THE NATURAL STEP
The Natural Step is a minimum standard for sustainable development and has four conditions that should be met:-
- In order for a society to be sustainable, nature's functions and
diversity are not systematically subject to increasing concentrations of
substances extracted from the earth's crust.
Explanation
In a sustainable society, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, and the mining of metals and minerals will not occur at a rate that causes them to systematically increase in the ecosphere. There are threshholds beyond which living organisms and ecosystems are adversely affected by increases in substances from the the earth's crust. Problems may include an increase in greenhouse gases leading to global warming, contamination of surface and ground water, and metal toxicity which can cause functional disturbances in animals. In practical terms, the first condition requires society to implement comprehensive metal and mineral recycling programs, and decrease economic dependence on fossil fuels.
- In order for a society to be sustainable, nature's functions and diversity are not systematically subject to increasing concentrations of substances produced by society.
Explanation
In a sustainable society, humans will avoid generating systematic increases in persistent substances such as DDT, PCBs, and freon. Synthetic organic compounds such as DDT and PCBs can remain in the environment for many years, bioaccumulating in the tissue of organisms, causing profound deleterious effects on predators in the upper levels of the food chain. Freon, and other ozone depleting compounds, may increase risk of cancer due to added UV radiation in the troposphere. Society needs to find ways to reduce economic dependence on persistent human-made substances.
- In order for a society to be sustainable, nature's functions and diversity are not systematically impoverished by physical displacement, over-harvesting or other forms of ecosystem manipulation.
Explanation
In a sustainable society, humans will avoid taking more from the biosphere than can be replenished by natural systems. In addition, people will avoid systematically encroaching upon nature by destroying the habitat of other species. Biodiversity, which includes the great variety of animals and plants found in nature, provides the foundation for ecosystem services which are necessary to sustain life on this planet. Society's health and prosperity depends on the enduring capacity of nature to renew itself and rebuild waste into resources.
- In a sustainable society resources are used fairly and efficiently
in order to meet basic human needs globally.
Explanation
Meeting the fourth system condition is a way to avoid violating the first three system conditions for sustainability. Considering the human enterprise as a whole, we need to be efficient with regard to resource use and waste generation in order to be sustainable. If one billion people lack adequate nutrition while another billion have more than they need, there is a lack of fairness with regard to meeting basic human needs. Achieving greater fairness is essential for social stability and the cooperation needed for making large-scale changes within the framework laid out by the first three conditions.
To achieve this fourth condition, humanity must strive to improve technical and organizational efficiency around the world, and to live using fewer resources, especially in affluent areas. System condition number four implies an improved means of addressing human population growth. If the total resource throughput of the global human population continues to increase, it will be increasingly difficult to meet basic human needs as human-driven processes intended to fulfill human needs and wants are systematically degrading the collective capacity of the Earth's ecosystems to meet these demands.
SCIENCE & METHODOLOGY
Science Underlying the Natural Step
1. All mass and energy in the universe is conserved; energy may be converted into different forms, yet the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant. This principle of matter conservation and the First Law of Thermodynamics are helpful in understanding the earth as a system. When matter in the form of liquid fossil fuels or coal is burned it is not destroyed, but it is simply converted into waste in the form of both visible and invisible gases. Or simply put: Nothing disappears.
2. Energy and matter tend to spread spontaneously; everything has a tendency
to disperse. This is best understood through The Second Law of Thermodynamics,
or the Law of Entropy. Entropy is a measure of the disorder or randomness of a
system and in every isolated system, such as the universe, entropy always
increases. Examples of increases in entropy include organic matter decaying,
that colored dye in clear water disperses, and that
ice samples taken in the
3. Material quality is in the concentration and structure of matter. For example, food and gasoline are valuable because they contain order. We cannot consume energy or matter, only its concentration, purity and structure. If you drop a teacup and it breaks on the floor, some of the value from its structure is lost, but each of the original atoms is still present. Or simply put: There is value in order.
4. Net increases in material quality on Earth are generated almost entirely by sun-driven photosynthetic processes. Chloroplasts in plant cells capture energy from sunlight and form bonds which provide energy for other forms of life, such as animals. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, disorder increases in all isolated systems. However, the Earth is only a closed system with respect to matter. It is an open system with respect to energy in that it receives light from the sun, and it is this flow of sunlight which responsible for almost all increases in net material quality on this planet. Or simply put: Plants create structure and order by using energy from sunlight.
The Natural Step international organisation has licensed Forum for the
Future as its operator in the
Address: The Natural Step,
E-mail: info@tnsuk.demon.co.uk
Tel: 01242 262744
Fax: 01242 524445
UK Web site: www.naturalstep.org.uk
International Web address - http://www.naturalstep.org
Acknowledgement: Information obtained from THE NATURAL STEP web site
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