1.3 Sustainability

IB Knowledge Statements

1.3.1 Sustainability is a measure of the extent to which practices allow for the long-term viability of a system. It is generally used to refer to the responsible maintenance of socio-ecological systems such that there is no diminishment of conditions for future generations.

1.3.2 Sustainability is comprised of environmental, social and economic pillars.

1.3.3 Environmental sustainability is the use and management of natural resources that allows replacement of the resources, and recovery and regeneration of ecosystems.

1.3.4 Social sustainability focuses on creating the structures and systems, such as health, education, equity, community, that support human well-being.

1.3.5 Economic sustainability focuses on creating the economic structures and systems to support production and consumption of goods and services that will support human needs into the future.

1.3.6 Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development applies the concept of sustainability to our social and economic development.

1.3.7 Unsustainable use of natural resources can lead to ecosystem collapse.

1.3.8 Common indicators of economic development, such as gross domestic product (GDP), neglect the value of natural systems and may lead to unsustainable development.

1.3.9 Environmental justice refers to the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment, and to have equitable access to natural resources, regardless of issues such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, nationality.

1.3.10 Inequalities in income, race, gender and cultural identity within and between different societies lead to disparities in access to water, food and energy.

1.3.11 Sustainability and environmental justice can be applied at the individual to the global operating scale.

1.3.12 Sustainability indicators include quantitative measures of biodiversity, pollution, human population, climate change, material and carbon footprints, and others. These indicators can be applied on a range of scales, from local to global.

1.3.13 The concept of ecological footprints can be used to measure sustainability. If these footprints are greater than the area or resources available to the population, this indicates unsustainability.

1.3.14 The carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (in tonnes). The water footprint measures water use (in cubic metres per year).

1.3.15 Biocapacity is the capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an ongoing supply of renewable resources and to absorb its resulting wastes.

1.3.16 Citizen science plays a role in monitoring Earth systems and whether resources are being used sustainably.

1.3.17 There are a range of frameworks and models that support our understanding of sustainability, each with uses and limitations.

1.3.18 The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of social and environmental goals and targets to guide action on sustainability and environmental justice.

1.3.19 The planetary boundaries model describes the nine processes and systems that have regulated the stability and resilience of the Earth system in the Holocene epoch. The model also identifies the limits of human disturbance to those systems, and proposes that crossing those limits increases the risk of abrupt and irreversible changes to Earth systems.

1.3.20 The doughnut economics model is a framework for creating a regenerative and distributive economy in order to meet the needs of all people within the means of the planet.

1.3.21 The circular economy is a model that promotes decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. It has three principles: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and regenerating nature.

This section focuses on:

Defining aspects of sustainability
- What is sustainability in terms of environmental, economics and societies?
- Discuss environmental justice
Describing sustainability indicators: ecological footprint, carbon and water footprints, and biocapacity.
Outlining sustainability models to improve understanding

Part 1: What is sustainability?

Sustainability = using global resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimises damage to the environment
- We acknowledge that human is dependent on the our natural capital (provides goods and services)
- Long-term harvest and pollution rates should not exceed the renewal rates of natural capital.

When processing a natural resource to create income, sustainability needs to be applied at every level of the supply chain

Sustainability ensures resources are not degraded (i.e. natural capital is not used up) so that future generations can continue to use the resource.

For example: Deforestation
- if the rate of forest removal is less than the annual growth of the forest (i.e. the natural income), then the forest removal is sustainable.
- if the rate of forest removal is greater than the annual growth of the forest, then the forest removal is unsustainable.

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Needs = the essentials, based on priority
Limitations = imposed by the state of technology and social organisations, on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

Sustainability means to use natural capital at slower rate than it replenishes naturally.
For instance, deforestation
- Sustainable: trees are cut in a forest at limited amount in a certain period then left to regenerate and to maintain its equilibrium state.
- Unsustainable: trees are cut continuously and not given the chance to regenerate. Consequently, new/young trees cut as well. New foliage may find not be able to grow as deforested area has degraded soil (runoff, desertified etc). As the result, forest is destroyed
Sustainability can be redefined into the following three aspects:

Environmental

Concerning:

Renewable and non-renewable sources
Pollution
Conservation of biodiversity

Economic

Concerning:

Limitation of damaged environment caused by economic activity
Efficiency of current mechanisms
Ecological econimics

Social

Concerning:

Survival of societies and their cultures
Continuiation of language, belief or spiritual practices

Unsustainable development

Gross domestic product (GDP) is measured by the national output (total money value of all goods and services in a year)
GDP per capita is the GDP / total population of a country

To date...

the governments of the richest countries think that the solutions to economic problems = more growth
encourages citizens to buy any consumer goods they want in increase GDP
this has led to the era of mass consumption
Economies expect, demand and depend on this continuity of "growth"
Societies are politically, socially and financially dependent on continued growth in GDP
Due to the current trend: GDP is the indicator of growth, there is a large growth in market and sales with population size
The citizens are led to believe the idea of transformative consumerism and happiness with "retail therapy"
As the result, GDP increases and the country prospers
However, GDP indicator is divisive as wealth is not evenly distributed
- planetary equilibrium, through overexploitation of limited resources, pollution and biodiversity loss

Part 2: Environmental justice

Environmental justice includes the following points:

fair treatment
meaningful involvement of all people
people respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies

This is considering..

people's equal right to live in unpolluted environments
people's equal right to access natural resources
development, implementation and enforcement of environmental policies and laws
- no group or community bears the harmful effects of pollution or environmental hazards from a lack of economic or political influence
any model of sustainable development failing to incorporate equity is not a sustainable model any promotion of environmental justice that does not take account of the principles of sustainability will not be able to achieve its objectives on a large scale.

Activity 3 (on Padlet)

Select on of the following issues that raised the concern on environmental justice. Create a poster to increase awareness of the selected issues as an example of environmental justice

You are welcome to participate in the Padlet -->

Union Carbide Gas Leakage

Bhopal India, 1984

BP Oil Spill

Gulf of Mexico, 2010

Maasai Battle for Ancestrial Land

Tanzania

Plastics in Poor Countries

LEDCs

1.3.1.1 Sustainability PYTRClass Part 1.pptx

Inequalities

Why consumptions of food, water and energy vary between nations and within a nation?

•Access: some countries have easy access to more natural resources than others.

•Quantity: there is inequality in the quantity of resources available to different

countries. Some countries have abundant resources and others do not.

•Wealth: the greater the wealth of a country the more options it has. If a wealthy

country does not have direct access to, or sufficient quantities of, a resource then it can import or develop technological solutions, whereas less wealthy countries may not have these options.

•Technology and infrastructure: the ability of a country to develop technological

solutions and to deliver food, water and energy throughout its population will affect direct access to key resources.

1.3.1.2 Sustainability PYTRClass Env Justice.pptx

Part 3: Sustainability Indicators

Sustainability indicators are quantitative measures on range of scales (local and global) of;

Biodiversity
Pollution
Human population
Climate change
Material
Ecological footprint including water and carbon footprints
Others

The four most frequently used investigations are:

Biodiversity index
Ecological footprint
Indicator species
Human studies

Biodiversity Index

Are diversity indices – to establish the effects of human activity on natural communities. One such index is Simpson’s reciprocal index, which is used to provide a quantitative measure of species diversity, allowing different ecosystems to be compared, and change in a specific ecosystem over time to be monitored

Indicator Species

As some species can be affected more due a certain pollutant, they can be selected in monitoring the pollutant itself. In other words, a pollutant can be monitored using population size of some species in an area. This is an indirect method to show the impact of the pollutant

Human Studies

Study of the correlation and/or causation of various human demographical factors on environmental aspects. For instance, the educational background in MEDCs and LEDCs on EVSs and global warming movement/awareness

Ecological Footprint

Rate of resource consumption VS area providing the resources. If the rate is higher than area proving the resources = unsustainable

Carbon Footprint

Measure the CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gasses emission

Water Footprint

Measures freshwater used for a production

Activity 5 (on Padlet)

Use footprint calculators to establish your own ecological footprint. Use the online WWF Footprint Calculator to calculate your ecological footprint. The concept of ecological footprint gives you a sense of your own impact on the planet.

How many planets would we need if everyone lived the same lifestyle as you?
What issues are considered when calculating EF?
What can you do to reduce your EF, or that of your school or college, based on the information you are given?

You are welcome to participate in the Padlet -->

When studying the sustainability, it is important to consider the biocapacity and citizen science. The study and understanding of these two will be essential in assessing an ecosystem

Biocapacity

The capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate an on-going supply of renewable resources and to absorb its resulting wastes. Unsustainability occurs if the area’s ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity

Citizen Science

Interaction and involvement between the public and scientist. The interactions often a two way communication in terms of:

Data – scientist gather data/information by crowdsourcing (internet) and field visits
Questions and protocols
Result and understanding
Educations

1.3.2 Sustainability PYTRClass Part 2.pptx

Part 4: Models of Sustainability

support our understanding of sustainability, each with their own uses and limitations.

the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
the planetary boundaries model.
the doughnut economics model.

SDG

The SDGs relate to both developed and developing countries and their uses include:

setting of a common ground for policymaking
galvanizing the international community into addressing economic and social inequality.

Limitations of the SDGs include:

not going far enough
being top down and bureaucratic
tending to ignore local contexts
lacking supportive data

Planetry Boundaries

Developed in 2009 by 28 Earth system and environmental scientists
- lead by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University
Proposed 9 quantitative planetary boundaries that have.
- regulated the stability and resilience of the Earth system throughout the Holocene epoch, within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come.
The model identifies the limits of human disturbance to those systems and proposes that crossing these boundaries increases the risk of creating sudden, extensive or irreversible environmental changes.

Crossing Planetary Boundaries

2015, Science identified beyond their safe limits for:

climate change
biodiversity loss
shifts in nutrient cycles (N & P)
land use

Jan 2022 – Environmental Science and Technology

Exceeding environmental pollutants and other novel entities including plastics

Apr 2022 – Nature Reviews Earth & Environment

Freshwater with the inclusion to green water

Doughnut Economy

Advantages to the doughnut economics model:

it challenges the goal of GDP, in favour of a regenerative and distributive approach
popular awareness and used at different scales in different countries, cities, neighbourhoods, businesses to support sustainability
includes both ecological and social elements and so supports the environmental justice.

Limitations include: