An Overview of Sustainability

After defining global warming in my previous blog, I felt it is necessary to look at what sustainability means in practice and look at its history.

Sustainability – A Tricky Definition

Fien and Tilbury (2002) write that sustainability is hard to define, due to the fact that sustainability and its practices tend to be culturally constructed and there can often be hidden agendas behind the definition. I found this was definitely the case when researching the meaning of sustainability. This can be seen in the Ministry for the Environment’s definition. The Ministry writes that sustainability is the practice of “meeting the needs of today, without adversely impacting on the needs of tomorrow” (Ministry for the Environment, 2013). On the surface this definition would be considered broad, implying that we all have a part to play in the process. However, after further reading, I found that the Ministry focuses on the economic benefits of sustainability for businesses, choosing to ignore why New Zealand, as a society, should implement sustainable practices. I found this narrow minded. Given this, I chose to continue my search to find a definition that focused more on why society as a whole, should practice sustainability.

My search led me to a Youtube video defining sustainability. Although simplistic, I believe it demonstrated a much more holistic perspective, stating that sustainability is simply “allowing the world to continue to do what it was designed to do” (RealEyesvideo, 2010). The video also defines four main “care instructions” (RealEyesvideo, 2010) required to look after our planet. These were to reduce our dependence on:

·       Fossil fuels and heavy metals

·       Synthetic chemicals that persist in nature

·       Reduce destruction of nature

·       Ensure we are not stopping people globally from meeting their needs.

(RealEyesvideo, 2010)

If these factors are to be considered, then is New Zealand achieving these targets?

A Brief History of Sustainability

Clark (2012) writes that the debate over sustainable practices began to intensify in 1992, when the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. The world leaders who contributed to the Earth Summit had the goal of “tying the achievement of environmental sustainability with overcoming the interdependent problems of poverty, illiteracy and militarism” (Clark, 2012). This made me even more aware of how different my understanding is of why we practise sustainability compared to the objectives of the leaders at the earth summit. It also demonstrated again, that the agenda behind sustainable practices was, like the Ministry of the Environment, being used for economic development rather than for the preservation of our plant.

Then in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed by 55 developed countries, with the aim of reducing “total greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries” (Ministry of the Environment, 2012). New Zealand had the target of reducing its emissions to the levels they were in 1990. The New Zealand government also had the obligation to:

·       Submit annual inventory of emissions

·       Provide regular updates to national and regional programmes, providing details on how to reduce emissions

·       Adopt policies and measures provided by international scientific and technical research and development.

(Ministry of the Environment, 2010)

Since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, the New Zealand government has revised its target to reduce our carbon emissions by a further 10 – 20% above those of 1990 by 2020. They state that they intend to achieve this through three phases:

·       Domestic emission reductions

·       Storage of carbon in forests

·       Purchase of emission reduction units in other countries

(Ministry of the Environment, 2010)

After reading this plan set out by the New Zealand government, I felt very positive in regards to the commitment we were making towards sustainability and protecting our environment. However, when reviewing figures published by Clark (2012), on how countries are performing against their targets, it shows that New Zealand is not meeting the agreement as set out by the Kyoto protocol. This is a major concern and questions must be asked about the current government’s commitment and obligations to sustainable practices.

Clark, D. (2012). Has the Kyoto protocol made any difference to carbon emissions?. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/nov/26/kyoto-protocol-carbon-emissions

Department of Public Information. (1997). UN conference on environment and development (1992). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html

Fien, J. & Tilbury, D. (2002). The global challenge of sustainability. In D. Tilbury, R.B. Stevenson, J. Fien and D. Schreuder (Eds.). Education and sustainability responding to the global challenge. Cambridge, England: IUCN Publications Services Unit.

Greenhouse Policy Coalition. (n.d.). Overview of the Kyoto protocol. Retrieved from http://www.gpcnz.co.nz/Site/The_Kyoto_Protocol_/Overview

Ministry of the Environment. (2010). The Kyoto protocol. Retrieved from http://www.mfe.

govt.nz/issues/climate/international/kyoto-protocol.html

Ministry of the Environment. (n.d.). Sustainability: a definition. Retrieved from http://www.

mfe.govt.nz/issues/sustainable-industry/tools-services/definition.php

RealEyesvideo. (2010, April 9). Sustainability explained through animation [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0