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Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The Worldwatch Institute was a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Lester R. Brown. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan Survey of Sustainability Experts.
Overconsumption describes a situation where the use of a renewable natural resource exceeds its capacity to regenerate. A prolonged pattern of overconsumption leads to the eventual loss of resource bases. The term overconsumption is quite controversial in use and does not necessarily have a single unifying definition. Overconsumption is driven several factors of the current global economy, including forces like consumerism, planned obsolescence, and other unsustainable business models and can be contrasted with sustainable consumption.
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biologically productive area people use for their consumption to the biologically productive area available within a region or the world. In short, it is a measure of human impact on the environment.
Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that capital exists in nature as "natural capital" on which all wealth depends. Therefore, governments should use market-based policy-instruments to resolve environmental problems.
Lester Russel Brown is a United States environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day referred to him as "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."
The Earth Institute is a research institute at Columbia University that was established in 1995. Its stated mission is to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with a focus on sustainable development. With an interdisciplinary approach, this includes research in climate change, geology, global health, economics, management, agriculture, ecosystems, urbanization, energy, hazards, and water. The Earth Institute's activities are guided by the idea that science and technological tools that already exist could be applied to greatly improve conditions for the world's poor, while preserving the natural systems that support life on Earth.
Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem management, maintenance of biodiversity, the management of natural resources, wildlife and endangered species. For example, concerning environmental policy, the implementation of an eco-energy-oriented policy at a global level to address the issues of global warming and climate changes could be addressed. Policies concerning energy or regulation of toxic substances including pesticides and many types of industrial waste are part of the topic of environmental policy. This policy can be deliberately taken to influence human activities and thereby prevent undesirable effects on the biophysical environment and natural resources, as well as to make sure that changes in the environment do not have unacceptable effects on humans.
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, and designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
Human overpopulation is the concept of a human population becoming too large to be sustained by its environment or resources in the long term. The idea is usually discussed in the context of world population, though it may also concern regions. Human population growth has increased in recent centuries due to medical advancements and improved agricultural productivity. Those concerned by this trend argue that it results in a level of resource consumption which exceeds the environment's carrying capacity, leading to population overshoot. The concept is often discussed in relation to other population concerns such as demographic push and depopulation, as well as in relation to resource depletion and the human impact on the environment.
Environmental indicators are simple measures that tell us what is happening in the environment. Since the environment is very complex, indicators provide a more practical and economical way to track the state of the environment than if we attempted to record every possible variable in the environment. For example, concentrations of ozone depleting substances (ODS) in the atmosphere, tracked over time, is a good indicator with respect to the environmental issue of stratospheric ozone depletion..
Sustainability metrics and indices are measures of sustainability, and attempt to quantify beyond the generic concept. Though there are disagreements among those from different disciplines, these disciplines and international organizations have each offered measures or indicators of how to measure the concept.
Sustainability science emerged in the 21st century as a new academic discipline. This new field of science was officially introduced with a "Birth Statement" at the World Congress "Challenges of a Changing Earth 2001" in Amsterdam organized by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). The field reflects a desire to give the generalities and broad-based approach of "sustainability" a stronger analytic and scientific underpinning as it "brings together scholarship and practice, global and local perspectives from north and south, and disciplines across the natural and social sciences, engineering, and medicine". Ecologist William C. Clark proposes that it can be usefully thought of as "neither 'basic' nor 'applied' research but as a field defined by the problems it addresses rather than by the disciplines it employs" and that it "serves the need for advancing both knowledge and action by creating a dynamic bridge between the two".
Sustainability is a broad policy concept in the global public discourse and is thought to consist of at least three main "dimensions" or "pillars": the environmental, economic and social dimension. In its original semantic meaning “sustainability” and “to sustain” are just an English noun and verb, respectively, referring to something that is able to continue over a period of time. A closely related and overlapping concept is that of "sustainable development". UNESCO formulated a distinction between the two as follows: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal, while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it." According to the "Brundtland Report" Our Common Future in 1987, sustainable development is defined as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.
Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research (JIPR), formerly the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, is an independent policy think tank located in Jerusalem, Israel. The institute conducts policy studies on Jerusalem, innovation policy (R&D), environmental policy and the management of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The institute's studies and recommendations serve as resources for governmental bodies, public institutions, civil organizations and the public.
Deep Green Resistance (DGR) is a radical environmental movement that views mainstream environmental activism as being ineffective. The group believes that industrial civilization, as they define it, is endangering the environment, and that it must be destroyed using a broad range of tactics including militancy.
In economic and environmental fields, decoupling refers to an economy that would be able to grow without corresponding increases in environmental pressure. In many economies, increasing production (GDP) currently raises pressure on the environment. An economy that would be able to sustain economic growth while reducing the amount of resources such as water or fossil fuels used and delink environmental deterioration at the same time would be said to be decoupled. Environmental pressure is often measured using emissions of pollutants, and decoupling is often measured by the emission intensity of economic output. Examples of absolute long-term decoupling are rare, but recently some industrialized countries have decoupled GDP growth from both production- and, to a lesser extent, consumption-based CO2 emissions.
Sustainable Development Goal 13 is about climate action and is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is to "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". SDG 13 has targets which are to be achieved by 2030.
References
- ↑ "Environmental, Business Leaders Support Call for 100% U.S. Green Grid by 2020." PR Newswire, September 13, 2010.
- ↑ Mouwad, Jad. "Carbon Emissions See Big Two-Year Drop," New York Times Green Inc. Blog, October 19, 2009.
- ↑ "EPI Releases - Au Revoir & Thank You! | EPI".
- ↑ EPI e-mail listserv Archived 2009-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Earth Policy Institute: Translations, Accessed September 21, 2010.
- ↑ Earth Policy Institute. accessed 6 July 2015.
- ↑ Earth Policy Institute. accessed 6 July 2015.
- ↑ Earth Policy Institute." accessed 6 July 2015.
- ↑ Earth Policy Institute." accessed 6 July 2015.
- ↑ Plan B Updates, Accessed September 21, 2010.
- ↑ Lean, Geoffrey. "Britain needs to get on its bike," Telegraph.co.uk, October 2, 2010.
- ↑ Eco-Economy Indicators, accessed September 21, 2010.
- ↑ Sustainablog Author: Earth Policy Institute. http://blog.sustainablog.org/author/earthpolicy/ Accessed September 21, 2010.
- ↑ Earth Policy's Sharebook.http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/sharebook/576038753&tag=brown Accessed September 21, 2010.
- 1 2 "Au Revoir & Thank You!". Earth Policy Institute. June 29, 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
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