Defining Sustainability

Defining Sustainability PDF Author: Richard B. Howarth
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299237230
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
The rising stature of sustainable development constitutes an important and evolving challenge for natural resource and environmental economics. Is sustainability best achieved through the use and extension of conventional criteria for optimal resource allocation? Or does the concept involve a more substantial shift beyond methods such as present-value maximization and nonmarket valuation? At the heart of this challenge lie questions concerning the precise meaning that should be attached to the phrase “sustainable development,” and how this concept may be operationalized in economic theory and applied policy analysis.

Defining Sustainability

Defining Sustainability PDF Author: Richard B. Howarth
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299237230
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
The rising stature of sustainable development constitutes an important and evolving challenge for natural resource and environmental economics. Is sustainability best achieved through the use and extension of conventional criteria for optimal resource allocation? Or does the concept involve a more substantial shift beyond methods such as present-value maximization and nonmarket valuation? At the heart of this challenge lie questions concerning the precise meaning that should be attached to the phrase “sustainable development,” and how this concept may be operationalized in economic theory and applied policy analysis.

Sustainability Science and Engineering

Sustainability Science and Engineering PDF Author: Martin A. Abraham
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080481272
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
Sustainable development is commonly defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainability in engineering incorporates ethical and social issues into the design of products and processes that will be used to benefit society as a whole. Sustainability Science and Engineering, Volume 1: Defining Principles sets out a series of "Sustainable Engineering Principles" that will help engineers design products and services to meet societal needs with minimal impact on the global ecosystem. Using specific examples and illustrations, the authors cleverly demonstrate opportunities for sustainable engineering, providing readers with valuable insight to applying these principles. This book is ideal for technical and non-technical readers looking to enhance their understanding of the impact of sustainability in a technical society.* Defines the principles of sustainable engineering* Provides specific examples of the application of sustainable engineering in industry* Represents the viewpoints of current leaders in the field and describes future needs in new technologies

Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future

Defining Sustainable Development for Our Common Future PDF Author: Iris Borowy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135961298
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The UN World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, alerted the world to the urgency of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting natural resources or harming the environment. Written by an international group of politicians, civil servants and experts on the environment and development, the Brundtland Report changed sustainable development from a physical notion to one based on social, economic and environmental issues. This book positions the Brundtland Commission as a key event within a longer series of international reactions to pressing problems of global poverty and environmental degradation. It shows that its report, "Our Common Future", published in 1987, covered much more than its definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" for which it became best known. It also addressed a long list of issues which remain unresolved today. The book explores how the work of the Commission juggled contradictory expectations and world views, which existed within the Commission and beyond, and drew on the concept of sustainable development as a way to reconcile profound differences. The result was both an immense success and disappointment. Coining an irresistibly simple definition enabled the Brundtland Commission to place sustainability firmly on the international agenda. This definition gained acceptability for a potentially divisive concept, but it also diverted attention from underlying demands for fundamental political and social changes. Meanwhile, the central message of the Commission – the need to make inconvenient sustainability considerations a part of global politics as much as of everyday life – has been side-lined. The book thus assesses to what extent the Brundtland Commission represented an immense step forward or a missed opportunity.

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309212553
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recognizing the importance of sustainability to its work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to create programs and applications in a variety of areas to better incorporate sustainability into decision-making at the agency. To further strengthen the scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, the EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide a framework for incorporating sustainability into the EPA's principles and decision-making. This framework, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, provides recommendations for a sustainability approach that both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s. Although risk-based methods have led to many successes and remain important tools, the report concludes that they are not adequate to address many of the complex problems that put current and future generations at risk, such as depletion of natural resources, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Moreover, sophisticated tools are increasingly available to address cross-cutting, complex, and challenging issues that go beyond risk management. The report recommends that EPA formally adopt as its sustainability paradigm the widely used "three pillars" approach, which means considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of an action or decision. Health should be expressly included in the "social" pillar. EPA should also articulate its vision for sustainability and develop a set of sustainability principles that would underlie all agency policies and programs.

Sustainability

Sustainability PDF Author: Heather M. Farley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136009280
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Humans are not living within our ecological means. We are using the earth’s resources at a pace that cannot be maintained. We have already seen evidence of the fallout associated with ecological overconsumption and continued abuse of environmental systems will create increasing challenges both today and into the future. Our depletion of natural systems minimizes the possibilities available to future generations who are expected to somehow rely on innovation and ingenuity for their survival. Yet, despite the challenges we face, governments, individuals, non-profits, educational institutions, and corporations are all heralding the promise of sustainable development to save our environmental systems from collapse while allowing for uninterrupted economic growth. Today, the concept of sustainability is a widespread goal that nearly everyone supports. At the same time, almost no one means the same thing when they use the term. Sustainability is so broad and overly used that it seems to mean everything to everyone. The result is that the concept has lost its meaning. In this book, the authors examine the misuses and abuses of "sustainability" and seek to refine and clarify the concept. The authors offer a new definition of sustainability – what they call neo-sustainability – to help guide policies and practices that respect the primacy of the environment, the natural limits of the environment, and the relationship between environmental, social, and economic systems.

Sustainability

Sustainability PDF Author: Helen Kopnina
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136270817
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Sustainability: Key Issues is a comprehensive introductory textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students doing courses in sustainability. Highly original, it covers the very broad spectrum of ideas covered under sustainability, from participation, resilience, growth, ecological modernism through to culture, sustainable communities and sustainable consumption. Each chapter covers one key idea, and has been written by an expert in that field. This book makes key issues approachable, with each chapter containing: a definition of the key concept a history of how and why the issue has emerged a discussion of the advantages, drawbacks, main contributions and controversies associated with this issue case studies to demonstrate how it works in reality critical discussion of mainstream models of sustainability and the reason why they don't work introduction of beyond-the-convention alternatives, including circular economy and cradle to cradle approaches This is the ideal book for students and anyone interested in understanding the key issues within sustainability and how they interact.

Just Sustainabilities

Just Sustainabilities PDF Author: Robert D Bullard
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136562664
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Environmental activists and academics alike are realizing that a sustainable society must be a just one. Environmental degradation is almost always linked to questions of human equality and quality of life. Throughout the world, those segments of the population that have the least political power and are the most marginalized are selectively victimized by environmental crises. This book argues that social and environmental justice within and between nations should be an integral part of the policies and agreements that promote sustainable development. The book addresses the links between environmental quality and human equality and between sustainability and environmental justice.

The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability

The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability PDF Author: Robert Brinkmann
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319713892
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 883

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Book Description
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the practice of sustainability through a diverse range of case studies spanning across varied fields and areas of expertise. It provides a clear indication as to the contemporary state of sustainability in a time faced by issues such as global climate change, challenges of environmental justice, economic globalization and environmental contamination. The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainability explores three broad themes: Environmental Sustainability, Social Sustainability and Economic Sustainability. The authors critically explore these themes and provide insight into their linkages with one another to demonstrate the substantial efforts currently underway to address the sustainability of our planet. This handbook is an important contribution to the best practises on sustainability, drawn from many different examples across the fields of engineering, geology, anthropology, sociology, biology, chemistry and religion.

Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility

Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility PDF Author: Samuel O. Idowu
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642280351
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the business world has developed from a fig leaf marketing front into an important aspect of corporate behavior over the past several years. Sustainable strategies are valued, desired and deployed more and more by relevant players in many industries all over the world. Both research and corporate practice therefore see CSR as a guiding principle for business success. The “Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility” has been conceived to assist researchers and practitioners to align business and societal objectives. All actors in the field will find reliable and up to date definitions and explanations of the key terms of CSR in this authoritative and comprehensive reference work. Leading experts from the global CSR community have contributed to make the “Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility” the definitive resource for this field of research and practice.

A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies

A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies PDF Author: Josias Zietsman
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISBN: 0309213657
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
CD-ROM has title: Compendium of performance measures for NCHRP report 708 : a guidebook for sustainability performance measurement for transportation agencies.