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Global sustainability; chapter summary
In depth document of the VU IBA course Global sustainability 2023 (chapter 1-12) from the course textbook 'Sustainable Business'. Covers ALL theoretical study material for GSUS course.
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Global sustainability - Chapter 1-12 revisionChapter 1
Introduction
Sustainability is the capacity to support, maintain, or endure; it can indicate both a goal and a process.
Sustainability has come to be linked with the environment and a better way to structure our societies,
companies, and our daily lives in order to protect the long-term future of our planet and the ability of
future generations to thrive.
1. Social sustainability; often conceived in terms of sustaining the well-being of people
2. Environmental sustainability refers to sustaining nature or natural resources.
The two are intricately interlinked, due to the fact that human welfare depends on the sustainability of the
environment.
The club of rome; an influential think tank that brings together the world's leading scientists and
politicians, has produced the “limits to growth report”.
The report demonstrated that an economy built on the continuous expansion of population,
resulting from fewer deaths due to lower child mortality and longer lifespans, as well as increase in
material demand, is fundamentally unsustainable.
Sustainability has been re-defined as the integration of the environmental, economic and social
dimensions. In business, these objectives came to be known as the triple P- people, planet, profit.
Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC); assumes that during early industrialization economies use material
resources more intensively until a threshold is reached after which materials are used more efficiently and
thus less intensely. EKC issues that economic growth and technological development will reduce
environmental degradation.
It is believed that higher income levels and economic growth will lead to environmental
improvement or at least reduced environmental degradation.
Rather than seeing the environment as one of three equal pillars of the triple bottom line, it is a
foundation upon which society and profit are dependent. Without a healthy planet, no social or economic
system can be sustained.
Implications of sustaining development can be examined through the theories of EKC, ecological
modernization, and the post-material values hypothesis. All these theories are contested with the belief
that economic development is positively related to improvement of environmental and social conditions
and sustainable innovation.
, Critics of EKC hypothesis argue that the material saturation level of developed societies is far
from sustainable if they continue at the same rate of consumption (most developed countries are failing to
reduce GHGs emissions and are unwilling to cut back on their consumption.
The marxist critics have mentioned that the cheaper or more efficient a production process
becomes the more that tends to be produced and as capitalism requires continual economic growth the
pressures on the words resources investable increase too.
The ICPD held in Cairo in 1994 concentrated on reducing mortality and fertility rates around the
world. ICPD plan of action included policies including sexual and reporductive health services, education,
and gender equality. Family planning policies and education for women were targeted at reducing
unwanted pregnancies and population pressures.
The Johannesburg world summit on sustainable development in 2002 addressed demographic
issues, mostly from the perspective of health promotion and policies to increase economic prosperity
rather than addressing the continuing high fertility rates particularly in the poorest countries. Policies
included reducing unwanted pregnancies and curbing population growth seemed to have been largely
abandoned.
Two concerns regarding these conferences;
1. The implication of policies originating from such international conferences has wider
implications on how population issues are treated/ignored regarding business (business at risk if
population is uneven, population=good), however when population density is high, resources are
depleted. The growing wealthy population is putting an enormous strain on natural resources.
2. The second implication is that the conferences can offer at best inspiring outlines, and at worse to
state political goals without practical accomplishments. Summits often play a symbolic or
theatrical role in persuading that political elites are serious about sustainable development.
A business can be described as a commercial enterprise, company or firm involved in the trade of
products and services to customers for profit. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies and are
usually privately owned; in socialist economies businesses may also be operated as not-for-profit
enterprises.
Increased awareness has encouraged and empowered civil society to play a more active role in the
regulatory process, and motivated MNCs to increase transparency by including relevant details in their
public reporting on their operations.
The earth summit in 1992 set a precedent and established a framework for conventions that were to focus
on climate change and biodiversity, identifying basic aims, principles, norms, institutions, and procedures
for action. MNCs presented themselves as part of the solution rather than the problem.
Being sustainable can be good public relations (PR).
Green washing describes an individual or business promoting something as sustainable- either business as
a whole or an initiative, product or activity while actually continuing to operate in socially and
environmentally damaging ways.
Being sustainable makes obvious commercial sense, with improved energy efficiency and waste
management strategies enabling companies to save billions on their bills.
, Some businesses choose to be sustainable in order to prevent government intervention or policies
that might restrict their operations.
Social sustainability refers to issues concerned with social equality, poverty and problems associated with
justice.
Economic sustainability is linked to well-being in relation to financial indicators such as GDP and
is characterized by underlying economic approaches to the range of social issues attempting to capture the
values embedded in human and natural capital.
It is often assumed that economic growth is the key component of poverty reduction. Overall,
economic growth is believed to improve people's quality of life by increasing expenditure on healthcare,
education, and public services. However, critics have noted that the relationship between economic
growth and global employment is weakening.
Economic growth may be increasing in countries where redistributive policies are few and
inequalities are already high. There may be a reduction in absolute poverty, but also a lessening of global
employment and income equality. Some economists who think in the long term advocate ‘degrowth’ or a
steady-state economy.
Climate change is one of the largest challenges we face. The primary international body for monitoring
and promoting action is the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC).
Recent reports state that GHG concentrations have increased by 30% due to human activity. The
main driver of change in corporate strategy was the adoption of the Kyoto protocol in 1997.
- Changes in weather patterns significantly
- Greenhouse effect = thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by the
atmosphere and is re-radiated in all directions. Resulting in an elevation of average
surface temperature.
Eco-efficiency refers to the idea of doing more with less.
OECD definition; The efficiency with which ecological resources are used to meet human needs’
and represents it as a ratio of output divided by the input (output = value of products/services produced by
a firm, input = sum of environmental pressures generated by the firm). However, despite good intentions,
efficient use of resources still supports the endless spiral of production and consumption.
WBCSD definition; the delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human
needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity
throughout the life-cycle to a level at least in line with the earth's estimated carrying capacity.
Rebound effect/jevons paradox suggests that eco-efficiency ultimately leads to more
consumption.
The rebound effect (jevons paradox) is a consumer response to the introduction of new eco-efficient
technologies. Eco-efficiency tends to offset the beneficial effects by actually increasing consumption of
the supposedly guilt free products.
Cradle to cradle (C2C) supports an endless cycle of material regeneration where nothing gets wasted,
instead of the cradle to grave concept. It proposes how contemporary waste and depletion of resources can
be avoided by adhering to a cyclical waste = food principle.
, One of the most remarkable developments was made by the cradle to cradle products innovation institute
and the Ellen MacArthur foundation that supports circular economy; 1. Eliminating from the economy toxins and
non renewables, 2. Eliminating waste, 3. Recreating the cycle between urban and agricultural areas, securing mutual
nutrient flows, 4. Finding a dynamic balance between organic and tech produced products, 5. Identifying strategic
opportunities.
Eco effectiveness supports an endless cycle of material exchanges. It focuses on the development of
products and industrial systems that maintain or enhance the quality and productivity of materials rather
than depleting them.
The world economic forum report noted the paradox that; on the one hand, globalization in recent
decades has helped to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty. But on the other hand, the ever-increasing
extraction of resources and economic activity has placed increasingly unsustainable pressures on the
environment upon which we all depend.
The circular economy model uses the functioning of ecosystems as an exemplar for industrial processes,
emphasizing a shift towards ecologically sound products and renewable energy.
Sustainability is often connected to ethics, as both imply that one should act within governmental law
(adhering to regulations and policies that control business) and conventional law (adhering to the
prevailing standards accepted by society).
Milten Friedman, has proposed that the business of business is business and sustainability is for
the governments, charities and NGOs. The maxim business is business implies that since a company;s
aims are purely commercial, sustainability will be accepted only if there is a good financial case for doing
so.
Normally in business we speak of normative ethics, distinguishing between prescriptive and descriptive
ethics.
Prescriptive ethics prescribe norms and standards using moral improvements.
Descriptive ethics describe what business people think is right and wrong, clarifying and
analyzing ethical beliefs rather than changing them.
Dominant ethics; absence of ethics, tend to regulate conservation necessary for healthy
ecosystems to the government and these tasks are too large to be adequately addressed by such an
institution.
The relationship between sustainability and ethics is not always straightforward. Poverty reduction
through increased resource consumption actually deepens environmental sustainability challenges by
putting increased pressure on planetary resources.
The UN Sustainable development solutions network (SDSN) explains that innovation, management skills,
and corporate financial resources will be a major provider of solutions to most of the sustainability
challenges that we face.
Some businesses choose to be sustainable in order to prevent government intervention or policies
that might restrict their operations, they use sustainability measures to forestall legislation or to avoid
prosecution and litigation (i.e polluting industries or factories with poor working conditions).
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