Defining Sustainability: Absolutely | Anjila Hjalsted | TEDxGoodenoughCollege

Summary

The speaker addresses the overuse and vagueness of the term 'sustainable,' highlighting issues with focus and numbers in sustainability claims. They introduce the concept of 'absolute sustainability,' advocating for a quantifiable definition that measures environmental impact against a set 'allowance.' Using the planetary boundary framework and philosophical approaches, they propose a scientific method to determine if something is truly sustainable, urging a shift towards designing for absolute sustainability to safeguard future generations.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The term 'sustainable' is often used vaguely and can mean different things to different people, leading to confusion and misleading claims.
• 🌾 'Sustainable cotton' typically refers to organic cotton, which is beneficial for reducing pesticides but may have lower yields and higher carbon emissions.
• ☕ The comparison between cow milk and oat milk cappuccinos illustrates the 'numbers problem' in sustainability, where one may be more sustainable than the other but still not meet the ideal standard.
• 🔢 The concept of 'absolute sustainability' is introduced as a way to define sustainability in clear, quantifiable terms, rather than relative terms.
• 👶 The speaker's personal connection to sustainability is highlighted by becoming a parent, emphasizing the importance of considering future generations.
• 📈 The 'Brundtland definition' of sustainability from 1987 is mentioned, noting its age and the need for a more precise and quantifiable definition.
• 🌍 The 'planetary boundary framework' is introduced to provide numerical limits on the strain we can place on the Earth's resources before reaching disastrous levels.
• 🎂 An analogy of sharing a cake is used to explain the concept of determining an individual or society's 'share' of the Earth's resources.
• 🔄 The interdisciplinary approach of combining engineering, science, and philosophy is emphasized to create mathematical equations that can calculate sustainability.
• 🤔 The audience is encouraged to question the sustainability claims of products and services, pushing for a standard of 'absolute sustainability'.
• 💪 The speaker expresses optimism that humanity can achieve absolute sustainability, calling for radical changes in product, service, and policy design to meet this goal.

Q & A

What is the main issue with the term 'sustainable' as it is currently used?

The term 'sustainable' is often used vaguely and can mean different things to different people. This vagueness can lead to misleading claims and confusion about what truly constitutes sustainability.

What are the two main problems with the concept of sustainability as discussed in the script?

The two main problems are the 'focus problem' and the 'numbers problem'. The focus problem occurs when sustainability is addressed in only one aspect, ignoring other important factors. The numbers problem arises when something is labeled sustainable but is only slightly more sustainable than the alternative, without a clear standard for comparison.

What is the difference between sustainable cotton and organic cotton as mentioned in the script?

Sustainable cotton usually refers to organic cotton, which is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals, thus reducing pesticide use and toxic pollutants. However, organic cotton farming is often associated with lower yields, which can lead to increased water use, land use, and carbon emissions.

What is the 'Brundtland definition' of sustainability mentioned in the script?

The Brundtland definition of sustainability is a widely accepted concept that defines sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It was introduced in 1987.

What does the script suggest as a more accurate way to define sustainability?

The script suggests defining sustainability absolutely, by determining the allowable impact on the Earth and comparing it to the actual impact. This approach aims to solve both the focus and numbers problems by broadening the focus and providing a clear, quantifiable standard.

What is the concept of 'absolute sustainability' as proposed in the script?

Absolute sustainability is a concept where something is considered sustainable if it stays within its environmental allowance, meaning it does not exceed the limits set by the planetary boundary framework in various aspects such as climate change, water, and land use.

How does the script relate the idea of sharing a cake to understanding sustainability?

The script uses the cake analogy to explain the concept of sharing resources on Earth. To share a cake (or Earth's resources), one must know the size of the cake (the planetary boundaries), who wants to share it (current and future generations), and how to distribute it fairly.

What is the 'planetary boundary framework' mentioned in the script?

The planetary boundary framework is a set of guidelines that quantify the limits of how much we can strain the Earth's systems before causing irreversible damage. It provides numerical limits for factors like carbon emissions and freshwater use.

How does the script suggest we determine if something is absolutely sustainable?

The script suggests using mathematical equations derived from philosophical approaches to sharing, which can calculate an exact answer to whether something is sustainable in absolute terms. This involves comparing the environmental impact of an action or product to its allowable limit.

What is the main takeaway from the script regarding our approach to sustainability?

The main takeaway is that we need to be critical and question the sustainability claims made about products and services. We should strive for absolute sustainability, which requires not just being slightly better than the alternative, but staying within the environmental limits set by the planetary boundary framework.

How does the script encourage us to think about sustainability in the future?

The script encourages us to think about sustainability in terms of our responsibility to future generations. It emphasizes the importance of defining and achieving absolute sustainability to ensure a livable planet for our children and grandchildren.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 The Misuse of 'Sustainability'

The speaker addresses the overuse and vagueness of the term 'sustainable' in various contexts, such as products and practices. They highlight the issue of focus, where sustainability is considered in only one aspect, like organic cotton's reduced pesticide use but not its lower yield and higher carbon emissions. The speaker also discusses the numbers problem, where something is deemed sustainable only in comparison to a less sustainable alternative, using the example of cappuccinos made with cow milk versus oat milk and their respective carbon emissions. They critique the broad and misleading use of the term, which can lead to false claims and confusion about what truly constitutes sustainability. The Brundtland definition from 1987 is mentioned as a starting point but criticized for its lack of specificity and quantifiability.

05:00

🤔 Defining Absolute Sustainability

The speaker, now a parent, emphasizes the importance of defining sustainability for the sake of future generations. They introduce the concept of 'absolute sustainability,' which involves determining the allowable impact on Earth and comparing it to the actual impact, thus solving the numbers problem. They propose a comprehensive approach that considers multiple aspects of sustainability, not just climate change, but also water, land, and biodiversity, thereby addressing the focus problem. The idea is to establish whether something stays within its 'allowance' or not, using a mathematical framework that simplifies to the concept of 'sticking to your share.' The speaker acknowledges the challenge of knowing one's share size and likens it to dividing a cake, requiring knowledge of the cake's size, the sharers, and the method of sharing.

10:01

🔍 The Framework for Absolute Sustainability

The speaker outlines a revolutionary approach to determining sustainability through a scientific question with a binary answer. They encourage critical thinking about sustainability claims and propose designing with absolute sustainability in mind, which will necessitate radical changes. The speaker believes that humanity can achieve absolute sustainability but emphasizes the need for a clear goal. They end with a call to action, asking if it can be done and affirming that it can, eliciting applause from the audience.

Keywords

💡Sustainability

Sustainability refers to the ability of a process or system to endure over the long term, often in terms of environmental, social, and economic factors. In the video, it is discussed as a term that has become vague and is used to describe a wide range of practices, from 'sustainable cotton' to 'sustainable airship hotel.' The speaker critiques the overuse and misuse of the term, emphasizing the need for a more precise and quantifiable definition.

💡Organic Cotton

Organic cotton is a type of cotton that is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. The script mentions it as an example of a product that is often labeled as 'sustainable' due to its reduced environmental impact in terms of chemical use, but also points out the potential trade-offs, such as lower yields and higher carbon emissions due to increased land and water use.

💡Carbon Emissions

Carbon emissions refer to the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, often as a result of human activities like burning fossil fuels. The video uses the example of different types of cappuccinos to illustrate varying levels of carbon emissions, highlighting the concept of relative sustainability and the need for a more absolute measure.

💡Planetary Boundary Framework

The Planetary Boundary Framework is a model that defines the limits of how much humans can alter Earth's natural systems without causing unacceptable environmental changes. The script refers to this framework to explain how to determine the 'size of the cake,' or the limits of our environmental resources, which is crucial for defining absolute sustainability.

💡Absolute Sustainability

Absolute sustainability is a concept introduced in the video that aims to provide a clear, quantifiable definition of sustainability. It suggests that something is sustainable if it stays within its environmental allowance without causing undue strain on the planet. This is contrasted with the more common relative sustainability, which only considers whether one option is less harmful than another.

💡Cappuccino

The cappuccino serves as a practical example in the script to illustrate the concept of carbon emissions associated with different choices, such as using cow milk versus oat milk. It demonstrates how even options perceived as sustainable can still exceed the ideal carbon emission limits, emphasizing the need for absolute sustainability measures.

💡Misleading Claims

Misleading claims are false or inaccurate statements that can create confusion or deception. In the context of the video, the term is used to describe how the overuse of the term 'sustainable' can lead to consumers being misled into thinking products are environmentally friendly when they may not be, based on an absolute standard.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth, including the variety within species, between species, and within ecosystems. The script mentions it as one of the multiple aspects of sustainability that need to be considered, along with climate change, water, and land, to achieve a comprehensive understanding of environmental impact.

💡Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary approaches combine insights from multiple academic disciplines to address complex issues. The video describes how achieving absolute sustainability requires an interdisciplinary effort, particularly where engineering, science, and philosophy intersect to develop mathematical models for sharing Earth's resources.

💡Philosophical Approaches

Philosophical approaches involve deep contemplation and critical examination of fundamental beliefs and concepts. In the script, these approaches are used to formulate ideas about sharing and fairness, which are then translated into mathematical equations to determine the sustainability of practices in absolute terms.

💡Mathematical Framework

A mathematical framework provides a structured set of mathematical models or equations to analyze and solve complex problems. The video speaker discusses creating a mathematical framework to quantify sustainability, allowing for a definitive yes or no answer to whether a practice is absolutely sustainable.

Highlights

The term 'sustainable' is often misused and can mean different things to different people, leading to confusion and misleading claims.

Sustainability's vagueness can be categorized into two issues: focus and numbers.

Sustainable cotton is often organic, which has benefits but also comes with lower yields and higher carbon emissions.

The concept of 'sustainability' can be misleading when it's used to imply something is more sustainable than another without a clear standard.

An oat milk cappuccino emits less carbon than a cow milk cappuccino, but still exceeds the ideal carbon emission limit for a truly sustainable cappuccino.

The speaker proposes a new approach to defining sustainability, focusing on absolute sustainability rather than relative.

Absolute sustainability is defined as staying within an allowance that does not strain the planet.

The need for a quantifiable definition of sustainability is emphasized, as the current understanding is over 30 years old and too vague.

The concept of 'sticking to your share' is introduced as a way to understand and quantify absolute sustainability.

The planetary boundary framework is mentioned as a way to determine the limits of Earth's resources and environmental impact.

The importance of considering multiple aspects of sustainability, not just climate change, is highlighted.

A mathematical framework is proposed to calculate whether something is sustainable in absolute terms with a simple yes or no answer.

The speaker encourages a critical approach to claims of sustainability and the need for a clear, quantifiable goal.

The goal of absolute sustainability is presented as a radical but achievable target for products, services, and policies.

The speaker calls for a collective effort to redefine and pursue absolute sustainability for the sake of future generations.

The presentation concludes with a call to action to critically evaluate and redefine what true sustainability means.

Transcripts

[Music]

thank you

how many times this week have you heard

something referred to as sustainable

it could have been sustainable cotton

sustainable coffee

sustainable single-use Cutlery I've

heard that

I heard another good one sustainable

coal

I think the best one I've heard yet is

um sustainable Airship Hotel what is

that even I don't know yeah

people use the word sustainability to

mean a lot of things

and the vagueness of the word can be put

into two different groups one of focus

and one of numbers

now the focus problem arises when we say

something is sustainable but we're only

addressing sustainability in one aspect

take sustainable cotton

usually when you dig into it sustainable

cotton is organic cotton

and organic cotton is great if you want

to reduce the amount of pesticides you

use and the toxic pollutants that you

emit into the environment

but organic farming is also associated

with lower yields which means we need to

use more water

we need to use more land

and there are higher Associated carbon

emissions

now the numbers problem arises when we

say something is sustainable but what we

really mean is it's just more

sustainable than something else

take a nice hot cappuccino maybe one you

had this morning

if you had a cow milk cappuccino this

morning it would have emitted around one

kilo of carbon

if on the other hand you had an oat milk

cappuccino this morning it would have

emitted around a third of that

0.3 kilos

so now that's a lot better

but is it good enough

what if I told you I had done the

calculations

to find out that a cappuccino is allowed

to emit only 0.1 kilos of carbon

that means that your oatmeal cappuccino

is actually emitting three times its

allowance already

I uh I read a newspaper

column recently that jokingly said that

it could be considered sustainable

because of recycling the same ideas

I thought that was pretty good

um

so what is sustainability

it's so fluffy

but not not an acute way though not like

this unfortunately

at the moment the word sustainability is

being used to mean anything and

everything

and when a word means everything

it means nothing

throwing around the word sustainability

is actually really dangerous because it

means that people like you and me

we purchase things because we think

they're sustainable when really they're

not

this leads to misleading claims

confusion around what it even means to

be sustainable

sustainability policies which are not

good enough and that's the numbers

problem

or misdirected and that's the focus

problem

the closest thing we come to a broadly

accepted Definition of sustainability

is one that revolves around meeting the

needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future

generations to also meet their needs

now this is good it's a good start but

it's also pretty vague because what does

a need mean do I need the newest iPhone

this is known as the bruntland

definition

when do you guys think this is from

it is from

1987.

this definition is literally older than

me

so it still isn't working because we

don't know we can't agree on what

sustainability looks like

and in my entire lifetime we've not been

able to come up with a more accurate or

even quantifiable Definition of

sustainability really

well I say

let's change that

I would like to introduce you

absolute sustainability I would like to

show you how we can Define

sustainability absolutely

sometimes meaning can be hidden in plain

sight

so take the word sustainable

it is something that is able to sustain

itself

it is sustainable

something that sustains itself into the

future

now

this whole thing about the future has

become much more important to me

recently

since becoming a parent

I am the mother of a one-year-old

and now this problem is not just about

me

it's about my son

it's about his life

about his future children

and generations to come

but in order to achieve sustainability

we need to know what it looks like

so let's define absolute sustainability

together

and let's build off the notion that

something is sustainable when it is able

to sustain itself into the future

without putting too much strain on the

planet

but how do we know if it can or cannot

that's the question right well like this

we determine how much something is

allowed to impact the Earth

and we then compare it to how much it

does impact the earth now these are two

numbers that we can compare solving the

numbers problem

we then repeat that process for multiple

different aspects of sustainability not

just climate change but water and land

biodiversity

we solve the focus problem because we

broaden our Focus

so through Power of calculation this

means that we're actually able to answer

the question of whether something is

sustainable in absolute terms or not yes

or no

and the idea

that it all comes down to

the definition that I want to propose is

this

something is sustainable in absolute

terms

if it stays within its allowance

so sticking to your share that's it

uh I was told that I couldn't put the

mathematical equations on these slides

because it would scare people off that's

fine but um these are the words that the

mathematical framework boiled down to

sticking to your share

I'll repeat that

sticking to your chair

to your Sierra stick you must

yeah I think you're getting it it's

great

but now all of you are left with a

question which is Angela that's great

but how do I know how big my share is

and that's an excellent question it all

starts with asking the right questions

so to answer this I would like you to

picture

a cake

well we need to know three things in

order to share this cake

we need to know the size of the cake

how big is it

we need to know

who wants to share the cake

and we need to know how to share the

cake between the people who want it

so now for the next step here I'd like

you to do a little mind exercise with me

I'd like you to imagine that this cake

is actually

the Earth

so the Earth gives us things that we all

want to share such as air and water and

land

now let's tackle the first question

how big is the cake how big is this pool

of resources that we have to share

well thankfully some really prominent

researchers have come up with this

framework it's called the planetary

boundary framework

and it puts numbers on how much we can

strain our planet before we reach utter

disaster basically

so the green area in the middle there

that's where we want to be within the

limits

and the red is where we've already

exceeded the limits

now in one of these Focus areas

it tells us exactly how much carbon we

can emit into the atmosphere before we

experience unacceptable and catastrophic

climate change

in another

how much fresh water we can use before

we don't have enough

now I know this is some pretty Grim

stuff but um it does one really good

thing which is it answers our first

question

it answers how big the cake is puts

numbers on how much wriggle room we have

within each of these nine environmental

Focus areas

so far so good

the second question is pretty simple

who wants to share the cake

well we all do us and future Generations

the third question is where it gets

really tricky

interdisciplinary even

this is where engineering science meets

philosophy in a wonderful swirly

cocktail

this is where colleagues and I we took

philosophical approaches to sharing and

we turned them into mathematical

equations which allowed us to calculate

an exact answer as to whether something

is sustainable or not in absolute terms

yes or no it's as simple as that

and if no which it will often be

then how far away are we

so this is pretty revolutionary

because

you all now know

that the question of whether something

is sustainable or not is a scientific

question with a simple answer yes or no

so be critical next time you hear

something referred to as sustainable

is this cotton sustainable in absolute

terms

we need to start designing products and

services and even policies

with the goal of absolute sustainability

in mind

and this will force us to be really

radical because

better

is not good enough

historically the combined efforts of the

human race have proven to achieve

incredible things

I believe we still can

we just need to know what the goal is

and the goal

is absolute sustainability

can we do it

yes

absolutely

thank you

[Applause]