From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sustainability Sustainability accepted definition of sustainability: "[to meet] the needs of the present without com- promising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[6] Definition Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right). The supreme reality of our time is the vul- nerability of this planet. —John F Kennedy... Sustainability, in general terms, is the abil- ity to maintain balance of a certain process or state in any system. It is now most fre- quently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of Scheme of interaction of the three "pillars" of an ecosystem to maintain ecological pro- sustainable development[7] cesses, functions, biodiversity and productiv- ity into the future.[1] Although the definition of sustainable devel- Sustainability has become a complex term opment (above), given by the Brundtland that can be applied to almost every system on Commission, is frequently quoted,[8] it is not Earth, particularly the many different levels universally accepted and has undergone vari- of biological organization, such as; wetlands, ous interpretations.[9][10] Definitions of sus- prairies and forests[2] and is expressed in hu- tainability may be expressed as statements of man organization concepts, such as; eco-mu- fact, intent, or value with sustainability nicipalities, sustainable cities, and human treated as either a "journey" or activities and disciplines, such as; sustain- "destination."[11] Where we are now, where able agriculture, sustainable architecture and we need to be going, and how we are to get renewable energy.[3] there are all open to interpretation[12] and For humans to live sustainably, the will depend on the particular context under Earth’s resources must be used at a rate at consideration.[13] This difficult mix has been which they can be replenished. However, described as a dialogue of values that defies there is now clear scientific evidence that hu- consensual definition.[14] Sustainability has manity is living unsustainably, and that an been regarded as both an important but un- unprecedented collective effort is needed to focused concept like "liberty" or return human use of natural resources to "justice"[15][16] and as a feel-good buzzword within sustainable limits.[4][5] with little meaning or substance.[17][18][19] Since the 1980s, the idea of sustainable The idea of sustainable development is human well-being has become increasingly sometimes viewed as an oxymoron because associated with the integration of economic, development inevitably depletes and de- social and environmental spheres. In 1989, grades the environment.[20] Consequently the World Commission on Environment and some definitions either avoid the word devel- Development (Brundtland Commission) artic- opment and use the term sustainability ex- ulated what has now become a widely clusively, or emphasise the environmental 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sustainability component, as in "environmentally sustain- end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of able development."[21] Earth, declare our responsibility to one an- other, to the greater community of life, and to future generations."[29] The next section traces the evolution of thinking about sustainability in human history. History Early civilizations In early human history, although the energy and other resource demands of nomadic hunter-gatherers was small, the use of fire and desire for specific foods may have Another representation showing economy altered the natural composition of plant and and society bounded by the environment.[22] animal communities.[30] Between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, agriculture emerged in The dimensions of sustainability are often various regions of the world.[31] Agrarian taken to be: environmental, social and eco- communities depended largely on their envir- nomic, known as the "three pillars".[23] These onment and the creation of a "structure of can be depicted as three overlapping circles permanence."[32] Societies outgrowing their (or ellipses), to show that they are not mutu- local food supply or depleting critical re- ally exclusive and can be mutually reinfor- sources either moved on or faced collapse. cing.[24] While this model initially improved the standing of environmental concerns,[25] it has since been criticised for not adequately showing that societies and economies are fundamentally reliant on the natural world. According to English environmentalist and author Jonathon Porritt, "The economy is, in the first instance, a subsystem of human soci- ety ... which is itself, in the second instance, a subsystem of the totality of life on Earth (the biosphere). And no subsystem can ex- pand beyond the capacity of the total system of which it is a part."[26] For this reason a second diagram shows economy as a com- ponent of society, both bounded by, and de- Sumerian harvester’s sickle, 3000 BC, made pendent upon, the environment. As the Amer- from baked clay. ican World Bank ecological economist Her- man Daly famously asked, "what use is a saw- Archeological evidence suggests that the mill without a forest?"[27] The concept of liv- first civilizations arose in Sumer, in southern ing within environmental constraints under- Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Egypt, both dat- pins the IUCN, UNEP and WWF definition of ing from around 3000 BCE. By 1000 BCE, sustainability: "improving the quality of hu- civilizations were also established in India, man life while living within the carrying ca- China, Mexico, Peru and in parts of pacity of supporting eco-systems."[28] Europe.[33][34] Sumer illustrates issues cent- The Earth Charter goes beyond defining ral to the sustainability of human civiliza- what sustainability is, and seeks to establish tion.[35] Sumerian cities practiced intensive, the values and direction needed to achieve it: year-round agriculture from ca. 5300 BCE. "We must join together to bring forth a sus- The surplus of storable food created by this tainable global society founded on respect for economy allowed the population to settle in nature, universal human rights, economic one place instead of migrating in search of justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this wild foods and grazing land. It also allowed 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sustainability for a much greater population density. The environment. But it was the Western industri- development of agriculture in Mesopotamia al revolution of the 17th to 19th centuries required many labourers to build and main- that tapped into the vast growth potential of tain its irrigation system. This, in turn, led to the energy in fossil fuels. Coal was used to political hierarchy, bureaucracy, and reli- power ever more efficient engines and later gious sanction, along with standing armies to to generate electricity. Modern sanitation protect the emergent civilization. Intensified systems and advances in medicine protected agriculture allowed for population increase, large populations from disease.[41] Such con- but also led to deforestation in upstream ditions led to a human population explosion areas with resultant flooding and over-irriga- and unprecedented industrial, technological tion, which raised soil salinity. While there and scientific growth that has continued to was a shift from the cultivation of wheat to this day, marking the commencement of a the more salt-tolerant barley, yields still di- period of global human influence known as minished. Eventually, decreasing agricultural the Anthropocene. From 1650 to 1850 the production and other factors led to the de- global population doubled from around 500 cline of the civilization. From 2100 BC to million to 1 billion people.[42] 1700 BC, it is estimated that the population Concerns about the environmental and so- was reduced by nearly sixty percent.[35][36] cial impacts of industry were expressed by Civilisations similarly thought to have eventu- some Enlightenment political economists and ally fallen because of poor management of re- through the Romantic movement of the sources include the Mayans, Anasazi and 1800s. Overpopulation was discussed in an Easter Islanders, among many others.[37][38] essay by Thomas Malthus (see Malthusian In contrast, stable communities of shifting catastrophe), while John Stuart Mill foresaw cultivators and horticulturists existed in New the desirability of a "stationary state" eco- Guinea and South America, and large agrari- nomy, thus anticipating concerns of the mod- an communities in China, India and else- ern discipline of ecological econom- where have farmed in the same localities for ics.[43][44][45] In the late 19th century Eu- centuries. Polynesian cultures have main- genius Warming was the first botanist to tained stable communities for between 1,000 study physiological relations between plants and 3,000 years on small islands with minim- and their environment, heralding the scientif- al resources using rahui[39] and kaitiakit- ic discipline of ecology.[46] anga[40] to control human pressure on the environment. Early 20th century By the 20th century, the industrial revolution Emergence of industrial had led to an exponential increase in the hu- societies man consumption of resources. The increase in health, wealth and population was per- ceived as a simple path of progress.[47] However, in the 1930s economists began de- veloping models of non-renewable resource management (see Hotelling’s rule)[48]