What is sustainability?

What is sustainability?

Sustainability is an outcome – the consequence of decisions made and actions taken with the broad aim of ensuring that life on earth endures well beyond the present.

The World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in its 1987 report Our Common Future promoted sustainability as;

"meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development stated;

"to achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, states should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption".

The Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy, Hope for the Future, released in September 2003, linked generational equity to the "triple-bottom-line" concept, in describing sustainability as;

"meeting the needs of current and future generations through an integration of environmental protection, social advancement and economic prosperity".

Currently, "governance" (the statutory, regulatory, business, administrative and political processes that determine or influence decision-making and actions) is considered along with economic, social and environmental circumstances, adopting a "quadruple-bottom-line" approach in addressing sustainability.

These definitions focus on achieving lasting outcomes for society, and acknowledge social, economic, environmental and governance circumstances as the fundamental determinants of "quality of life".

Collectively addressing relevant environmental, economic, social and governance circumstances in our decision-making and actions can significantly enhance our ability to ensure the sustainability of current and future generations.

Sustainability is about intra and inter- generational equity

The outcomes of many current decisions and actions will not only determine quality of life at present, but will also influence that of future generations.

With future generations including our children and our children's children, society as a whole has a strong personal stake in contributing to sustainability. Addressing sustainability and accepting the obligation to establish and maintain foundations on which future generations can continue to flourish is as much a moral issue as a technical one.

The importance of future generations is a core concept of sustainability, with intra-generational equity needs (meeting needs now) being directly linked to the fulfillment of basic needs of people in the future (inter-generational equity).

Distinguishing environment from economic, social and governance elements

In addressing sustainability, it is important to recognise the distinction between the environment, and social, economic and governance circumstances.

Social conditions, the economy, and governance systems are institutions that have emerged from society.

The natural environment is fundamentally different, in that it is not created by society and, in many respects, the natural resources available on earth could present finite limits on human capacity and endeavour unless effectively managed now and in the future.

Therefore we must pay special attention to environmental management issues, including biodiversity and the health of our eco-systems, in addressing sustainability.

From both an immediate and long-term perspective, this involves serious consideration of the limits on natural resources in terms of their availability (eg reserves of fossil fuels, minerals etc) and their capacity to cope with pollution and waste (ie air, water etc).

At current and projected rates of consumption and pollution the boundaries of these limits are rapidly shrinking. It is becoming increasingly undeniable that an enduring, healthy and diverse global environment is critical to the maintenance of thriving economies, social advancement and stable systems of governance. We cannot, and must not underestimate the fundamental role of our natural environment in maintaining life on earth.