The concept is over 300 years old and is essentially about meeting our own needs without taking away the ability of others to do the same. But while it may be relatively easy to define what sustainability is, it is entirely something else to define what makes activities, products and services sustainable. At NORSUS, our research is about providing good answers to precisely this question.
"What is sustainability?"
The short answer is to be found in the definition that Gro Harlem Brundtland gave in her groundbreaking 1987 work for the UN, Our Common Future:
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Men begrepet har røtter helt tilbake til 1700-tallet. Blant annet fra da Hans Carl von Carolowitz – en mann med ansvar for å forsyne massive smelteovner med brensel i Sachsen – oppdaget at skogen rundt ham var empty of trees.
Da, som nå, handler begrepet om flere ting på en gang: Vi skal sørge for å ikke ødelegge og utarme, men vi skal også leve.
This is why the concept of sustainability today rests on three pillars, all considered essential foundations for sustainable development: social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Disse tre pillarene har vokst frem grown organically from several sources, og tanken om bærekraft som noe som er mer enn én ting, er også noe Brundtland er tydelig på i «Our Common Future»:
"... the 'environment' is where we all live: and 'development' is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."
NORSUS og bærekraftsforskning:
Å se bærekraft i et helhetsbilde er både viktig og relevant for NORSUS. Instituttet ble etablert i 1988, som Østfoldforskning, og har hatt fokus på miljø siden starten. Vi har forsket på hvordan vi kan sørge for et mer bærekraftig samfunn nesten like lenge som begrepet har eksistert i sin nåværende betydning.
- Read more: Østfoldforskning 1988
The foundation of our research is life cycle assessment (LCA). Using this methodology, we evaluate products and services through their life cycle to give an accurate picture of their burdens and impacts across the entire value chain.
- Read more: Dette er livsløpsvurderinger
Nothing is sustainable
Et rådende syn på bærekraft er at «ingenting er bærekraftig – det er bare mer eller mindre bærekraftig enn noe annet». Andre mener, som vi skal se, at noe enten er bærekraftig eller ikke.
Whatever one’s view, products and services will always need to be evaluated in the right context and with the relevant alternatives to determine how sustainable something is. To be able to compare these alternatives correctly, we need reference points everyone can agree on. These need to be both objective and specific enough to avoid misuse.
Research-based knowledge is absolutely essential in this endeavour, and that's why we work with sustainability research: to develop metrics and knowledge that can be used to give good answers about what is sustainable and what isn't, so we can ensure that the choices we make actually drive our society in a greener direction.
This is also why NORSUS is heavily involved in standardisation work and developing environmental declarations with strict requirements like EPD and PEF, to be used in practical comparison by both purchasers and decision-makers.
Four frameworks for sustainability assessments
Solid frameworks are an important part of the toolkit that enables us to help decision-makers, businesses and other partners and clients to understand these alternatives in the right context.
As part of the internal project GRASP (Guidelines and Research for Assessing Sustainability of Products and Services), NORSUS researcher Bram van de Glind has reviewed and examined the most relevant frameworks for sustainability in our research. His review describes four different frameworks:
- Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA)An extension of life cycle assessment methodology, where methods for life cycle assessments of economics (LCC), social impacts (S-LCA) and environmental burdens (E-LCA) – are combined for a holistic sustainability assessment
- Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA): A framework that provides a visual representation of alternatives in cases where there are multiple variables or alternatives requiring (difficult) choices
- Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD): A framework that facilitates developing new products that are safe and sustainable from the very beginning
- Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA): Absolute sustainability: products and services are either within planetary boundaries or they aren't – a radical break with the idea of relative sustainability (something being more or less sustainable than something else)
Sustainability in an uncertain world?
When reading Gro Harlem Brundtland's introduction to Our Common Future er det lett å bli slått av optimismen, fremtidstroen og stå-på-viljen i språket hennes og i beskrivelsen av hvordan medlemmer med vidt forskjellige interesser trakk sammen mot et felles mål i arbeidet med rapporten.
Her, i fremtiden – nesten 40 år senere, er det trygt å si at vi ikke har kommet i mål, at arbeidet fortsetter og at bærekraftsbegrepet står i fare for å bli et ord med så mange bruksområder at det blir tømt for innhold.
However , that doesn't mean we are at a stand-still, but that the simple but powerful definition of sustainability in Our Common Future still very much applies.
Many of the world's brightest minds are working hard to produce knowledge that makes it possible for individuals, businesses and politicians to make better, more sustainable choices – choices that work, that are feasible and that are attractive.
"I like the Brundtland Commission's definition: we need to develop our society in a direction where we meet today's needs without taking away the ability of future generations to meet theirs. I believe nature has intrinsic value, not just as a resource for humans to exploit," says Kari-Anne Lyng, managing director at NORSUS.
"It's important that sustainability doesn't just become a word or simply something that needs to be reported on. I believe that developing sustainable products and services is good for business and efforts towards sustainability result in increased competitiveness for companies. In several industries, sustainability is already a competitive advantage. For others, it's something that's on its way and something they should prepare for. It's about setting yourself up for the future."