Appendix 1. Summary of Sustainability Trends

• Author: William R. Blackburn
• Pages: 551-646

Appendix 1

Summary of Sustainability Trends

1.0 Introduction to Global Sustainability Trends; The Millennium

Development Goals

1.1. Growth in Global Business Competition

1.2. Opposition to Globalization

1.3. Speed of Communications; The Digital Divide

1.4. Widening Prosperity Gap

1.5. Population Growth; Mortality Rates

1.6. AIDS and Other Serious Diseases

1.7 Mental Health Problems

1.8. Increased Immigration, Lower Fertility in Industrialized

Nations

1.9. Hunger and Malnutrition

1.10 Child and Forced Labor

1.11. Education Needs for the Disenfranchised

1.12. Urbanization

1.13. Overconsumption of Resources

1.14. Fossil Fuel Depletion

1.15. Climate Change

1.16. Deforestation

1.17. Threats to Biodiversity

1.18. Freshwater Depletion; Water Contamination

1.19. Wetlands Destruction

1.20. Fish Depletion

1.21. Coral Reef Destruction

1.22. Spread of Hazardous Pollutants

1.23. Traditional Air Pollutants

1.24. Declining Soil Quality

1.25. Ozone Depletion

1.26. Low Credibility of Corporations

1.27. Extended Producer Responsibility

1.28. Green Products

1.29. Green Marketing/Labeling

1.30. Green Product Certification

1.31. Obesity; Food Nutrition

1.32. Rise in Socially Responsible Investing

1.33. Investor Concerns about Corporate Governance

1.34. Increased Demands for Transparency, Public Reporting

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1.35. Growing Power of NGOs/CSOs

1.36. Increasing Global Terrorism

1.0 Introduction to Global Sustainability Trends; The Millennium

Development Goals

“Don’tit always seem to go, that you don’tknow what you’ve got till it’s

gone.”1

—Joni Mitchell

Seeing the Big Picture

Many of us rise each morning to sip our hot coffee and scan the headlines

of the daily news. The articles may catch our attention but few alert us to

the bigger picture being revealed. Like an observer in the Chicago Art In-

stitute standing too close to Georges Seurat’sstippled painting of Sunday

Afternoon on la Grande Jatte, all we see is dots. To understand the full

picture, we must stand back. As we do, soon a man, a tree, or an umbrella

appear in the artwork. Only if we take a long view does the full master-

piece reveal itself. And so it is with the state of the world as it relates to

sustainability. Events are the dots. Placed side by side, these dots paint a

trend here, a trend there. When presented together, these trends give us

the big picture in which business and society operate, a picture out of bal-

ance and in need of correction, a picture full of risks and opportunities.

The trends discussed in this appendix dictate much of the agenda for

societal action in the drive for sustainability. People engaged in strategic

and tactical planning must understand these trends and the specific risks

and opportunities they hold for their organizations. Form C (Appendix 4)

is designed to capture the planners’ conclusions in that regard. The list

below is not exhaustive, however. In assessing sustainability risks and

opportunities during planning, companies are encouraged to add other

sustainability issues and trends to Form C as relevant.

The Millennium Development Goals

The United Nations is keenly aware of the big picture of global sustain-

ability trends. In 2002, the U.N. Member states unanimously adopted the

Millennium Declaration acknowledging many of the serious problems

concerning governance, poverty, disease, education, inequality, envi-

ronmental degradation, and the lack of access to healthcare and tech-

nology in many corners of the globe.2The declarations reiterate a

552 THE SUSTAINABILITY HANDBOOK

set of targets on these issues—the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs)—which were originally set out by international conferences

and summits held in the 1990s and formerly referred to as the Interna-

tional Development Goals (see Figure A1.0.1). The U.N. Secretary-Gen-

eral issues a yearly report on progress toward implementation of the Mil-

lennium Declaration, including the goals, based on information drawn

from across the U.N. organization. The first comprehensive review was

produced in 2005.3

The Trends

This appendix summarizes a number of the important sustainability

trends, including many associated with the MDGs. While some good

progress is being made toward the goal on poverty reduction (Appendix

1.4), less than 20% of all countries are on track to meet the targets on

child and maternal mortality (Appendix 1.5).4The Caribbean, East and

Southeast Asia, and LatinAmerica are positioned to meet their MDG on

reducing hunger (Appendix 1.9), but progress has been slower in south-

ern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Northern Africa has seen no improve-

ment, and in western Asia conditions are worsening.5In five developing

regions, 90% of children or more are enrolled in primary education (Ap-

pendix 1.11), and slight gains are being made in most other parts of the

world. But nearly two out of five children in sub-Saharan Africa still get

no schooling.6Good progress is being made in providing access to safe

water, but the same cannot be said for improved sanitation—only East

Asia and Latin America are likely to meet this goal, and nearly half of the

people in developing nations still lack toilets (Appendix 1.18).7The pic-

ture is even less optimistic regarding the control of human immunodefi-

ciency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), ma-

laria, and other major diseases (Appendix 1.6).

In examining the state of our environment, many aspects of which are

also summarized here, the U.N. 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assess-

ment concluded the following:

·The changes made to the ecosystems have contributed to substantial

net gains in human well-being and economic development, to be sure,

but these gains have been achieved at growing costs in the form of:

1.The decline in many of the benefits provided by ecosystems, es-

pecially freshwater, fisheries, air and water purification, and the

SUMMARY OF SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS 553