pregnancy.
    6. Combat major diseases Up to 20 percent of the disease burden in developing countries may be due to environmental risk factors (as with malaria and parasitic infections).
    7. Develop a global partnership Many global environmental problems, such as climate change, loss of species diversity and depletion of global fisheries, can be solved only through partnerships between rich and poor countries.

    Source: Hargroves & Smith (2005) The Natural Advantage of Nations, Earthscan, London.

    The UN Millennium Goals Committee has made it clear that meeting the environmental MDGs is vital for the achievement of the other goals of poverty reduction and improved health outcomes.[10] So what does this mean for the engineering profession?  Engineers Australia believes that the Engineering profession is an integral part of the solution to addressing these millennium goals and improving conditions for all life on this planet. Engaging with governments, business and local communities to provide appropriate infrastructure and technical solutions is second nature to engineers. It is our responsibility to rise to the challenge presented by the United Nations and to play our part in facilitating the transition to a more sustainable world.

    Engineers Australia believes that the Engineering profession is an integral part of the solution to addressing these millennium goals and improving conditions for all life on this planet.

    If we reflect on a significant time of change in human development history - the Industrial Revolution - we can clearly see that almost no attention was paid to development impact on 'systems' (ecosystems) required for the planet's survival. Bill McDonough Time Hero of the Planet (1999)[11] puts it like this, 'If someone were to present the Industrial Revolution as a retroactive design assignment, it might sound like this: Design a system of production that:

    • puts billions of kilograms of toxic material into the air, water and soil every year;
    • measures prosperity by activity, not legacy;
    • requires thousands of complex regulations to keep people and natural systems from being poisoned too quickly;
    • produces materials so dangerous that they will require constant vigilance from future generations;
    • results in gigantic amounts of waste;
    • puts valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they can never be retrieved; and
    • erodes the diversity of biological species and cultural practices[12] .

    Obviously, we cannot sustain this approach forever! The recent publication Natural Advantage of Nations (supported by Engineers Australia) makes the point that no matter how determined a company or a nation is to change, these changes will take time to implement. So we have no time to waste. Very simply, the sooner we start, the longer we have to phase changes in, the less disruptive and more beneficial this will be to business and society and the best chance we have of long-term success.

    Engineers Australia believes that the Engineering profession is an integral part of the solution to addressing these millennium goals and improving conditions for all life on this planet.

    So we have no time to waste.

    Key areas of research and practice that are exciting and challenging to the engineering profession include:


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    [1] Hargroves, Smith (2005) The Natural Advantage of Nations, London: Earthscan.

    [2] Hargroves & Smith (2005) The Natural Advantage of Nations, Earthscan, London, p46.

    [3] Glenn, J and Gordon, T (1998) State of the Future Report: Issues and Opportunities, American Council for the United Nations University. Millennium Project, Washington.

    [4] O'Neill, B and Oppenheimer, M (2002) Dangerous climate impacts and the Kyoto protocol, Science 296, pp 1971-2.

    [5] Cox, P, Betts, R, Jones, C, Spall, S and Totterdell, I (2000) Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model, Nature 408, pp 184-7

    [6] Bacon, S (1999) Decadal variability in the outflow from the Nordic seas to the deep Atlantic Ocean, Nature 394, pp 871-4.

    [7] IPCC on the potential impact on ecosystem services of global warming. www.ipcc.ch/pub/tar/wg2/index.htm

    [8] The Millennium Project website www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/about.shtm

    [9] ibid.

    [10] UNDP Human Development Report (2003) Millennium Goals. A Company amongst nations to end human poverty. Public policies to ensure environmental sustainability, Chapter 6

    [11] William McDonough is an internationally renowned designer and one of the primary proponents and shapers of what he and his partners call 'The Next Industrial Revolution.' Time magazine recognized him in 1999 as a 'Hero for the Planet', stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that-in demonstrable and practical ways is changing the design of the world."

    [12] Hargroves & Smith (2005) The Natural Advantage of Nations, Earthscan, London, p35.

     
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