Page 26 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

CHAPTER

2

Sustainability, sustainable

development, and business

sustainability

Marta Avesani
Economy for The Common Good–Italy, Bressanone, Italy

2.1 Sustainability and sustainable development:
Main concepts and approaches

The world is nowadays unsustainable (WBCSD, 2010; UN News Centre, 2012). KPMG
International (2012) identified 10 “mega-forces” (climate change, energy and fuel, material
resource scarcity, water scarcity, population growth, wealth, urbanization, food security,
ecosystem decline, and deforestation) that challenge our world and, if not adequately and
urgently tackled, could undermine human life and the environment in the next 20years.
Oxfam International (2014) affirms that social inequalities are rising, despite the development
of emerging countries. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC, 2015) states
that extreme events related to climate change are increasing in frequency. These are only
some examples of the dangers humanity is facing today and which will have to deal with
in the future.
Sustainability has probably become the most used approach to development in the last
three decades, entering the discourse in numerous disciplines at all levels. Researchers,
political institutions at all levels, businesses, and civil society organizations, all give their
own interpretation to the concept. As a consequence, sustainable development has several
meanings and definitions and there is no agreement about it (Mebratu, 1998; Giddings
et al., 2002). This chapter will only provide the reader with a brief overview on the origins
and main characteristics of the concept.

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Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment for Decision-Making Copyright # 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818355-7.00002-6