Last lesson you finished with resilience: how diversity and the size of storages help a system avoid tipping points. This lesson defines sustainability, splits it into three pillars, and uses two real cases to show what sustainable and unsustainable use of a resource look like. By the end you should be able to define sustainability and sustainable development, describe the environmental, social and economic pillars, distinguish strong and weak sustainability models, and explain how unsustainable use of a natural resource led to ecosystem collapse.
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1.3.1 Sustainability is a measure of the extent to which practices allow for the long-term viability of a system. It is generally used to refer to the responsible maintenance of socio-ecological systems such that there is no diminishment of conditions for future generations.
All activity is embedded in a system and, in general, enhancing system resilience increases sustainability.
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1.3.6 Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development applies the concept of sustainability to our social and economic development.
Sustainable development is a framework that guides further development of human civilization while maintaining economic stability, social equity and ecological integrity. The Brundtland report of 1987 introduced the social and economic aspects of sustainability to sustainable development.
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A socio-ecological system is one in which people and the environment are linked, such as a forest and the villages that depend on it. The word sustainability comes from forestry: in 1713 Hans Carl von Carlowitz, who ran the silver mines of Saxony, argued that no more wood should be cut each year than grows back.
Sustainability links straight back to resilience. A forest cut at the rate it grows keeps its storages and its diversity, so it stays resilient; a forest cut faster loses both. Sustainable development, defined by the Brundtland report in 1987, applies the same idea to how societies develop.
Source: Hans Carl von Carlowitz, Wikipedia.
[14 April 2021]
1. Using the video, explain what is meant by the replacement rate and why it matters for sustainability. [2]
2. Distinguish between sustainability and sustainable development. [2]
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1.3.2 Sustainability is comprised of environmental, social and economic pillars.
The ways in which environmental, social and economic sustainability interact can be shown with diagrams. Strong sustainability models show the economy embedded in society, and both society and economy embedded in the natural environment. Weak sustainability models only show an overlap in the three pillars.
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Three overlapping circles of equal size labelled environment, society and economy
Weak sustainability. Adapted from Adams (2006) and McKenzie (2004).
In a weak sustainability model the pillars are equal, overlapping circles. No pillar sets limits on the others, so a loss in one can be made up by a gain in another.
Three nested circles: the economy inside society, and society inside the environment
Strong sustainability. Source: Corr Concepts
In a strong sustainability model the economy sits inside society, and society sits inside the environment. The environment sets the limits, so an environmental loss cannot be traded for an economic gain.
Fill in the table.
| Feature | Weak sustainability model | Strong sustainability model |
|---|---|---|
| How the three pillars are drawn | ||
| Which pillar sets the limits for the others | ||
| Can a loss in one pillar be made up by a gain in another? |
3. A town council says a new motorway is sustainable because the jobs it creates outweigh the farmland it covers. Identify which model the council is using, and explain your answer. [2]
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1.3.3 Environmental sustainability is the use and management of natural resources that allows replacement of the resources, and recovery and regeneration of ecosystems.
Sustainability in this context focuses on resource depletion, pollution and conserving biodiversity. Active regeneration of ecosystems is also considered a component of environmental sustainability. There are different timescales in the replacement of natural resources.
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Resources are replaced on very different timescales: a fish population left alone can rebuild in years, a forest takes decades, soil forms over centuries, and coal and oil take millions of years.