Editing Sustainable development (section)

=== Improving on environmental sustainability ===
{{Further|Human impact on the environment|Ecological footprint}} An unsustainable situation occurs when [[natural capital]] (the total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished.<ref name=":0" />{{rp|58}} Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. The concept of sustainable development is intertwined with the concept of [[carrying capacity]]. Theoretically, the long-term result of [[environmental degradation]] is the inability to sustain human life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Nayeripour |first1=Majid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9CPDwAAQBAJ&dq=An+unsustainable+situation+occurs+when+natural+capital+(the+total+of+nature's+resources)+is+used+up+faster+than+it+can+be+replenished.+Sustainability+requires+that+human+activity+only+uses+nature's+resources+at+a+rate+at+which+they+can+be+replenished+naturally.+The+concept+of+sustainable+development+is+intertwined+with+the+concept+of+carrying+capacity.+Theoretically,+the+long-term+result+of+environmental+degradation+is+the+inability+to+sustain+human+life&pg=PA58 |title=Sustainable Growth and Applications in Renewable Energy Sources |last2=Kheshti |first2=Mostafa |date=2011-12-02 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-953-307-408-5 |page=58 }}[[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50x50px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License]] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/|date=16 October 2017}}</ref>

Important operational principles of sustainable development were published by [[Herman Daly]] in 1990: renewable resources should provide a [[sustainable yield]] (the rate of harvest should not exceed the rate of regeneration); for non-renewable resources there should be equivalent development of renewable substitutes; waste generation should not exceed the assimilative capacity of the environment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=H.E. |year=1990 |title=Toward some operational principles of sustainable development |journal=Ecological Economics |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1016/0921-8009(90)90010-r|bibcode=1990EcoEc...2....1D }}</ref>

In 2019, a summary for policymakers of the [[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services|largest, most comprehensive study to date]] of [[biodiversity]] and [[ecosystem service]]s was published by the [[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]. It recommended that human civilization will need a transformative change, including [[sustainable agriculture]], reductions in [[Consumption (economics)|consumption]] and waste, fishing quotas and collaborative water management.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf |title=Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |date=6 May 2019 |publisher=the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Deutsche Welle |first1=Deutsche |date=6 May 2019 |title=Why Biodiversity Loss Hurts Humans as Much as Climate Change Does |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-loss-human-health-2636410357.html |access-date=10 May 2019 |agency=Ecowatch}}</ref>

[[Environmental impact of agriculture|Environmental problems]] associated with [[industrial agriculture]] and [[agribusiness]] are now being addressed through approaches such as [[sustainable agriculture]], [[organic farming]] and more [[Sustainable business|sustainable business practices]].<ref>[http://www.wbcsd.org/templates/TemplateWBCSD5/layout.asp?MenuID=1 World Business Council for Sustainable Development] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410074308/http://www.wbcsd.org/templates/TemplateWBCSD5/layout.asp?MenuID=1|date=10 April 2009}} This web site has multiple articles on [[World Business Council for Sustainable Development|WBCSD]] contributions to sustainable development. Retrieved 7 April 2009.</ref> At the local level there are various movements working towards [[sustainable food system]]s which may include less meat consumption, [[local food]] production, [[slow food]], [[sustainable gardening]], and [[organic gardening]].<ref>Holmgren, D. (March 2005). [http://www.sbpermaculture.org/Suburbs_Holmgren.html "Retrofitting the suburbs for sustainability."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415103213/http://www.sbpermaculture.org/Suburbs_Holmgren.html|date=15 April 2009}} CSIRO Sustainability Network. Retrieved 7 July 2009.</ref> The environmental effects of different dietary patterns depend on many factors, including the proportion of animal and plant foods consumed and the method of food production.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McMichael |first1=Anthony J |last2=Powles |first2=John W |last3=Butler |first3=Colin D |last4=Uauy |first4=Ricardo |title=Food, livestock production, energy, climate change, and health |journal=The Lancet |date=October 2007 |volume=370 |issue=9594 |pages=1253–1263 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61256-2 |pmid=17868818 |hdl=1885/38056 |s2cid=9316230 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baroni |first1=L |last2=Cenci |first2=L |last3=Tettamanti |first3=M |last4=Berati |first4=M |title=Evaluating the environmental impact of various dietary patterns combined with different food production systems |journal=European Journal of Clinical Nutrition |date=1 February 2007 |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=279–286 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602522 |pmid=17035955 |s2cid=16387344 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[File:Highlight Findings of the WA S0E 2007 report.gif|upright=1.7|thumb|Ecological footprint for different nations compared to their [[Human Development Index]] (2007)]]
As global population and affluence have increased, so has the use of various materials increased in volume, diversity, and distance transported. By 2050, humanity could consume an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year (three times its current amount) unless the economic growth rate is decoupled from the rate of natural [[resource consumption]].<ref>UNEP (2011). [http://www.resourcepanel.org/reports/decoupling-natural-resource-use-and-environmental-impacts-economic-growth Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120134055/https://resourcepanel.org/reports/decoupling-natural-resource-use-and-environmental-impacts-economic-growth |date=20 January 2022 }}. {{ISBN|978-92-807-3167-5}}. Retrieved 30 November 2011.</ref>

Sustainable use of materials has targeted the idea of [[Dematerialization (economics)|dematerialization]], converting the linear path of materials (extraction, use, disposal in landfill) to a [[Material flow accounting|circular material flow]] that reuses materials as much as possible, much like the cycling and reuse of waste in nature.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Anderberg|first1=S|year=1998|title=Industrial metabolism and linkages between economics, ethics, and the environment|journal=Ecological Economics|volume=24|issue=2–3|pages=311–320|doi=10.1016/s0921-8009(97)00151-1}}</ref> This way of thinking is expressed in the concept of [[circular economy]], which employs [[reuse]], [[Sharing economy|sharing]], repair, refurbishment, [[remanufacturing]] and [[recycling]] to create a closed-loop system, minimizing the use of [[Resource depletion|resource inputs]] and the creation of [[Waste minimisation|waste]], pollution and carbon emissions.<ref name="Geissdoerfer 757–768">{{cite journal |last1=Geissdoerfer |first1=Martin |last2=Savaget |first2=Paulo |last3=Bocken |first3=Nancy M.P. |last4=Hultink |first4=Erik Jan |title=The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |date=February 2017 |volume=143 |pages=757–768 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048 |bibcode=2017JCPro.143..757G |s2cid=157449142 |url=https://dro.dur.ac.uk/29108/1/29108.pdf }}</ref> The [[European Commission]] has adopted an ambitious [[Circular Economy Action Plan]] in 2020, which aims at making sustainable products the norm in the EU.<ref>European Commission (2020). "[https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en Circular economy action plan]". {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120070301/https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en |date=20 January 2022 }}. Retrieved 10 November 2021.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= 52020DC0098 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A98%3AFIN|access-date=2021-11-09|website=EUR-Lex |language=en}}</ref>