Sustainability – why is it way beyond the Triple Bottom Line ?

1. Sustainability – why is it way beyond the Triple Bottom Line ? Richard Donnelly Dr Carol Boyle International Centre for Sustainability Engineering and Research University of Auckland

2. Masters Research • Sustainability of urban water resources management • Incorporating sustainability thinking into engineering • How engineers can address sustainability

3. The Triple Bottom Line Concept Three Pillars of Sustainable Development Society Environment Sustainable Development Economy

4. Environment Society Economy The Triple Bottom Line Concept

5. The Wuppertal Prism Source: The Wuppertal Institute, http://www.foeeurope.org The Triple Bottom Line Concept

6. Guiding Vision • Stakeholder participation • Sustainability principles Sustainability Criteria Sustainability Assessment • Impacts & benefits • Achievement of goals Progress toward Sustainable Development The TBL Approach

7. TBL In Society • Accepted concept • Incorporated in law • TBL assessments widely used • Business reporting tool • Expands decision-making scope • Significant advancement over previous assessment tools

8. Does Triple Bottom Line Thinking Address Sustainability ? No – TBL does not address sustainability

9. Sustainability of Processes • Sustainability – “the ability to be sustained” • A property only of processes • Objects… beget systems… beget processes • Processes meet needs • Systems generate processes but always changing

10. The Urban Water Cycle A Process… From the Sky to the Sea Source: From the Sky to the Sea: The Auckland Water Management Plan http://www.watercare.co.nz

11. Processes can only be sustainable if the generating systems keep functioning and the necessary resources are available

12. Problems with TBL • Does not address sustainability • Will not deliver sustainable development • Does not consider long-term futures • Does not consider cumulative impacts • Does not challenge existing paradigms • Does not provide “real world” justification for change • Expensive & time consuming

13. Sustainability & Risk • TBL impacts do affect sustainability • Impact assessment alone is insufficient to ensure sustainability • Companies, cities & societies need to consider risks to sustainability • E.g. Auckland City

14. Auckland Transportation • Congestion costs $ 1 Billion / year • $ 3.5 Billion roading plan

15. Auckland Wastewater • Infrastructure capacity issues • Mangere WWTP at capacity by 2014 • Western Interceptor at capacity by 2005

16. Auckland Electricity • National grid won’t meet Auckland demand by 2010 • $ 1.5 billion upgrade by 2010 • $ 1 billion further 2010 – 2020

17. Auckland – Other Issues • Metropolitan aggregate sources exhausted • Concerns over global oil production

18. Sources of Risk • Inefficiencies in technology, production processes & infrastructure systems • Environmental, social, economic & physical resource limits • Increasing costs to meet increasing demand

19. Risk-based Planning • TBL approaches cannot identify & address long-term risks to sustainability • We need to ensure the sustainability of: • Business activities • Critical services e.g. transportation • Provision of important resources • Now & for future generations

20. Risk-based Planning • Identify system limits • Determine supply / demand conflicts • Identify threats & risks to sustainability • Identify actions to address them • Co-ordinated, high level, integrated, multi-disciplinary planning

21. Summary • TBL represents relationships between environment, society & economy • TBL is important for informing decision- making processes • TBL is not synonymous with achieving sustainable development • Long-term risk-based planning is required to ensure future generations can meet their needs

22. Thank you