ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY:

a.) DEGREES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

b.) BASIC CONDITIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

ALBERTO P. SOTELO, JR.

MSES
 INTRODUCTION
Environmental sustainability is talked about in
relation to all aspects of our lives – from creating
eco homes and environmentally conscious
communities to sourcing sustainable food,
renewable energy, low impact furniture and
clothing. But what does environmental
sustainability actually mean? There are many
definitions in use by green groups, business and
politicians – some simple and some more complex.
 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND
WHAT IT MEANS FOR US ALL
 Is concerned with whether environmental
resources will be protected and maintained for
future generations.
 It is concerned with issues such as:
 Long-term health of ecosystems
Intergenerational decision making
Renewable resources
Prevent consequences of man-made global
warming
 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND
WHAT IT MEANS FOR US ALL
 Protection of species diversity and ecological
structure
 Treating environmental resources as if they
have intrinsic rights and value
 is ensuring that in meeting our needs for water,
food, shelter as well as engaging in activities that
make our lives enjoyable – including leisure activities
and entertainment – we don’t cause damage to our
environment or deplete resources that we can’t
renew.
 POLICIES TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Carbon tax – a tax placed on production/consumption of carbon – e.g.
burning fossil fuels. The aim is to make users face the full social cost as
opposed to just the private cost.
Government regulation to limit harmful emissions. For example, some
cities have promised to ban diesel cars by a certain date.
Subsidising/encouraging more sustainable environmental practices. For
example, moving toward renewable energy, like solar and wind power
rather than relying on non-renewable energy sources which create
pollution.
Including all environmental consequences in the cost-benefit analysis of
decision making.
Shifting consumer/firm behaviour through persuasion and use of
behavioural economics – for example discouraging the use of plastic tax.
 SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
SOCIETAL NEEDS
Produce nothing that will require future generations
to maintain vigilance
Design and deliver products and services that
contribute to a more sustainable economy
Support fair trade
Review the environmental attributesof raw materials
and make environmental sustainability a key
requirement in the selection of ingredients for new
products and services
 SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Select raw materials that maintain
biodiversity of natural resources
Use environmentally responsible and
sustainable energy sources and invest in
improving energy efficiency
 SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
REGENERATIVE CAPACITY
Keep harvest rates of renewable resource
inputs within regenerative capacities of the
natural system that generates them
Keep depletion rates of nonrenewable
resource inputs below the rate at which
renewable substitutes are developed
 SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
REUSE AND RECYCLE
Design for re-usability and recyclability
Design manufacturing and business
processes as closed-loop systems, reducing
emissions and waste to zero
 SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
CONSTRAINTS OF NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES AND
WASTE GENERATION
The scale of the human economic subsystem should
be limited to a level that, if not optimal, is atleast
within the carrying capacity and therefore sustainable
Keep waste emissions within the assimilative capacity
of receiving ecosystems without unacceptable
degradation of its future waste absorptive capacity or
other important ecological services
PILLARS/DEGREES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
 PILLARS/DEGREES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
 The diagram shows the pillars of sustainability
comprises of economic, social, and environmental
pillars. If any one pillar is weak then the system as a
whole is unsustainable.

 Thinking deeply in terms of the three pillars of

sustainability requires systems thinking. You start seeing
the world as a collection of interconnected systems. The
standard diagrams for visualizing the three pillars are
simplistic. To see the more correct relationship requires
a diagram like the one shown on the next slide.
PILLARS/DEGREES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Although the purpose of sustainable development
is to integrate social and environmental concerns
into economic decisions, its achievement requires
adherence to general principles that must be joined
to the basic conditions for success. Those are nothing
more or less than the five major principles governing
life in society and relations between governments
and nations. They have a number of underlying
concepts, which are also considered essential to the
attainment of sustainable development.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
1. Democracy
 All human beings, no matter what their country of origin, may
legitimately aspire to clean air and water, sufficient food,
comfortable housing and satisfying work, in an atmosphere of
peace and respect for differences and diversity. At the same time,
they must be able to ensure the protection and survival of their
natural and cultural heritage. In short, all human beings enjoy a
fundamental right to an environment that is of high quality and is
healthful. By democracy, we must understand respect not only
for individual rights, but also for collective rights and in particular
the right of women and first peoples to participate actively and
fully in the march toward sustainable development.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
2.Autonomy
 The autonomy of governments, peoples and
ethnic groups in making their development choices
must also be respected. This does not mean that
governments must operate in isolation; on the
contrary, they must adopt a global view of
development and development planning by taking
an active part in international forums and processes
for determining major common objectives for
sustainable development.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
3. Fairness
 The concept of fairness is central to the entire
issue of sustainable development, being based on
recognition of the global and common nature of our
environment and on the need for the planet’s
resources to be shared in a sustainable way.
Achieving fairness in sustainable development must
be addressed at three levels: (1) within populations
or states, (2) between populations or states and
(3) between generations.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
4. Interdependence
 Interdependence is based on the capability
for mutual assistance and cooperation at all
levels of action, from the local to the
international. Although international
cooperation in environmental matters has
increased over the past decade, a number of
aspects must still be reviewed and reoriented,
taking sustainable development into account.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
5. Responsibility and Accountability
 Since it is in everyone’s interest to preserve
the environment and to use it in a sustainable
way, all countries have a responsibility from the
outset to preserve and restore the environment
and to achieve development, without harming
their own environment or that of others.
Consequently, all countries must take an active
part and show solidarity in this cause.
 BASIC CONDITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
5. Responsibility and Accountability
 Since it is in everyone’s interest to preserve
the environment and to use it in a sustainable
way, all countries have a responsibility from the
outset to preserve and restore the environment
and to achieve development, without harming
their own environment or that of others.
Consequently, all countries must take an active
part and show solidarity in this cause.
 WAYS WE CAN ALL LIVE MORE
SUSTAINABILITY
1.Reorganizing living conditions in the form of
eco-villages, eco-municipalities and
sustainable cities.

2.Reappraising economic sectors

(permaculture, green building, sustainable
agriculture) or work practices (sustainable
architecture)
 WAYS WE CAN ALL LIVE MORE
SUSTAINABILITY
3.Developing new technologies (green
technologies, renewable energy, etc.)

4. Making adjustments in individual lifestyles

that conserve natural resources.