By David Bell, Paul Halucha and Mark Hopkins
What is Sustainable Development?
Sustainable development is first and foremost a legacy issue. It's about the kind of world we want to leave for posterity. Stated so baldly, it invites the response satirized by Kenneth Boulding - "What has posterity done for me lately?" But when put in more personal terms-"What sort of world would we like to leave for our children and their grandchildren?"-it evokes a very different response.
The approach of a new century, which is also the dawn of a new millennium, has awakened hopes and dreams for the future. By coincidence, the generation of "baby boomers" who now control most public and private institutions in Canada are arriving at the stage in their lives when they feel it matters a great deal what sort of legacy they are leaving behind.
Legacy issues are well understood in relation to money and economic considerations: "Build up the capital, live off the interest." This is a formula for both personal and business financial success. Increasingly we are realizing that similar principles apply to the "natural capital." And some policy makers are beginning to extend this reasoning to social and human capital as well. One of the more creative (and relatively easy to operationalize) definitions of sustainable development builds precisely on this notion of three kinds of capital: economic, natural, and social/human. From this perspective, which is used by the World Bank, sustainable development entails passing on to future generations an equal or preferably enhanced stock of economic, natural, social and human capital.
In effect, sustainable development proposes a new paradigm of decision making for all sectors of society. It entails a new perspective on present-day issues and challenges, and requires a better appreciation of the complex interconnections between the economic, social and environmental aspects of current challenges. In order to effect sustainable development, 1) environmental policies need to be socially and economically feasible; 2) social policies need to be environmentally and economically feasible; 3) economic policies need to be socially and environmental feasible.
Implications of the Sustainable Development
Adopting a sustainable development perspective amounts to looking at current problems through a new lens that broadens vision from a singular focus on only the economic or environmental or social aspects of an issue; to an integrated consideration of all three. The sustainable development lens also focuses attention on the horizons of the future as a way of seeing more desirable approaches to the problems of the present.
The result is much better decision making that will lead to substantial savings in money and resources because increasing the boundaries of decision-making reveals opportunities for synergy that went unrecognized. For example a project called "Sustainable Peterborough" is using savings from reduced energy consumption to finance home and industrial/commercial/institutional building retrofits, thereby creating employment and contributing toward Green House Gas emission reductions in line with Canada's Kyoto commitments.
Viewing issues through the sustainable development lens also reveals real costs that were previously hidden. These costs eventually come home to roost long after they can be addressed efficiently, as illustrated by the problems of hazardous waste sites, lost fisheries, brownfields, ozone depletion, global climate change, and a host of other issues.
Interestingly, recognition that these "hidden costs" need to be factored into decision making is becoming commonplace in the private sector. In some instances financial institutions and liability insurers have required businesses seeking financing or insurance to establish environmental precautions that most governments would scarcely consider requiring through regulation. In response to these and other "drivers", a number of leading businesses have adopted environmental management systems, pollution prevention measures, and "eco-efficiency" practices designed to reduce waste, energy consumption, and resource use.
Critics point out that the motivation underlying these business initiatives is self interest rather than altruism. But this is as much a cause for celebration as dismay. Indeed, it could be argued that one of the important responsibilities for governments is to use its full array of policy instruments to ensure that self interest and sustainability coincide for the public sector, private sector and individuals.
Why SD and why now?
Why should governments move sustainable development into the core of their policies and operations, and why at this point in time? There are two categories of reasons: those related to key trends and those that suggest the foundation is now in place for further progress.
From a trends perspective the key imperatives are:
Climate Change: Greenhouse gasses are accumulating in the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate and are resulting in a rise of average global temperatures. Scientist believe this global warming will have wide-ranging consequences including rise of sea-levels, increased severity and frequency of extreme weather events and more extreme seasonal temperatures. Global industrial activity and energy use are the primary causes of climate change. Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as increased use of renewables, changes in individual behaviour and improved fuel efficiency will represent a significant step forward in implementing sustainable development in Canada.
Pollution: Overall air and water quality in Canada have improved in recent years but pollution remains a threat to human health in many parts of the country. We have been very successful in reducing emissions of sulphur dioxide, which was the source of acid rain in the 1980's. Current science is showing that air pollution (smog) remains a serious threat to human health in Canada and that children and the elderly are particularly at risk of respiratory illness. Scientific evidence is also pointing to the sub-lethal effects (reproductive and cognitive impairments) of endocrine disrupting substances. Focusing on pollution prevention is the only long-term solution for addressing the problem in a manner that is sustainable.
Loss of Nature-Biodiversity: Globally, species are disappearing at an accelerating rate and biodiversity is being lost as human activity disrupts fragile ecosystems. The loss of global biodiversity means lost sources of new foods and medicines, and lost productivity and adaptability of ecosystems. The main threat to Canada's biodiversity is unsustainable development. Within Canada, urban development, habitat degradation and the unsustainable management of renewable resources threaten habitat and species. Protecting biodiversity one species at a time is proving a limited strategy. The only realistic solution is an integrated one that protects biodiversity while addressing the underlying determinants of its loss.
Resource Scarcities: Population growth and projected growth in demand for energy, food and materials, if based on today's technologies, will translate into growing pressure on the global resource base. As many life-sustaining resources are currently over-exploited, such as fisheries, forestry or soil, or already scarce, such as freshwater, new pressures on these resources might lead to local ecological collapses with serious regional or even global consequences. Canada has already experienced localized collapse and degradation of renewable resource stocks (fisheries, soil erosion and deforestation).
None of these environmental pressures can be addressed through a focus on environmental protection alone. These problems are too complex in themselves and the underlying determinants-and solutions-are too deeply rooted in our society and our economy. In a phrase current trends are unsustainable. This speaks to the need for the approach embodied in the term "sustainable development"-one based on the integration of social economic and environmental decision making.
From a timing perspective:
In the first place, the legislation that established the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development also requires all federal departments to develop Sustainable Development Strategies. It is now feasible to achieve the kind of interdepartmental collaboration sustainable development policy making requires because of the shared frameworks generated as part of the SDS exercise. The foundation is already in place.
Second, required technologies for sustainability accounting and monitoring are now available, and already in use in many other countries and in the private sector. Sustainability requires feedback systems that allow all three of its core elements - environment, economy and society/community - to be tracked simultaneously. The systems for monitoring, auditing and evaluating decisions in this triple manner are now emerging. At the national level, plans are underway to develop (with the assistance of Environment Canada and several other departments) the first Sustainability Reporting Program for Canada. At the community level, new possibilities for sustainability monitoring are being developed using GIS software and digital maps as the "menu" for recording data on all aspects of community sustainability both present and past. The technology to allow "Full Cost Accounting" is becoming more sophisticated; the concepts of "green budgeting" and "ecological taxation" are being applied in a few jurisdictions. The hugely difficult task of "visioning" and planning for "future generations" has been made more manageable by the growing use of Search Conferences and scenario planning.
Third, recent surveys show that the Canadian public will support leadership to protect the environment, particularly when the links to human health are evident; and there is a growing public awareness of the urgent need to repair and build social/human capital, to confront problems of poverty and homelessness, and ensure a healthy, well educated citizenry. Governments can find numerous opportunities for win-win-win policies that are economically sound, environmentally friendly, and socially responsible.
Fourth, leading businesses have already begun to identify sustainability as a core value, and a large and growing number of NGOs have done likewise. Both groups are waiting for governments to "catch up." Some business leaders have begun to talk about meeting a "triple bottom line", and several corporations are now issuing "corporate sustainability reports" (for which the Canadian Chartered Management Accountants Association has prepared a "guideline.")
Finally, governments are the custodians of the public interest, the stewards of the public domain. What better time than at the dawn of the new millennium to take actions that will safeguard the legacy of this past century of development for future generations of Canadians?
Challenges and Opportunities: The Role of Government in Moving toward Sustainable Development
The broad perspective sustainable development promotes is both helpful and challenging: helpful because it applies well to the nature of complex problems in today's society; challenging because it requires new forms of collaboration, and unsettles the "stovepipe approach" to both academic study and policy response. For governments it suggests the need for new types of collaboration both within governments and beyond, because no single agency or institution has the competence, resources, or authority to tackle these horizontal "mega-challenges."
Overcoming the institutional barriers to collaborative decision making is a huge challenge on its own. But there is more. New competencies need to be established so that the triple policy agenda is understood throughout the various departments of government. This requires training and capacity building. Again the SDS exercise provides a good starting point for this initiative.
Another challenge concerns the choice of appropriate policy instruments.
Over the past two decades, governments have broadened their repertoire of policy instruments, particularly in the area of environmental policy, to include more use of both "economic instruments" and "voluntary and non-regulatory instruments" (VNRIs). In part this development reflects the fiscal discipline imposed by the struggle to reduce debts and deficits. In part it reflects a reassessment of the proper role of government. These new instruments can help shift some of the burden for moving toward sustainability from government acting alone to other sectors of society. Fortunately there is a growing number of potential partners in the private sector and civil sector who are already committed to sustainability.
Although government cannot achieve sustainable development on its own, it has a crucial role to play in helping steer society in the right direction. Sustainability is often compared to a process or a journey. The metaphor of the journey is highly appropriate in this context because it highlights the role of government. We have derived the word government through the Latin, gubernare which in turn comes from the Greek word kybernes, which means "helmsman." From this perspective, government is the act of steering (the ship of state); it requires exquisite skill in responding to changes in the environment combined with a strong sense of direction and the capacity to monitor progress toward the preferred destination.
In order to "bend the curve" of development in a more sustainable direction, government must have a clear sense of what that direction is. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "If you don't know where you are going, you may never get there." Visioning and goal setting are crucial elements of the politics of sustainability.
To check that society is on the right course, key personnel in each policy area need to become expert in the new sustainability management systems including auditing, accounting, indicators/monitoring, etc. In recognition of this imperative, Agenda 21 placed considerable emphasis on "Information for Decision Making." Since 1992, a virtual industry has grown up around indicators of sustainability. Though no single approach has captured the field, there now exists a vast repertoire of approaches to monitoring and assessment associated with leading agencies like the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development; the World Bank; the World Resources Institute; and IUCN (the World Conservation Union). The basic thrust of virtually all approaches to sustainability monitoring is to identify drivers of change and key trends that reveal improvement or deterioration in the ecosystem and human society.
One very important information system for sustainable development decision making is full cost accounting. Linked to this is the imperative for governments to send appropriate economic signals by "getting the prices right":
"There is one governance dimension that is lacking all over the world: the prices of products and services do not tell the ecological truth. Natural resources such as air and water are still regarded as free goods. Their costs are externalized - paid for, in other words, by society at large today or by future generations in the form of damage to ecosystems. Hence prices and market mechanisms must be adjusted to reflect environmental costs."
Conclusions: The way forward
Perhaps the most difficult challenge involved in implementing sustainable development lies in finding means of implementing an integrated agenda through specific policy and programme level decisions.
There are reasons to be optimistic about our prospects. Globalization, while increasing competitive pressures between nations and firms, and propelling short term economic interests to the forefront of public policy agendas, is also driving down the costs of new solutions and pushing the diffusion of innovations and the transfer of environmentally friendly technologies around the world. Technological change, while generating new risks in the form of genetically modified organisms and new synthetic chemicals, is also generating new solutions in the form of products, processes and markets. It is also extending our reach to partners and expanding our ability to mobilize individuals and communities. Social and cultural changes, while producing a diffusion of consumer expectations and propagating a "disposable goods " culture, is also producing new governance structures, a better educated and informed public.
From a governmental perspective, influencing the trajectory of these trends can only be accomplished through an integrated approach. Above all what is needed is a framework which can guide action needed in the implementation of sustainable development. In the absence of any such off-the-shelf framework however, there are a handful common sense observations to provide guidance to the way forward.
The first observation is that decision making must be integrated at many levels of society-from the individual decision maker, to the community, to the firm, to the industrial sector, to provincial, federal and international levels of government. It is important therefore to understand the barriers to integration and the incentives and motivations that will encourage the further integration of decision making. At the same time integration will not occur in the abstract. It will occur on a decision by decision basis. Therefore the development of horizontally shared strategies which embody the meaning of sustainable development would be a useful step.
The second observation is that achieving this integration requires new tools. One of the most important of these tools is knowledge. This implies a need to build up our knowledge capacity in a careful and strategic manner-paying attention to both demand and supply side variables. This suggests increasing not only our scientific and social data, but also the better integration of that information, and finding better ways of delivering that information to the many societal levels. The federal government has a clear role to play in creating, brokering and delivering information. But it has an important role to play in developing other tools such as, among others, environmental assessments and tax reform.
The final observation is that there are areas where we must continue to act: areas where we have outstanding commitments and issues where problems demand response. As we begin to work towards a sustainable development approach action will continue be needed to protect and clean up the environment and to protect our natural resource base.
The success of achieving sustainable development depends on an approach that must be widely shared across all sectors of society; and promoted through all forms of education (formal, non-formal, and informal). It presupposes a holistic understanding of complex natural and social systems, and ultimately a re-valuing of our orientation toward non-human nature, and our fellow human beings. It requires as well a new sensibility about time, and the links between past and future. But perhaps most importantly, it will require some bold rethinking of politics, government, and governance. It will insist on participatory approaches to decision-making, and aim for broad consensus wherever possible.
Appendix: Origins and Evolution of the Sustainable Development Concept
There is considerable debate about the origins of the concept sustainable development , but little disagreement that it gained world-wide currency through the work of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), usually referred to as the Brundtland Commission, because it was chaired by the Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission, which had 24 representatives from all parts of the world, was established by the UN in 1984. The Commission worked for nearly 3 years during a period of intense East-West and North-South conflict.
Despite the tensions of the Cold War, and the bitter disputes that divided wealthier and poorer countries precisely on questions related to environment and development, the Commission achieved complete consensus on its Report. All 24 Commission members signed the document, including the representatives from China, the Soviet Union, the United States, Brazil, India, Japan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. There were no minority reports or dissenting opinions.
This remarkable achievement was made possible in part because the Commission decided from the outset to broaden its focus beyond the issues of the so-called "developing countries" to embrace an agenda that encompassed problems and challenges facing all countries -- however wealthy, and whatever their environmental prospects - over the course of the next century. Hence the title of their report: Our Common Future. The Brundtland definition of sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present generation without precluding the possibility of future generations meeting their own needs" has been inscribed in policy discourses around the world, from the local to the global level. The fact that this definition makes no explicit reference to environment underscores the importance the Commission ascribed to the social aspects of sustainable development, especially the need to eliminate poverty and to increase equity both in the present and over time.
Though the Commission was chaired by a Norwegian, its Secretary General was Canadian Jim MacNeill. The Commission had a tremendous impact on Canada in part as a result of a series of public hearings it held across the country in 1986. The most immediate result was a decision by the Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers (CCREM) to form a National Task Force on Environment and Economy.
Meanwhile the Report of the Brundtland Commission had an equally profound impact at the international level and in countries all around the globe. The "United Nations Conference on Environment and Development" (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, was the largest gathering of world leaders that has ever taken place. All 177 countries in the world attended the "Eco Summit", more than 100 of them represented by the Head of State.
The results and accomplishments of UNCED included:
Glossary of Terms and Concepts Related to Sustainability
Appropriated Carrying Capacity-another name for the ecological footprint, "Appropriated" signifies captured, claimed or occupied. Ecological footprints remind us that we appropriate ecological capacity for food, fibres, energy, waste absorption etc. In industrial regions, a large part of these flows is imported.
Backcasting-a method for changing the way people think about sustainability, by framing goals with regard to a future desired outcome, and determining short-term decisions and investments needed to achieve that future.
Biological Capacity-refers to the total of the biologically productive areas. See also "biologically productive areas."
Biologically Productive Areas-are those areas of a country with quantitatively significant plant and animal productivity. We summarize the biologically productive areas of a country as its biological capacity. Arable land is the potentially most productive area.
Capital - "What is capital? Capital comprises the stock of man-made capital - machines and infrastructure such as housing and roads - together with the stock of knowledge and skills, or human capital. But is also comprises the stock of natural capital including natural resources (oil, gas, coal), biological diversity, habitat, clean air and water and so on. Together, these capital stocks comprise the aggregate capital stock of a nation."
CERES-Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies-a coalition of investors, public pension trustees, foundations, labour unions, and environmental, religious and public interest groups which believes that globally sustainable economic activity must be environmentally responsible.
Ecological Deficit of a Country-measures the amount by which their footprint exceeds the locally available ecological capacity.
Ecological Footprint-the land and water area that is required to support indefinitely the material standard of living of a given human population, using prevailing technology.
Ecological Remainder or Remaining Ecological Capacity-countries with footprints smaller than their locally available ecological capacity are endowed with an ecological remainder -- the difference between capacity and footprint. Today in many cases, this remainder is occupied by the footprints of other countries (through export production).
Ecosystem Approach-tool for promoting the conservation of biological diversity and an environmentally sustainable level of development.
An ecosystem approach:
1) considers environmental and socioeconomic factors and interests
Ecosystem Management-developed in response to a need to find solutions in resource management that are economically sound as well as ecologically sound and socially acceptable. It differs from traditional resource management techniques in that it first identifies what the end result will be and then develops a plan to achieve that goal.
Embodied Energy of a Commodity-the energy used during its entire life cycle for manufacturing, transporting, using and disposing.
Global Reporting Initiative-initiative of CERES, launched in the Fall of 1997 to establish, through a global, voluntary, and multi-stakeholder process, the foundation for standardized (or uniform) corporate sustainability reporting worldwide, through the development of three tools:
1) a set of core metrics applicable to all business enterprises;
Investing in Sustainability-investments that are socially and ecologically more responsible, as well as competitive compared to traditional investments, due to higher production costs being offset by more favourable markets and lower social and ecological risks.
Locally Available Capacity-the part of the locally existing ecological capacity that is available for human use. The remaining part should be left untouched for preserving biological diversity.
Locally Existing Capacity-the total ecological production that is found within the country's territories. It is expressed in hectares with world average productivity.
Natural Capital-the stock of natural assets that yield goods and services on a continuous basis. Main functions include resource production (such as fish, timber or cereals), waste assimilation (such as CO2 absorption, sewage decomposition) and life support services (UV protection, biodiversity, water cleansing, climate stability).
Overshoot-according to William Catton, is "growth beyond an area's carrying capacity, leading to crash."
Photosynthesis-the biological process in chlorophyll-containing cells that convert sunlight, CO2, water, and nutrients into plant matter (biomass). All food chains that support animal life -- including our own -- are based on this plant matter.
Productivity-measured in biological production per year and hectare. A typical indicator of biological productivity is the biomass accumulation of an ecosystem.
Systems Thinking-discovering, mastering, and adhering to the overall principles of a system in order to overcome failure with respect to complex goals. Once a person masters the principles, they can get more and more skilled at handling the details since the principles help people to stay on course as they process the information and decisions involved in long-term planning.
The Natural Step-Founded in Sweden in 1989 by Dr. Karl-Henrik Robčrt, an oncologist who noticed a significant increase in childhood leukemia cases and witnessed first hand the connection between human illness and toxins, the Natural Step (TNS) is a non-profit environmental education organization working to build an ecologically and economically sustainable society through guidance to thinking and acting in harmony with the earth's cyclical processes. It is based on systems thinking, focusing on first-order principles at the beginning of cause effect relationships and recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part, often in unexpected ways. TNS provides a pragmatic framework that is based on science, encourages dialogue and consensus-building, and serves as a compass for businesses, communities, academia, government entities and individuals working to redesign their activities to become more sustainable.
Today, TNS is a household word in Sweden, and has been transforming the way individuals, schools, communities and businesses think about the natural world and sustainability. More than 70 municipalities have adopted the framework and 60 corporations such as IKEA, Electrolux, McDonalds, Scandic Hotels and OK Petroleum are actively using TNS to change the way they do business. Today, TNS has offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the United States.
The following is a summary of the four system conditions of the Natural Step, accompanied with the implication of each condition:
1) Substances from the earth's crust must not systematically increase in nature-Nature cannot withstand a systematic build-up of dispersed matter mined from the earth's crust.
Science Underlying the Natural Step
Social Capital-"The capacity to establish and operate formalized institutions necessary for governance in the public sector, private sector, and civil sector."
Waste Factors-(used in the round wood calculations) give the ratio of cubic meter of round wood used per cubic meter (or tonne) of product.
Weak Sustainability - "Weak sustainability demands that the overall stock of capital be 'constant', with no special regard being paid to environmental capital. Strong sustainability demands that both the overall stock and the natural stock be 'constant'."
Yield Adjusted Area-the biologically productive space expressed in world average productivity. It is calculated by multiplying the physically existing space by the yield factors.
Yield Factor-the factor by which the country's ecosystems are more productive than world average. A yield factor of 0.5 indicates that local productivity is only half of the global average. The footnotes in "ef-world.xls" explain how each is calculated.
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
David Pearce et al., Blueprint 3. Measuring Sustainable Development. London: Earthscan Publications, 1993. (p. 15)
Founded in early 1989, in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill CERES developed a series of principles by which this can occur. Today, CERES membership represents more than ten million people and over $150 billion in invested assets.
The CERES principles include:
Source: http://www.ceres.org/
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
2) recognizes that economic sustainability and societal well-being depend upon conservation of healthy ecosystems;
3) establishes natural resource goals on an ecosystem-wide basis;
4) requires full participation of all stakeholders in setting and achieving resource goals;
5) adopts an interdisciplinary, coordinated approach; all stakeholders integrate expertise, resources, and tools to achieve results;
6) requires the use of the best available science for strategizing and action implementation;
7) focuses efforts on discrete units of the landscape, of varying but manageable size with similar resource issues, to promote local action and involvement;
8) recognizes that conservation efforts must address processes at varying scales;
9) recognizes that the dynamics and resiliency of ecosystems vary;
10) stresses prevention of degradation over mitigation or restoration;
11) practices flexibility and innovation;
12) practices adaptive management, monitoring and evaluating outcomes, and readjusting management directions accordingly;
13) incorporates information from all organizational levels and sectors into decision-making processes;
14) delegates decisions to the lowest appropriate levels, and gives employees maximum possible authority.
Sources: http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/usfws/fws_eco.html;
http://bluegoose.arw.r9.fws.gov/NWRSFILES/HabitatMgmt/EcosystemManagement/Principles.html
Sources: http://www.ecosystem-management.com/newpage1.htm;
http://esa.sdsc.edu/execsum.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
2) sets of sector-specific metrics customized to specific types of enterprises;
3) and a uniform format for reporting these metrics and related information integral to a company's sustainability performance.
Source: http://www.ceres.org/reporting/globalreporting.html
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/business.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html
2) Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in nature-Nature cannot withstand a systematic build-up of substances produced by humans.
3) The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of nature must not systematically be diminished-Nature cannot withstand a systematic deterioration of its capacity for renewal.
4) We must be fair and efficient in meeting basic human needs-Therefore, if we want life to go on, there must be fair and efficient use of resources
Sources: http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html; http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html; http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html
Source: http://www.naturalstep.org/what/index_what.html
[Adapted by David Bell from the discussion of "Social Capital" in Developing Ideas, IISD, 13, January/February 1998.]
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
David Pearce et al., Blueprint 3. Measuring Sustainable Development. London: Earthscan Publications, 1993. (p. 27)
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
Source: http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/glossary.htm
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