What is sustainability? by Daniela Palumbo

SUStainability( get it its the funny game🤣)

Sustainability is a normative concept that stresses intergenerational equity and is commonly considered to have three dimensions (also called pillars): the environmental, economic and social dimension. The concept can be used to guide decisions at all scales: at the global, national and individual consumer level scale. A closely related and overlapping concept is that of sustainable development. Both terms are often used synonymously.^[2] UNESCO formulated a distinction as follows: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal (i.e. a more sustainable world), while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."^[3]

For many people, sustainability is closely associated with environmental issues, in which case it is referred to as "environmental sustainability". In fact, the modern environmental movement gave rise to a higher prominence of the concept of environmental sustainability.^[2] The public is concerned about human impacts on the environment.^[4]^{: 21} The most dominant issues since about the year 2000 have been climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental pollution and land degradation (such as deforestation and general degradation of ecosystems).^[5]^[6] These issues are also included in the concept of planetary boundaries.^[7]

The economic dimension of sustainability is as controversial as the concept of sustainability itself.^[1] This is partly because of the inherent contradictions between "welfare for all" and environmental conservation.^[8] In order to resolve this dilemma, the concept of eco-economic decoupling comes into play. The decoupling of economic growth from environmental deterioration is particularly difficult because environmental and social costs are not generally borne by the entity that causes them, and are therefore not expressed in the market price.^[9] Usually, externalities are left to be addressed by government policy. Some examples are: taxing the activity (the polluter pays); subsidizing activities that have a positive environmental or social effect (rewarding stewardship); or outlawing the practice (legal limits on pollution).^[9]

The social dimension of sustainability is the least defined and least understood dimension of sustainability.^[10]^[11] Some academics have proposed additional dimensions of sustainability such as institutional, cultural, and technical dimensions.^[1]

The concept of sustainability has been criticized from different angles. Some see it as paradoxical in that they see development as inherently unsustainable. Others are sobered by the lack of progress achieved so far,^[12]^[13]^[14] and think of "sustainability" as a buzzword.^[1] Another criticism is that sustainability can be described as an "exhausted roadmap" given that our consumer-oriented societies are socially and ecologically self-destructive.^[15]^[16]

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