Sustaining sustainability
Dr Morgan Williams, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Manaaki Whenua is a sustainability leader.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The concept of sustainable development emerged in its present form in the 1987 ‘Bruntland’ report and has become immortalised in the seductively concise definition “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs”.
However, operationalising this concept is proving to be an enormous challenge because there is little consensus in the depths of most political, societal and economic domains about what ‘being sustainable’ really means. Nevertheless, there are ‘keystone’ areas where we must substantively advance our understanding of what is sustainable, what drives sustainability, and how we convey understanding through our learning processes. These include:
- Ecosystem health — maintaining the quality and extent of our soils, waters, and biodiversity.
- Drivers of demand on our natural capital — the economic policies, international agreements, legislation, investment policies, and individual consumer behaviours.
- Institutional systems — for integrating economic, social and environmental information to support policy, business decisions, financial investments and individual lifestyle choices.
- Education for sustainability — education that focuses sharply on understanding the links between environmental quality, societal needs and wants, our economic systems and socio-political systems.
Manaaki Whenua is a committed investor and a world leader in advancing ecosystem knowledge. They do this through strong partnerships with communities, business, and central and local government agencies. Manaaki Whenua’s integrated catchment research in rural and urban areas is a good example. The multi-science multi-stakeholder collaborative approach is helping everyone to understand the drivers that create resource pressures such as subdivision on the urban fringe, maintaining farm profitability via ever higher inputs of nutrients and water, and new pests and invasive species. Manaaki Whenua has shown sustainability leadership — through the design of their new facility on the Tamaki Campus of Auckland University, and through the Chief Executive’s vigorous engagement in the work of the New Zealand Business Council of Sustainable Development and the development of an innovative 50-year vision for the organisation.
New Zealand is a tiny biotically dependent nation. Ultimately, progress towards being more sustainable will depend on our willingness to reshape many of our economic, institutional and learning models. This will mean shifting some core societal values, which is already starting to happen. Manaaki Whenua is showing us some of the opportunities and, as a team, they continue to exude excitement about what they are doing!
We need to pursue knowledge for, not simply about, sustainability in our formal and informal research and education processes. Currently sustainability is just one, often minor, part of a large learning agenda. There is growing realisation that it should be the foundation for all learning — the starting point for law, economics, history, engineering, design, materials, arts, etc. In short there needs to be a revolution in learning associated with sustainability.In its simplest form, being sustainable means society should meet its needs and wants from nature’s ‘interest’ without eroding the ‘capital’. We must regard natural capital as the most fundamental element of sustainability, and ensure society evolves its values, beliefs, systems of exchange and control, economies and laws in ways that retain that capital.
To reinforce some of my points, I will end with a favourite quote from a speech by Maurice Strong, who chaired the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992.
“Most of the changes we must make are in our economic life. The system of taxes, subsidies, regulations and policies through which governments motivate the behaviour of individuals and corporations continues to incent unsustainable behaviours” Maurice Strong, 24 July 2002 –
addressing the US Senate Environment Treaty Implementation Review
J. Morgan Williams Morgan Williams, Parliamentary Commissioner. |
 |
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) is an Officer of Parliament who is independent of the Government of the day. The primary objective of the office is to contribute to maintaining and improving the quality of the environment in New Zealand through advice given to Parliament, local councils, business, tangata whenua, communities and other public agencies. www.pce.govt.nz
 Back |
Next |