Categorising tools for sustainability assessment

The three-pillar conception of (social, economic and environmental) sustainability, commonly represented by three intersecting circles with overall sustainability at the centre, has become ubiquitous. With a view of identifying the genesis and theoretical foundations of this conception, this paper reviews and discusses relevant historical sustainability literature. From this we find that there is no single point of origin of this three-pillar conception, but rather a gradual emergence from various critiques in the early academic literature of the economic status quo from both social and ecological perspectives on the one hand, and the quest to reconcile economic growth as a solution to social and ecological problems on the part of the United Nations on the other. The popular three circles diagram appears to have been first presented by Barbier (Environ Conserv 14:101, doi: 10.1017/s0376892900011449, 1987), albeit purposed towards developing nations with foci which differ from modern interpretations. The conceptualisation of three pillars seems to predate this, however. Nowhere have we found a theoretically rigorous description of the three pillars. This is thought to be in part due to the nature of the sustainability discourse arising from broadly different schools of thought historically. The absence of such a theoretically solid conception frustrates approaches towards a theoretically rigorous operationalisation of ‘sustainability’.

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Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins

Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world. Sustainability assessment is often described as a process by which the implications of an initiative on sustainability are evaluated, where the initiative can be a proposed or existing policy, plan, programme, project, piece of legislation, or a current practice or activity. However, this generic definition covers a broad range of different processes, many of which have been described in the literature as 'sustainability assessment'. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment, and evaluating them in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Many of these are actually examples of 'integrated assessment', derived from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), but which have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a 'triple bottom line' (TBL) approach to sustainability. These integrated assessment processes typically either seek to minimise 'unsustainability', or to achieve TBL objectives. Both aims may, or may not, result in sustainable practice. We present an alternative conception of sustainability assessment, with the more ambitious aim of seeking to determine whether or not an initiative is actually sustainable. We term such processes 'assessment for sustainability'. 'Assessment for sustainability' firstly requires that the concept of sustainability be well-defined. The article compares TBL approaches and principles-based approaches to developing such sustainability criteria, concluding that the latter are more appropriate, since they avoid many of the inherent limitations of the triple-bottom-line as a conception of sustainability.

Conceptualising sustainability assessment

Sustainability as a policy concept has its origin in the Brundtland Report of 1987. That document was concerned with the tension between the aspirations of mankind towards a better life on the one hand and the limitations imposed by nature on the other hand. In the course of time, the concept has been re-interpreted as encompassing three dimensions, namely social, economic and environmental. The paper argues that this change in meaning (a) obscures the real contradiction between the aims of welfare for all and environmental conservation; (b) risks diminishing the importance of the environmental dimension; and (c) separates social from economic aspects, which in reality are one and the same. It is proposed instead to return to the original meaning, where sustainability is concerned with the well-being of future generations and in particular with irreplaceable natural resources—as opposed to the gratification of present needs which we call well-being. A balance needs to be found between those two, but not by pretending they are three sides of the same coin. Although we use up natural resources at the expense of future generations, we also generate capital (including knowledge) which raises future well-being. A major question is to what extent the one compensates for the other. This debate centres around the problem of substitutability, which has been cast into a distinction between ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ sustainability. It is argued that these two do not need to be in opposition but complement one another.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/11/3436/pdf?y=1

What is Sustainability

Three sustainability assessment models are applied to a major Australian resource proposal — the Gorgon gas development. ‘Environmental impact assessment (EIA)-driven integrated assessment’ resulted in significant environmental resources being ‘traded’ for socio-economic benefits. ‘Objectives-led integrated assessment’ seeks to maximise social, economic and environmental objectives set by decision-makers. The Gorgon assessment focused on meeting the proponent's strategic objectives, thus missing an opportunity to maximise benefits for the wider community. ‘Assessment for sustainability’ uses sustainability criteria determined by society. The Western Australian Government has recently begun to derive such criteria and the Gorgon proposal would have failed to meet some of them. The actual Gorgon assessment was conducted within a sustainability framework, but the EIA-based approach used did not result in sustainable outcomes. An ‘assessment for sustainability’ approach offers the most promising avenue for fu...

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Applying sustainability assessment models

The Western Australian government has committed itself to developing a sustainability assessment process for projects, plans, policies and programs, as well as legislation, Cabinet submissions, corporate plans and proposed government agreements. This article briefly reviews some of the challenges posed by sustainability assessment. It then presents an integrated approach for a process that could be implemented in Western Australia with minimal amendment to existing legislation and administrative bodies.

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The evolution of a sustainability assessment strategy for Western Australia

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/5659.pdf

The potential role of strategic environmental assessment in the activities of multi-lateral development banks

Is environmental impact assessment regulation a 'burden' to private firms?

There is no doubt that one of the fastest growing international industry ‘sectors’ is environmental goods and services. The size of the annual global environment market is estimated at around A$1,000 billion (Department of Industry, Science and Resources, 2000, p. 21). There are many cases of extraordinary growth in ‘green jobs’ in recent years. For example, worldwide demand for organic agricultural produce has grown 20% every year for the last 10 years, and is anticipated to grow from US$11billion in 1997 to US$100billion by 2006 (McCoy and Parlevliet, 1998). Data presented in the Sustainable Energy Policy Green Paper (Department of Primary Industries and Energy, 1996) predict the world demand for renewable energy to grow by 82% in the period 1990 to 2020. 

This article reviews the current state of knowledge about green jobs in Australia. It draws some initial conclusions about what is likely to ‘drive’ worldwide green job generation in the foreseeable future, and then reviews recent work that examines the implications for Australia. The main focus, however, is a recent Western Australian industry survey undertaken to determine the current nature, and future potential, of green jobs in that State. The article concludes with a range of policy recommendations for government.

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David Annandale

Papers

Applying sustainability assessment models

The evolution of a sustainability assessment strategy for Western Australia

The potential role of strategic environmental assessment in the activities of multi-lateral development banks

Is environmental impact assessment regulation a 'burden' to private firms?

Regional sustainability initiatives: the growth of green jobs in Australia