Environment, Economics, and Society - The Sustainable Development Trifecta

In order to prevent this blog from simply become a glorified encyclopedia page about sustainable development, and of course to keep you (the reader) somewhat interested, I'm hoping this post will be the last 'strictly explanatory' posts about sustainable development. One can talk theory about anything for days, but without practice or real world examples and experience, theory is just that- theory. My goal is to develop these posts into more engaging, open platforms for readers to discuss and debate the issues I put forward, using examples of real world sustainable development practices.

But for now I will present to you the sustainable development Venn diagram (or trifecta). If you Google sustainable development, image results will give you a whole slew of charts and diagrams similar to the one below. Some more simple, others far more complicated. Personally, I find this to be the clearest interpretation of the sustainable development matrix because not only does it shows the intersection where sustainability is carefully achieved, but also the alternative development scenarios that are encounter if you were to neglect one of the other spheres. 

As mentioned in the previous post highlighting the Brundtland Report, it is important to recognize that the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs. We cannot make changes or advancements in economics or society without having an impact on the natural world around us. The environment is where we live, and development is what we all do within this environment to progress our situation. There are actions, and there are reactions, and it is impossible for our human activity not to have an impact on the natural world. 

Even more important, sustainable development does not advocate solely for the protection of the environment. It is of course a reaction to the recent trend of natural resource depletion, unregulated consumption, pollution, and climate change; but it ties together both the concerns for the carrying capacity of Earth's natural systems while recognizing the social challenges of humanity like poverty and hunger alleviation. The challenges that each sphere faces are not mutually exclusive and neither are the solutions. As the diagram shows, neglecting one sphere creates an incomplete development strategy which will eventually come to a developmental stand still or worse, collapse.

But in order for development to exist at all, there needs to be a fundamental focus on the consumption patterns of Earth's renewable sources. For a steady state economy to be achieved along with environmental equilibrium, our consumption needs to be equal to Earth's ability to replenish the source. Consuming more, as we are now, leads to unsustainable environmental degradation. Consuming less than the replenishable rate will create environmental renewal, although good for the planet, will slow the pace of human growth and development. As a result, we would no longer be able to meet many of the basic needs required of such a large and growing population, with such a high standard of living .

To put the current unsustainable consumption trend  into perspective, the Global Footprint Network just announced August 20, 2013 as 'Earth Overshoot Day', or the approximate day in which our resource consumption for the year has surpassed the planet's natural ability to replenish itself. According to these estimates, our demand for natural resources and CO2 sequestration are equivalent to 1.5 Earths, a worrying estimate given our accelerating rate of population growth and economic development.

                          

Although other factors are often included in the sustainable development model like politics, culture, and ecology, these can often be considered sub-categories of the three main spheres; environmental, economic, and social. But to realize the strong link between these three areas is to realize a potential for powerful answers to many of our biggest global challenges. Our way of thinking about issues of environmental conservation, economic stability, class disparity cannot be looked at as isolated issues with unique and singular answers. We need a non linear approach which address the root of all these issues so that common solutions can be formed and steady, yet sustainable progress can be made.

The Brundtland Report: Sustainability's Birth

Sustainable development is a relatively new concept. It's accepted that it first received international attention in 1987, in the United Nations' Our Common Future: Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development. Better known as the Brundtland Report, it was Gro Harlem Brundtland who was tasked with establishing and chairing the commission.

I wanted to start my first real post about sustainable development by highlighting this report by the Godmother, if you will, of sustainability, for everyone to know what its goal is, how it should be framed, and the action we need to take to create solutions.

1. Definition

Whether it was intended at the time, Brundland's interpretation of sustainable development in 1987 still functions as the most accepted definition of the term. But by defining the term, by putting this complex objective into a single sentence, it has given governments, scientists, and even the world something to work towards. Laid out for everyone to see, it tells us what sustainability is and why we should care.

Sustainable development is the ability to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It seems straight forward, simple even. Take what we need, but don't jeopardize the future of humanity by surpassing nature's ability to naturally replenish itself. Food, water, and most man made products are derived from natural sources. But over exploitation of these resources and damage from pollution and climate change all threaten the quantity and quality of these sources. Similarly, our energy is heavily dependent on non renewable resources which all have limit supplies. Fortunately, the technology already exists for us to make significant changes to our consumption patterns, but if these trends continue at the current rate, future generations will be left with a debit that they cannot settle.

2. Actions and Consequences

Brundtland made a clear distinction that the report was not to be limited to only addressing 'environmental issues' because the term would assume that it was only the environment that had some sort of problem which needed fixing. But she clearly states, "the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs..." This is important because terms like 'environment', 'economics', and 'development' are often relegated to sub categories, giving them limited focus by which solutions can be made. They are in fact heavily interrelated, and every action created by development or society has an equal and opposite reaction to the environment. The 'environment' is where we live, and 'development' is what we all do to improve our situation within that environment. What is crucial to this whole process is ensuring that development occurs at a rate and method by which we can continue to operate in the future. The actions must not become so great, that we are no longer able to deal with the consequences.

3. Call to Arms

If you read the forward by her on page six, the first objective in formulating ''a global agenda for change'' is ''to propose long-term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development by the year 2000 and beyond''. Although extremely ambitious, the report marks one of the first comprehensive efforts to put sustainable development on the map, and address it as a global issue which requires the need for multilateral solutions. In order to develop real progressive solutions for sustainable development,  Brundtland advocates for a level of motivation and co-operation similar to that of post WW2 which helped to re-establish the international economic system. This 'call to arms' mentality for mobilizing change is still being preached today. Lester R. Brown, a pioneer of global environmentalism warns throughout his book Plan B 4.0, "success depends on moving at wartime speed, restructuring the world energy economy at a pace reminiscent of the restructuring of the U.S. industrial economy in 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor." Whether its 1987 or 2009, the approach remains the same - for radical change to occur, a globally mobilized effort built on multilateral solutions, cooperation from various institutions and governments, and unified objectives need to be established.

This document is unique in that it address many of the same issues, makes many of the same conclusions, states many of the same facts, and recommends many of the same strategies as those being brought forward today, proving that a lot of work still needs to be done, but the core objective has remained the same. The Brundtland Report should serve as the beginners guide and then some, for anyone wanting to know about sustainable development, the challenges it faces, and the direction it needs to go. You will find many similarities between the themes in this text and those being circulated today by present day political and scientific experts.

Blogging Bandwagon

So, this is what it has come to, blogging. It seems like everybody and their mother is starting a blog, spending ones free time posting about the likes of baking recipes, the political situation in the middle east, conspiracy theories, experiences as a first time mother, or nicholas cage movie reviews. Take your pick, I typically follow or read blogs on a regular basis, but I'm almost 106% certain every topic and sub topic has been beaten to death with opinions, comments, and viewpoints from all spectrums and expertise. Im not going to look, but I'm sure I'm not the first person to rant about this on a blog, or even come up with the title, 'Blogging Bandwagon'.

But here it its, for what its worth, Cristian Felice's first and hopefully only blog. I promise to try my darndest to not become one of those people that constantly tries to plug my blog on all forms of social media, phishing for views and comments, but I cant promise anything. After all, its only day one and who knows, I could be susceptible to the blogging bug. These are uncharted waters we're testing.

So what is this blog about you ask? Well, this where I might surprise some of you:

I care about the environment.

Thats right, I've said it. I care about the the trees, the animals, the water, the air, and most importantly you- one of 7.108 billion people on earth responsible for the most destruction this planet has witness by any one species. Equally as significant is our ability, moreover our responsibility, to ensure this planets protection and sustainability.

Its no secret or theory, humankind is responsible for a significant amount of global warming, adverse climate change, over consumption of natural resource, environmental pollution, ecological destruction, and species extinction. But even if you don't care about all that, know this, the path we are headed on is unsustainable even for human existence and if immediate and decisive action is not taken, we are compromising the planet's and our own future. But the environment as a whole is too expansive and complex of a topic for just one person to address.

What I'm really passionate about, what motivates me - sustainable development. That is what this blog will cover, the challenges we face, solutions we require, and mentality we need to adopt if we are to alter the path we have laid for ourselves. I will cover the basics of what sustainability and sustainable development is and its relevance. I will address how governments in the developed world are addressing the issue in order to secure their own future's food, water, and energy supplies. I will also cover the developing world which has an equal level of responsibility despite their disadvantages, to uphold the sustainability model. I will try to take lessons and examples from all levels and extremes, from the countries who are nearing 100 renewable energy supplies, to the urban gardeners in recession riddled cities who are growing their own food in abandoned plots.

At the end of the day, despite your political views, social, or economic status - I hope you are able to take away something beneficial from these posts, or at least allow yourself to think about things in a different light.