Sustainability, like motherhood, is easy to support; it sounds good in theory and given the coming climate apocalypse it would also be good to put into practice. The question is how. Sustainable development is easy to define: it means that the development that is undertaken in the present to meet our needs must not deprive future generations of the same opportunity.
A US household’s needs are likely to be radically different to a sub-Saharan African’s. Further, all these competing needs must be met on a global scale for some 7 billion people – a figure that is likely to rise to 10.8 billion by 2100. We can’t predict the future but there are some ways of making sustainability more concrete that serve to motivate people towards a future we can’t yet see.
Like climate change, it may be easier to frame the goals of sustainability in smaller, more manageable pieces in order to achieve something rather than to express support in general terms. Here are some ways we can support the goal of a sustainable future:
• Consider Sectors – each area of our lives will be impacted by sustainability in different ways from household energy use to efficient public transport. Initiatives need to speak to the challenges and opportunities in all human activities. Even within sectors the same issues apply: for example, in sustainable energy system do you mean nuclear, solar or wind and so on.
• Be Specific – people need to be told exactly how a sustainable future will be achieved and what is required of them to help do so rather than speaking in generalities that require no action to be taken.
• Show Benefits – sustainable practices can benefit the whole community but this needs to be demonstrated. Will people living in poverty have access to electricity as part of their sustainable future? Will sustainability extend to the animals and plants that exist in natural ecosystems? Costs and benefits must be demonstrated to all stakeholders on a global scale.
• Describe the Scenario – it’s important to be able to tell people what sustainability will look like, how it will affect our day to day lives and the benefits it will offer. No matter how radical the changes are that lead to our future, sustainable selves each step of the journey to those changes needs to be described and sold as a better way forward and a way that brings benefits to all.
