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Ecosystem services are the resources we receive from our ecosystems. For instance, clean air, water, nutrient cycling and spiritual benefits. We also receive energy resources from Earth that are renewable and non-renewable. Non-renewable resources include coal, oil and natural gas that will inevitably run out at the rate in which they are being consumed. These non-renewable resources also contribute a considerate amount to climate change as they release greenhouse gases into the air. Renewable energy includes things like sun and wind that will always be able to provide energy based on the geographical location and are considered to be green energy.

Economic Sustainability

The third pillar of sustainability is economic sustainability. Economic sustainability is the practice of responsible economic growth in the long-term, that does not negatively affect social and environmental pillars. One of the largest drivers of change is economics, and in the past, society has been focused on economic growth without necessarily understanding the externalities of it. Economic sustainability is not well defined, and can be understood in two main threads. The first thread concerns economic development in the “Global South”. The main focus of the “Global North” were efforts in environmental protection in sustainability, as these nations are typically more developed and economically better off. Nations in the “South” are not as developed, and focused more on economic development. This model focused on improving the well-being of the people in these nations, while protecting and using natural resources efficiently. The second thread has to do with a shift from linear economies to circular economies. Circular economies emphasize the reuse of products. In a circular economy, products will be manufactured in such a way that can be reused, or upcycled at the end of their lifespan. This type of economy requires a major shift in product design and production, but will be more sustainable in the long run.

Economic Growth

The most common measure of economic growth is by using Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is defined as the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year. However, it is not a good representation of economic well being. GDP falls short in identifying externalities, and does not represent progress or well-being, especially in middle and lower socioeconomic scenarios. Instead, the United Nations uses the Human Development Index (HDI), which also takes into account health and longevity, knowledge, and income. Another measure of economic growth is the Genuine Progress Indicator, which also factors in consumption, income inequality, underemployment, pollution, habitat loss, value of household services, costs of crime, costs of accidents. GPI helps highlight that economic growth does not just rely on goods and services, but rather a collection of complex factors.

Economic Growth v. Sustainable Development

Economic growth is defined as the increase in the quantity of economic activity (spending, production, etc.). Sustainable development is defined as the increase in quality of life or environment well-being, and is not dependent on economic growth. It is also essential in many areas, where people cannot meet basic needs. Economic sustainability tries to find a balance between these two. Some ways to encourage sustainable development and economic sustainability include to promote and support sustainable business practices and models, and to buy products that support environmental and social sustainability. Another way is to encourage lawmakers to pass policies and regulations that protect our natural environment while promoting economic growth.

History of Sustainability

Each pillar of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social, originated as its own movement often running parallel to each other but never interacting or collaborating. Only within recent history have the three different sectors started to work together, and they all come together under the concept of sustainability. In order to understand the present-day meaning of the word sustainability it’s important to look at the history behind the development of each pillar and ultimately the concept of sustainability itself.

The Environmental Movement

Although individuals have been concerned with the degradation of their surrounding environment for thousands of years the modern-day environmental movement as we understand it today began in the 19th century with the poets and writers of the American Transcendentalist movement. Writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau promoted the idea that humans experience a better life when surrounded by nature. By the early 20th century, the US environmental movement had split into two groups, conservationists and preservationists, with differing opinions on the motivation for protecting nature. Conservationists, like the first head of the US Forest Service Gifford Pinchot, believed that nature should be used for human benefit as long as human activity is regulated to prevent serious degradation. Preservationists like naturalist and Sierra Club co-founder John Muir, thought that nature should be preserved due to its own inherent value. Regardless of the specifics about environmental protection, by the 1960s a greater public environmental awareness emerged. This was sparked in part by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring which increased concern about the impact of pesticide use on the environment. As a response to their concerns, the public staged protests and forced debates about the negative impact of technology that hadn’t been considered before. This led to the creation of the US Environmental Protections Agency, as well as the federal ban on the pesticide DDT. Other major US laws that were passed during this time period include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

The Economic Movement

A global history of colonialism left many countries that had been stripped of their natural resources struggling to ensure their people had access to basic resources required for survival and human well-being. For decades, there was a lack of concern for developing countries needs because many people believed that natural human progress would improve everyone’s well-being as global society modernized through advancements in technology and continued economic growth. In the 1950s two frames of thought emerged to attempt to provide a solution for the gaps in economic equality between developing and developed countries. The first is modernization theory which argues that developing countries should imitate the development model of industrialized countries by opening up their domestic markets to the global market, allowing wealth to trickle down to poorer countries and alleviate poverty. The second theory is dependency theory which claims that the solution to alleviating poverty is for these countries to become independent and self-reliant by closing their markets to the world and transferring market control to their governments, thereby preventing the pattern of colonialization from repeating itself. Both of theories at the time relied on gross domestic product (GDP) to measure the economic success of developing countries. However, in the 1990s criticisms of GDP emerged, with many saying it only measured economic growth which is not a true measure of poverty or well-being. With these criticisms came the development of other metrics used to measure true economic growth. These include the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) and the Human Development Index (HDI) which both measure more holistic economic well-being. A shift towards caring more about economic well-being than economic growth fostered the growing movement of business systems trying to employ a circular economy to encourage profits while recycling and reusing their resources. An example of one of these systems is Certified B Corps which consists of over 3,000 businesses who aim to balance purpose with profit who are legally required to measure their business’s environmental, economic, and social impact.

The Social Movement

The social pillar of sustainability is largely concerned with social equity which is equal opportunity for all through fair access to education, democratic participation, and other resources. The social equity movement became relevant with the citizen movements of the 1960s and 70s. The most well-known being the civil rights movement which used civil disobedience and protests to improve legal protections for African Americans. Another example of the mobilization of the people is the United Farm Workers movement where Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta mobilized Hispanic California field workers into this labor union. They used worker protests and consumer boycotts to advocate for safer working conditions and better pay. The Environmental Justice movement emerged during the civil rights movement in the United States. Environmental Justice activists were concerned about how power and privilege lead to unequal access to environmental resources, like clean water, and unequal exposure to pollution. It was through this increased awareness and protest of inequalities that people began to demand equity for all and participation for all in governance and decision making.

Global Sustainability Movement

Increasing global concerns in the environmental, economic, and social movements led to global action. While the histories of the above movements are US centric, each country has its own in-depth history of sustainability. All of these histories come together on the international scale to provide more global sustainable action. The first international sustainability meeting was the United Nations (UN) Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 where environmentalists joined together with economic development advocates to alleviate poverty. As a result of this alliance, several organizations formed, like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to align development needs with environmental issues. The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was formed and it published on of the most important reports in sustainability called Our Common Future also referred to as The Brundtland Report which defined sustainability for people worldwide as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. This report led to the UN holding several conferences over the next few years aimed at global sustainability. These meetings produced the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which were eight international development goals, like to promote gender equality and empower women, with the goal of greatly improving all eight by 2015. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) followed the MDGs and were developed by the UN to be more comprehensive than the MDGs, with an emphasis on the collaboration of all three sectors within sustainability. The UN publishes an annual report on the current status of the SDGs and areas that could be improved with the aim of creating clarity on complicated issues and encouraging more action.

Sustainability Grand Challenges

Sustainability grand challenges, sometimes also called wicked problems, are issues that can be difficult to solve due to incomplete, contradictory, and morphing conditions that often can be complicated to recognize. Unlike other challenges in our lives, such as preparing for a final exam or changing a tire on your car, grand challenges can not be solved with one single solution. They require multiple perspectives and methods to achieve success due to the complex nature of the problem. Grand challenges can also be defined by the following characteristics:

• No definitive formula or template
• Hard to measure success due being nonlinear and existing within multiple regimes
• Solutions to wicked problems are good or bad, not true or false
• Always more than one solution
• All wicked problems are unique
• Wicked problems require systems thinking to discover solution

When looking at tackling grand challenges, we have to take a systems thinking approach to help us avoid making decisions that are helpful in the short term, but can be problematic in the long run. One concept of systems thinking is that we are a part of social-ecological systems and changes that we make to one part of the system can have an effect on another. An example of this concept can be seen with our production of greenhouse gas.  As we continue to produce more CO2, this has an effect on how our oceans thrive and the viability of marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs. Without coral reefs, this can cause more wave action along the shore and allow more tropical storms to hit our coasts harder, resulting in a greater potential harm to people. By recognizing that we are a part of systems thinking, we can see that each response has a feedback that can be seen throughout the whole social-ecological system, rather than focusing on one part of the system separately.

Sustainability Development Goals:

One way we have collaborated to make us more aware and actively work toward finding solutions to our grand challenges has been the international effort from the United Nations. In 2015, the United Nations created the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the SDGs. By following these goals, the United Nations members are committing to creation development that incorporates a balance of social, economic, and environmental sustainability and making sure that no one is left behind as we transition into this new way of life.  The SDGs are considered by the United Nations to be a global plan to building a better world for people and the planet by the year 2030. The goals are helpful because it gives countries a frame of mind for where they should focus their efforts with the assistance of integrated solutions from the United Nations. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are as follows:

1. No Poverty               10. Reduced Inequalities
2. Zero Hunger              11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
3. Good Health and Well-being                12. Responsible Consumption and Production
4. Quality Education               13. Climate Action
5. Gender Equality                14. Life below Water
6. Clean Water and Sanitation               15. Life on Land
7. Affordable and Clean Energy               16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth 17. Partnership for the Goals
9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

By having members of the United Nations use the Sustainable Development Goals, not only are countries setting a precedent for the direction society should currently be heading in, but they are constructing a planet that will be better for future generations to use. Members of the UN are not the only ones who should be following these goals. If governments, private sectors, NGOs, and citizens all stepped forward to accept these ambitious goals, a new era of safer and sustainability humanity would endure.

Chapter Summary

         Sustainability is a complex, ever-evolving topic that touches each and everyone of us. It also can mean very different things to different individuals involved in the process, and does not have one single definition. The definition of sustainability must however relate to the three pillars of sustainability, Environmental, Social, and Economic. Environmental sustainability relates to how humans are changing ecosystems and affecting our climate. Social sustainability is one of the harder ones to define, and talks about equity among individuals, social cohesion, and the importance of participation in governance in sustainability. Finally, economic sustainability is the practice of responsible economic growth in the long-term, that does not affect social and environmental pillars.  Most sustainability issues will relate to each pillar on some level. We call these issues grand challenges, as they are complex, don’t have a clear solution, and often take collaboration across many disciplines and multiple perspectives to address.

Chapter Questions

1. What are the three pillars of sustainability? Define them.
2. What is the goal of sustainability education and awareness?
3. How is climate change a grand challenge? Explain.
4. Can you think of another grand challenge that affects you?