SUSTAINABILITY

A level of resource use that maximizes long-term yield and avoids over-exploitation (Faustmann 1968,

probably original meaning).

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable development meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their needs (UN Brundtland World Commission on

Environment and Development, 1987).

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable development is adaptive, interdisciplinary, responsive to the needs of the

community, and fosters system resiliency (sensu Holling 1993).

In the USDA Mission statement:“… ensures the health of the land through sustainable management. Its agencies work to prevent damage to natural resources and the environment, restore the resource base, and promote good land management. “

USGS Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable “Serve as a forum to share information and perspectives that will promote better decision making in the U.S. regarding the sustainable development of our nation's water resources.”

National Park Service’s Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design “… is intended to direct park management philosophy. Its goal is to provide a basis for achieving sustainability in facility planning and design, emphasize the importance of biodiversity, and encourage responsible decisions.”

Sustainable development is the official policy of many government agencies, non-profit organizations, or private firms:

Ministry for the Environment, N.Z.We work with others in central and local government, industry and the community to achieve good environmental governance and decision-making at all levels. Sustainable development is the context for all our work.

In the draft constitution of the European Union:The Union shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth, a social market economy, highly competitive and aiming at full employment and social progress, and with a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment.

UN Department of Sustainable Development… promotes sustainable development … through technical cooperation and capacity building at international, regional and national levels.

ToyotaWe, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION and our subsidiaries, take initiative to contribute to harmonious and sustainable development of society and the earth, based on our Guiding Principles.

Three arguments against the sustainability paradigm (Ludwig 1993)

1. Natural resources are usually not harvested in a controlled way (principle of human greed).

2. Even if we are willing to harvest at safe rates, we don’t know how.

3. Even if we figure out how to harvest at sustainable levels, population growth will make harvest rates inadequate.

- natural resources are finite- demand on resources keeps growing- environmental change outside of local control

Fisheries in decline, worldwide

Growth based on land use conversion

Show me

Agricultural land in degradation, worldwide

How to achieve sustainability?

Technical solutions?

Better humans?

Better laws and enforcement?

Better science?

Step One: Know your ecological impact.

Find out about the consequences of your actionsand make well-informed decisions.

The price of eating meat(according to a report by the Harvard Medical School)

• Livestock production

uses 2/3 of the world’s productive agricultural land.

contributes with 22% to globalmethane emissions.

degrades the land (often irreversibly) and pollutes the water.

• Exaggerated meat consumption has been linked to:

heart diseasediabetesobesityfood poisoning some forms of cancer

Every day, 40,000 people die from hunger.

Catching Canadian Cod:

The traditional way The industrial way:

Gulf of Mexico74% bycatch26% shrimp

South Atlantic82% bycatch18% shrimp

““BY-CATCH”BY-CATCH”““BY-CATCH”BY-CATCH”

Healthy ocean bottom Stripped ocean bottom

Environmental Pollution

Most common pollutants:

• greenhouse gases• nitrate of other nitrogen-rich wastes• SO2 and NOx causing acid rain• pesticides• nuclear radiation• heavy metals from mining and industry

Brominated Fire Retardants (PBDEs):

Used in many common household products (electronics equipment, lighting, wiring, building materials, textiles, furniture, industrial paints) to reduce fire hazard.

According to the EPA, there is growing evidence that PBDEs persist in the environment and accumulate in living organisms.

Testing indicates that these substances can cause liver and thyroid toxicity as well as neurodevelopmental damage.

Traces have been detected in humans and wildlife.

Some European countries banned PBDEs following the precautionary principle.

EWG = Environmental Working Group

Ammonium Perchlorate

Primary component of solid propellant for rockets, missiles, fireworks, or explosives in various military munitions and air bag inflators.

Perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland's ability to make essential hormones in fetuses, infants and children. Can cause lowered IQ, mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech, and motor skill deficits.

Average concentration of perchlorate in milk was 5.76 ppb

>38% of the samples exceeded 6.0 ppb

IN LETTUCE: average concentration was 10.49 ppb

EPA recommends that exposure to the chemical should not exceed 1 part per billion (ppb)

Source: Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Recommended websites:

World Wildlife Fund

Toxtown

Household Toxins Institute

The “Ecological Footprint” concept.

Conceived in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees at the University of British Columbia, the

Ecological Footprint is used as a common currency for measuring consumption, in terms of land (and ocean)

requirements for producing goods and services.

It is now in wide use by scientists, businesses, governments, agencies, individuals, and institutions

working to monitor ecological resource use and advance sustainable development.

Ecological footprint:

is the amount of LAND AREA a human population would hypothetically need to provide the resources required to support itself and to absorb its wastes.

Crop Consumption

(t/yr)

Crop Yield

(t/ha/yr)

Required Crop Area

(ha): =

CO2 emmission

(t/yr)

Fraction not absorbed by oceans

Required Land

for reforestation(ha)

x : =Terrestrial

SequestrationRate

(tons/ha/yr)

Example: Italy (ca. 56 mio people)

0.2533 forest28,794,478 t1.99 kg/haTimber

0.8071 “fossil energy” land57 GJ/yr/person71 GJ/ha/yrLiquid fossil fuel

0.1664 arable land26,087,912 t2744 kg/haCereals

0.5219 pasture14,975,877 t502 kg/haDairy

0.8377 pasture1,571,477 t33 kg/haBeef

Footprint component (ha/person)

ConsumptionYield Category

(Wackernagel et al. 1999)

Global footprint of Italy: 4.2 ha per personAvailable: 1.3 ha per personGlobal available average: 2 ha/person (no wild land set aside)

1.8 ha/person (12% reserved for non-use)

Germany

Per-person resource demand (Ecological Footprint) and resource supply (Biocapacity) in Germany since 1961. Biocapacity varies each year with ecosystem management, agricultural practices (such as fertilizer use and irrigation), ecosystem degradation, and weather.

USA

Niger

more

World footprint

Calculate your “Ecological Footprint”

Ecological footprint of a “Redneck”:

Ecological footprint of a “Treehugger”:

Footprint (acres)FOOD

MOBILITY

SHELTER

GOODS/SERVICES TOTAL FOOTPRINT

Footprint (acres)FOOD

MOBILITY

SHELTER

GOODS/SERVICES TOTAL FOOTPRINT

The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Group’s bottom line:

• We are spending Earth’s natural capital, putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted. 

• At the same time, the assessment shows that the future really is in our hands.  We can reverse the degradation of many ecosystem services over the next 50 years, but the changes in policy and practice required are substantial and not currently underway.