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2. Sustainability: a range of perspectives CENV 110

3. Why sustainability? Everything we need for our survival and socioeconomic well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment and the primary resources (living or non-living) and the services it provides.

4. Perspectives on sustainability The characteristic of resources that are managed so that the natural capital stock is non-declining through time, while production opportunities are maintained for the future

5. The natural capital stock Water use: using no more than is replenished by rain and snow Soil: only methods that build or maintain topsoil Energy: only renewable sources

6. Is organic farming sustainable?

7. Break into small groups of 3-5 In 5 minutes identify non-sustainable elements of the organic farming business my wife operated Consider the “life cycle” inputs and outputs

8. Sustainability as a vision A vision of the future that provides us with a road map and helps to focus our attention on a set of values and ethical and moral principles by which to guide our actions, as individuals, and in relation to the institutional structures with which we have contact - governmental and non-governmental, work-related and other

9. A process The capacity to create, test, and maintain adaptive capability [of natural and human systems] Consider an energy system that developed with non- renewable fuels but is transitioning to renewables – is the energy system sustainable?

10. Sustainable development A development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

11. More specifically Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) is defined as “using and conserving the community's resources so that the ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased Sustainable fishing has been defined as fishing that can be conducted over the long term at an acceptable level of biological and economic productivity without leading to ecological changes that foreclose options for future generations

12. The three pillars of sustainable development

13. Ah ha: sustainability is a state, abundant is sustainable, overfished is not

15. Moving beyond a state Seafood guides are dominated not by the sustainability of the fish stock being harvested, but by environmental impacts of the fishing

16. Is whaling sustainable?

17. Break into groups of 3-5 List 2 reasons whaling is not sustainable List 2 reasons whaling is sustainable

18. The U.S. as a whaling nation Bowhead whales are an endangered species The U.S. annually kills about 30 bowhead whales in the Arctic ocean

19. Trade-offs between sustained use and environmental impacts Even the most low impact food production systems affect the environment There are trade-offs Where do we draw the line and say one process is sustainable and another is not?

20. Different disciplines have different perspectives Maintain ecosystem structure and function (ecological view); Base decisions on the best scientific knowledge available (scientific view); Develop more adapted technologies and production processes (engineering view); Get the prices right and privatize to ensure stewardship (economic view); Empower the populations; Ensure equity; respect traditions (social view); Develop enforceable legislations and flexible nested institutions (legal and administrative view);

21. Dimension of food sustainability Practical: will the inputs to the food production system continue to be available Economic: is the price received sufficient to pay for the inputs Environmental: are the impacts “acceptable” Social: equitability

22. Is an agricultural system that exploits migrant or low-cost labor sustainable?

23. “Sustainability Science” (W. Clark 2014) Our approach is grounded in a definition of sustainable development that focuses on the well being of people over the long run. In particular, it argues that the development of a social-environmental system is sustained over a period of time if over that period appropriately inclusive measures of well- being do not decline

24. Key features of Sustainability Science Anthropocentric perspective: it is about people and their well-being What sort of well-being? Whose well-being? Equity and ethics

25. Clark 2014

26. Where is the environment in sustainability science? It is in the production processes: the environment produces the food, the air, the water that lead to well-being

27. Resilience Resilience reflects the capacity of a system to stay or return to its original steady state, assuming such a state existed. The modern definition emphasizes conditions far from steady- states, instabilities, large oscillations and refers to adaptability for dynamic sustainability. It calls for mobilizing the human capacity to anticipate and plan for the future. As an example, a sustainable livelihood is defined as a livelihood that can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities, assets and entitlements, while not undermining the natural resource base

28. Governance There is a general convergence among academics and practitioners that most sustainability problems (as listed above) relate to dysfunctional or inexistent governance, more than lack of knowledge or science

29. The Ecosystem Approach The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way... It is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization which encompass the essential processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of ecosystems

30. Final thought Sustainable use, both extractive and non-extractive, is a dynamic process toward which one strives in order to maintain biodiversity and enhance ecological and socio-economic services, recognizing that the greater the equity and degree of participation in governance, the greater the likelihood of achieving these objectives for present and future generations (Jenkins and Edwards, 2000; IUCN, 2001).

31. Study Guide For those who think of sustainability as a characteristic: what is the key characteristic of a resource use that makes it sustainable? What is a natural capital stock, define and give examples. What are key characteristics of sustainability as a process? What are the three pillars of sustainable development? What are the key determinants of Monterey Bay Aquariums classification of seafood into best choices and avoid? What distinguishes Clark’s “Sustainability Science” from the view of sustainability that environmental groups would advocate? How does resilience differ from sustainability? What is the role of governance in sustainability?