Chapter 2

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Learning Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Define sustainability and sustainable development.

Identify the two concepts and five principles of sustainable development
Identify the three pillars of sustainable development.
Explain why this is important?
Identify the seventeen goals for sustainable development?

Outline and Lecture Notes

1.

What is sustainability?
Sustainability could be defined as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or
to sustain itself. Its about taking what we need to live now, without jeopardising the
potential for people in the future to meet their needs while sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:
a. the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which
overriding priority should be given; and
b. the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on
the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

2. What are the five principles of sustainable development?

a. Living within environmental limits
b. Ensuring a strong, healthy, and just society
c. Achieving a sustainable economy
d. Using sound science responsibly
e. Promoting good governance
3.

What are the three pillars of sustainable development?

The three pillars of sustainability are a powerful tool for defining the complete
sustainability problem. This consists of at least the economic, social, and environmental
pillars. If any one pillar is weak then the system as a whole is unsustainable.

a. Social sustainability is the ability of a social system, such as a country, to function at

a defined level of social well being indefinitely. That level should be defined in
relation to the goal of Homo sapiens, which is (or should be) to optimize quality of
life for those living and their descendents.
b. Environmental sustainability is the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution
creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. If
they cannot be continued indefinitely then they are not sustainable.
c. Economic sustainability is the ability of an economy to support a defined level of
economic production indefinitely.
4.

Why this is important?

a. Most national and international problem solving efforts focus on only one
pillar at a time.
b. The United Nations attempts to strengthen all three pillars, but due to its
consensual decision making process and small budget has minor impact.
c. The United Nations focuses mostly on the economic pillar, since economic
growth is what most of its members want most, especially developing nations.
d. No powerful international organization is working on the sustainability
problem as a whole, which would include all three pillars.ost, especially
developing nations.
e. Many nations and states are cutting back or postponing stricter environmental
laws or investment, since their budgets are running deficits.

5.

What are the seventeen goals for sustainable development?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed in September 2015 and come into
effect on 1 January 2016, will guide international development and cooperation for the
next 15 years. According to the draft, they will be aspirational goals, intended to provide
a reference for setting national priorities, in rich and poor countries alike.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are:
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and
foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainable use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access
to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global
partnership for sustainable development