The Challenge of Sustainability

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The Challenge of Sustainability

• Trends are key, because sustainability is about
  the legacy we are leaving for future generations
• Sometimes unsustainability is easier to
  recognize...

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• If today is the typical day on planet earth,
• humans will
• Add 15 million tons of carbon to the atmosphere
• Destroy 115 square miles of tropical rain forest
• Create 72 square miles of desert
• Eliminate between 40 - 100 species
• Erode 71 million tons of top soil
• Add 2700 tons of CFCs to the stratosphere
• Increase the population by 263,000.
• David Orr, Ecological Literacy, 1992

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Global population continues to rise
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Urban Growth Spurt Continues
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Sustainability involves more than the environment

• we must have a prosperous economy that operates
  on sustainability principles (this is the sine
  qua non of the new economy)
• the social dimension is also crucial

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" According to UN estimates, the richest fifth of
the worlds people consume some 66 times as much
as the poorest fifth,including 58 percent of
total energy. And they own 87 percent of the
worlds vehicles, a major source of greenhouse
gases. And the two hundred and twenty-five people
who comprise the super-rich have a combined
wealth of over one trillion US dollars,
equivalent to the annual income of the poorest 47
percent of the worlds people. Surely history
tells us such imbalances are not sustainable.
- Maurice Strong, Lecture at York University
09/28/01
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Sustainable Development Where has it been?

• IUCN (World Conservation Union) 1982 WCS
• World Commission on Environment and Development
  (Brundtland Commission) Our Common Future
• UNCED (Earth Summit) Rio, 1992
• Agenda 21
• Rio Declaration
• Climate Change, Biodiversity, Desertification
  etc.
• Wider societal involvement civil society CSOs
• Environment slips on public agenda post Rio
• Governments stalled implementation gap noted
  both domestically (CESD) and internationally (Rio
  Plus 5)
• Business begins to assume leadership

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What are the new drivers?

• Increasing consumption of resources and
  production of wastes
• Sophisticated use of the internet by NGOs,
  general public
• Information links that are now global
• Concern for peace and security issues following
  9-11
• Militancy of opposition to economic globalization
• Emphasis on transparency of both businesses and
  governments
• Growing awareness of environmental problems
  around resources (fisheries), water (Walkerton),
  forest products (certification) etc. -- and
  interconnected social and economic implications
• Problems of urban population growth,
  sprawl,waste,pollution, homelessness, GHG

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Sustainable Development Where is it going?

• New paradigms in key disciplines (especially
  economics)
• New tools such as ecological footprint
• New concepts like natural capitalism, biomimickry
• Greater focus on reporting and measuring progress
• New opportunities for partnership across sectors
  (public, private, civil, education)
• Greater recognition of the ingenuity gap and
  the need to understand complex systems

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Implications of the New Paradigm

• Knowledge, ingenuity and innovation are key
  elements of new economy
• Replace resource consumption with knowledge,
  biomimicry etc
• Base the new economy on the principles of
  sustainability (going beyond knowledge to
  wisdom)
• We must substitute our ingenuity, our knowledge,
  for the use of materials in all areas of the
  economy in which we interact with natural
  resources and the natural environment.
• Jonathan Lash, President of WRI,
• in a lecture at York University Feb. 22, 2001

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Governance Implications of the New Paradigm

• Governments cant do it all
• Problems are linked, and horizontal
• Need systems thinking, integrated long-term
  planning and decisions
• Go beyond silos and solitudes
• Collaboration across sectors and jurisdictions
• Transparent, participatory decision-making

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Sustainability Challenges
Economic growth development
Material consumption waste production
Technological change
S
Redesigning manufacturing the economy
Driving Forces
Smart Resource Stewardship
Globalization
Energy Sources and Consumption
Civil Society NGOS
Business
Challenges Changes
Transportation
Sustainable Cities
Population growth and movement
Loss of biodiversity habitat
Governance Public Policy
Urban Infrastructure land use
Choice Makers
Individuals
Government
Land water management
Food Supply
Pollution
Inequity
Public Education
Climate Change
Education new ideas / paradigms
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The Role of Business

• Providing sustainable products service
• that improve quality of life with benign or
  positive environmental impacts
• Providing products services sustainably
• with maximum eco-efficiency/dematerialization
  using smart design (DfE), closed loop
  production, biomimicry, etc
• Meeting the triple bottom line
• Cross-sector partnerships and collaboration

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The Role of Government

• Steering society toward sustainability
• Creating a favorable habitat for sustainability
• Getting the prices right
• Smart regulation (using a full suite of policy
  instruments)
• Walking the talk by practicing sustainability
• Promoting a culture of sustainability
• New forms of partnership

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The Role of Civil Society Organizations

• To educate and inform
• To advise and to warn
• To articulate the public interest
• To mobilize the public to action
• To criticize and encourage
• To collaborate for implementation

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The Role of Individuals

• To become informed
• To change their own behavior
• As consumers
• to support sustainability-oriented companies
• As citizens
• to demand sustainability commitments from
  governments

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An Emerging Culture of Sustainability

• From overconsumption (Whoever dies with the most
  toys wins.) to sufficiency
• Voluntary simplicity
• Greater concern for nature, and the well-being of
  the ecosystem
• Greater concern for other human beings living
  today
• Greater concern for temporal equity
• Support for decisions that take long term effects
  into consideration
• Support for decision-makers with that perspective
  and for businesses that embody sustainability
  principles and practices

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The Aboriginal Thanksgiving Address
Finally, we acknowledge one another, female and
male. We give greetings and thanks that we have
this opportunity to spend some time together.
We turn our minds to our ancestors and our
Elders. You are the carriers of knowledge, of our
history. We acknowledge the adults among us.
You represent the bridge between the past and the
future. We also acknowledge our youth and
children. It is to you that we will pass on the
responsibilities we now carry. Soon, you will
take our place in facing the challenges of life.
Soon, you will carry the burden of your people.
Do not forget the ways of the past as you move
toward the future. Remember that we are to walk
softly on our sacred Mother, the Earth, for we
walk on the faces of the unborn, those who have
yet to rise and take up the challenges of
existence. We must consider the effects our
actions will have on their ability to live a good
life.
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