How is sustainable development linked to ecological footprint?

Ecological footprint is the effect of human activities which is measure in terms of biologically productive land and water which is required to produce the goods produced the goods consumed and assimilate the wastes that are generated, it is essentially the amount of the environment which is necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support a particular lifestyle. The indicator is an estimate of the amount of space on the earth that an individual uses in order to survive using the existing technology and resources on our planet.

Sustainability has been at the forefront of much international policy in the recent years, however how it should be implemented is contested. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers a set of guidelines and goals for nations around the world. This however, is telling about the predominant voices on sustainable development where there is a focus on international assistance and management. This section will look at how exactly the international voices interact with the local ones on how sustainable development should actually be achieved in developing countries.

The social component of sustainability is aimed at the person and is focused on preserving the stability of the social and cultural systems, including the reduction of destructive conflicts among people. An important aspect of this approach is the equitable sharing of benefits. It is also desirable to preserve the cultural capital and diversity at the global level, as well as a better use of sustainable development practices available in the non-dominant cultures. To achieve sustainable development, modern society will have to create a more efficient decision-making system, which takes into account historical experience and encourages pluralism. It is important not only to achieve intra- and intergenerational justice. As part of the concept of human development, man is not an object but the subject of development. Based on the expansion of human choices as the main value, the concept of sustainable development implies that people should participate in the processes that shape the scope of their activities, promote the adoption and implementation of decisions and monitor their

Over the course of the past few decades, humans have truly started to understand and study issues that threaten our environment in great depth. Modern environmental sustainability is defined as “the link between the health of nature and society, population growth, distribution of wealth and the combined approach to development, equity and conservation not new to social and environmental policy” (Oiamo 23). The definition of sustainability has transformed over time along with our knowledge and continually evolving understanding of the word. Sustainable development is a process that goes hand in hand with sustainability, however the definition is widely deliberated. Nonetheless, the most accepted definition was coined from the Brundtland Report in 1987 is “development that meets the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (Oiamo 28). Succinctly, sustainable development is only using the essentials needed to preserve ourselves as of right now, and nothing more. What lead to this present-day concept of environmentalism and sustainability were economic, environmental and social shifts prior to the 1970s.These are known as the three pillars of sustainability and were contrived by environmentalists such as Ebenezer Howard and Rachel Carson.

“Many current discussions about sustainability focus on the ways in which human activity...can be maintained in the future without exhausting all of our current resources… there has been a close correlation between the growth of human society and environmental degradation - as communities grow, the environment often declines” (603).

Ecological footprint helps us understand human pressure on the planet. It compares human demand with the planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate it is important to change our lifestyles in order to lead a fulfilling life without degrading the environment.

The most commonly used definition of sustainable development is still that given in the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), i.e. sustainable development is ‘a process to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ Sustainable development is therefore about creating a better life for all people in ways that will be as viable in the future as they are at present. In other words, sustainable development is based on principles of sound husbandry of the world’s resources, and on equity in the way those resources are used and in the way in which the benefits obtained from them are distributed (Making Tourism More Sustainable, 2005).

The ecological footprint theory and explanation was developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William E. Rees in 1996, to account for the earth’s natural resource depletion and consumption associated with humanity (Bunker). Greg Bunker, author of Ecological Footprint Analysis defines the ecological footprint as “the total area of biologically productive land and water required by an entity to sustain its current consumption levels. The Ecological Footprint analysis has been applied to countries, businesses,

According to Wackernagel et al. (1999), “the ecological footprint assesses people's use of natural capital by comparing their resource consumption and waste production to the regenerative capacity of the earth” (p. 604). Overall, an ecological footprint analyzes the impact a community or person has on the environment by assessing their use of natural resources and production of waste; this assessment is compared to the regenerative capacity of the earth and expressed as the amount of natural resources (e.g. number of earths) required to sustain specific levels of consumption and waste production.

The link is to a report, titled Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The report covers ecosystem changes and how that is intertwined with humans and their well-being. The ecosystems of the earth are complex and have many variables. Human actions can have a significant impact on these ecosystems and the report aims to seeks and apply scientific analysis and reasoning to how human actions have and need to change to support these diverse ecosystems focusing on sustainability.

The concept of footprint analysis is that it can change overtime, depending on the number of individuals living in that particular area and by how much they consume in terms of energy, technology, goods and resources. It gave me an idea of how much land water is needed to support my lifestyle, determine my population, geography, climate, food and needs for energy. Moreover, it gives me a few ideas of what I can do to reduce my ecological footprint in each consumption category such as transportation, housing, food and goods.

In general, this report discusses the successes and failures overall, analyzes sustainable development, institutional gaps, and also a call to action. Both Lomborg and The Brundtland Report agree that “...infant mortality is falling; human life expectancy is increasing; the proportion of the world’s adults who can read and write is climbing; the proportion of children starting school is rising; and global food production increases faster than the population grows.” (Brundtland 93) In conjunction with all the positive actions being taken; there are also environmental trends that threaten to radically alter the planet, that threaten the lives of many species upon it, including the human species. There has also been a growing realization in national government and multilateral institutions that it is impossible to separate economic development issues from environmental issues. Nevertheless, “humanity has the capability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Brundtland 95) Furthermore, the goal for sustainable development and the integrated nature of the global environment/development challenges pose problems for institutions. “There is a growing need for effective international cooperation to manage ecological and economic interdependence.” (Brundtland 97) Last but not least, “To achieve the needed changes, we believe that an active follow-up of this report is imperative. It is with this in mind that we call for the UN General Assembly, upon due consideration, to transform this report into a UN Programme on Sustainable Development.” (Brundtland 99) There are many environmental issues occurring to our beautiful planet right now and will

When starting this assignment I had no clue exactly what my ecological footprint was, I never really paid attention to what and ecological footprint was until this assignment. In order for me to figure out what my ecological footprint is I chose to take two quizzes in order to see if my answers all matched up. After taking both tests my results were all different but all stated that the way I am going about life in our habit is not so eco-friendly as I thought I was and I definitely need to make some changes.

Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014)

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the