Sustainable development NOTES What is sustainable development? 1. An environmentally "sustainable" economy is one that neither depletes natural resources nor pollutes at levels that overwhelm the ability of ecosystems to absorb waste. 2. It would provide economic security for individuals and communities. We want to move to a society in which acquiring more and more goods is not the highest priority for individuals, and "growth" is not the highest priority for most communities, then we need a baseline of economic security. We must create a sense of self based on something besides consumerism. 3. Producers who damage the environment must also bear the costs of their damage. 4. We must also use as much environmentally friendly technology as we can in our world. 5. A world where growth is no longer the top priority. If we decided to hire more elementary school teachers - and at the same time to consume fewer lawn care products -- ecological damage would drop even as the size of the economy stayed roughly the same. 6. Sooner or later, an ecofascist regime that tried to impose sound ecological practices without the support of its citizens would probably be overthrown, leading us back to square one: how to make the goals of democracy, economic justice, and ecological sustainability fit together. 7. Who owns capital? One possible solution is local community ownership.   What is sustainable development? 1. Development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." 2. How can this be achieved? Governments must be able to make ecologically sound decisions and this requires that decision making takes into account economic, social, and environmental factors and trade-offs, in an open and transparent manner. a)Take steps toward creating open and free market economies, sound and enforceable environmental policies, and public participation in decision making; b) Provide financing for policies of the bilateral and multilateral lending institutions. c) Facilitate private sector investment and clean technology development. In nearly all capitals of developing countries, there is widespread debate and concern about diverting resources to enforcement and pollution abatement when poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality are still major problems. Yet, experience has shown, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe, that "those who attempt to put aside environment concerns in favor of economic development typically fail on both counts. They sully their environment and wreck their economies. 3. Sustainable development should be viewed as a process, in both industrialized and developing countries, achievable only in stages and requiring a number of essential building blocks, including: an educated and informed public, with free access to environmental information; public participation in government decision making; free-market economic policies; risk-based and scientifically sound environmental policies; a strong, fair, and enforceable regulatory framework; a sound scientific framework for decision making; and political leadership and vision.   Relevant quotes on sustainable development: Of the world's 15 most polluted cities, 13 are in Asia. The report notes that Asia's environmental crisis is, for a large part, the result of failed policies and neglect. Economic growth is not directly to blame. The report concludes that the bleak environmental outlook is inevitable. it created an incentive program for manufacturers of four-stroke motorcycle engines to entice firms to produce cleaner vehicles in Thailand and reduce air pollution in the country-noting that 54% of vehicle hydrocarbon emissions come from motorcycles. "very few emerging-market financial institutions yet see much upside investment potential in the environment and fewer still are familiar with the concept and benefits of eco-efficiency." The term industrial ecology has become very popular as an approach toward achieving zero industrial waste. Industrial ecology is the study of industrial systems from the perspective of natural ecosystems. "Can industrial systems be more self-sufficient and closed with regard to the flow of materials so that interactions with the environment are more compatible?" (p. 38). Both Frosch and Schmidheiny were seeking ways to adopt life cycle management approaches to industrial management and thereby enhance competitiveness and reduce costs. "I had a revelation," he told his audience, "about what industry is doing to our planet. I stood convicted as a plunderer of the earth." "Interface of Atlanta, my company, is changing course to become sustainable-to grow without damaging the earth and manufacture without pollution, waste, or fossil fuels. If we get it right, our company and our supply chain will never have to take another drop of oil." Leveling a finger at Chris Fay, then CEO of the British unit of Royal Dutch/Shell, he added, "We want to put you out of business." He points to the treaty that emerged from the 1997 environmental summit in Kyoto, Japan, as a sign of a growing international consensus that the greenhouse effect and global warming are real and that the burning of oil and natural gas is largely responsible. In signing the treaty, 160 nations agreed that the world's industrialized countries would cut their greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 5% by 2012, compared with 1990 levels. The treaty won't bind the U.S. unless the Senate ratifies it. (Some Senators argue that the treaty lets developing countries off too easily; the Clinton Administration has decided not to submit it for ratification until that deficiency is addressed.) But the mere fact that the treaty exists signals a broad recognition of the problem. in the wake of the hottest year on record, 1998, some of the largest multinationals have embraced sustainability on their own. Royal Dutch/Shell and BP Amoco, for example, have promised to cut greenhouse-gas emissions an ambitious 10% from 1990 levels; Royal Dutch/Shell says that it will do so by 2002, BP by 2010. GM has pledged to cut total energy use by 20% vs. 1995 levels by 2002; Toyota has rolled out a hybrid gas/electric car in Japan; German companies have begun work on hydrogen-fueled jet engines; Volvo, Deutsche Bank, Electrolux, ICI, Monsanto, and Unilever have formed a consortium to assess ways that sustainability could be applied to their businesses; and DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and a small Canadian company have formed a joint venture to develop fuelcell powered systems that could eventually replace the gasoline engine. At Interface, adopting sustainability has meant reconceiving the business from the ground up, from the composition of its products to the way they are produced, distributed, and even disposed of. Anderson takes the project seriously enough to have had the following credo set in bronze in the floor at his newest U.S. factory: "If we are successful, then we will spend the rest of our days harvesting yesteryear's carpet and other petrochemically derived products, recycling them into new materials, converting sunlight into energy-with zero scrap going into the landfill and zero emissions going into the ecosystem. And we'll be doing well-very well-by doing good." Carpeting is, in fact, toxic stuff: Pools and pools of petroleum are drained to make the nylon, which is then fastened in fiberglass and PVC, two known carcinogens. Factories flush their dye water-full of heavy metals and other toxins-into wastewater streams, and blow carbon dioxide, the most worrisome greenhouse gas, from their smokestacks. Old carpet ends up in landfills-an indestructible, potentially hazardous waste. Interface's progress has come through thousands of small stepssuch as eliminating a fourth of the nylon in every carpet tile. Interface is in the first stages of designing compostable or recyclable carpet; it's experimenting with hemp, sugar cane, and corn; it has added a recyclable carpet tile to its product line. A division in Maine that makes fabric for office partitions now spins the stuff from recycled soda pop bottles and is replacing dangerous chemicals in its dyes. A $1 million photovoltaic gridone of the country's largest units used in manufacturing-powers Interface looms in California. Despite all this, though, the company is still making carpet the old way-unsustainably. That's because nylon is not yet recyclable, Anderson is quick to explain. He tells suppliers that t he first among them to produce a recyclable nylon will get all his orders.   How do you measure sustainability?