Sustainability Meets People's Needs without Hindering Development

Sustainability has become a relevant word in the vocabulary of many organizations, governments and individuals. More than just a word, sustainability relates to the ability of institutions to continue executing their functions without forgetting the effects on the environment and taking into consideration the fair treatment of their employees and the human rights of society. Although sustainability is a widely used term by many individuals, the understanding of this term is not as clear as its popularity. When discussing the ideas of sustainability, most people automatically associate the term with the human impact on the environment. Others relate sustainability to the ability to cut costs and inefficiencies within the organization. A few individuals believe that sustainability is a matter of human rights. So what exactly is sustainability?

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them. However sustainably needs to focus also on other issues such as crime and economic factors.

Sustainability relates to the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain all life, which means developing ways to ensure that all resources on Earth are used and managed responsibly so they can be maintained for future generations.

While driving through the Atlantic Forest in Bahia, everywhere one looked it was green. I could not get over how much green there was. Unfortunately, only 7% of the original forest here remains today (Hance). The rapid growth of the cocoa economy combined with unsustainable practices led to this rapid decline. Agriculture still plays a major role in this region and will continue to impact the Atlantic Forest ecosystem unless more sustainable measures are put into place. There are numerous groups responsible for the direction of development in this region; however, a special emphasis needs to be placed on the role of social divisions and inequality. Presently and into the future, social classes will have an important role in the success or failure of sustainable development in the Atlantic Forest region. To comprehend why, sustainable development must be defined and then evaluated in the context of agriculture and land distribution.

The concept of sustainability is about the capacity of the environment to continue to support our lives and the lives of other living creatures into the future. There are a number of programs to restore the river to maintain communities, fisheries and navigation, to ensure long-term sustainability.

Waste treatment in London is not very energy-efficient or economical which is a cause for high taxes. An interesting alternative, in addition to recycling, is for household waste to be burned or converted to biogas to be used as a source of energy which can provide thousands of households with heat and electricity [13][14].

Sustainability is an ability to meet current human needs for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations. I chose Italy for my city and it relates to sustainability because the country has circular/zero waste economy, there’s green growth and jobs provided, air quality, there’s an energy package, and it has been known to have a EU ETS reform. The circular/zero waste economy and energy package in Europe are still being discussed and a lot of people are having problems with coming to an agreement. Many countries including Italy claims the circular/zero waste economy and the energy

So what is sustainability? It is the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.

“Sustainability is the ability to meet current human needs for natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their needs assumes the environment can function indefinitely without going to a decline from the stresses imposed by as natural systems; such as fertile soil, water, and air” (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP003214.html). I chose Italy for my city and it relates to sustainability because the country has circular/zero waste economy, there’s green growth and jobs provided, air quality, an energy package, and the county has a EU ETS reform. The circular/zero

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

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)

Sustainability is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future 1987). The concept of sustainability comprises of four pillars: environmental; economic; political and social; as can be seen in the image below. Environmental sustainability is the use and management of the environment in a way that it does not deplete our finite resources. Economic sustainability is a long term sustainable economy that supports its community and political sustainability is the collaboration of different bodies of government to achieve a sustainable future. Now social sustainability is hard to define as it encapsulates many different factors; however to be very broad it is to achieve social justice. The real objective for sustainability is that all four pillars work together equally in a precautionary principle;

Every living being are directly or indirectly depend on natural environment. Sustainability helps to balance financial, social, and environmental factors to facilitate responsible business decision making over the immediate and long term. . Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Oxford University press 1987, p.43). Sustainability is also being protective and aware of use of natural resources and development that meets the need of present and everything that is need for our survival and well being depends, directly or indirectly on our natural environment. According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainability is

Landfilling with electricity recovery used in this study is a typical MSW landfill with surface and basic sealing, site operations including landfill gas treatment, sludge treatment, leachate treatment and deposition, and meeting European limits for emissions. The inventory data are taken from the GaBi database (GaBi, 2015). 28% of the landfill gas is assumed to be used for electricity production while 22% of it is assumed to be flared and the rest (50%) emitted to the environment. The energy and manufacturing processes of the sealing materials requirements for the site, are included within the system.

Urbanization, which is becoming a buzzword during the last few decades, is enlarging at a booming speed. It is predicted that 93 percents urban growth will occur to the year 2020, in the developing world (Elliot J.A, 1999). Generally speaking, more than half of the people around the world have been moved to cities, which led to a series of “matters” connected with people’s life that changed in a dramatical way. In this period, sustainable development, another buzzword during the past few years, came into people’s view and gradually became the mainstream of society development. Its definition is to make the development continue in a long term, which means allowing appropriate economic growth and industrialization without