Three Pillars Of Sustainable Development

A vigorously debated topic in our time is the issue of sustainability. This climate change, overpopulation, pollution, and ignorance about the damage being done to the environment. The climate that all living things have come to rely upon is changing because of global warming. Even though this is a hot topic today, it has been discussed since the 1980’s. Sustainability was introduced and defined at the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (UNECE Website). The commission’s report defined sustainability as “the development which meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (cite the website). The needs they are talked about included social, cultural and

Sustainability is how you balance and maintain the environment, culture, and economy in your life.*** I can not believe I am saying this, but I do not really know what sustains me. I could say my boyfriend because I would have given up with my life if we had never met or I could say that my family sustains me. I feel like the only thing that has kept me going is the fear of failure and not knowing if I will ever live my life to the fullest.

Sustainability has been mentioned as a goal of businesses. During the mid 1990s John Elkington created the triple bottom line plan under the concept of sustainability. Sustainability can be defined in many ways, but the simplest way is “Ability to sustain” (Sustainability, 2010). The triple bottom line is an accounting framework, and there are three dimensions of sustainability among them people, planet and profit (3Ps). The concept of TBL is to measure the profitable, social and environmental performance of the company. Currently, many companies have tried to become more sustainable in terms of the TBL. However, this report will identify the clearly observable of the triple bottom line in L’Oréal company.

Moreover, the author’s tone was cataleptic and objective when he began his article with “Consumer preference is shaping up as a powerful force to promote environmental sustainability” (para.1). He used the words shaping up, powerful and promote to affect a reader to keep reading, and giving a person more cataleptic about the sustainability. Also, he finished the article in the same tone when he says “And as they do, they will develop economies that operate more efficiently than ours, producing more output while using fewer resources” (para.9). Here, Brodwin gives a reader some results in future.Thus, the author was so motivating to make the reader interests to be one of the people who willing to live sustainably and to support the ideas. Additionally, Brodwin explained many consequences that affect the reader to be convinced in the topic. In essence, he broached the subject by difference tones to impact his aims in the

Sustainable development is a model that aims to link the idea of what is to be sustained, with what is to be developed, and focuses on three pillars, economics, social and environmental (Kates, Parris, and Leiserowitz, 2005; pp. 3). As a holistic approach it seeks to develop the three pillars, on a local, regional and global level. This paper will analyse the concept of sustainable development and the strengths and weaknesses of this approach will be discussed. Firstly, a background of this model will be presented, which will explore the three pillars. Secondly, the strengths and weaknesses will be evaluated, and lastly, a brief contrast will be provided of the opinions of sustainable development between the Global North and Global South. The conclusion conveyed at the end of this paper, will be that sustainable development is a concept with weaknesses however, the strengths outweigh them.

Sustainable development, as its name suggests, is a concept continually elaborating. The most commonly used definition, according to World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), is the development which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987). It shows the importance of considering benefits for both current and future generations and strongly supports economic development, while it also implies when accessing environment and natural resources, human beings tend to take an anthropocentric view, that the primary goal is to satisfy human needs. With no regard for earth as a life-support system, a development will not be considered sustainable. Therefore, by taking economic, social, environmental issues into accounts is a key approach to develop sustainably in different contexts.

Understanding of why it is important to measure sustainability and the associated problems and conflicts of different indicator sets and types

Leydier & Martin (2013) also states that, “despite the increasing expression of concern in political and media debates about issues such as climate change, pollution and threats to biodiversity, “political ecology” (operating at the confluence of scientific developments, political engagement and ethical debates) is still trying to find its bearings” (p.7). It is quite evident that environmental issues are not treated in equivalence to political, economic, social or even religious issues. This is because of our market led economy which only focusses on profit, competition and money making rather than a sustainable development approach. “Capitalism” has been identified by several scholars as the root cause for environmental degradation.

In recent years, household consumption in developed countries has been taught to be a key contributing factor to global problems such as climate change, depletion of energy resources and biodiversity loss. Household consumption can be defined as the consumption of goods and services by households including the selection, purchase, use, maintenance, repair and disposal of any product or service OECD (2002). As society have become more aware of household consumption and the problems that occur as a result, Sustainable Consumption has attracted much attention and has become of great importance to society. Sustainable Consumption can be defined as attempts to reduce negative environmental and social impacts of consumption by consuming less or

How can the construction industry meet its environmental and social responsibilities as well as increasing profitability?

Sustainability is to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Business sustainability is often defined as managing the triple bottom line - a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet.

Sustainability is a strategic imperative of the new millennium (Galpin & Whittington, 2012). It is a disruptive trend affecting industries requiring a strategic response (Lacy, Haines & Hayward, 2012) as companies are facing a new world of resource constraints (BCG, 2012).

In today’s world, most developing countries are in a race to build up the necessary infrastructure to scale up there operations and become the next global superpower. In this process, a lot of energy is consumed – be it for transportation, manufacturing or construction. This rapid growth of energy use seen over the past two decades have raised concerns for governments and energy-related organizations alike. Questions with regard to the supply, sustainability and exhaustion of energy sources abound, and while most developed countries have taken active steps to reduce consumption of scarce resources, the position of developing countries in this regard is still lacking.

Kahn’s (1995) approach to the sustainable development theory is consistent with the modern day development techniques of Europe 2020 priorities; smart growth, sustainable growth and inclusive growth. The adoption of some innovative strategies such as the utilisation of renewable energy as an integral part of the energy mix could result in growth of the economy, which will eventually trickle down to the poor or extend to the rural or disadvantaged areas of the country. The social sustainability generally explains the idea of equity among the people, empowerment, participation, accessibility and institutional stability. It seeks to ensure a good standard of living in the country by alleviating poverty. Environmental sustainability seeks to explain the ways in which exploitation and utilisation of the natural resources will not be made to negatively affect the environment or the health of human beings (Kahn 1995). Environmental sustainability considers the ways through which resources will not be used up faster than they are being replenished, and the transition toward low carbon emissions despite the increasing population.