Sustainability

In the context of environmentalism, sustainability is protecting the natural environment without compromising economic progress. Perhaps the most well-known definition of the term ‘sustainable development’ or ‘sustainability’ is the one developed by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) in 1987:

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Every program in environmental sustainability tries to pre-empt threats as they happen, or else mitigate and control the damage. Issues are encountered whenever environmental quality is irreparably compromised, such as the haphazard exploitation of non-renewable resources or wholesale destruction of nature. For every threat to the environment that threatens the future of economical resources, sustainability requires environment managers to take action. Typical solutions include conservation policies, recycling, realigning production techniques, and using renewable resources. Sustaining human population is also an aspect of sustainable development.

Environmental sustainability is part and parcel of economic well-being. As stipulated in their ambitious Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations hope to see an environmentally sustainable world by 2015. The seventh goal of the UN MDGs, to ensure environmental sustainability, specifically hopes to "integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources." However, the alarming events in this millennium and beforehand may consign such aims to wishful thinking.

Ideally, environmental sustainability triggers innovations in technology and improves quality of life while preserving natural resources, economic development, and the diversity of life.

Because human population and the needs of society are not stagnant, the ‘state’ of sustainability is ever changing. Due to the dynamic nature of society and its dependence on the natural world, the great challenge for human beings is to achieve equilibrium between our needs, the needs of future generations, and the needs of other living beings.

Short-sightedness is still a problem for most. Any profit gained today at the expense of tomorrow, is not true gain or real wealth. Environmental sustainability is not someone else's problem. Our existence in the future is dependent upon our practices today.