ESS Sustainability

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations, while maintaining and enhancing the health of socio-ecological systems. It involves practices that do not deplete resources or harm ecological and social systems.

Brundtland Report

1987 UN report proposing the term sustainable development by the prime minister of Norway.

Environmental sustainability

Managing natural resources to prevent degradation and depletion, ensuring the natural environment can support life for the future.

Societal sustainability

Focuses on maintaining and improving social equity, quality of life, justice, and creating inclusive, equitable and healthy communities for the overall human well-being.

Economic sustainability

Ensuring economic growth that supports long-term human well-being and ecological balance without degrading social and environmental health.

Sustainability models

Promote decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, relying on the three principles of eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and regenerating nature.

Environmental justice

The right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and have equitable access to natural resources, regardless of issues such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and nationality.

Indicator

Measures specific characteristics of a substance, people or an ecosystem.

Sustainability indicator

Quantitative measures, such as biodiversity and pollution, applied to evaluate sustainability on various scales (local to global)

Composite indicator

A measure of multiple characteristics of people or ecosystem, often expressed as an index number.

Human Development Index

A composite indicator measuring health, education, and standard of living, expressed as an index number. The higher the number, the higher the development

Ecological footprint

The area of land and water needed to sustainably provide resources and absorb waste for a population.

Biocapacity

The capacity of a biologically productive area to generate renewable resources and absorb resulting waste.

Earth Overshoot Day

The day each year when humankind's demand on nature exceeds the planet's ecological capacity.

Carbon footprint

Measures greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, from economic activities in tonnes.

Water footprint

Total amount of water used to produce goods and services consumed by an individual, community, or country.

Citizen Science

The contribution of non-scientists to help researchers collect environmental data.

Sustainable Development Goals

17 interconnected goals created by the UN in 2015 to address global social, environmental, and economic challenges.

Planetary Boundaries

Identifies the limits of human disturbance to essential Earth systems. (eNd CONFLABS) Novel Entities, Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles, Freshwater Use, Land System Change, Atmospheric Aerosol Loading, Biosphere, Stratospheric Ozone Depletion.

Planetary boundaries model

A model quantifying the limits of nine Earth systems to determine safe operating spaces for human activities.

Gross Domestic Product

The change in the total market value of goods and services produced in a country over a period.

Green GDP

An alternative measure that subtracts environmental costs and the disturbance to the socio-environmental aspects from traditional GDP calculations.

Doughnut economic model

Defines an economy that is ecologically safe and socially just.

Regenerative

Works with and within the cycles and limits of the living world.

Distributive

Sharing value, opportunity and wealth more equitably among stakeholders, especially to low-income people to be able to prosper within the ecological boundaries.

Circular economy model

Framework for creating a regenerative and distributive economy in order to meet the needs of all people within the means of the planet, based on three core principles: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and regenerating nature.