VIDEO
Sustainability explained through animation
Factors that define sustainability
Earlier we explained that sustainability involves optimizing the economy, environment and social elements. Since the economy and society are human constructions, what is considered sustainable is to some degree governed by culture. Nature, on the other hand, provides some non-negotiable requirements. Let’s examine what we know about the needs of each.
Factors of a healthy economy. From Adam Smith’s time on, we have developed a set of factors that contribute to a healthy economy, which usually include:
• Multiple buyers and sellers;
• Timely, accurate information;
• accounting standards and enforcement;
• Absence of governmental corruption;
• Markets for financing development (stock markets, bond markets, banks);
• Agreed-upon method or currency of exchange; and
• Absence of deflation or high inflation.
Factors for a healthy society. This element is heavily dependent upon culture. Someone
from a tribal culture might answer the question differently than someone from the Western world, and both might have different emphases from those of a Muslim. However, Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef distilled basic human needs down to nine universal, no substitutable ones:
1. Subsistence;
2. Protection/security;
3. Affection;
4. Understanding;
5. Participation;
6. Leisure;
7. Creation;
8. Identity/meaning; and
9. Freedom.
In the Western world at least, our communities also rest upon such factors as:
• A strong education system;
• A robust middle class;
• The absence of a huge gap between the richest and poorest (a large gap often leads to revolutions);
• Access to health care;
• Security and the absence of crime; and
• Equal rights and the absence of discrimination.
Factors for a healthy environment. One of the easiest ways to understand sustainability, especially the requirements of nature, is to use “The Natural Step” framework. Developed through the normal scientific peer-review process, this framework lays out four principles for a sustainable world. The first three factors relate to the physical environment; the fourth is a social one. We’ll paraphrase the three environmental principles here, with a little explanation. Nature must not be subjected to increasing concentrations from substances from the Earth’s crust. There are three main raw materials we extract from deep inside the Earth: fossil fuels, metals, and minerals. It took billions of years for nature to sequester these elements, many of which are toxic to most life on Earth. If we remove these materials and spread them around in nature at a rate faster than they can be redeposit, they will build up in the environment, eventually causing problems. For example, since the industrial revolution, we have increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by over 30 per cent. We are finding high levels of mercury and other metals in fish.
Similarly, we must not allow man-made substances to build up in nature. Humans make over 100,000 synthetic chemicals, molecules nature never made. Some of these are persistent (they don’t break down easily) and accumulate in body tissue, the pesticide DDT being one example. Some of these compounds mimic hormones, frequently causing birth defects, cancer, or neurological problems. Scientists and health departments are finding these synthetic substances (as well as some elements from the Earth’s crust) in our bodies, in our blood and in the breast milk we feed our babies.
Third, we must not continue to destroy the productive capacity of nature to provide the services upon which we depend. Forests provide more than just wood products – they provide habitat for endangered species, clean our water and air, and protect soils. Barrier reefs provide habitat for the vast majority of marine life. Over-harvesting, development, and genetic manipulation all contribute to this problem.
These three lists of factors may not be complete but they are certainly a place to begin. You can compare your practices to these factors to identify your largest impacts. You can adjust your practices to be less dependent upon materials that are clearly going to become more scarce, expensive, or regulated.
How do you know whether your organization is sustainable?
A single organization can’t be responsible for making all of society sustainable, but each can examine its inputs, outputs, processes, and effects on the larger system in which it operates. We often use the ‘bubble diagram’ to help organizations develop a clear vision of what it would look like to be sustainable.
To use this tool, follow this process. Inside the process box, list your primary processes.
Then in each circle, list your most prominent examples (eg. what forms of energy you purchase, materials you purchase the most, etc.) and describe the sustainable state. Then outside the circles, coming off as spokes, list ideas for projects to reduce your major impacts.
Let’s use a simple example. Imagine you run a pizza restaurant. Your operation would be sustainable (or close to it) when:
• Materials: All your produce, pizza boxes, cleaning products, etc. came from sustainable/green/socially responsible sources. (You could buy organic tomatoes from farmers who provide good working conditions and wages for their migrant workers. Your pizza boxes could be made from 100 per cent recycled paper or pulp from certified forests. Cleaning products would be environmentally benign.)
• Energy: All your energy for cooking, transportation, and space heat came from renewable sources. (You could buy ‘green power’ from your utility and your delivery vehicles could run on biodiesel.)
• Process: Your cooking and other processes are as efficient as possible. (You could use Non-disposable tableware and capture the waste heat from your ovens.)
• Product design: Your main product is biodegradable, even edible, so it is quite benign.
(Do the ingredients come from local and sustainable or organic sources? You could vary the menu to take advantage of seasonal availability. What about the packaging? Could you invent a reusable pizza box?)
• Waste: All your waste products can be reused, recycled, or composted. (You could choose biodegradable serving items, eliminating plastic drink covers or polystyrene cups.)
• Industry influence: You apply your leadership and buying power to drive the rest of the industry toward sustainability. (To have an adequate and affordable supply of organic produce, you might help set up a cooperative.)
• Community contribution: You have a programme to help solve a pressing social problem that relates in some way to your business. You might work on migrant labour issues and/or hunger, for example. If you serve beer, then drunk driving might be an issue to address.
Notice that all of these actions are do-able now. Granted, making a semiconductor plant sustainable would be more complicated than a pizza restaurant, but the bubble diagram can help you see opportunities to move in the right direction. Create one for your own organization to understand what you can do now and what you can work towards in the long term to become sustainable.
Conclusion
We have tried to show that sustainability is a field that is growing and strategic. It helps you foresee the future and often produces many unintended benefits. Many of the possible sustainability-inspired actions make economic sense now. Some technologies still have a way to go, but you need to know now where the world is heading so that you can invest in platforms for the future instead of dead ends. Choose the sustainable course and you will often reap benefits that others may not. Businesses may gain a competitive advantage over others in their industry. Governments may be able to free up precious funds to do more mission-related work and build trust with taxpayers.
Resources:
Articles and Reports
Resources related to climate change The October 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review focuses on climate change and its relationship to business.
Lash, Jonathan and Fred Wellington (2007) ‘Competitive Advantage on a Warming Planet’, Harvard Business Review, March, Vol 85, No 3, pp94–102.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the UN-sponsored group of international scientists studying the effects and options related to global warming, www.ipcc.ch, (accessed 28 March 2013).
The Hadley Centre produces research on climate change, http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/science/hadleycentre/ (accessed 28 March 2013).
.The Pew Center on Global Climate Change is also a respected source, www.pewclimate.org/(accessed 28 March 2013).
Hoffman, Andrew J. (2006) Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies that Address Climate Change. University of Michigan.
Background on the state of the environment
The Millennium Ecosystems Assessment was performed at the request of the United Nations and employed thousands of the world’s leading scientists, www.millenniumassessment.org/ (accessed 28 March 2013).
The UN Environment Programme provides an overview of the state of the environment called Global Environment Outlook, known as the Geo4 (the fourth in the series of studies), www.unep.org/geo/(accessed 28 March 2013).
World Resources Institute has a wealth of data about different ecosystems.
The Living Planet Index, published by the World Wide Fund for Nature, provides useful
data about the state of the world, www.panda.org/livingplanet/(accessed 28 March 2013).
Sustainability as a strategic business issue
AtKisson, Alan (1999) Believing Cassandra: An Optimist Looks at a Pessimist’s World. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing. A good overview of sustainability without a lot of the gloom and doom found in other books. Brown, Lester (2001) Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. WW Norton Company. A good overview of both the scientific basis for concern and emerging solutions and tools.
Hart, Stuart and Mark Milstein (1999) ‘Global Sustainability and Creative Destruction of Industries’, MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall, pp23–33. Distinguishes green from sustainable products and explains how to market to three different segments: consumer economy (1 billion people), emerging markets (2 billion people) and survival economy (3 billion people).
Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (1999) Natural Capitalism. Little Brown and Co. Describes good examples of sustainability-related technologies and practices in both business and government.
McDonough, William and Michael Braungart (2002) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press.
Inspiring reading for those who design or manufacture products.
Pernick, Ron and Clint Wilder (2007) The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity. New York: Harper-Collins.
Senge, Peter and Goran Carstedt (2001) ‘Innovating Our Way to the Next Industrial Revolution’, MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter, Reprint #4222.
Provides a good strategic overview for those who don’t have time to read a book; some great examples.
Sustainability as it affects the national and world level
Hammond, Allen (1998) Which World: Scenarios for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Island Press. Lays out three possible future worlds: market world, fortress world and sustainable world.
Huntington, Samuel P. (1996) The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Simon & Schuster. Provides a compelling theory for understanding social and political changes in our world.
Jacobs, Jane (2000) The Nature of Economies. New York: The Modern Library. Explains how nature and economies work in the same fashion, helping to explain why globalization doesn’t always result in a better lifestyle.
Tools to help you build sustainability plan
Hitchcock, Darcy and Marsha Willard (2008) The Step by Step Guide to Sustainability Planning.
London: Earthscan. Provides more detailed information about how to do impacts assessments and the other steps associated with creating a sustainability plan.
SPaRK, the Sustainability Planning, and Reporting Kit include electronic files that help you do this analysis and link it to metrics and a sustainability plan. See www.axisperformance.com for more information.
