Transition toward Sustainability
Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1: Our Common Journey
"Sustainable development"—the reconciliation of society's developmental goals
with its environmental limits over the long term—is the most recent conceptual focus
linking the collective aspirations of the world's peoples for peace, freedom, improved
living conditions, and a healthy environment. While sharing a common concern for the
fate of the earth, proponents of sustainable development differ in their emphases on:
(1) What is to be sustained
(2) What is to be developed
(3) The types of links that should hold between the entities to be sustained and the
entities to be developed
(4) The extent of the future envisioned.
Dealing with what needs to be sustained there are three major areas of emphases; Nature,
Life support systems, and Community; life support being the most common concern.
Relating to the topic of what is to be developed three major areas of emphasis exist also:
people, economy and society. The primary area under this topic is economy because of its
connection with productive sectors and wealth. Links between what is to be sustained and
what is to be developed are either stated or implied. Some focus on the relationship
between what is to be sustained or developed where others focus on only one of the two.
The time period of sustainability is very uncertain except that nothing is sustainable
forever. Differing time constraint present very different prospect and obstacles for
sustainable development.
More than just understanding sustainability one must understand how to
implement change and the effects of that change. To evaluate these initiatives one must
see their impacts on environmental degradation and human development. Some problems
do exist because change takes time and even though many countries have done great
improvements global sustainability continues to decline. Financial problems plague the
increases sought after as well the problem of spreading the knowledge and technology.
Another aspect in sustainability is how to set the goals. It is impossible to get
everyone’s needs accounted for so how to chose the direction to proceed is very difficult.
Population growth adds another dimension meaning that in the close future more people
will exist to consume more energy and resources which needs to be accounted for in
sustainability plans. Hunger is a major sustainability issue making sure that everyone is
feed and that the proper amounts of nutrition is available for all. Nurturing children is
another concern that sustainability will focus on; diseases, nutrition, and mental health.
Sustainability involves the thought of shelter. Making sure that ''shelter and basic services
which are financially affordable and adequate in terms of space, quality, health, design,
durability, livability, and accessibility," as stated in chapter 1. Also proving education
and employment are included in these ideals, but of course their implementation is very
difficult.
Discussion:
I believe that the value of this chapter is moderately important because it seemed
to be very basic. Whereas, it introduced a few ways of thought that I was unaware of it
focused on the sustainability in the most elementary level, as in thoughts of improving
hunger yet it did not provide new insight into the problem just stated its being.
Chapter 2: Trends and Transitions
Most major historical trends and transitions that have occurred over the last halfcentury have not been constant but susceptible to some small changes that happen
occasionally. There are seven interlinked transition that lead to a more sustainable world:
1. Demographic
2. Technological
3. Economic
4. Social
5. Institutional
6. Ideological
7. Informational Transitions
Figure 1
As seen in figure 1 population growth is a major concern for sustainability. This growth
due to increases in life expectancy and birthrates exceeding death rates even though
birthrates have been decreasing since World War II. This graph also shows that most of
the population is in less developed regions of the world and growing rapidly. Yet, cities
are exploding all over because of the urbanization of the world. This also factors into the
high standard of living measured using the Human Development Index (HDI). Per capita
income has more than tripled since the post World War II era conversely, poverty is on
the increase number wise.
Along with the growth in population and wealth the gap is growing between rich
and poor countries as a whole and between the rich and poor within many countries.
Figure 2
As can be seen in Figure 2, as measured by GDP per capita, the western countries
continue largely outshine the eastern countries coining the phrase ‘the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer.’
The growth in population is paralleled by growth in wealth, technology, and
efficiency, making work a much easier task with the advent of machines and robots.
These advances also link the world in a way never before imaginable. The use of Internet
for transfer of information and the use of planes for transportation makes it easier to
move about the world. The rapid movement of peoples and products makes possible the
rapid transmission of infectious diseases that affect people, crops, and livestock and of
biological invasions that destroy native biota as well as crops; this is definitely one
downfalls of the closer connectedness of the world today.
‘To every action the is an equal but opposite reaction,’ this law stated by Newton
applies to much more than physics. The advancements in technology have byproducts
that are not as beneficial as the technology itself. Changes in the atmosphere due to
pollution and the greenhouse effect are some of the problems associated with the world’s
advancement.
Discussion:
This chapter went in-depth with issues that one has been exposed with but may
have never thought all the way through. There was some redundancy throughout the
chapter however many learn through repetition so that is not a bad thing. I have heard of
all the topics discussed but not as extensively so I feel that this chapter was important
however a little verbose.
Chapter 4: Environmental Threats and Opportunities
Two questions guide the discussion of this chapter:
1. What are the greatest threats that humanity will encounter as it attempts to
navigate the transition to sustainability?
2. What are the most promising opportunities for avoiding or circumventing these
threats on the path to sustainability?
One of the most difficult challenges has been to determine which of the many potential
problems are truly those that cannot be ignored. Ultimately the attention is on those
issues that cut across sectors and that interact to simultaneously threaten human and
ecosystem health, urban development, industrial advances, and sustained agricultural
production. The most serious threats are those that:
 Affect the ability of multiple sectors of almost any society to move ahead toward
our normative goals for sustainability.
 Have cumulative or delayed consequences, with effects felt over a long time.
 Are irreversible or difficult to change.
 Have a notable potential to interact with each other to damage earth's support
systems.
There are a few ways in which to identify the problems that fit these criteria. One is an
environment-oriented analysis; based upon human health, ecosystem, and materials and
productivity. The second is a ''common challenges" framework and the third
identification of the threats stemming from the interaction of sectoral activities is
employed.
Using these analyses show that for most nations of the world, water and air
pollution are the top concerns. For most of the more industrialized nations, ozone
depletion and climate change are also ranked highly; whereas, for many of the lessindustrialized countries, droughts or floods, disease epidemics, and shelter are most
important. But in either case population growth and well-being will always be a major
concern. This growth leads to more cities and more pollution; also the problematic nature
of providing food and jobs. With the increase sanitation becomes more important plus the
pollution created by providing more industrial jobs.
The creation of energy is another contributor to pollution. The use of fossil fuel
combustion is the source of critical air pollution problems throughout the world.
Discussion:
This chapter I felt was very useful. It talked more about the problems and was less
repetitive then the previous chapters. Whereas, many of the topics are related the
discussion here identified more what the problems were as oppose to using very general
and generic terms.
Chapter 5: Reporting on the Transition
“Indicators are repeated observations of natural and social phenomena that
represent systematic feedback.” “Indicators are essential to inform society over the
coming decades how, and to what extent, progress is being made in navigating a
transition toward sustainability.” The use of indicators is not a recent phenomenon; they
have been in existence since ancient times. Indicators perform parallel functions for longterm changes and large-scale actions that would be seemingly impossible to do otherwise.
For example, economic prosperity uses the indicators: capital assets, labor productivity
and domestic product; fiscal responsible uses the indicators: inflation and federal debt-toGDP ratio.
Figure 3
Figure 3 is an example of how indicators are used to map changes and trends over long
periods of time. Although a compact set of indicators cannot comprehensively measure
the complex and qualitative dimensions of a transition to sustainability, indicators
provide a clear and concise reading on progress which can have a powerful impact on
both the public and policy makers, leading to essential changes in policies and behaviors.
Indicators themselves are not the answers to the questions of sustainability but the do
provide a help guide to finding the answers.
There are five kinds of information that is monitored or needs to be monitored at
to shed light on whether human needs are being met and whether human activities are
compatible with sustaining life support systems.
1. Human welfare is now being monitored by quantitative indicators that are
appropriate in concept but implemented with inadequate coverage and frequency.
2. Quantitative indicators to measure global phenomena are now monitoring
planetary circulatory systems affected by human activity.
3. Critical zones of human-environment vulnerability at regional scales are being
identified, but there is not a single set of indicators that can monitor the
combination of social and natural factors that lead to irreversible damage.
4. Indicators are needed to describe the management requirements of ecosystems
that support rapidly growing cities. Productive landscapes at local scales will help
reconcile accelerated urbanization and the overall needs of human settlements.
5. Inventories of ecosystems will assist conservation at local scales. Protected areas,
managed to enable their biota to persist indefinitely, are being identified on a
place-by-place basis, rather than through a consistent set of appraisals of their
long-term sustainability.
“Indicators of human need are of two types: those based on direct measurement of a
condition that is symptomatic of the condition to be assessed, and indicators one step
removed, measuring the number "at risk." One of the main uses of indicators is to
measure the efficiency of the action that humans take.
Discussion:
Indicators are a very important topic in sustainability. There must exist a manner in
which one can measure the effects of ones actions. Without indicators sustainability will
be a process never to be attained or sought after. This chapter I feel was very important.
Chapter 6: Integrating Knowledge and Action
“We must consider our planet to be on loan from our children, rather than being a gift
from our ancestors ... As caretakers of our common future, we have the responsibility to
seek scientifically sound policies, nationally as well as internationally. If the long-term
viability of humanity is to be ensured, we have no other choice.”
-Gro Harlem Brundtland
This quote speaks to the importance of taking care of our planet. It also reflects
the purpose of this chapter, integrating knowledge and action, learning but putting that
knowledge into motion and creating change. To make this change what will be required
are significant advances in basic knowledge and technological capabilities to utilize it. It
is imperative for political will to turn this knowledge and know-how into action. There
aren’t any roadmaps for navigating a transition toward sustainability, but the journey is
nonetheless already under way where it leads we decide. The use of a well thought
strategy is paramount in this quest, even though one can never fully plan for everything,
our knowledge will better equip us to manage what lies head then just fumbling our way
through.
Three dilemmas plague any effort to set priorities for scientific research in support
of a sustainability transition:
1. Tension between broadly based and highly focused research strategies.
2. Tension between integrative, problem-driven research and research firmly
grounded in particular disciplines.
3. Tension between the quest for general scientific understanding of sustainability
issues and the place-specific aspects of the environment-society interactions that
give rise to those very issues and generate the options for dealing with them.
Three priority tasks for advancing the research agenda of what might be called
"sustainability science":
1. Develop a research framework for the science of sustainable development that
integrates global and local perspectives to shape a place-based understanding of
the interactions between environment and society.
2. Initiate focused research programs on a small set of understudied questions that
are central to a deeper understanding of those interactions.
3. Promote better utilization of existing tools and processes for linking knowledge to
action in pursuit of a sustainability transition.
“Meeting the demands of a sustainability transition will require a substantial expansion in
the capacity of the world's system for discovering new things.”
Figure 4
Figure 4 illustrates the four interlinked, research-based components of sustainability
science which will lead or guide the path of action and policy.
Linkages are also needed that facilitate collaboration among academics,
governmental and private sectors, and nongovernmental actors in research partnerships to
promote the sustainability transition. Sustainability science will require progress in
institutional designs that foster integration of research planning and support across
disciplines and sectoral missions to address system interactions in particular regions and
locales.
An achievable goal for the population is to accelerate current trends in fertility
reduction.
Discussion:
This section was like a culmination of everything but very oriented about how to
obtain sustainability. I believe that even more important than anything else it creating a
plan of action. To strategically arrange a method of disseminating knowledge and taking
that knowledge and putting it to work is the most essential process of all, or so I believe.
Also this chapter was the least redundant and repetitive thus ranking it valve high in my
opinion.