www.asu.edu/asu101 What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1 Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability, and Virginia M. Ullman Professor, Natural History and the Environment Presenter Name, Ph.D. Presenter Title Arizona State University Last updated 08-20-07
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Www.asu.edu/asu101 What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1 Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability,
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www.asu.edu/asu101
What is Sustainability? Sustainability, Part 1
Adapted from a presentation by Charles L. Redman Director, School of Sustainability, and
Virginia M. Ullman Professor, Natural History and the Environment
Presenter Name, Ph.D.Presenter Title Arizona State University
Then I say the earth belongs to each generation during its course…No generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence.
The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value.
We thrive and survive on planet earth as a single human family. And one of our main responsibilities is to leave to successor generations a sustainable future.
Many People Think Sustainability is the Same as Environmental Advocacy
• But it represents a convergence of ideas from many different areas, especially1. Environmental Economics2. Sustainable Development3. Business4. Environmental Social
Ecosystem Services are the processes by which the environment produces resources that we often take for granted such as clean water, timber, and habitat for fisheries, and pollination of native and agricultural plants.
Specifically, ecosystems• moderate weather extremes and their impacts• disperse seeds• mitigate drought and floods• protect people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays• cycle and move nutrients• protect stream and river channels and coastal shores from erosion• detoxify and decompose wastes• control agricultural pests• maintain biodiversity• generate and preserve soils and renew their fertility• contribute to climate stability• purify the air and water• regulate disease carrying organisms• pollinate crops and natural vegetation
• The Brundtland Report (like Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Annan) reinforces the notion that we are ethically responsible to not use so many resources that we jeopardize the quality of life of future generations.
World Summit on Sustainable Development:Johannesburg Declaration 2005
• Reverse the loss of environmental resources• Reduce by half the number of people who live on less than
$1 per day, who suffer from hunger, and who have no safe drinking water
• Significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers
• Increase decent employment, credit and income for the urban poor
• Transfer basic sustainable agricultural techniques, including natural resource management, to small and medium-scale farmers, fishers and the rural poor
• The U.N. Millenium Goals and the Johannesburg Declaration reinforce the notion that we are ethically responsible to not use so many resources that we jeopardize the quality of life of other people in this generation.
• People in developing nations aspire to the same standard of living that people in the United States enjoy. – Is it possible to raise the standard of living
for all people without diminishing the quality of life we currently enjoy in the US?
– Do we have a right to our current standard of living if it means that others must live in poverty?
Social Scientists, including geographers, anthropologists, and environmental psychologists, are interested in the human dimension of creating a sustainable world.
5. Sustainability Science Environmental science, made up of many disciplines
such as geology, chemistry, and biology, has long been interested in taking a broad view of how humans interact with the environment.
Many scientists, such as those belonging to the National Academy of Sciences, have become increasingly concerned with the reconciling the planet’s environmental limits with society’s development goals with over the long term.
This addition of resource economics and policy studies has led to the development of “sustainability science.”
Sustainability Science is “a whole new field of knowledge” (Lubchenco, 2000) that is “defined by the problems it addresses rather than by the disciplines it employs” (Clark, 2007).
Sustainability science combines the best of the biogeophysical and socioeconomic sciences, engineering and medicine, drawing on current knowledge, but extending it far beyond. If she grows and thrives, sustainability science has the potential to guide humanity during the critical coming century.-- Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor and Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, Oregon State University
…a socially acceptable, contemporary means of framing our enduring concerns about ethical dilemmas, moral choices, social justices, and environmental stewardship.
Sustainability is about finding solutions (creativity), expanding options (stewardship), building institutions that continually learn (governance), and instilling a sense of justice (values). Ultimately, sustainability is about doing the right thing