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What is Sustainability?

As stated by one of the world’s most effective communicators of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, Richard Heinberg mentioned that “the word ‘sustainable’ has become widely used to refer merely to practices that are reputed to be more environmentally sound than others.” (2010) The essence of the term has been defined, moreover, by Heinberg as “that which can be maintained over time.” It means that any civilization that is not sustainable cannot be upheld for extensive time and will stop to function at some point. The term is relative to the word “sustainability” which can also be used as anorientation for the period of previous society, considering the range of hundreds to thousands of years.

Accordingly, there has been no universally agreed definition of the word sustainability. There are various definitions and views on the given word. The notion of sustainability curtails from the perception of sustainable progress which became shared language at the World’s first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. According to a Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environmental and Development in 1992, the original definition of sustainable development is the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (2009)It has also been included on the report of Richard Heinberg focusing on the given word. He has also found out that the first known European usage of the word has happened in 1713 from the book of a German forester and scientist Hans Carl von Carlowitz which was entitled Sylvicultura Oeconomica. The word has been used in German as Nachhaltigkeit. “Later, French and English foresters adopted the practice of planting trees as a path to ‘sustained-yield forestry.” (Heinberg, 2010)

Since the term has been used in a widespread range after the year 1987, because of the Brundtland Report from the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development, the definition of the word has then proven to be “extremely and is still widely used.” However, it has also been “criticized for its failure to explicitly note the unsustainability of the use of nonrenewable resources and for its general disregard of the problem of population growth.” (Heinberg, 2010)

Having an idea of the various definitions that have been given to the word “sustainability”, let us look on how it has been identified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: “Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To purse sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.” (2016) According to the said agency, “The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969” has committed the United States to sustainability in which it declares it as a national policy that would “create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.” (EPA, 2016) Having this implemented as a national policy, the concern or the interest of the public about its effect on the environment has widened which then made a positive effect. For instance, the progress that sustainability has provided has been observed from the efforts and concerns of the citizens and of some stakeholders who are both working together to share the best implementations and practices to “ensure the greatest environmental, economic and social impact” that it will give. (EPA, 2016)

According to an article, “in 2005, the World Summit on Social Development identified three core areas that contribute to the philosophy and social science of sustainable development.” (Mason, 2016) These were also identified as the three pillars of sustainability which form the support of undertaking the core areas that the world is facing today. The given three pillars of sustainability were identified as: (a) economic development; (b) social development; and (c) environmental protection.

Economic development, the first pillar of sustainability, has been taken as an issue that “proves the most problematic as most people disagree on political ideology what is and is not economically sound, and how it will affect businesses and by extension, jobs and employability.” (Mason, 2016) It has also been discussed as an issue that is about giving enticements for enterprises and other establishments in order to follow to the guidelines of sustainability outside its usual judicial requirements. Economic development has been defined by Mason as an issue that is “about giving people what they want without compromising quality of life, especially in the developing world, and reducing the financial burden and ‘red tape’ of doing the right thing.” (2016)

With regards to the social development, taken as the second pillar of sustainability, it encounters several facets such as the “awareness of and legislation protection of the health of people from pollution and other harmful activities of business and other organizations.” (Mason, 2016) Some of the developed continents, such as Europe and North America, have portrayed strong programmes of legislature in place to guarantee that the health and wellness of the people will be firmly protected. Moreover, it was stated that it is also about upholding the entree to the basic resources without compromising the quality of life such as how the issue of “sustainable housing” and how people can better build the homes that they live in from sustainable materials. Another facet that social development is facing is education in which Mason stated that “encouraging people to participate in environmental sustainability and teaching them about the effects of environmental protection as well as warning of the dangers if we cannot achieve our goals.” (2016)

The last pillar of sustainability is the environmental protection. Protecting the environment comes in many ways such as “recycling, reducing our power consumption by switching electronic devices off rather than using standby, by walking short journeys instead of taking the bus.” (Mason, 2016) Environmental protection has been observed to have its main concern on the future of the humanity. It is obviously because people know how there can only be one earth; one environment that people can possibly live and breathe. Environmental protection defines “how we should study and protect ecosystems, air quality, integrity and sustainability of our resources and focusing on the elements that place stress on the environment.” (Mason, 2016) Moreover, it also talks about the concern of how technology can help in developing a greener future in which the EPA has “recognized that developing technology is key to this sustainability, and protecting the environment of the future from potential damage that technological advances could potentially bring.” (Mason, 2016)

Having the idea of what future may look like because of the negative actions and outcomes of the people can already be foreseen today. But with the right mindset and sufficient discipline – integrated with the new ways and developments of the government and technology, the world can be assured of gaining sustainability on every aspect that it needs to firmly stand. Therefore, it is still necessary to remind the people how the word sustainability can be highly regarded at this point of time in order to be always and fully reminded of how the world needs it especially for the future generation who would also want sustainability in their lives.

References:

Matthew Mason. “What Is Sustainability and Why Is It Important?” (2016). Web. Retrieved 11 May. 2016. http://www.environmentalscience.org/sustainability .

“Learn about Sustainability.” 2016. EPA.gov. Web. Retrieved 11 May. 2016. https://www.epa.gov/sustainability/learn-about-sustainability#what

“What is sustainability?” 2009. Humanities Education Center. Web. Retrieved 11 May. 2016. http://www.globalfootprints.org/sustainability

Heinberg, Richard. “What is Sustainability?” 2010. Web. Retrieved 11 May. 2016. http://www.fusbp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/What-is-Sustianbility.pdf