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"Development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs"
Links to Information Sources on
Sustainable
Development are divided as follows:
Corporate Social Reporting
"Our biggest challenge in the new century is
take an idea that seems abstract - Sustainable Development - and turn it into a
daily reality for all the world's people"
Koffi Annam - UN Secretary
General
What’s it all about?
A question often raised
these days as the terminology is widely used in a bewildering array of contexts
– social justice, transport, construction, community development, agriculture,
climate change. The 1987 Brundtland definition is the one that has gained
most international acceptance: ‘ Meeting the needs of current generations,
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
An essentially simple
concept that few can argue against, but all encompassing and open to varied
interpretations. Sustainable development recognises the interdependence of
environmental, social and economic systems and promotes equality and justice
through people empowerment and a sense of global citizenship. Whilst we cannot
be sure what the future may bring, a preferable future is a more sustainable
one.
The concept of
sustainable development began to emerge towards the end of the last century and
its importance started to prick the social conscience, helped by publicity
surrounding issues such as the thinning of the ozone layer, widespread
destruction of rainforests, drought and famine, urban pollution and the threat
of extinction to a number of the world's best loved and most recognisable
species. People slowly began to realise that the pursuit of development was not
devoid of responsibility to our planet, its plants and animals, existing
populations or our unborn children.
Sustainable
Development is about:
-
Balanced and equitable economic development
-
High levels of employment, social cohesion and inclusiveness
-
A
high level of environmental protection and responsible use of natural
resources
-
Coherent policy making in an open, transparent and accountable political
system
-
Effective international co-operation to promote sustainable development
globally
How it
began?
The concept of Sustainable Development was first
given real political momentum in the United Nations Brundtland Commission
report of 1987 (“Our Common Future”).
This concept
was initiated within Agenda 21 of the 1992 UN Conference on
Environment and Development ('the Earth Summit') in Rio de Janeiro; a 40
chapter action plan to form the basis of strategies to address the issue of
sustainable development. Agenda 21
a far-reaching
statement on the basis of which world leaders committed themselves to building a
more sustainable world.
Some of the major
aims outlined in Agenda 21 included:
o
Reducing the amount of energy and raw materials society consumes, as well as the
pollution and waste it produces;
o
Protecting fragile ecosystems and environments;
o
Bringing about a fairer distribution of wealth, both between countries and
between different social groups within countries, with particular emphasis on
the rights of poor and disadvantaged people.
A number of
principles are outlined in Agenda 21, including:
o
People are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature;
o
Development today must not undermine the development and environment needs of
present and future generations;
o
In order to achieve sustainable
development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the
development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it;
o
Environmental
issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned
citizens. Government shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and
participation by making environmental information widely available.
Then ten years on World Leader met again in
Johannesburg 2002 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development to review
progress and seek to overcome the obstacles to sustainable development and to
generate initiatives that would deliver results and improve people’s lives while
protecting the environment.
Sustainable Development in Business
Global Industry is on a three-stage journey
from environmental compliance, through environmental risk management, to
long-term sustainable development strategies.
For the business enterprise, sustainable
development means adopting strategies and activities that meet the needs of the
enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing
the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.
One Prominent Approaches to SD used by global
industry is known as the triple-bottom line - a term coined by John
Elkington (1997), author and management consultant, which refers to the three
prongs of social, environmental, and financial accountability. It is a term that
has been championed by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, is
finding increasing and widespread international acceptance within the corporate
community and one that is informing and transforming corporate reporting
practices.
The notion of reporting against the three
components (or 'bottom lines') of economic, environmental, and social
performance is directly tied to the concept and goal of sustainable development.
Triple bottom line reporting, if properly implemented, will provide information
to enable others to assess how sustainable an organisation's or a community's
operations are.
The perspective taken is that for an
organisation (or a community) to be sustainable (a long run perspective) it must
be financially secure (as evidenced through such measures as profitability); it
must minimise (or ideally eliminate) its negative environmental impacts; and, it
must act in conformity with societal expectations. These three factors are
obviously highly inter-related.
In conclusion,
sustainable development can be defined simply as
a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It is a
vision of progress that links economic development, protection of the
environment and social justice, and its values are recognised by democratic
governments and political movements the world over.
For more information on
Sustainable Development
check out these web links:
General
International Institute for Sustainable Development advances policy
recommendations on
International Trade and Investment,
Economic Policy,
Climate Change,
Measurement and Indicators, and
Natural Resource Management to make development sustainable.
Business and Sustainable Development
UN Division for
Sustainable Development
United Nations Environment Programme's flagship magazine for
environmentally sustainable development -
Our Planet
ECO Gateway link Centre on Sustainable Development
aNswer
is an online register of environmental research being undertaken in the island
of Ireland
Sustainable Development International information source
AccountAbility - Institute for Social and Ethical AccountAbility is
committed to strengthening the social responsibility and ethical behaviour of
the business community and not-for-profit organisations. It promotes best
practice in social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR), and
develops standards, guidelines and accreditation procedures for application by
organisations and their stakeholders
Earth Council-National Council for Sustainable Development
World wide web virtual library on
Sustainable Development
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
UN
World Summit for Sustainable Development
Stakeholder forum for our common future
World Bank Report on Development Indicators
World Economic Forum for data on a countries environmental sustainability
OECD on
Sustainable Development
Sustainability Web Ring with extensive relevant web links
GRI 2002
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
Civil Society and Sustainable Development is an information website
Sustainability Reporting Network
EU based
Sustainable Development Strategy for Ireland
Irish national
Sustainable Development Partnership
Basic information on sustainable development
from
ENFO
British Standards Institute draft management system on sustainability
UK based IChemE on
Sustainability
UK based
Forum for the Future's Directory of Sustainability in Practice
UK based
Centre for Sustainable and Environmental Management
UK based
Centre for Sustainable Design
UK based
SIGMA Project - Putting Sustainability into Practice
UK based first stop information source on
Sustainability projects
UK based Encyclopaedia of
Sustainable Development
Disposable Planet BBC news special on sustainable development
CIWEM on
Sustainable Development
UK
Centre for Sustainable Design
UK Government
Sustainable Development Site
UK based
Eden Project for Sustainability
DTI UK on
Sustainable Business
Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development
Centre for
Sustainable Design
Dantes EU Demonstration Project for Sustainable Development
EU information links on
Sustainable Development
EU Environment Commission information on
Sustainable Development
EU Foundation for improvement of living and working conditions on corporate
social responsibility and
Sustainable Development with extensive links to relevant sites
Nordic Partnership is an NGO-business network
European Partners for the
Environment
London Sustainability Exchange
London
Sustainable Development
US based
US EPA on
Business Environmental Accounting,
Sustainability and
Sustainable Development information
US based PPRC on
Measuring Environmental Performance
World Resource Institute is a US based environmental research and policy
organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people's
lives
CERES is a U.S. coalition of environmental, investor, and advocacy groups
working together for a sustainable future
Information on
Measuring Environmental Performance and
Design for Cleaner Production
US based
Sustainable Measures
Education for
Sustainable Development Toolkit
Tools for
SD on Campus
Other countries
outside EU/US
Johannesburg World Summit
Australian based extensive
Eco-sustainable Links source including
Architecture and Planning,
Building and Housing and
Business Ethics
Canadian
Sustainability Reporting and
Corporate Environmental Innovation
Website
Relevant Books:
Leading Change Toward
Sustainability
A Change-Management Guide for Business, Government and
Civil Society
Bob Doppelt,
Program for Watershed and Community Health, Institute for a
Sustainable Environment, The University of Oregon, USA
This
book is a really useful read for those leading or indeed aspiring to lead change
to sustainability in organizations worldwide. It explores the vision,
leadership, organizational and cultural change processes necessary for success
interspersed with frequent guidance in the light of practical knowledge gained
from numerous case studies both successful and unsuccessful.
Initially
the book explores organizational experiences and struggles as they aspire
towards sustainable development The Author having spent some three years
researching how the leaders of both private and public organisations that have
initiated and sustained significant sustainability programmes designed and
approached them. One of the significant findings being that organisational and
cultural change is the key missing ingredient in the operationalisation of
sustainable development. Without such change, sustainability efforts usually
stall soon after they begin or fail outright. Changing organisational culture
requires interventions in two key areas; altering the governance system of the
organisation viewing all organisational internal members, as well as external
stakeholders, as vital parts of an interdependent system. Such beliefs engender
a skilful distribution of information, power and wealth among employees and
stakeholders because managers realise that all of the parts of the
organisational system must feel valued and be meaningfully involved for these
higher purposes to be achieved. The second key intervention required is good
leadership at most levels of the enterprise.
Effective sustainability leaders have the ability to keep their organisation
focused on achieving its higher mission, inspiring and mobilising employees and
stakeholders to embrace change as an exciting opportunity to learn.
Organisations with ineffective governance system or insufficient leadership have
static cultures and the adoption of a more sustainable path will be stymied.
Interestingly he has found that leading sustainability orientated organisations
always seem to place their emphasis on attaining important goals in the future
not just to avoiding to-day's problems, are consistent, persistent, innovative
and thus have the potential to accomplish great things.
Various case examples from companies leading change towards sustainability
companies such as Nike, Starbucks, IKEA, Chiquita, Interface, Swisscom and Norm
Thompson and indeed governmental examples such as those in the Netherlands and
Santa Monica in California demonstrate practical application of the key concepts
throughout the book making it a realistic, constructive and valuable read for
those on the successful road to sustainability. Read it and you can make a
difference.
Find Out More/Buy:
Leading Change Toward Sustainability: A...
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Publishing Links to Information on
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