Environmental risks and impacts - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 211

approaches, which may include financial or other monetized benefits and non-
monetizable ones.
Environmental efficiency in general covers the minimization of the environmen-
tal footprint of a technology. Environmental efficiency of environmental technologies
consists of two parts: (i) Ability of the technology to reduce environmental risk or
to contribute to the reduction of the risk. It is identical with the technological effi-
ciency in the case of environmental risk reduction (ERR) technologies; (ii) Similar
efficiency to other technologies, meaning the impact of the technology application on
the environment.
The term eco-efficiency is also used in the same sense. According to the World Busi-
ness Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2013) eco-efficiency is defined as
“competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of
life while progressively reducing environmental impacts of goods and resource inten-
sity throughout the entire life cycle to a level at least in line with the earth's estimated
carrying capacity.'' Under this definition, the reduction in material and energy inten-
sity of goods or services as well as reduced dispersion of toxic materials and wastes
is understood. To increase eco-efficiency, innovation and a well-functioning market
with growth and competitiveness are required. Attitudes such as consumption of less
in general, decrease of human footprints and reuse of all wastes, are not included in
this definition in spite of the fact that they are required for long-term sustainability of
human life on the earth.
Sustainable means enduring. The environment is sustainable when it remains
diverse and productive over the long term. In the human context, sustainability is used
in the term sustainable development, which means keeping or increasing the potential
for long-term maintenance of well-being of humans with their economic, social and
environmental demands. The judgment of “environmental demands'' depends on our
scientific knowledge and it is still very human centric, giving priority to human land
uses and human economic interest, which is not in agreement with the sustainability
of the ecosystem.
The term “sustainability'' was used at the beginning for sustainable development
and growth by the Brundtland Commission, or officially the World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED, 2013), which coined the best-known defini-
tion of sustainable development as the one that “meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'' Instead of art-
for-art's-sake growth and competitiveness, “need'' is in the focus, which may depend
on individual decisions.
The WCED document stated that “environment and development are not separate
challenges; they are inexorably linked. Development cannot subsist upon a deteriorat-
ing environmental resource base; the environment cannot be protected when growth
leaves out of account the costs of environmental destruction. These problems cannot
be treated separately by fragmented institutions and policies. They are linked in a
complex system of cause and effect.'' (WCED, 2013)
The human footprint is significant locally, regionally and globally. Consumption
of our resources, including renewable and nonrenewable resources, is continuously
growing. The use of the globe as a sink of wastes is huge. Biogeochemical element
cycling is loaded by anthropogenic surplus: the current biologically available nitrogen
is twice, phosphorus is three times as much as in 1960. Background levels of toxic