Sustainability In A Nutshell

Sustainability, what is it and why does it matter

In recent years, the term Sustainability has been increasingly popular. To the fellow naysayers, this term is commonly pegged to unfamiliar words such as “Environments”, “Tree Huggers” and even “Scams”. I too, was once one of these naysayers but we cannot be more wrong. So what exactly is Sustainability?

*What is Sustainability? Sustainability is the idea whereby the production of goods and services to meet our present needs do not compromise the ability of future generations to fulfill their own needs. As simple and achievable this goal seems, we have unfortunately failed to achieve this simple idea.

Statistics from Center For Climate And Energy Solutions states that the global carbon dioxide emission has increased drastically since the 1850s to what we have in 2020, almost hitting the staggering 35,000 million metric tons. The trend shown is not sustainable, and the very earth we call home will not be able to maintain the living conditions that we currently enjoy if we were to continue down this path.

*Why does it matter? In Economics 101 we learn the idea of a multiplier effect, whereby an action can spark off a chain reaction, leading to an immensely greater outcome than the initial action. Similarly, a prolonged series of non-sustainable activities may spark off a vicious cycle, that might lead to repercussions that we or our descendants would have to pay the price.

For instance, the act of overfishing is not sustainable. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna has received a decline in population by almost 50% since 1970, causing it to be registered as one of the endangered species by the IUCN. This means that should we continue with our irresponsible acts, very soon this species might not be able to achieve a healthy natural replacement rate, thus leading to a path to extinction In another instance, should there be no collective effort to minimise greenhouse gas emission, the effects of global warming will very soon be prevalent to all. On top of a more volatile climate change, the food sources that we currently depend on both directly and indirectly might not be able to withstand the changes in climate, thus leading to an eventual food scarcity.

*Sustainability and You No action is too small. While it is true that individual efforts will largely be insignificant to deter the global carbon emission, a collective effort will most definitely be more effective. Spread the word, and be the change. Currently, this is a battle against climate change. Let us not wait till it becomes a fight for humanity.

If you like this, do check out my other posts on Sustainability related topics on Medium. Link is as shown. Thank you! https://medium.com/@shenghan1993/sustainability-in-a-nutshell-2bd72d28dc5d