Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1. Does the definition really mean
all
future generations? If so, the goal is
clearly unachievable because population growth must eventually exceed
the global carrying capacity at some point in time (Bartlett, 2006;
Odum, 1983).
2. Resource needs of future generations could be quite different from
those we anticipate. What specific resources that we use today need to
be conserved for their future?
3. What metrics of sustainability do we use? Are global or even regional
metrics appropriate? National players operate in a global anarchy and
report progress in environmental sustainability strictly in local terms,
sometimes achieved by exporting the problems to a different locale.
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The numerous alternative definitions of sustainability in the literature (over
300 had emerged by 2007; Johnston et al., 2007) reflect this inadequacy
of the original. Proliferation of various, often inconsistent, definitions is,
however, not productive in that it questions the credibility of the concept
itself (Bolis et al., 2014) and dilutes its interpretation and meaning
(Hopwood et al., 2005). Definitions that emphasize particular aspects of
sustainable growth have been proposed but are not completely satisfactory
because these do not capture the entire spectrum of impacts (Dale, 2001;
Mebratu, 1998).
At the very heart of sustainable growth lies the demand for both intra- and
intergenerational equity. It seeks stability, development, and social justice
in the present generation, but the main focus is on future generations.
Even at present, global resources such as energy (and the power that their
ownership bestows) and critical materials are inequitably distributed
between the nations. Poverty stemming from this imbalance leads to
environmental exploitation in the poorer nations and is already a threat to
the survival of this generation.
The conundrum of the concept of sustainable growth is that it plans for
an essentially unknown future. The underlying assumption that the
contentment of future generations must necessarily require the same set
of indispensable goods and services we rely on today, is untested. This
might be true in a broad sense such as the need for primary production or
breathable air, but there is no crystal ball. For instance, even the energy
abundant solar energy, hydrogen from ambient-temperature splitting of
