Sustainability

Sustainability is an evolving concept that expresses holistic thinking integrating society, economy, and ecology. This concept has been advanced to guide actions within present society to ensure continued existence and prosperity into the foreseeable future. Therefore, sustainability can be defined as an integrated understanding of the interconnectedness of human activity with all related man-made and naturally occurring systems. The goal of sustainability is often conflated with the approach needed to attain the goal—sustainable development. Understanding these two terms is an essential first step for addressing a set of global challenges embodied by sustainability. To that end, the Brundtland Commission, created through the United Nations, published a report in 1987 in which sustainable development is defined as seeking to meet the needs and aspirations of present society without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations.

Because of profound changes to our shared ecological systems, the question of sustainability is being considered around the world. From advancing ozone depletion, which leads to progressively higher levels of life-damaging radiation, to accelerating greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to complex climate change, to habitat destruction, which results in decreased biodiversity, shared ecosystem resources are being depleted or damaged. Among the consequence of ecosystem damage and loss are that it can threaten and create social unrest in the future, while at the same time drive numerous species toward extinction. Abject poverty that attends the growing gaps between the rich and the poor is a proven driver of environmental degradation and fuels resource, trade, and policy disputes. This type of economic unrest has provided a source of motivation to address sustainability issues not only in organizations such as the United Nations but also at the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.

As our society wrestles with the meaning and actions implied by sustainability, it is helpful to consider that more than 400 years ago the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois) had their “Great Law,” which, in part, requires that leaders consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation following that decision. There are other such examples of statements regarding sustainability from the past that very clearly define our collective responsibility to protect and plan for the future. Understanding the recurrence of this theme in human society helps us to understand the centrality of sustainability. It is also instructive to note that thinking about sustainability is not the same as achieving a sustainable outcome. Many civilizations have risen only to prove unsustainable, the Haudenosaunee being among them. What is very different today is the accumulating metrics and resulting data that confirm the impact of human activity on global ecosystem services, such as water cycles, carbon cycles, and resource renewal cycles to name a few. Climate scientists are in general agreement that global warming is real, and it is the product of human [Page 2031]activity. The main questions now are as follows: How bad will the consequences be? How fast will they manifest? What can be done to mitigate some of the damage already done?

Sustainability explores how we collectively and individually move into the future while learning to understand how global ecosystem services underpin the social and economic activity on the planet. Business organizations are human society's most efficient resource concentrators, transformers, and distributors; thus, they create what might be called a “corporate ecology” and, therefore, business-oriented solutions central to any working and attainable definition of sustainability.

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