Jun 21, 2011
Glossary
Sustainability
Use of a system that is based on permanence
In particular in relation to the environment the concept of sustainability encompasses three fundamental principles:
- Renewable resources cannot be used faster than they can regenerate.
- Non-renewable resources can only be used to the extent to which they can be replaced by alternative materials or renewable resources.
- Pollutants and waste products can only be emitted to the extent to which their negative effects can be neutralised by the self-purifying capacity of the environment.
In this context research and development can help to increase the efficiency with which resources are used, to find alternatives for non-renewable resources and to neutralise pollutants more rapidly.
“Sustainable development” is closely related to the concept of sustainability. A generally accepted definition of sustainable development was given in 1987 by the “Brundtland Commission” of the United Nations: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In this context the essential needs of the world’s poor is given overriding priority. The possibility that technology and social organisation can promote sustainable development is also recognised. Altogether, development is understood as a progressive transformation of economy and society.
Thus, sustainable development aims at reconciling social, economic and ecological concerns. This conflict of objectives is often illustrated by means of the “three pillars of sustainability” or the “sustainability triangle”.
See also
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Feed the world: With or without genetic engineering
Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren, director of the Millennium Institute Washington, D.C. (USA), vice-chairman of the IAASTD
Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, head of the working group on food security and rural development at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Göttingen.
Gene technology and nature conservation. An irreconcilable controversy?
“Europeans are rejecting a potentially powerful tool for producing better agriculture.”
He says of himself that he has been “a Green all his life”. For years, as a senior member of staff at English Nature he followed the effects that new agricultural practices are having on biodiversity and the environment. Now he is calling for a change of direction. He sees genetic engineering as a tool for developing new crops that can make agriculture more sustainable. He presented his thoughts at the annual conference of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Bremen.
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