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Environmental SustainabilityIntroduction

Introduction

Environmental Sustainability (ES)

Environmental sustainability is defined as the capacity of the environment to continue to function indefinitely. The aim of environmental sustainability is to minimize detriment to the environment. It is based on the simple idea that if resources are consumed faster than they take to recover, there comes a time when these resources run out.

In a sustainable world, the demands society imposes on Nature are in harmony with Nature's capacity to satisfy these demands. The risk of unsustainable development is the disappearance over time, not only of non-renewable resources such as minerals or petroleum, but also those we have always considered renewable, but whose generation cycle is slower than the rate of consumption, as in the case of fish, trees or fresh water.

Sustainable Development

Environmental sustainability is part of a larger concept called 'sutainable development', which has been defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as 'development that satisfies the needs of present generations without compromising the possibilities of those of the future to meet their own needs.'

Conceptually, the field of sustainable development can be divided into three components: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability.

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The Sustainable Development Division of the United Nations outlines the following areas within the scope of sustainable development:

  • Agriculture
  • Atmosphere
  • Biodiversity
  • Biotechnology
  • Capacity-building
  • Climate Change
  • Consumption and Production Patterns
  • Demographics
  • Desertification and Drought
  • Disaster Reduction and Management
  • Education and Awareness
  • Energy
  • Finance
  • Forests
  • Fresh Water
  • Health
  • Human Settlements
  • Indicators
  • Industry
  • Information for Decision Making and Participation
  • Integrated Decision Making
  • International Law
  • International Cooperation for Enabling Environment
  • Institutional Arrangements
  • Land management
  • Major Groups
  • Mountains
  • National Sustainable Development Strategies
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Poverty
  • Sanitation
  • Science
  • SmallIslands
  • Sustainable tourism
  • Technology
  • Toxic Chemicals
  • Trade and Environment
  • Transport
  • Waste (Hazardous)
  • Waste (Radioactive)
  • Waste (Solid)
  • Water

Current Situation of the Ecological Footprint

Ecological footprint analysis measures the demand we impose on Nature. It compares human consumption of natural resources with the planet's ecological capacity for regenerating them. It is an estimate of the biologically productive amount of land and sea needed in order to regenerate the resources consumed by the human population and to absorb wastes generated by current technology.

Through this analysis, we can estimate how many planets would be necessary to sustain the current population if everyone maintained the same attitudes and lifestyle. The ecological footprint quantifies energy consumption, biomass, construction materials, water and other resources, and turns them into a standard unit of the earth's surface referred to as 'global hectares'.

In 2003, consumption of the world's resources totaled 1.8 global hectares. Today, there are studies showing that the human ecological footprint exceeds the Earth's production capacity by over 25 percent. The following figures show the current situation with respect to worldwide resource consumption.

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Climate Change

The Earth's climate has undergone many changes throughout History. These natural changes in climate are due to different external and internal influences, including orbital variations, the impact of meteorites and continental drift.

In recent years, the effect of human activity on the climate has been studied in great detail, as a consequence of the growing concern for environmental sustainability. Climate change of human origin refers to climate change attributed directly or indirectly to human activity. This effect is added to the natural variability of climate observed over comparable periods of time, and basically translates into the alteration of the atmospheric composition of our planet due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity.

The greenhouse effect is a phenomenon by which certain gases which make up part of the planet's atmosphere retain part of the energy emitted by the earth from having been heated through solar radiation. Similar to what happens in a greenhouse, this phenomenon prevents the solar energy constantly received by the earth from going back immediately into space, thus permitting a moderate climate that is favorable to human life. However, according to current scientific consensus, human activity is increasing the greenhouse effect with the emission of certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide, and this is causing a change in climate all over the planet which may have an irreversible impact on our development.

These changes lead to a gradual increase in the earth's temperature, which, in turn, is the cause of other environmental problems:

  • Desertization and droughts.
  • Deforestation.
  • Polar melting, which would cause an increase in sea level, submerging coastal cities.
  • Increase in extreme weather phenomena, such as floods and hurricanes.
  • Reduction in biodiversity.

The reduction of mechanisms that produce climate change caused by human activity is one of the main objectives of environmental sustainability, and one of Abengoa's principal concerns.

Information and ES Organizations