Future of Sustainability 2030

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Welcome to the Future of Sustainability in 2030

Group Members

Yojiro Fukaya
Eric Lam
Yunzhu (Carrie) Ma
Hugh Malkin
Kay Mei Tan

Introduction

"Sustainable Development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development; and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations." from the United Nations Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future (Brundtland Commission)
http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm#I

Or in other words: Meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development deals with Social Equity, the Economy, and the Environment

Research Questions

Definition
  1. What is the definition of Sustainability?
  2. What is "The Tragedy of the Commons"?
General
  1. How much oil is left in the world? When will oil run out?
  2. Which Fossil Fuels give off most Carbon Dioxide? What are the worst Fossil Fuels?
  3. What is the history of sustainability?
Envirnoment
  1. What is the rate of Ice melt?
  2. How is sustainability measured?
  3. Why does sustainability matter?
  4. What are the effects of sustainability?
  5. What are the factors of sustainability?
  6. What is the motivation for companies to work for sustainability?
  7. How will growth in developing countries effect on sustainability?
  8. What is the urgent issue relating to sustainability?
  9. What can we do as a individual?
  10. Is sustainability a slow or fast change?
  11. What changes are present day solutions and which are long-term solutions?
  12. What is the balance of profits and sustainability?
  13. Is less bad of sustainability actually good? What is the goal of sustainability? What is sufficient?
  14. Are things really measureable?
  15. Where should the solution come from? Is there a universal answer?
  16. What is the value of the global services for sustainability e.g. air and water purification, agricultural pollination, nutrient cycling, soil enrichment, climate stabilization, medicinal products and drought mitigation?
  17. What would happen if we do not work on sustainability?
  18. How much should be done?
  19. Who should be responsible for sustainability e.g. government, individuals, country?
  20. How bad is the current situation?
  21. What happeneds if we slow growth? Does that mean that we do not need to work on sustainability?
Regulation
  1. What are current international regulations regarding sustainability?
Energy
  1. What are the current major ways of power generation
  2. What is the most efficient power generation method in terms of cost and CO2 emission?
  3. What to extent cost of renewable energy will be cheeper?
Technology
  1. What are the key technologies?
  2. Can technological development solve environmental issues dramatically?
Resource
  1. What is the outlook of world energy in the next 20 years?
  2. Is water the Key Limiting Factor?
  3. Will other natural resource, other than energy, play serious roles in the future sustainability?
  4. What are the other threats to sustainability?
  5. How do human beings interact with/affect natural resource?
  6. What are the energy trends in Inida and China?
  7. What are the impacts of climate change to the future sustainability?
Value
  1. What is the most important value for sustainability?
  2. What is the method evaluating values?
  3. What are the values of the worlds leading polluters?
Pollution
  1. What is the most important pollutant?
Population
  1. Is our population growing?
  2. Is there a limit to growth?
Education
  1. What is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)?

Driving Forces

  1. Sustainable Resources
  2. Alternative Energy
  3. Technological Development
  4. Education
  5. Business
  6. Economy
  7. Regulations for Sustainability
  8. Values
  9. Population
  10. Pollution

Systems Diagram

1st draft

1st draft

Final version


Final version

Scenario Tree

ScenarioTree Sustainability.jpg

Scenarios

  1. Collapse of the Environment
  2. Tragedy of Commons
  3. New Enlightenment
  4. Market Regulation

References

  1. Websites
  2. Books
  3. News Articles
  4. Notes