SIMON POPE - seminar 'Sustainability'

This morning we spoke about 'sustainability in design and sustainability in general'

The concept of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.The term was originally applied to natural resource situations in a long term perspective. Today, it applies to many disciplines, including economic development, environment, food production, energy, and social organization. Basically, sustainability/sustainable development refers to doing something with the long term in mind.

Sustainable Design
Early influences
The modern concept of environmental sustainability goes back to the post-World War II period, when a utopian view of technology-driven economic growth gave way to a perception that the quality of the environment was linked closely to economic development. Interest grew sharply during the environmental movements of the 1960s, when popular books such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) and The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich (1968) raised public awareness.

Types of sustainability

Institutional sustainability.

Can a strengthened institutional structure continue to deliver the results of technical cooperation to end users? The results may not be sustainable if, for example, the planning authority that depends on the technical cooperation loses access to top management, or is not provided with adequate resources after the technical cooperation ends. Institutional sustainability can also be linked to the concept of social sustainability, which asks how the interventions can be sustained by social structures and institutions;

Economic and financial sustainability.

Can the results of technical cooperation continue to yield an economic benefit after the technical cooperation is withdrawn? For example, the benefits from the introduction of new crops may not be sustained if the constraints to marketing the crops are not resolved. Similarly, economic, as distinct from financial, sustainability may be at risk if the end users continue to depend on heavily subsidized activities and inputs.

Ecological sustainability.

Are the benefits to be generated by the technical cooperation likely to lead to a deterioration in the physical environment, thus indirectly contributing to a fall in production, or well-being of the groups targeted and their society.



Today's decisions are made with a consideration of sustaining our activities into the long term future.Another discussion following these lines was about carbon credit's.

What is a Carbon Credit?
Its true definition is the ESO or Exchange Soil Offset or, more popularly the CO2e or Carbon Dioxide equivalent but what is it equivalent to? How many Euros are there for each Credit?

Coincidentally, today is also the first day of a new currency that is very much like the real Carbon Credit. The Savetheplanet Carbon Credit is officially launched this day 1st September 2005 to a less than rapturous welcome from all who use her. Let’s call them Credits because in Science Fiction films Credits are the currency of the future anyway. So far, I have printed off the first batch of notes you can see below, I guessed that the 20 Credit note would entitle the holder to drive for 20 weeks at current technology levels. Owners of hybrids might be entitled to drive for more weeks but until I can work out the true value of a Credit, it’s difficult to know how it compares to a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol or a pair of Levi jeans. Or a tree.


Kyoto protocol
Kyoto Protocol is a voluntary treaty signed by 141 countries, including the European Union, Japan and Canada for reducing GHG emission by 5.2% below 1990 levels by ’12. However, the US, which accounts for one-third of the total GHG emission, is yet to sign this treaty. The preliminary phase of the Kyoto Protocol is to start in ’07 while the second phase starts from ’08. The penalty for non-compliance in the first phase is E40 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent. In the second phase, the penalty will be hiked to E100 per tonne of CO2.

How does trading in carbon credit (CC) take place ?

The concept of carbon credit trading seeks to encourage countries to reduce their GHG emissions, as it rewards those countries which meet their targets and provides financial incentives to others to do so as quickly as possible. Surplus credits (collected by overshooting the emission reduction target) can be sold in the global market. One credit is equivalent to one tonne of CO2 emission reduced. CC are available for companies engaged in developing renewable energy projects that offset the use of fossil fuels.

Developed countries have to spend nearly $300-500 for every tonne reduction in CO2, against $10-$25 to be spent by developing countries. In countries like India, GHG emission is much below the target fixed by Kyoto Protocol and so, they are excluded from reduction of GHG emission. On the contrary, they are entitled to sell surplus credits to developed countries.

It is here that trading takes place. Foreign companies who cannot fulfil the protocol norms can buy the surplus credit from companies in other countries through trading.

Thus, the stage is set for Credit Emission Reduction (CER) trade to flourish. India is considered as the largest beneficiary, claiming about 31% of the total world carbon trade through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which is expected to rake in at least $5-10bn over a period of time.