Alan Lambert

Sustainability

Alan Lambert
26 November 2007
Sustainability Alan Lambert

 Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best

outcomes for the human and natural environments both
now and into an indefinite future.

 Development that meets the requirements of the present

generation without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own requirements.

2
 Alan Lambert

 It relates to the continuity of economic, social,

institutional and environmental aspects of human
society, as well as the non-human environment.

 It is intended to be a means of setting up civilisation and

human activity so that society, its members and its
economies are able to meet their needs and express
their greatest potential in the present, while preserving
biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and
acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in a very
long term.

 Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the

local neighbourhood to the entire planet.

3
Definitions Alan Lambert

 Sustainability- The ability to meet present needs without

compromising those of future generations.

 Many people have pointed to various practices and philosophies in

the world today as being useful to sustainability.

 In order to distinguish which activities are destructive and which are

benign or beneficial, various models of resource allocation have
been studied and developed.

 The need for sustainability analysis and particularly for indicators of

sustainability is a key requirement to implement and monitor the
development of “national sustainable development plans”, as
required by Agenda 21 agreed at UNCED in June 1992.

4
Life cycle assessment and ecological
Alan Lambert
footprint analysis

One of the striking conclusions to emerge from

ecological footprint analyses is that it would be
necessary to have 4 back up planets engaged in
nothing but agriculture for all those alive today to
live a Western lifestyle.

5
Global Reporting
Alan Lambert
Initiative
 In 1997 the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was started as a multi-
stakeholder process and independent institution whose mission has
been "to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines".

 The GRI uses ecological footprint analysis and became fully

independent in 2002.

 It is an official collaborating centre of the United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) and during the tenure of Kofi
Annan, it cooperated with the UN Secretary-General’s Global
Compact.

6
Environmental
Alan Lambert
Sustainability Index
 In 2004, a joint initiative of the Yale Center for Environmental Law
and Policy (YCELP) and the Center for International Earth Science
Information Network (CIESIN) of Columbia University, in
collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint
Research Centre of the European Commission also attempted to
construct an Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI).

 This was formally released in Davos, Switzerland, at the annual

meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on 28 January 2005.
The report on this index made a comparison of the WEF ESI to
other sustainability indicators such as the Ecological footprint Index.

7
Conceptual issues Alan Lambert

 Values vary greatly in detail within and between cultures, as well as

between academic disciplines (e.g., between economists and
ecologists).
 At the heart of the concept of sustainability is a fundamental,
immutable value set that is best stated as 'parallel care and respect
for the ecosystem and for the people within that system'.
 From this value set emerges the goal of sustainability: to achieve
human and ecosystem well-being together.
 It follows that the 'result' against which the success of any project or
design should be judged is the achievement of, or the contribution
to, human and ecosystem well-being together.
 Seen in this way, the concept of sustainability is much more than
environmental protection in another guise. It is a positive concept
that has as much to do with achieving well-being for people and
ecosystems as it has to do with reducing stress or impacts.

8
 Alan Lambert

 Critics of Western society state that the philosophy of infinite

economic growth and infinite growth in consumption are completely
unsustainable and will cause great harm to human civilization in the
future. [See: War on Terror/ Consumerism / Globalisation]

 In recognition that the Earth is finite, there has been a growing

awareness that there must be limits to certain kinds of human
activity if life on the planet is to survive if not indefinitely, at least for
the next millennium.

 Western consumerist ideals and their impact on the planet? This

quality of life is delivered at enormous cost (calculated in terms of its
ecological footprint) to the environment.

9
Common principles Alan Lambert

 Some commentators now consider the term "sustainable

development" as too closely linked with continued material
development, and prefer to use terms like "sustainability",
"sustainable prosperity" and "sustainable genuine progress" as the
umbrella terms.

 These have some common principals:

o Dealing transparently and systemically with risk, uncertainty and

irreversibility.

o Ensuring appropriate valuation, appreciation and restoration of nature.

o Integration of environmental, social, human and economic goals in

policies and activities.

o Equal opportunity and community participation/Sustainable community.

o Conservation of biodiversity and ecological integrity.

10
 Alan Lambert

 Ensuring inter-generational equity.

 Recognizing the global integration of localities.

 A commitment to best practice.

 No net loss of human capital or natural capital.

 The principle of continuous improvement.

 The need for good governance.

11
 Alan Lambert

 One of the critically important issues in sustainability is that of

human overpopulation combined with human lifestyle.

 A number of studies have suggested that the current population of

the Earth, already over six billion, is too many people to support
sustainability at current material consumption levels.

 This challenge for sustainability is distributed unevenly. According to

calculations of the ecological footprint, the ecological pressure of a
US resident is 13 times that of a resident of India and 52 times that
of a Somali resident

12
 Alan Lambert

Obviously, exponential growth is

unsustainable in the long term, regardless
of technology or lifestyle.
For example, with the 2007 population of
6.5 billion, at the current world growth rate
of 1.4%/year, the population will reach
1.49 x 10 in 722 years, which is equal to
14

roughly the number of square meters of

land area on the earth.
This is clearly an unfeasible, and very
undesirable situation.
13
 Alan Lambert

 Critics of efforts to reduce population rather than consumption fear

that efforts to reduce population growth may lead to human rights
violations such as involuntary sterilization and the abandoning of
infants to die.

 Some human-rights watchers report that this is already taking place

in China, as a result of its one child per family policy. [See New
Scientist two weeks ago.]

 Eventually, a culture of unsustainable growth and consumption

leads to unrest and imbalance.

 One consequence is a sudden collapse in population numbers

 The bacteria in a glass analogy

14
 Alan Lambert

 According to some economists, it is possible for the concepts of sustainable

development and competitiveness to merge if enacted wisely, so that there is not an
inevitable trade-off.
 This merger is being motivated by the following six facts (Hargroves & Smith 2005):

o Throughout the economy there are widespread untapped potential resource productivity
improvements to be made to be coupled with effective design.

o There has been a significant shift in understanding over the last three decades of what
creates lasting competitiveness of a firm.

o There is now a critical mass of enabling technologies in eco-innovations that make

integrated approaches to sustainable development economically viable.

o Since many of the costs of what economists call ‘environmental externalities’ are passed on
to governments, in the long-term sustainable development strategies can provide multiple
benefits to the tax payer.

o There is a growing understanding of the multiple benefits of valuing social and natural
capital, for both moral and economic reasons, and including them in measures of national
well-being.

o There is mounting evidence to show that a transition to a sustainable economy, if done

wisely, may not harm economic growth significantly, in fact it could even help it.
15
Types of sustainability Alan Lambert

 The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has identified considerations

for technical cooperation that affect three types of sustainability:
o Institutional sustainability. Can a strengthened institutional structure continue
to deliver the results of technical cooperation to end users? The results may not
be sustainable if, for example, the planning authority that depends on the
technical cooperation loses access to top management, or is not provided with
adequate resources after the technical cooperation ends. Institutional
sustainability can also be linked to the concept of social sustainability, which
asks how the interventions can be sustained by social structures and institutions;

o Economic and financial sustainability. Can the results of technical cooperation

continue to yield an economic benefit after the technical cooperation is
withdrawn? For example, the benefits from the introduction of new crops may not
be sustained if the constraints to marketing the crops are not resolved. Similarly,
economic, as distinct from financial, sustainability may be at risk if the end users
continue to depend on heavily subsidized activities and inputs.

o Ecological sustainability. Are the benefits to be generated by the technical

cooperation likely to lead to a deterioration in the physical environment, thus
indirectly contributing to a fall in production, or well-being of the groups targeted
and their society.
16
Development
Alan Lambert
sustainability
 A definition of development sustainability is "the continuation of
benefits after major assistance from the donor has been completed"
(Australian Agency for International Development 2000).

 Ensuring that development projects are sustainable can reduce the

likelihood of them collapsing after they have just finished; it also
reduces the financial cost of development projects and the
subsequent social problems, such as dependence of the
stakeholders on external donors and their resources.

 All development assistance, apart from temporary emergency and

humanitarian relief efforts, should be designed and implemented
with the aim of achieving sustainable benefits.

17
 Alan Lambert

 There are ten key factors that influence development sustainability

o Participation and ownership. Get the stakeholders (men and women) to
genuinely participate in design and implementation. Build on their
initiatives and demands. Get them to monitor the project and periodically
evaluate it for results.
o Capacity building and training. Training stakeholders to take over should
begin from the start of any project and continue throughout. The right
approach should both motivate and transfer skills to people.
o Government policies. Development projects should be aligned with local
government policies.
o Financial. In some countries and sectors, financial sustainability is
difficult in the medium term. Training in local fundraising is a possibility,
as is identifying links with the private sector, charging for use, and
encouraging policy reforms.
o Management and organisation. Activities that integrate with or add to
local structures may have better prospects for sustainability than those
which establish new or parallel structures.

18
 Alan Lambert

o Social, gender and culture. The introduction of new ideas, technologies

and skills requires an understanding of local decision-making systems,
gender divisions and cultural preferences.
o Technology. All outside equipment must be selected with careful
consideration given to the local finance available for maintenance and
replacement. Cultural acceptability and the local capacity to maintain
equipment and buy spare parts are vital.
o Environment. Poor rural communities that depend on natural resources
should be involved in identifying and managing environmental risks.
Urban communities should identify and manage waste disposal and
pollution risks.
o External political and economic factors. In a weak economy, projects
should not be too complicated, ambitious or expensive.
o Realistic duration. A short project may be inadequate for solving
entrenched problems in a sustainable way, particularly when
behavioural and institutional changes are intended. A long project, may
on the other hand, promote dependence.

19
Barriers to a
Alan Lambert
sustainability culture
 The phenomenon of change resistance

o The above concepts focus primarily on the proper practices required to

live sustainably. However, there is also the need to consider why there
is such strong resistance to adopting sustainable practices.

o Unruh (2000, 2002) has argued that numerous barriers to sustainability

arise because today's technological systems and governing institutions
were designed and built for permanence and reliability, not change.

o In the case of fossil fuel-based systems this is termed "carbon lock-in"

and inhibits many change efforts.

o Also remember Winston’s “Suppression of radical potential” ideas

20
 Alan Lambert

 The real issue may be why is it so difficult to persuade social agents

(such as people, corporations, and nations) to adopt the proper
practices needed to live sustainability?

 Thus the heart of the matter may be the change resistance or social
side of the problem.

21
 Alan Lambert

 Government and individual failure to act on the available information

is widely attributed to personal greed (deemed to be inherent in
human nature) especially on the part of international capitalists.

 most people support activities which would help to stem our

headlong plunge toward extermination as a species but most
engage in activities which have the opposite effect.

22
Conclusion Alan Lambert

 There is an obvious connection:

Convergence

Consumerism

Globalisation

Sustainability

The Digital Business world is going to play its part in either the
sustained development of our civilisation or its demise. Which will it
be?

23