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IB ESS

1.4 Sustainability
Significant Ideas:
All systems can be viewed through the lens of sustainability.
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs.

Environmental indicators and ecological footprints can be used to assess sustainability. Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIAs) play an important role in sustainable development.

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 Sustainability and Natural Capital

1. Define “sustainability”
Sustainability is the use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited
and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use.

2. List the ways in which a nation might measure sustainability

There are several tools (indicators)to measure sustainability, such as Biodiversity (Environmental vulnerability);
Pollution (Air quality), GDP (Gross Domestic Product); Ecological footprints

3. State at least one advantage of measuring sustainability...

...on a local scale:
It is important to measure the sustainability on a local scale, in order to guarantee a proper sustainable development, by the
adoption of sustainable solutions that favour a local community. Also, the smaller the scale of the measurement, the more
accurate it can be.

...on a global scale:

It is important to measure the sustainability on a global scale because there are global issues that compromise the
sustainability of the planet (for example the use of fossil fuels as energy resources instead of renewable energies. An
effort to do this are the sustainable development goals set by the UN, to be achieved by 2030.

3. Define “natural capital”

Natural capital includes all the raw materials from the environment; which can be renewable and non-renewable; that are
used (by producers) to generate natural income, in the form of goods and services (for consumers)

4. For the country you live in (or you could choose the country you’re from if it’s different to the country you
currently live in), list as many items of natural capital as you can think of that are provided by the ecosystem.
Portugal – main terrestrial ecosystem: temperate forest. Main items: raw materials such as cork, food (fruits such
as oranges and olives), rocks such as granite, marble,etc.
Main aquatic ecosystem: Atlantic ocean – fish (sardines for example), crustaceans, mollusks

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Sustainability vs Natural Capital vs Natural Income

1. Define “natural income”

It is the yield obtained from natural resources (what we get from it), including products or goods and services.

2. Using examples, distinguish between natural income of goods and natural income of services.
When thinking about the ocean, goods are for example food resources, such as fish; services are for example the
climate regulation (by the absorption of carbon dioxide); another example - a forest is an example of renewable
natural capital, as it can produce an income in the form of a GOOD e.g. timber/game and a SERVICE, for
recreation;

3. Explain how unsustainable land use might affect natural income for the current and future generations.
Hints:
• Think about the benefits of unsustainable land use (there are some, at least in the short- term) as well as
the drawbacks.
• Consider the various goods as well as services that land can provide, and the different people that
benefit.
• Provide a balanced argument: should future generations be prioritized over the current generation? How
might a technocentric person’s opinion differ from an ecocentric person’s opinion?

• Unsustainable use of land is linked to unsustainable agricultural practices (link with Topics 5.3. and 5.3.),
such as commercial farming, with the use of machinery that has a high impact in the environment. The
benefits of this unstainable land use is the high yield due to large scale production; drawbacks are the
reduction in the soil fertility and pollution.
• Land provides goods such as food, medicines, raw materials. They serve different communities – tribes,
which use the land for subsistence and western people that benefit from being or producers and or
consumers
• With regards to this question – an ecocentrist view would value the needs of the present generations
without compromising the needs of the future generations; they would advocate for the reduction in
the use of non renewable resources investing more in renewable resources. This means that
ecocentrists aim at becoming self-sufficient by the use of solar cells for their electricity, use of rain water
and grey water recycling for their water supply, grow their own food. Technocentrists would argue that
the presents needs must be met and that tecnhological innovation can lead to the production of more
resources which can guarantee not only the present needs but also the needs of the future generations.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

• The MEA is very extensive and a lot of information has been published. To explore this research, a
good place to start is the “Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Synthesis”, available here:
http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf.
• The research has also been summarised in a more accessible format at this website:
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/ecosystems/index.htm

1. Summarise the purpose of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

2. Summarise the key findings of the MEA with regards to:

a) The percentage of ecosystems worldwide that are currently being degraded.

b) Fishstock exploitation

c) Surface freshwater use

d) Mangroves
Use the “Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: Synthesis” to get information to answer the following question:

3. Regarding biomes (see page 4)

a) Which three biomes had the most area converted by 1950?
Mediterranean forest, Temperate forest, Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.

b) Which three biomes had the most area converted between 1950 and 1990?
Tropical and subtropical dry broad-leaf forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, tropical and subtropical
grasslands

c) What is the main cause for biome conversion? Agriculture

4. Regarding extinction rates (see page 5):
a) What is the current situation on global animal extinction rates?
The rate of known extinctions of species in the past century is roughly 50–500 times greater than the extinction
rate calculated from the fossil record of 0.1–1 extinctions per 1,000 species per 1,000 years. The rate is up to
1,000 times higher than the background extinction rates if possibly extinct species are included.

b) How is this expected to change in the future?

It is projected that the future extinction rate will be more than 10 times higher than the current rate.

5. The report states (Page 6) that “The degradation of ecosystem services often causes significant harm to human
well-being.”
a) Figure 8 on page 9 will help answer the following:
i) State the natural income of goods a forest can provide
Timber and fuelwood

ii) State the natural income of services a forest can provide

Carbon sequestration; watershed protection

b) In what way(s) might a forest ecosystem’s services become “degraded”?

When forests are cut; also services can be degraded with pollution.
c) Using forests as an example, explain how the use of natural capital for “marketed benefits” may be less
economically sustainable than use for “nonmarketed benefits”.
The commonly marketed benefits come from timber, fuel wood and grazing. These can be less economicaly
sustainable for the long term because they cause the direct degradation (of forests) and loss of resources (such as
soil).

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Environmental Impact Assessments

1. Outline the purpose of an Environmental Impact Assessment.

(EIA) Environmental Impact Assessment is a process used to establish the impact of a project/development on the
environment; it enables the possible impacts on habitats, species and ecosystems to be predicted; and helps
decision makers decide if the development should go ahead; and if steps to mitigate effects should be put in place.
Typical projects requiring EIA’s: dams, roads, ports, airports, power plants, etc.

2. Using the table, briefly outline the stages of creating an EIA answers can be found here
https://www.soas.ac.uk/cedep-demos/000_P507_EA_K3736-Demo/unit1/page_14.htm

Stage Details

_ _______________________________________________________
Screening ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
_____
Scoping ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Baseline study ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Impact prediction ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Mitigation ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Monitoring/
________________________________________________________
Assessment
________________________________________________________

3. Outline the reasons for creating a non-technical summary of an EIA.

To be used by the media and make it more accessible to the general public.

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4. Summarise at least four criticisms of EIAs.
• often difficult to put together a complete baseline study due to lack of data;
• often all impacts are not identified;
• information and suggestions in EIA are often not acted upon;
• EIA offer advice, but whether or not they are adopted depends on the EVS of the government involved. In China
for example, the EIA for the Three Gorges Dam showed the damage that would be done to the environment, but
the government showed to focus on the benefits for the country – link to environmental philosophies

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Ecological Footprints
5. Outline what is meant by the term “ecological footprint”.
An ecological footprint (EF) is the area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate
at which they are being consumed by a given population. If the EF is greater than the area available to the
population, this is an indication of unsustainability

6. Outline how the following factors relate to the ecological footprint of a country.
The first one has been done for you.

Factor Details

Cropland The amount of land required to provide food for humans consumption
(including food, animal feed, and other products
taken from crops
The amount of land required to feed the animals which are also for human
Grazing land
consumption. More grazing land means higher EF.

Refers to the uptake of CO2, so less land will be used to absorb the wastes;
Carbon sequestration
this decreases the EF

Absorb the waste products such as CO2; this decreases the EF.
Forests

Built-up land
This land is used for infra-structure, so this increases EF

Fisheries
Amount of water needed to provide the resources to sustain the population

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 An ecological footprint is often expressed as an area of land: if the size of a nation’s ecological footprint is larger
than their actual land mass, then they are living beyond their means and this is probably not sustainable.
3. Explain the link between EF and sustainability

The measure of an EF takes into account the area required to provide all the resources needed by the population, and the
assimilation of all wastes. Therefore, EF is a model used to estimate the demands that human populations place on the
environment. The resources need to be managed in a sustainable way. If the EF is greater than the area available to the
population, this is an indication of unsustainability.

Another convenient way to think about an EF is “number of Earths”. For example, how many Earths would we need
if everybody on the planet lived your lifestyle?
4. Using the “number of Earths” method, make a sensible estimate of your ecological footprint.
Justify the answer your give.
Variable answers.

5. Do some online research: find the ecological footprint of the country you live in, and compare it to the
ecological footprint of one other country, and explain the differences. You may find data to explain the differences
and/or you may use your own knowledge about lifestyle differences between the two countries.
http://data.footprintnetwork.org is a useful resource for this.

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