CONCEPTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
A concept: 1: something conceived in the mind, thought, notion. 2: an abstract or generic idea generalized from
particular instances. Concept or conception is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a
corresponding representation in a language. Concept has also been defined as a unit of knowledge built from
characteristics. Concepts are expected to be useful in dealing with reality. Generally speaking, concepts are
taken to be
(a) acquired dispositions to recognize perceived objects as being of a certain ontological kind, and at the same
time
(b) to understand what this kind or that kind of object is like, and consequently
(c) to perceive a number of perceived particulars as being the same in kind and to discriminate between them
and other sensible particulars that are different in kind.
In addition, concepts are acquired dispositions to understand what certain kinds of objects are like both:
(a) when the objects, though perceptible, are not actually perceived, and
(b) also when they are not perceptible at all, as is the case with all the conceptual constructs we employ in
physics, mathematics, and metaphysics. The impetus to have a theory of concepts that is ontologically useful
has been so strong that it has pushed forward accounts that understand a concept to have a deep connection
with reality.
Thus, our job is to create a definition of sustainability so that it meets these criteria.
Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely.1 The
term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems,
such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, fisheries, and the systems on
which they depend. In recent years, public discourse has led to a use of "sustainability" in reference to how
long human ecological systems can be expected to be usefully productive. In the past, complex human societies
have died out, sometimes as a result of their own growth-associated impacts on ecological support systems.
The implication is that modern industrial society, which continues to grow in scale and complexity, will also
collapse.
The implied preference would be for systems to be productive indefinitely, or be "sustainable." For example,
"sustainable agriculture" would develop agricultural systems to last indefinitely; "sustainable development" can
be a development of economic systems that last indefinitely, etc. A side discourse relates the term sustainability
to longevity of natural ecosystems and reserves (set
1 Wikipedia – accessed August 9, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
aside for other-than-human species), but the challenging emphasis has been on human systems and
anthropogenic problems, such as anthropogenic climate change, or the depletion of fossil fuel reserves.
Though relatively new, the term "sustainability" has already proved useful. Sustainability discourse is about how
to make human economic systems last longer and have less impact on ecological systems, and particularly
relates to concern over major global problems relating to climate change and oil depletion. More useful than
discussion, however, is to find ways to make some unit of economic production — a business firm, a family
household, a farm — more sustainable. To assist in this, it is meaningful and pragmatic to speak of some
practices being "more sustainable" or "less sustainable." Thus, energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs
might be considered more sustainable than incandescent ones, and so on. Given the science, it is more apt to
talk of moving "towards sustainability," or away from it. Sustainability advocates would argue that this kind of
discourse helps inform debate about human impacts on planet Earth.
One of the first and most oft-cited definitions of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland
Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. According to the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the term sustainable development was
introduced in 1980, and popularized in the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development (the Brundtland Commission). In the Brundtland Commission report, sustainable development
was defined as ―development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
The Brundtland definition thus implicitly argues for the rights of future generations to raw materials and vital
ecosystem services to be taken into account in decision making. The Commission definition contained two key
concepts which are ‗needs‘ and ‗limitations‘. These have been further defined as following:
needs, meaning “in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor,” and limitations, meaning “limitations
imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and
future needs.”
Sustainability can be defined both qualitatively in words, as an ethical/ecological proposition such as the
Brundtland definition above, and quantitatively in terms of system life expectancy and the trajectory of certain
factors or terms in the system. Operationalization of the term obviously raises the question of a quantitative
definition to set sustainability goals and achieve them. Communities have to know whether their efforts are
successful or not, so they have to know what to measure, if they are to achieve a sustainable state. Recent
attempts to operationalize sustainability have given metrics of climate emissions, and their reduction, and some
level of priority above other metrics. Since the factor of fossil fuel use is necessarily embedded in any
meaningful climate emissions metric, climate neutrality is relatively easy to measure and is a reasonable proxy
metric for overall sustainability. Many institutional sustainability programs have placed becoming climate
neutral at the top of their list of sustainability goals. For example, Architecture 2030,
The following table is a compilation of various approaches to the definition of sustainability. A metaphor that
helps to combine these various approaches is an economy in which people can live off the interest generated by
the capital stock without invading the capital itself. This definition is similar to the original one from the
Brundtland Commission. The ultimate goal of any attempt tosupport a sustainable world is to maintain the
productivity of nature and the environment, as well as immaterial gains in their utility, for as long as possible.
As we proceed with a conciliatory definition we may want to follow the following principles:
1. Increasing resource productivity
2. Acknowledgment of the limits of substitution between natural and artificial capital.
3. Focus on the resilience of anthropogenic ecosystems
4. Incorporation of social and cultural values in man‘s relationship to the environment and nature.
Sustainable development is a process by which the capital assets of natural, social and cultural resources are
preserved to the extent that the quality of life available to future generations will not be inferior to the quality
of life of the present generation. This definition includes an integration of economic efficiency, essential
resource preservation and the continuation of social and cultural identity.
Webster's New International Dictionary
2 Michael Chenard, email correspondence December 15, 2008.
"Sustain - to cause to continue (as in existence or a certain state, or in force or intensity); to keep up, especially
without interruption diminution, flagging, etc.; to prolong."Webster's New International Dictionary.
(Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1986)
Caring for the Earth
"improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems."
IUCN/UNEP/WWF. Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living. (Gland, Switzerland: 1991).
(IUCN - The World Conservation Union, UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, WWF - World
Wide Fund for Nature).
Sustainable Seattle
Sustainability is the "long-term, cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality" with emphasis on
long-term, "together with the importance of linking our social, financial, and environmental well-being"
Friends of the Earth Scotland
"Sustainability encompasses the simple principle of taking from the earth only what it can provide indefinitely,
thus leaving future generations no less than we have access to ourselves."
Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council
"Sustainability may be described as our responsibility to proceed in a way that will sustain life that will allow our
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to live comfortably in a friendly, clean, and healthy world that
people:
o Take responsibility for life in all its forms as well as respect human work and aspirations;
o Respect individual rights and community responsibilities;
o Recognize social, environmental, economic, and political systems to be inter-dependent;
o Weigh costs and benefits of decisions fully, including long-term costs and benefits to future generations;
o Acknowledge that resources are finite and that there are limits to growth;
o Assume control of their destinies;
o Recognize that our ability to see the needs of the future is limited, and any attempt to define sustainability
should remain as open and flexible as possible.
The Natural Step Four System Conditions
Substances from the Earth's crust must not systematically increase in nature. (This means that fossil fuels,
metals, and other minerals can not be extracted at a faster rate than their re-deposit back into the Earth's crust)
Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in nature. (This means that things like plastics,
ozone-depleting chemicals, carbon dioxide, waste materials, etc must not be produced at a faster rate than they
can be broken down in nature. This requires a greatly decreased production of naturally occurring substances
that are systematically accumulating beyond natural levels, and a phase-out of persistent human-made
substances not found in nature.) The physical basis for productivity and diversity of nature must not be
systematically diminished. (This means that we cannot harvest or manipulate ecosystems in such a way as to
diminish their productive capacity, or threaten the natural diversity of life forms (biodiversity). This requires
that we critically examine how we harvest renewable resources, and adjust our consumption and land-use
practices to fall well within the regenerative capacities of ecosystems.) We must be fair and efficient in meeting
basic human needs. (This means that basic human needs must be met with the most resource-efficient methods
possible, including a just resource distribution.)
Jerry Sturmer. Santa Barbara South Coast Community Indicators
Sustainability is meeting the needs of all humans, being able to do so on a finite planet for generations to come
while ensuring some degree of openness and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.
Random House Dictionary of the English Language
"Develop - v.t. - to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of, to bring to a more advanced or effective state"
Random House Dictionary of the English Language. (New York, NY: Random House: 1987).
Our Common Future
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs." Page 8, World Commission on Environment and
Development. Our Common Future. (Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1987). (Frequently
referred
to as the Brundtland report after Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chairman of the Commission)
Hamilton Wentworth Regional Council
"Sustainable Development is positive change which does not undermine the environmental or social systems
on which we depend. It requires a coordinated approach to planning and policy making that involves public
participation. Its success depends on widespread understanding of the critical relationship between people and
their environment and the will to make necessary changes."
World Business Council on Sustainable Development
"Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and
social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need to perform not against a single, financial bottom line
but against the triple bottom line." "Over time, human and social values change. Concepts that once seemed
extraordinary (e.g. emancipating slaves, enfranchising women) are now taken for granted. New concepts (e.g.
responsible consumerism, environmental justice, intra- and inter-generational equity) are now coming up the
curve."
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
"Sustainable development...[is] the process of building equitable, productive and participatory structures to
increase the economic empowerment of communities and their surrounding regions.
The diagram is a template for reporting on sustainability. 3 Environmental sustainability refers to the
environmental actions or impacts of what we do. In moving towards sustainability, we are attempting to reduce
our ecological footprint or to tread more lightly on the Earth. This equates to reducing the amount of
resources we use (and buy), the waste we produce and the emissions we produce.
3 http://www.griffith.edu.au/ofm/sustainability/content_definition.html . Accessed August 9, 2008.
MILESTONES IN THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL DEBTATE
Systema Naturae, Carl Von Linné, Linnaeus, 1735
Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1836
Walden, Thoreau, 1854
Man and Nature, George P. Marsh, 1864
National Geographic Society, 1888
Sierra Club*, 1892
National Audubon Society*A37, 1905
National Parks and Conservation Association*, 1919
Isack Walton League*, 1922
Wilderness Society*, 1935
National Wildlife Foundation*, 1936
Nature Conservancy, 1951
The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson, 1951
World Wildlife Fund, 1961
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
The Last Redwoods, Philip Hyde and Francois Leydet, 1963
Environmental Defense League*, 1969
The Population Bomb, 1968
Friends of the Earth*, 1969
Clean Air Act, 1970
Defense Council*, 1970
National Environmental Policy Act, 1970
Environmental Policy Institute*, 1972
Clean Water Act, 1972
Limits to Growth, Club of Rome, 1972
End of Nature, Bill McKibben, 1989
Discordant Harmonies, Daniel Botkin, 1989
Talloires Declaration, 1990
Earth in the Balance, Al Gore, 1992
Energy Policy Act, 1992
Plagues, Products, and Politics: Emergent Public Hwalth Hazards and National Policymaking, , Christopher
Foreman, 1994
Kyoto Protocol (UN Conference on the Human Environment), 1997
The Promise and Peril of Environmental Justice, Christpher Foreman, 1998
Natural Capitalism, Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, 1999
Requiem for Nature, John Terborgh, 1999
Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, 2000
The Skeptical Environmentalist, Bjørn Lomborg (also see Scientific American critique), 2001
The Future of Life, E.O. Wilson, 2002
Architecture 2030, 2003
Our Final Hour, Sir Martin Rees, 2003
Catastrophe, Richard Posner, 2004
Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Update, Meadow et al, 2004
One with Ninevah, Paul and Ann Ehrlich, 2004
Collapse, Jared Diamond, 2005
The Long Emergncy, James Kunstler, 2005
The Quest for Environmental Justice, Robert Bullard, 2005
Cool it: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming,Bjørn Lomborg, 2006
An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, 2006
The Revenge of Gaia, James Lovelock, 2006
Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken, 2007
Breakthrough, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, 2007
Liberman-Warner Climate Security Act S. 2191, 2008
Hot, Flat and Crowded, Thoman Friedman, 2008
*These organizations became known as the "Group of 10.",
CASE STUDIES ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY1 (As of October 8, 2009)
General Strategy Cases
Colbún—Powering Chile. HBS #9-709-060
E.ON Corporate Strategy. HBS. #9-706-015
ECOPRINT. Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Embrapa. HBS #: 9-507-019
Natura-Ekos: From the Forest to Cajamar. HBS. #: SKE016
Patagonia. HBS. #9-703-035
RBC Financial Group - The Equator Principles in Qatargas II LNG Project, IVEY Case #: 9B06M055
Sustainability at Millipore. HBS. #610012
Wal-Mart‘s Sustainability Strategy. Stanford. #OIT-71
Whistler: Blazing the Trail for Sustainability (C) Darden # UVA-BAT-1041. (This is a two-part multimedia case
with a printed C case that serves as an epilogue).
Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas, Pollution
C-Energy Red Hill Plant: Meeting the SO2 Challenge. Darden. # UVA-QA-0726. A supplemental spreadsheet
is available to accompany the case (UVA-S-QA-0726).
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Carbon Footprint Analysis. Darden. #UVA-ENT-0113
The Energy Foundation. HBS. #9- 308078.
HBS= Harvard Business School Publishing
DARDEN = Darden School Publishing
IVEY = Richard Ivey School of Business
STANFORD = Stanford Graduate School of Business
UHK = Asia Case Research Centre, University of Honk Kong.
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