Sustainable Development

CIVN4006:
Integrated Resource
Management
Sustainable Development
Dr. Khumalo
1. Sustainable Development
I. Drivers of sustainable development
I. Global environmental impact
II. Deep Green Doomsayers
Content III. Doomslayers
Sustainable
Development
• “Sustainable development is a development
that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. It contains within it two
key concepts: the concept of ‘needs’, in
particular the essential needs of the world’s
poor, to which overriding priority should be
given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the
state of technology and social organization on
the environment’s ability to meet present and
future needs”
Sustainable Development
• “Sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change in which the
exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and
institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs.”
Brundtland Report, World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987
• More recently: “A dynamic process which enables all people to realise their potential and to improve their
quality of life in ways which simultaneously protects and enhances the earth’s life support systems”
Forum for the Future, 2007
• People concerned about sustainable development suggest that meeting the needs of the future depends on
how well we balance diverse objectives and needs when making decisions today.
Views of David Ballard 2005
• Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. It contains two key concepts
within it:
• The concept of 'needs', particularly the essential needs of the
world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and
social organization on the environment's ability to meet present
and future needs.
Drivers for
Sustainable
Development
• Sustainability and global
equity are intertwined.
• As the population
grows, it becomes
increasingly vital to
share.
Inequity vs. Inequality
• Inequity refers to a lack of equity, which means “justice” or
“fairness.” Where there’s inequity in a community, it means
injustice, unfairness, and bias are being perpetuated. That might
sound exactly like inequality, but inequities are what cause
inequality.
• Social inequality occurs when resources within a society are
distributed unevenly, often as a result of inequitable allocation
practices that create distinct unequal patterns based on socially
defined categories of people.
Social Inequity
“We are modifying physical, chemical and biological systems in new ways, at
faster rates, and over larger spatial scales than ever recorded on Earth.
Humans have unwittingly embarked upon a grand experiment with our planet.
The outcome is unknown but has profound implications for all of life.”
(President, American Academy for the Advancement of Science)
“As long as economic power is so unbalanced and the terms of trade so

skewed, the resources of the weak will always be appropriated to further the
‘development’ of the rich. It’s built into the system.”
(New Internationalist, Nov. 2000)
Ways of measuring Sustainability
• Ecological footprint
• It is a measure that indicates how much resources from the
environment are required to support a specific way of life or
business.
• IPAT Equation
• PAT was first proposed by Ehrlich and Holdren in the early
1970s to calculate the impact of humans on the environment.
IPAT is an equation that expresses the idea that
environmental impact (I) is the product of three factors:
population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T)
Ecological Footprint
Ecological footprint
• What is the ecological footprint of a country?
• Your ecological footprint is how much of the Earth’s biologically productive land you need to
support your lifestyle
• The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that helps countries understand their
ecological budget and gives them the data necessary to manage their resources and build a
secure, resilient future.
• The size of your ecological footprint depends on how much biologically productive land and water
you require to live your life. You can reduce your ecological footprint by not wasting electricity and
water, cycling or walking to places close by rather than driving, and eating locally produced rather
than imported food.
• The average South African’s ecological footprint is 2.8 hectares of food, fibre, timber, land and
energy, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s 2001 Living Planet report. But the Earth can only
support an average of 1.8 hectares per person. Can we afford to take more than our fair share of
resources from the Earth?
• If the whole world lived like South Africans, we would need 1 and a half Earths to
sustain us. But if we all lived liked Americans, we would need the about 5
planets to sustain our way of life.
• The Earth can replenish its resources at about 1.8 hectares per person per year. But
globally, our current annual ecological footprint is 2.2 hectares. We are therefore
“spending” more resources than the Earth can sustain.
• The resources consumed by everyone are subtracted from the resources generated
by the planet over a year. The ecological footprint is measured in global hectares. On
average, a European would need 4.5 hectares, while a North American would need
6.6 hectares and an African 2.7.
• How to reduce your ecological footprint?
• A significant part of the ecological footprint is due to greenhouse gas emissions
from human activity. In fact, the ecological footprint of individuals predominantly
depends on their lifestyle.
• To limit greenhouse gas emissions and so reduce one's ecological footprint, it is
imperative to change people's lifestyles by adopting some simple habits:
• Recycle and give new life to materials;
• Optimise your energy consumption;
• Opt for a green energy company;
• Produce your own energy;
• Move sustainably.
• The calculation of the ecological footprint takes into account the following two
factors:
• The Earth's biocapacity, i.e. the planet's capacity to produce resources;
• Human activity and its ecological impact, i.e. the resources consumed by
humans and their waste
• Biocapacity – A value expressed in ‘area units’ that estimates the actual available
area of productive land for resource production and waste absorption.
What is the equation for IPAT Ehrlich?
• An equation (I = P × A × T) that was developed by Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren in
1972 to describe how impact (I) or environmental change is a function of population
size (P), affluence (A), and technology (T).
• The IPAT equation is the foundation for initial analysis of the cause of environmental
unsustainability.
Global Environmental Impact
https://www.thwink.org/sustain/articles/011_IPAT_Equation/index.htm
Three pillars
of
Sustainability
Ways we have tried to incorporate
environmental aspects:
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Cost and Benefit Analysis
• Environmental Allocations
• Environmental Policies
The Benefits of Environmental Assessment
Reduced cost and time of project implementation.
• Cost-saving modifications in project design.
• Increased project acceptance.
• Avoided impacts and violations of laws and regulations.
• Improved project performance.
• Avoided treatment/clean-up costs.
Engineering for Sustainable Development
Key roles of engineers includes:
• Develop design with innovative and out-of-the-box approach
• Reducing resource use – water, land, natural resources (wetlands, forests, aquatic resources, etc.)
• Minimizing waste production
• Reuse/recycle waste – greywater, mine tailings, construction waste
• Adopt efficient technologies (energy efficient, water efficient, etc.)
• Cost-effective and appropriate solutions
• Clean up past pollution or environmental damage – mine dumps
• Measure and monitor state of the environment (baseline and monitoring)
• Life cycle assessment
• Engaging and empowering communities
The 12 principles of green engineering include:
• non-hazardous material and energy inputs and outputs,
• waste prevention,
• minimum resource usage,
• maximum resource and time efficiencies,
• use “output pulled” energy and materials,
• recycle, reuse, or dispose for usable purposes,
• the design goal shall be durability, rather than immortality,
• avoid overcapacity,
• design for easy recycling,
• recycle and reuse resources within your production process,
• design for extended use, and
• use renewables. The principles are chemical process oriented.
https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10050870
• Next lecture: Deep Green Doomsayers versus the Doomslayers
PLEASE READ! We will discuss the article:
• Sagoff Mark (1997). Do we consume too much? The Atlantic Online. 279 (6), 80-96
• Why do we consume too much? By Julia

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CIVN4006:

“As long as economic power is so unbalanced and the terms of trade so

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