LibGuides: Climate Change and Sustainability: Sustainability

Sustainability Definition

Sustainability

The long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal practice. In general, sustainability is understood as a form of intergenerational ethics in which the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do not diminish the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels of wealth, utility, or welfare.

The idea of sustainability rose to prominence with the modern environmental movement, which rebuked the unsustainable character of contemporary societies where patterns of resource use, growth, and consumption threatened the integrity of ecosystems and the well-being of future generations. Sustainability is presented as an alternative to short-term, myopic, and wasteful behaviours. It can serve as a standard against which existing institutions are to be judged and as an objective toward which society should move. Sustainability also implies an interrogation of existing modes of social organization to determine the extent to which they encourage destructive practices as well as a conscious effort to transform the status quo so as to promote the development of more-sustainable activities.

Quoted from:
Meadowcroft, J. (2021, August 12). sustainability. Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/science/sustainability

Environmental Movement Definition

Environmentalism

Political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities; through the adoption of forms of political, economic, and social organization that are thought to be necessary for, or at least conducive to, the benign treatment of the environment by humans; and through a reassessment of humanity’s relationship with nature. In various ways, environmentalism claims that living things other than humans, and the natural environment as a whole, are deserving of consideration in reasoning about the morality of political, economic, and social policies.

Quoted from:
Elliott, L. (2020, September 9). Environmentalism. Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/environmentalism

CQ Researcher

Circular Economy - Can companies renounce a “take-make-waste” model?
A growing number of companies worldwide are attempting to reimagine their businesses to keep their products and components continuously in use. Prodded by shareholders, environmentalists and governments, they are signing on to the concept of a circular economy, in which goods are designed to be easily shared, reused, refurbished, harvested for parts and eventually recycled for their raw materials. The goal is to eliminate waste and reduce pollution and the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. China and the European Union are leading the way, investing money and creating new laws and regulations to accelerate a transition to a circular economy. In the United States, individual states are passing laws that require producers to finance and manage take-back programs for their products. But progress has been slow. Analysts estimate that 8.6 percent of the world economy is circular, down from 9.1 percent two years ago. And some question whether the circular economy will yield the promised environmental benefits, while others say progress will rest on customers changing their behavior.
Climate Change - Can the world avert climate catastrophe?
This year has been the hottest in recorded history, with air and ocean temperatures soaring to new highs around the globe. Extreme weather exacerbated by climate change — including heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, floods and droughts — has taken a deadly and costly toll. Next year could bring even higher temperatures and more-extreme weather events as the ongoing El Niño weather pattern amplifies the effects of climate change. The climate crisis has spurred soaring investments in wind and solar power, but humanity remains on track to experience long-term global warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era, exposing billions of people to dangerously high temperatures and rising sea levels. And wealthy countries, which generate most planet-warming greenhouse gases, are not meeting their pledges to help poorer nations cope with the effects of climate change.
Air Pollution and Climate Change - Are tougher regulations necessary?
Air pollution kills 3.3 million people a year worldwide, including 55,000 Americans, according to a new study by an international group of scientists. Moreover, airborne pollutants, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), are contributing to global climate change. In response, President Obama, frustrated by congressional inaction, has used his executive authority to institute a sweeping plan aimed at limiting CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, curbing smog-causing ozone and encouraging the growth of renewable energy. Industry officials are challenging Obama's Clean Power Plan in court, arguing the regulations are too costly and that market forces are enough to bring about reductions in pollution. Environmental advocates dismiss those claims and say the administration should have gone further in tightening emission standards. Meanwhile, the United States and almost all the other nations on Earth are set to begin climate talks later this month in Paris to seek consensus on ways to curb emissions to stave off further warming of the planet.
ESG Investing - Will U.S. culture wars reverse the trend toward considering environmental, social and governance factors?
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing peaked in popularity in 2021 as trillions of corporate and investor dollars flowed into companies and funds that meet certain criteria. Government regulators in Europe and the United States are formalizing how to report some ESG elements, such as greenhouse gas emissions, labor and diversity practices and board structure. That has spawned a backlash in the United States, mostly from elected Republican officials who object to what they call “woke” policies and federal overreach they say stifles some industries while diverting focus from shareholder gains. Proponents, including many Democrats, say climate change and labor issues make it impossible to ignore the elements of ESG when assessing risk to a company's profit. Though the term may go away, increasing government regulation, extreme weather stemming from climate change and workforce issues may mean investors will not give up the underlying elements of considering ESG factors in investing anytime soon.
Climate Change - Will world governments act in time? (Short Report)
Weather-related disasters continued to batter the United States and other countries this year, with heat and rainfall setting records across the globe. In August, the leading international body studying climate change issued its strongest warning yet that the world is running out of time to avoid even more catastrophic droughts, storms, heat waves, wildfires and floods, even as new research confirms that emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases from the burning of fossil fuels are to blame. President Biden is acting on several fronts to shift the country away from those fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — and is prodding other countries to do the same ahead of a critical international climate conference beginning Oct. 31, but a rift within his own party has stalled his climate agenda in Congress.