1.
4 Sustainability
Significant ideas:
1) All systems can be viewed through the
lens of sustainability.
2) Sustainable development meets the
needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to come
1) Environmental indicators and ecological
footprints can be used to assess
sustainability.
2) Environmental impact assessments (EIAs)
play an important role in sustainable
development
• We often hear the words 'sustainable' and 'sustainability' in
our daily lives. But what does sustainability mean? And why is
it so important? explainity tries to shed some light on these
questions
• What is sustainability?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V06ZOQuo0k
Original definition of Sustainable Development came from the Rio Earth Summit
“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to met their own needs “Bruntland Report for the World Commission of
Environment and Development (192)”
In ESS sustainability is
relatively narrowly defined. It
is viewed purely in the
context of resource use and
management
Sustainability is the use and
management of resources that
allows full natural replacement
of the resources exploited
and full recovery of the
ecosystems affected by their
extraction and use
Activity
• Natural resources are classified according to how long they
take to be replaced.
• 1. Define the term natural resource.
• 2. Create a list of resources that are used by humans in a natural vs. a
processed form.
• 3. Explain how these 4 terms apply to natural resources: extraction,
depletion, protection, and management.
Activity 2
• 1. Define the terms natural capital AND natural income.
• 2. Name a source of natural capital.
• 3. Based on your source, name 3 types of materials (goods) and 3
types of services provided by that source.
• 4. Explain why countries should give a greater value to natural capital
over financial capital, but why they often don’t.
• Natural capital: the
standing stock (total amount)
of a natural resource. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-QpKiU-NHo
• Natural resources that can
supply a natural income of
goods or services
• These are things that people
value either economically or
intrinsically
Natural capital classes: Goods: physical resources which
-renewable are measureable and may (or may
-replenishable not) be monetized
•Fresh water
-non-renewable
•Soil nutrients
•Minerals wood
•Animal products
Services are natural processes that provide benefits for humans
such as water replenishment, clean air and protection against
erosion.
• Natural income:
• The yield obtained from natural resources (Interest earned
on a savings account. )
• Natural resources taken do not exceed the environment’s
capacity to disperse, absorb, recycle or otherwise neutralize
their harmful effects
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKF7ipyiez0
Read the list of ecological
goods and services in the
Metro Vancouver image.
Which of the items in grey
are ecological goods?
Which are ecological
services?
Explain the relationship between natural capital, natural income
and sustainability
Discuss the value of ecosystem services to a society
Complete the activity in your notebook
Factors such as biodiversity, pollution, population or climate may be used
quantitatively as environmental indicators of sustainability. These factors can be
applied on a range of scales, from local to global. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA) gave a scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the
world’s ecosystems and the services they provide using environmental
indicators, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them
sustainably
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGeYfQGZeg&feature=emb_logo
In 2001, the United Nations initiated the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment. The objectives were two-fold:
• Assess links between ecosystem change and human
well-being.
• Establish strategies to achieve sustainable use of
ecosystems.
http;://millenniumassessment.org
Findings:
•Humans are using natural resources unsustainably
•60% of the ecosystems studied were being used un-
sustainably.
•Changes were becoming so extensive that ecosystems
were reaching tipping points and the consequences were
hard to predict.
•Ecosystem degradation was impacting the poorer
countries more.
You can click on the image for the full report
http;://millenniumassessment.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGeYfQGZeg&t=10s
Biodiversity: Use a tool such as the
Greater diversity means Simpson’s diversity
greater ecosystem index to quantify
stability. This means the diversity
ecosystems can better
withstand changes which Quantifying diversity
will result in being more helps people make
sustainable decisions regarding
conservation actions
Pollution:
Less pollution will lower Pollution may change
the impact on organisms ecosystems'’ abiotic
which will result in being factors beyond the
more sustainable organisms/ optimal
range of survival
Populations:
• Increasing human population
will create more environmental
pressure resulting in being less
sustainable.
• Increasing plant/animal
populations will create a more
stable ecosystem resulting in a More people use more
more sustainable environment resources, thereby
increasing a population’s
ecological footprint
More plants and animals
provide more energy and
nutrient pathways
Climate:
Stable levels of
greenhouse gases
means stable
temperatures which
leads to more
sustainable ecosystem
• The environment chooses which
organisms are best adapted for
survival (natural selection)
• A changing environment
increases selective pressures on
organisms, making them less
likely to survive
Discuss how environmental indicators such as MA can be used to
evaluate the progress of a project to increase sustainability
An ecological footprint (EF) is the area of land and water required
to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are
being consumed by a given population. If the EF is greater than
the area available to the population, this is an indication of
unsustainability
Tripled since
Measure of the theoretical
amount of land needed to
1960
provide everything for a
given population, even
things imported from
elsewhere
We will get more in-depth
in Topic 8.4
Components of the Ecological Footprint
• Growing crops
• Grazing animals
• Harvesting timber
• Catching fish
• Accommodating
infrastructure
• Absorbing carbon dioxide
emissions
Measuring Your Footprint
There are two units that
are used for an EF:
The number of planets that
would be required to
supply the humanity's
needs.
As a global hectare per
person (Gha/pers).
• Ecological Overshoot
http://www.overshootday.org
Allows
direct
comparison
between
LEDCs and
MEDCs
Explain the relationship between EFs and sustainability
Reduced footprint
Large footprint
• Reduced resource
• Reliance on fossil fuels consumption
• Increased us of • Recycling and reuse
technology • Improved efficiency of
• High level of resource use
importations • Reduced pollution
• Large production of • Exportation of waste
carbon waste • Use of technology
• High food consumption • Reduced population
• Meat-rich diets
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=RWtT0EfhNsE&feature=em
b_logo
EIA
