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Sustainability

Sustainability. Sustainability and Slag Conference 4 th May 2007 Glenn Albrecht PhD. Discovering Sustainability. . Main Street Goa India (2005). Overview. Defining what is not sustainable Responses to non-sustainability Business as usual The implications Defining what is sustainable

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Sustainability

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  1. Sustainability Sustainability and Slag Conference 4th May 2007 Glenn Albrecht PhD

  2. Discovering Sustainability . Main Street Goa India (2005) Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  3. Overview • Defining what is not sustainable • Responses to non-sustainability • Business as usual • The implications • Defining what is sustainable • WCED model? • Balance model? • Nested model? • Genuine Sustainability and Industry • Industrial ecology • Conclusions Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  4. Non Sustainability or Old Business As Usual • Deny the existence of limits to growth • Employ ‘skeptics’ to undermine actual knowledge about reality • Employ spin doctors to massage ‘perceptions’ • Focus on the single bottom line while giving lip service to the triple bottom line • Test the limits of corporate ethics and responsibilities (ENRON, HIH, AWB!) • Sustain profits! Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  5. Reality Hits Business As Usual Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  6. Global Cumulative Emissions 450-550 ppm for tipping points and extreme change? 380 ppm now! Cape Grim Tasmania 2%+ increase per annum = 2040 for 450 ppm Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  7. Global Warming Data 2005 hottest year on record ( 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 , 2006 in top 10) 15.08 2003 Northern summer: 20,000 – 35,000 excess deaths due to heat stress in one month in France Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  8. Danger Level Now C02 increasing at +2ppm per annum

  9. Per Person Responsibility Tonnes carbon per person Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  10. Arctic Sea Ice melt thirty years ahead of schedule(2007 Study) The study indicates that, because of the disparity between the computer models and actual observations, the shrinking of summertime ice is about 30 years ahead of the climate model projections. As a result, the Arctic could be seasonally free of sea ice earlier than the IPCC- projected timeframe of any time from 2050 to well beyond 2100. Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007 http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php?newsid=97166140

  11. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • Its not just the climate! • Approximately 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth – such as fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and the regulation of regional climate, natural hazards and pests – are being degraded or used unsustainably. Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  12. Peak Oil 2008-2018 Mid-Point Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  13. Impossible Growth • Total reliance on finite energy resources such as oil and coal • The finite capacity of environmental sinks for assimilating our wastes is being reached • Many aspects of the global industrial system appear to be attempting the physically impossible, that is: infinite growth in a finite system Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  14. Failure of Economics • Traditional economic bookkeeping has not alerted us to the extent of the negative impact of the human sub-system on the ecological and climatic health of the planet. • The materials and entropy (energy) bookkeeping that explains the persistence of natural, biological systems has yet to be fully applied to industrial and social systems • The obvious need to seek a sustainable foundation for society and its economy Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  15. Seeking Sustainability Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  16. Definitions “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs “ (WCED 1987) Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  17. Economic Views on Sustainability • The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) produced Our Common Future in 1987 • Our Common Future could be considered a ‘conservative’ and anthropocentric approach to the issue of sustainability • There is a strong emphasis on the role of economic growth in achieving sustainable development Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  18. The WCED Model? Ecology Society Economy Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  19. The Balance Model Economy Society Sust Ecology Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  20. The ‘Balance’ Model • All components of sustainability of equal value • But hang on … economy is part of society • Economy + Society trump Ecology • All that is sustained is the economy • A guarantee that non-sustainability will prevail? Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  21. The Laws of Ecology • Everything is connected to everything else • Everything must go somewhere • Nature knows best • There is no such thing as a free lunch Barry Commoner 1971 Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  22. Nested Relationships Model Ecology Society Economy After Ian Lowe Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  23. Ecologically Sustainable Development Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  24. 5 Principles of ESD • The conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem integrity/health should be a fundamental consideration in decision-making (interspecies equity) • We should always provide for equity within generations (intragenerational equity) • We should always provide for equity between generations (intergenerational equity) • If there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation (the precautionary principle) • Always recognize the global dimension of our actions Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  25. Larson on Interspecies Inequity! Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  26. How Do We Apply the Principles? • Interrogate a development proposal by requiring answers to each and every principle • Community participation in decision-making a key element of ESD • If answers are positive with respect to each and every principle then the proposal is sustainable • If not then revision or rejection Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  27. A Coal Fired Power Station? Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  28. A Nuclear Power Plant? Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  29. A Wind Farm? Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  30. Glenn Albrecht 2007 Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  31. The New Industrial Revolution • A need to apply the principles of sustainability to all forms of industrial activity • Included in this is the need for industrial systems to eliminate all forms of waste (not just C02) • Industrial systems must be symbiotically connected to societies and ecosystems • Corporations who move in this direction will be internationally competitive while at the same time acting in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible. Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  32. Industrial Ecology • The term Industrial Ecology has been coined to describe the symbiotic interrelationships that can occur between the elements of industrial complexes. • An industrial complex which is modelled on natural systems will have a similar flow of resources, materials and energy where ultimately waste is completely eliminated as an end-product that can be described as "pollution". Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  33. The Kalundborg Network (from Tibbs) Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  34. Greenwash or Revolution? • There is a fear that some industries will simply use the rhetoric of eco-industrialism to "greenwash" or hide the reality of most industrial production, that of unsustainable growth in production and toxic waste. • This potential for abuse of the ideas of industrial ecology need to be weighed up against the benefits that will accrue socially and environmentally if humans can come close to mimicking natural systems in the design of their industrial systems. Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  35. Conclusion (mild) • Sustainability and sustainable development (ESD) have now become terms that are used universally in relation to the need to renegotiate the human-nature relationship • Sustainable development has become central to the core business of industry, government, and education • This makes it one of the master concepts of the early twenty-first century Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

  36. Conclusion (strong) • The New Sustainability? • Climate chaos is driving a revival of sustainability thinking • The post-combustion economy? • A challenge bigger than any before in human history • The bottom line is the health of the earth • To sustain is to ‘endure’ and ‘bear the burden’ …Is the construction industry up to this challenge? Glenn Albrecht PhD 2007

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