1. 1.4 Sustainability
Kristin Page
IB ESS

2. 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 (EIA’s) play an important role in sustainable development.

3. Knowledge & Understanding
Define the terms; sustainability, natural capital, natural income, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and ecological footprint (EF)
Give examples of both goods and services that ecosystems provide
List & explain factors that may be used as environmental indicators of sustainability
Discuss the importance of the Millennium Development Goals
Outline the EIA process
Discuss how an EF indicates the sustainability of a population

4. Application & Skills
Explain the relationship between natural capital, natural income, and sustainability.
Discuss the value of ecosystem services to a society.
Discuss how environmental indicators can be used to evaluate the progress of a project to increase sustainability, eg Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Evaluate the use of EIA’s
Explain the relationship between ecological footprint (EF) and sustainability.

5. What is Sustainability?
The ability to maintained at a certain rate or level.
All living things depend either directly or indirectly on Earth’s resources, therefore we can get more specific and state that sustainability means that we are able to maintain use of Earth’s resources as a rate that will prevent future generations from running out.
This has several key points
Earth’s Resources are limited (finite amount of matter)
It takes TIME for Earth’s resources to be replenished
We can only use resources at a rate that will prevent their depletion

6. Sustainable Development
The original definition of Sustainable Development came from the Rio Earth Summit
"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Bruntland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development (1992)

7. Important Vocabulary
Natural Capital:  the source or stocks of resources and services that are derived from nature and can produce sustainable natural income. (examples: a forest, a kelp bed, mineral deposits, fisheries, fertile soil)
Natural Income: the goods and services provided by the environment (examples: timber, grain, erosion prevention, oxygen, climate regulation, water purification)

8. Where Are We Now? On August 13th we used up our resources for 2015
This means that we are currently using future generations’ resources
Based on current demand on Earth, we need 1.6 Earth’s to support humanity
This Concept is called Ecological Overshoot

9. Where Are We Now?

10. How Do We Know How We are Doing?
We can measure sustainability on a range of scales, from individuals, to local communities, to global.
Why is looking at these different scales important?
Which scale will be most accurate (large or small)?
Small scale is more accurate but need global measure to have the whole picture.

11. Millennium Development Goals
Presented at UN Millennium Summit in 2000
189 Nations signed the Declaration
8 Goals to be achieved by 2015:
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger
Goal 2: Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Healthcare
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

12. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)
Initiated in 2001 by UN
Objective: “to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being.”
General Findings:
Humans are using natural resources unsustainably.
60% of the world’s ecosystems have been degraded
This has resulted in a decrease of biodiversity on earth.
Short term economic gains at expense of some social groups and the environment
The degradation of ecosystem services could grow significantly worse during the first half of this century and is a barrier to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

13. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA)
An EIA is a report prepared BEFORE a development project or large change in the way an area of land is used.
Purpose:
To aid in planning of development
To understand the environmental impact that may occur from a project before it is put into place
To help determine ways to minimize the damage done to the environment

14. If We Know This Why Don’t We Stop?
Habits – it is hard to change
Tragedy of the Commons – individuals act based on their own needs/wants without consideration of who it will affect the whole group
$$$ - Do we have a value for soil? Water? Air?

15. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

16. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

17. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

18. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

19. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

20. Examples of Projects that would conduct an EIA

21. EIA Process
Conduct a baseline study – what is the environment like now
Predict the positive and negative impacts of proposed development
Possible impacts on human life and the environment
Ways to reduce negative impacts
Economic benefits and other benefits of the project

22. EIA Summary
Support the goals of environmental protection and sustainable development
Integrate environmental protection and economic decisions at the earliest stages of planning
To predict environmental, social, economic and cultural consequences
To mitigate any adverse impacts
To provide involvement of the public and government agencies

23. Weaknesses of EIAs Different standards in different countries
Where is boundary of impact zone?
Expensive!
EIA = a model

24. Ecological Footprint (EF)
The amount of land and water a given population requires to produce all the resources they consume and take in all the waste they make.
The space required to support all the inputs and outputs of a population.
Using this model, it is possible to estimate how much of the Earth (or how many planet Earths) it would take to support humanity if everybody followed a given lifestyle. Currently estimated at 1.6 planet Earths.

25. Ecological Footprint (EF)
When humanity's ecological resource demands exceed what nature can supply, we reach ecological overshoot
The effects: carbon-induced climate change, species extinction, deforestation, dead coral reefs and the loss of groundwater
The human footprint has more than tripled since 1960

26. Components of the Ecological Footprint (six human activities that require space)
Growing Crops
Grazing Animals
Harvesting Timber
Catching Fish
Accommodating Infrastructure (housing, transportation systems, industry, built up land…)
Absorbing Carbon Dioxide Emissions (burning fossil fuels)

27. Ecological Footprint Calculations Activity
HOMEWORK
Ecological Footprint Calculations Activity