Sustainable Development

The UK Government Sustainable Development Website (maintained by defra, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs) sets out the principles for sustainable development in the UK as follows:

To achieve these goals:

1. Living within environmental limits
2. Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society
   
   by:
   
3. Achieving a sustainable economy
4. Using sound science responsibly
5. Promoting good governance

This is a very challenging agenda; not just technically or scientifically, but socially and economically as well. Lets look at some of the tensions between these principles to understand in more detail what success really looks like - what it really involves us doing. By understanding the tensions, or conflicting forces between principles, we understand the problem and the challenges that must be overcome.

The first point, living within environmental limits, is almost a definition of sustainability. To live within environmental limits means that our development does not consume resources faster than they are created (or replenished) by the environment, thus providing for development that can be sustained by the environment. This is the first tension in the above principles. There is a tension between our rate of development and the environment's ability to support it. Put another way, the environment limits our development.


The second point, ensuring a strong, healthy and just society whilst phrased as a goal actually represents the second tension resulting from these principles. Given such principles only tend to arise to guide future behaviour once past behaviour has violated them,we know that there is a strong tendency for us to live outside the environmental limits, and for our development to consume resources in the environment faster than its ability to replenish them. In other words, using our current means of development, our pace of development is faster than can be sustained by the environment. A strong and healthy society presumably develops unhindered by the environment, meaning we need to find more environmentally sustainable ways of developing. A just society means that this strong and healthy pace of development is not limited to a select few but is available to all on the same terms. This is where the complexity arises in emerging environmental regulation - how to come up with rules that change behaviour to be more sustainable in an equitable way for everyone. Another tension here lies in the fact that most people want what is best for them or their family or their business without necessarily considering the wider implications. There is further tension between what is "just" and the nature of capitalism, which does not reward based on what would humanely be called just but rather on economic viability terms, or in accordance with the mass market - the majority is not known for being predominantly just. Capitalism has higher, more ruthless goals. What is best for society is not necessarily best for every individual in it. Just as evolution results in the survival of the fitest in nature, capitalism aims to assure the same for business and the economy. This is not about being just.


The third point, achieving a sustainable economy, translates the environmental sustainability goals into economic goals. In other words, we must develop in a way that can be sustained by the resources provided by the environment whilst also maintaining a healthy economy. The economy reflects behaviour not only in the UK but also how business behaviour within the UK is generating value by comparison to other economies from around the world. The economy is in a sense a measure of how successful our development has been - to what extent the effort expended in that development and the resources consumed have been turned into something that is valued by humanity (valued in the sense of they are willing to pay for it). Another tension here lies in the difference between what we value and what is sustainable. This gives rise to another choice, another avenue for investigation - we can change the way we create value to make it more sustainable, or we can change what we value.


The fourth point, using sound science responsibly, speaks to the way in which we should inform our choices about how to develop, and how to change the way we develop to be more sustainable. If we take the same observation that principles often arise from lessons learned from not following those principles in the past, then we must ensure science is not abused - that science is not used as a means to convince people of a pre-defined agenda as part of a teleological argument, but that science is used with an open and enquiring mind to discover the truth about the cause and effects in nature and between our actions, our development, and the impact on the environment in order to make informed decisions based on understanding rather than rhetoric and ulterior motive. See back to the point about capitalism and the motivations and reward mechanisms that creates.


The fifth point, promoting good governance, is necessary to turn thought into action and to remain true to courses of action that once decided for the balanced greater good, will no doubt have some adverse side effects in particular areas. Governance in many ways is about maintaining perspective and managing behaviour towards an outcome with all the factors in mind. It is very easy to look at one variable in a system and optimise for that whilst throwing all the others out of the window. It is easier to focus on improving the economy whilst ignoring sustainability. Equally if we focus entirely on what is best for the environment, there would be a massive negative impact on the economy. There needs to be a balanced approach that considers both perspectives not just in the short term but in the long term. A healthy economy today is of no use to anyone living in a world where the environment can no longer sustain us in the future. A long term view must be taken over governance that plots a course permitting healthy economic growth whilst ensuring this is sustainable within the context of our environment and the resources we are consuming. This requires serious innovation and change - we need better, more efficient and smarter ways of developing, and we need to take a serious look at our values and how society and education shape these.

Sustainable development will not be achieved through policy and governance alone; it will not be achieved by science and innovation or "Green IT"; it needs social reform. The capitalist economy will always be driven by consumer demand. The consumer will not act in the best interests of the environment - or humanity; they will act in the best interests of themselves (as conditioned by society). Whilst strong governance and principles and sound science are all essential, they are insufficient without an increased awareness in society and a change in the behaviour of every person. This requires a level of increased awareness so strong it changes fundamental patterns of behaviour and judgements about what is cool and what is of value. All of these are building blocks in the solution that must operate in concert to resolve these tensions and achieve sustainable development.