Www.asu.edu/asu101 What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1 Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability,

www.asu.edu/asu101

What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1

Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability, and

Virginia M. Ullman Professor, Natural History and the Environment

Presenter Name, Ph.D.Presenter Title Arizona State University

Last updated 08-20-07

© 2007 Arizona State University

By the end of class today, you will be able to

• Define sustainability

• Explain how sustainability is different from environmental advocacy


Discussion:

• What does the term sustainability mean to you?


Webster’s Dictionary on Sustainability

The ability to continue

without interruption.


Sustainability is Not a New Idea

Then I say the earth belongs to each generation during its course…No generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.

Thomas Jefferson to James Madison


The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value.

- Theodore Roosevelt


We thrive and survive on planet earth as a single human family. And one of our main responsibilities is to leave to successor generations a sustainable future.

-Former UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan


The Environmental Movement

• The concern over conserving our natural resources gave birth to the environmental movement.

• Advocates for conservation urged the federal government to take a strong role in preservation.


Significant Environmental Legislation1872 – Yellowstone is established as our first National Park.

1891 – The Forest Reserve Act is passed, paving the way for the establishment of the Forest Service.

1916 – The National Park Service is established.

1955 – The Air Pollution Control Act is passed.

1963 – The first Clean Air Act is passed.

1964 – The Wilderness Act is passed, preserving some lands in perpetuity.

1969 – The National Environmental Policy Act is passed and the Environmental Protection Agency is created.

1972 – The Water Pollution Control Act is passed.

1973 – The Endangered Species Act is passed.


Many People Think Sustainability is the Same as Environmental Advocacy

• But it represents a convergence of ideas from many different areas, especially1. Environmental Economics2. Sustainable Development3. Business4. Environmental Social

Science 5. Environmental and

SustainabilityScience


1. Environmental Economics

• Environmental economists are concerned with the economic value of ecosystem services


Ecosystem Services are the processes by which the environment produces resources that we often take for granted such as clean water, timber, and habitat for fisheries, and pollination of native and agricultural plants.

-- The Ecological Society of America

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html


• The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment categorizes ecosystem goods and services as:– Provisioning Services such as food,

fresh water, fuel, and fiber;– Regulating Services such as climate,

water, and disease regulation as well as pollination;

– Supporting Services such as soil formation and nutrient cycling; and

– Cultural Services such as educational, aesthetic, and cultural heritage values as well as recreation and tourism.

US Department of Agriculture - Forest Servicehttp://www.fs.fed.us/ecosystemservices/introduction.shtml

• Ecosystem Services are commonly defined as benefits people obtain from ecosystems.


Specifically, ecosystems• moderate weather extremes and their impacts• disperse seeds• mitigate drought and floods• protect people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays• cycle and move nutrients• protect stream and river channels and coastal shores from erosion• detoxify and decompose wastes• control agricultural pests• maintain biodiversity• generate and preserve soils and renew their fertility• contribute to climate stability• purify the air and water• regulate disease carrying organisms• pollinate crops and natural vegetation

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html


Discussion:

• Does looking at ecosystems in terms of their benefits to humans make us more likely to preserve them?

• Do ecosystems have an intrinsic value that has nothing to do with humans?


2. Sustainable Development• The Report of the World

Commission on Environment and Development (aka the Brundtland Report) 1987 definition:

– Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.


Intergenerational Equity

• The Brundtland Report (like Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Annan) reinforces the notion that we are ethically responsible to not use so many resources that we jeopardize the quality of life of future generations.


U.N. Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality5. Improve maternal health6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and

other diseases7. Ensure environmental

sustainability8. Develop a global partnership for

development

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/


World Summit on Sustainable Development:Johannesburg Declaration 2005

• Reverse the loss of environmental resources• Reduce by half the number of people who live on less than

$1 per day, who suffer from hunger, and who have no safe drinking water

• Significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

• Increase decent employment, credit and income for the urban poor

• Transfer basic sustainable agricultural techniques, including natural resource management, to small and medium-scale farmers, fishers and the rural poor

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POI_PD.htmhttp://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm


Intragenerational Equity

• The U.N. Millenium Goals and the Johannesburg Declaration reinforce the notion that we are ethically responsible to not use so many resources that we jeopardize the quality of life of other people in this generation.


Discussion:

• People in developing nations aspire to the same standard of living that people in the United States enjoy. – Is it possible to raise the standard of living

for all people without diminishing the quality of life we currently enjoy in the US?

– Do we have a right to our current standard of living if it means that others must live in poverty?


3. Sustainable Business

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 the triple bottom line.

--World Business Council for Sustainable Development http://www.wbcsd.org/


Those supportive of sustainable business practices ask questions like--

• How much energy did it take to produce this product?

• Could the material in this product be made from a renewable resource?

• Were the people who produced this product treated fairly and paid a fair wage?

• Did the people who produced this product work in a safe environment?

• Can this product be recycled or safely disposed of?


Discussion:

• Are you concerned about how the products you buy are produced?

• Are you concerned about their impact across their life cycle?

• Why or why not?


4. Environmental Social Science• Environmental

Social Scientists, including geographers, anthropologists, and environmental psychologists, are interested in the human dimension of creating a sustainable world.


4. Environmental Social Science• They study challenges

such as – the role of

governmental and social institutions

– individual choices about behaving sustainably

– urbanization– cultural preservation– environmental justice


5. Sustainability Science Environmental science, made up of many disciplines

such as geology, chemistry, and biology, has long been interested in taking a broad view of how humans interact with the environment.

Many scientists, such as those belonging to the National Academy of Sciences, have become increasingly concerned with the reconciling the planet’s environmental limits with society’s development goals with over the long term.

This addition of resource economics and policy studies has led to the development of “sustainability science.”


Sustainability Science is “a whole new field of knowledge” (Lubchenco, 2000) that is “defined by the problems it addresses rather than by the disciplines it employs” (Clark, 2007).


Sustainability science combines the best of the biogeophysical and socioeconomic sciences, engineering and medicine, drawing on current knowledge, but extending it far beyond. If she grows and thrives, sustainability science has the potential to guide humanity during the critical coming century.-- Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor and Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, Oregon State University

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/giving/shaping_the_future_symposium.html


Challenges Facing the World Today

Degradation of habitats and loss of biodiversity

Exhaustion of natural resources

Inequality in wealth and power

Population growth

Globalization

Urbanization

Water and food

Climate change


Discussion:

• Solving these problems takes the work of many different disciplines. How does your major contribute to finding solutions?

• What challenges are particularly relevant to us in the Phoenix metropolitan area?


So--

• What is sustainability?


The Earth does not belong to us. We are borrowing it from our grandchildren.

Treating the Earth as if you intended to stay

Spaceship Earth

Stewards of the Earth

Don’t eat your seed corn.

Metaphors for Sustainability


…a socially acceptable, contemporary means of framing our enduring concerns about ethical dilemmas, moral choices, social justices, and environmental stewardship.

--Stuart Walker


If you get right down to it, sustainability is really the study of the interconnectedness of all things.

-- Barbara Lither, US EPA


Sustainability is about finding solutions (creativity), expanding options (stewardship), building institutions that continually learn (governance), and instilling a sense of justice (values). Ultimately, sustainability is about doing the right thing

-- Chuck Redman, Director

School of Sustainability at ASU


The time is always right to do what is right.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.


Discussion:

• How has your definition of sustainability changed as a result of our class today?


• You have completed Part 1 of the sustainability component of ASU 101.– Your online

assignment is to calculate your ecological footprint!

Documents

Www.asu.edu/asu101 What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1 Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability,