The importance of sustainability

The most commonly quoted definition of sustainability appears in the Brundtland Report, World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987:

'Sustainable development means the ability to meet our own needs without prejudicing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'

Sustainability has environmental, economic and social components, often referred to as the 'triple bottom line' (see Figure 1).

Most of the surveyor's impact will fall within the 'environmental' range, but we cannot ignore the social aspect, which, with a bit of thought, can also fall within our zone of influence. The economic component is, of course, very important to our clients and in order to achieve sustainability, so it also needs to be carefully considered and addressed.

Figure 1: The 'triple bottom line' of sustainability 

A more recent version is the '5 capitals of sustainability', which perhaps more accurately represents the different areas.

Figure 2: The '5 capitals of sustainability'

Natural capital is the equivalent of ‘environment’ in our 3 interlocking rings, covering land, sea and air and including, for example, renewable and non-renewable materials such as timber, oil, gas, the marine environment and the atmosphere.

Human and social capital are the equivalent of ‘social’ in our 3 rings. Human capital includes our knowledge, skills and health – measures that we as humans have developed and improved through education and training, to form our own capital base. Social capital are those items that make humans social rather than solitary creatures, such as family, schooling, businesses, sports and religion.

Manufactured capital refers to the invested assets that are used in production and manufacturing, including buildings.

Financial capital is the tool that allows the other capitals to be used, owned and traded.