Sustainability Defined

The word sustainability is used a lot these days, all too often referring casually to anything that seems “eco-friendly.” But the term has a history and a meaning that is more comprehensive.

In 1983, the United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development, an independent organization representing the developing and developed nations of the world. In 1987, the Commission completed its research into the issues facing society and issued its report, Our Common Future. That report contained the regularly quoted definition of Sustainable Development as:

“Development that meets the needs of the present world without compromising the needs of future generations to meet theirs.”

In its wisdom, the Commission recognized that human activities could no longer be compartmentalized “within broad areas of concern (environment, economics, social); that these are not separate crises…they are all one.” Experts of the day in the fields of environment and economic development were often at odds with each other, and society was rarely on their radar screen. The definition advises us to behave in ways that will preserve resources and opportunities for future generations worldwide. The report doesn't preach gloom and doom, but recognizes the vital linkage between our needs for social equity, environmental quality and economic development, and lays out a path toward the future.

Those three terms became known as the three Es and are now referred to as the “triple bottom line” of sustainability. Borrowing from the Global Reporting Initiative, an international organization and sustainability reporting framework, the three Es are:

Social (equity): The impacts an organization has on the social systems within which it operates

Environment: An organization's impacts on living and non-living natural systems, including ecosystems, land, air, and water

Economic (development): The organization's impacts on the economic conditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, and global levels

We all must consider the impacts our actions have on all three aspects if our planet is to thrive. We have a long way to go to achieve sustainability, but the journey is vital.