Deconstructing ‘Sustainability’
by Kia Fariba, Grow Content & Media
Sustainability is one of those words that means different things to different people. Over the past 20–30 years, there has been increasing recognition in the environmental, political, and economic communities regarding the importance of sustainability. A frequent subject of conversation and debate nowadays, sustainability has ubiquitously become the grounds for exchanges between environmental scientists, political leaders, and company executives. Regarding the extent of the word’s newfound popularity (even back in 1995), Cambridge Professor Andrew D. Basiago aptly draws the following comparison:
The call for ‘sustainability’ has become as commonplace in today’s world as cries of ‘liberty’ and ‘democracy’ once were.
But when calling for it, are we all referring to the same thing anymore? As sustainability has been applied to a broad range of topics and prescribed to contemporary issues, the material factors by which it is measured varies greatly — and so too does its definition. Simply try asking people to pinpoint an example of sustainability, fingers will splay many directions…attempt to ask experts and the results will be equally as diverse. So, with the ‘abstract’ continuously in flux, we attempt to deconstruct sustainability for you.
The Sinking Ship Allegory
To better understand sustainability, think of our world as a sinking ship. While quick responsiveness in repairing the problem saves us, prolonged ignorance until a critical event—induced by corrosive wear and tear, or by a sudden collision — irreversibly ensures our sinking. The ship is our environment, its engine our economy, the captain our political leaders, and the people its culture.
A global economy, like an engine, is necessary for our world to function properly, but unsafe practices involving resource extraction, emissions, etc. result in over-taxation of the environment’s ability to provide life-supporting services. The environment provides us with necessary sanctuary, much like a boat in stormy waters. With proper foresight, policy makers can steer us clear of any “icebergs”. We as the people on the ship are the constituents of modern-day culture — we abide by the captain, pray the engine still works, and often forget how grateful we are to be on board the ship (not treading ice-cold water).
Drawing Conclusions: Sustainability Defined in Three Parts
The curiosity behind the extended rolodex of definitions lies in the disparity between the three focal branches of sustainability — social, ecological, and economic. In their effort to boil it all down to one encompassing phrase, the United Nations Brundtland Commission (1987) published a report detailing what is now the most widely-acknowledged definition of sustainability:
“Sustainable [development] is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
At the root of it, sustainability is about the condition of the world (or boat) we leave behind for our children, and their children’s children. Developing a sustainable reality for them is about improving the standard of living by protecting human health, conserving the environment, and using resources efficiently and advancing long-term economic competitiveness. Sustainability is truly a balancing act. Breaking down the components:
- Economic sustainability is the ability to support a defined level of economic production indefinitely.
- Social sustainability is the ability of a social system, such as a country, to function at a defined level of social well being indefinitely.
- Environmental sustainability is the level of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. (Also includes: clean air, nutrient cycling, climate stability, biodiversity, etc.)
Industries, agencies, and individuals each define sustainability in their own ways, but on a higher level, it is trademarked by an intergenerational focus on gentler relations with the environment, increasing current systemic efficiencies, and the capacity to endure. Sustainable development requires the integration of environmental, economic and social priorities into policies and programs that require action at all levels — citizens, industry, and governments.
Furthermore, if you are curious about the specifics of modern-day sustainability initiatives, the Official Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015) outlined these 17 major Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Basiago, Andrew D. “Methods of Defining ‘sustainability’.” Sustainable
Development Sust. Dev. 3.3 (1995): 109–10. Web. - “A/RES/42/187 Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development.” UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 05 July 2016. - “Sustainable Development.” GAC. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2016.
