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DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY

DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY. 1.37. Sustainable development is . “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

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DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY

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  1. DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY 1.37

  2. Sustainable development is ... “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” - 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development Report Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report) 1.38

  3. Ecologically sustainable development: “using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased” National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (1992) 1.39

  4. Sustainability: • “in scientific terms, it means a system state that can endure indefinitely” (AtKisson, 2001) • “…has come to mean long-term survival and well-being in general, both for human civilization and the rest of nature” (AtKisson, 2001) 1.40

  5. Fair Trade & Working Conditions Eco-Efficiency & Environ. Economics Corporate Citizenship & Responsibility Health & Environmental Justice Conceptual approach of sustainability 1.41

  6. Eco-Efficiency & Environ. Economics Economics Social Sustainability Alternative conceptual approach 1.42

  7. Interrelationship between social, environmental and economic aspects. Source: National Centre for Sustainability, Swinburne University of Technology 1.43

  8. Sustainable growth vs sustainable development • growth = “the increase in human population, resource use, and the emission of waste” • development = “improvements in human technology and advances in the human condition, including health, education, intelligence, wisdom, freedom, and the capacityto love” (AtKisson, 1999) 1.44

  9. “‘Sustainable development’ has become one of the politically-correct theses of our era. Everybody is in favour of it - and everybody defines the term, on Humpty Dumpty’s principle, to mean what they want it to mean”- (Sir Martin Holdgate) 1.45

  10. “Sustainable development – a term so misapplied as to be nearly beyond rescue – is not development-as-usual with a few green-looking additions or nods to social equity; but that is what is has often been reduced to in practice” (AtKisson, 2001) 1.46

  11. Sustainability: “…as a word…is dying because of misuse, and dryness, and reduction to buzzword. It is dying because it is attached to too many initiatives that are failing to achieve their stated goals – or even, in many cases, to make any significant progress in that direction.” (AtKisson, 2001) 1.47

  12. CONCEPTS RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY 1.48

  13. Triple-bottom line “The triple bottom line focuses corporations not just on the economic value they add, but also on the environmental and social value they add – and destroy. At its narrowest, the term ‘triple bottom line’ is used as a framework for measuring and reporting corporate performance against economic, social and environmental parameters.” (Elkington, 1980) 1.49

  14. Ecological footprints • A means of quantifying the environmental impacts of various lifestyles • Summarises into a single value the level of sustainability of an individual, organisation, region, State or country • Allows for estimation of the area of land needed to support a household, a school, a business or society as they currently operate • Provides a simple way of identifying whether or not lifestyles and activities fit within the carrying capacity of the earth • If everyone else in the world consumed resources and energy and produced wastes the way Victorians currently do, we would need at least three earths to support such behaviours 1.50

  15. Ecological Footprints 1.51

  16. Ecological rucksacks A German concept defined by the European Environment Agency (1999) as: • “The material input of a product (service) minus the weight of the product itself. The material input is defined as the life cycle wide total quantity (in kg) of natural material moved (physically displaced) by humans in order to generate a good.” • A semiconductor chip generates over 100,000 times its weight in waste during production • A laptop computer generates close to 4,000 times its weight in waste 1.52

  17. Cleaner production “…an overall approach to business management to reduce the use of energy, water and material resources and to minimise waste and pollution. It involves a shift in environmental protection from an ‘end-of-pipe’ approach where pollution is managed after it is created, to a ‘front-of-process’ approach where the creation of pollution is avoided or minimised at the source…[it] involves changing attitudes and rethinking products and processes. However, cleaner production is not only about manufacturing and production. It covers all processes, products and services and their impacts, including planning and design” (former NSW Environment Protection Authority) 1.53

  18. Life cycle assessment • Sometimes called life cycle analysis • A tool that assesses a range of environmental impacts of a product or material across its whole life cycle – that is from the extraction of raw materials through to manufacturing, transportation, use and eventual disposal • Useful in making more informed decisions about appropriate choices of products and materials 1.54

  19. Extended producer responsibility • States that the manufacturer of a particular product should be responsible for that product during its use and at the time of disposal • The rationale is that this will encourage manufacturers to design products that are less hazardous, easier to dismantle and recycle, and so forth • This concept has been most explored in Europe, where it has been considered for example for adoption by white goods and automobile manufacturers 1.55

  20. Eco-labelling • A means of rating a product or service in terms of its environmental credentials according to agreed sets of guidelines and products. Most eco-labelling schemes require the use of a third-party to verify claims prior to certain labels being used • The energy-rating scheme for white goods is a form of eco-labelling • For more information see the Australian Environmental Labelling Association, Inc. at http://www.aela.org.au/StandardsDirections.htm 1.56

  21. Greenwash • The term given to a claim that a product or service is environmentally-friendly or otherwise superior to its competitors, when in fact this is not the case • Greenwash hurts organisations that are legitimately trying to do the right thing, by making it harder for consumers to differentiate, while potentially also increasing consumer cynicism • It is hoped that as eco-labelling of products and services is increasingly adopted and refined, greenwash will be less of a problem 1.57

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