CEU/UNDP Summer school on Stainable Human Development Human development and sustainability Dr. Andrey Ivanov Human Development Advisor United Nations Development Programme Regional Center for Europe and CIS Bratislava, Slovakia

Outline  Basic approaches to sustainability  UNDP approach  Sustainability and human development  How to solve a simple equation

Increase in environmental concerns since 1960s…  Some milestones –1973 – “Limits of Growth” –United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), est. 1972, Stockholm – World Conservation Strategy of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, – World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) established – first volume of “Our Common Future” – Earth Summit in Rio – the third UN Conference on Environment and Development in Johannesburg –2012 – Rio+20

The definitions  Brundtland’s Commission Definition: Development, that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  It contains two key concepts: –the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and –the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

Updated definition  Development path that can be sustained – not just ecologically but –Demographically –Financially –Psychologically –Socially  A crucial question: which society is sustainable?  Another question: how translate sustainability?

What to sustain? 4 types of capital…  man-made capital (based on manufacturing or related economic activities)  natural capital – non-renewable and renewable resources, sources and sinks  human capital – knowledge, technical know- how, health, science  social capital – culture, traditions, institutions, cooperative behavior, trust, social norms, participation in decision-making

Types of sustainability: weak  maintaining a certain minimum of total capital regardless of the ratios of individual forms of capital –assumption: individual forms of capital are substitutable (within practical range) Economic capital Social capital Natural capital Wellbeing

trong Types of sustainability: strong  maintaining a certain minimum of every form of capital –assumption: individual forms of capital are not necessarily substitutable; more probably they are complementary Economic capital Social capital Natural capital Wellbeing ++

Reasonable (affordable, pragmatic) sustainability  Limited, sustainable consumption of natural capital to maximize present wellbeing while maintaining a critical minimum of natural capital to allow reproduction –assumption: some life-forms or environmental resources are irreplaceable and should not be compromised – there is very limited substitutability –Link to ‘natural boundaries’

Implications: the two conflicting agendas  Green agenda –problems stemming from overconsumption –environmental impacts of urban and industrial systems –survival of ecosystems, needs of future generations  Brown agenda –poverty and underdevelopment, needs of low-income groups –environmental threats to health (sanitation, access to drinking water, population density, waste accumulation, air and water pollution) –increasing access to (natural) resources at the local level

A matter of equity  environmental, ecological sustainability: intergenerational equity  development: intra-generational equity Reconciling both…

Three pillars of sustainability Social Sustainability Economic Sustainability Environment Sustainability

Fully Sustainable Societies SUSTAINABLE

Inclusive growth Green growth, Ecosystem services Economic effects of social conflicts; Budgetary redistribution to alleviate inequality and poverty; Global Compact, Corporate Social Responsibility, Social enterprises New patterns of growth; Pricing to take account of the environmental externalities; Proper valuation of ecosystem services, including of irreversible damages Green (and decent) jobs Poverty-environment nexus; Social impact of ecosystem damage; Social inclusion effects of pollution, and of environmental disasters. Sustainability and development

The Carrying-Capacity Approach Natural environment Economy and Society What is the optimal scale of the macro economy relative to the environment? Another definition of SD: “to increase the quality of human life without overstepping the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems”. (IUCN et al., 1991)

Putting it in numbers? I = P x C x T

Current background World population: 7 billion today; predicted to reach 9 bn by 2050

Sustainability of human development - footprint

Sustainability of human development - carbon

Examples from the region

Diverse picture over time

One of the possible explanations?

Summary 1. Sustainability is intrinsically linked to the very nature of the human development paradigm 2. It a development approach is not sustainable, it can’t claim to be human development in nature 3. Sustainability goes beyond its than environmental aspects 4. The big question: how to get into the “nirvana quadrant”?