About Sustainability

Sustainability refers to the ability of the environment and its resources to provide for the needs of the present without damaging it for future generations to provide for their own needs. Sustainability ensures that our actions today do not impact, limit or reduce the options and standard of living for the future. When a process is sustainable, it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects. Sustainability of the environment is fundamental in ensuring the continuation of life on Earth, as the environment is the foundation of survival of all living organisms providing basic requirements such as food and shelter.

For future generations to have the ability to provide basic requirements for themselves, present generations need to ensure that our actions today do not limit the range of social, environmental and economic options open to future generations. This can be summarised as the need to reduce our ecological footprint today, and maintain it at a level which doesn’t exceed the global biocapacity (nature’s ability to renew its resources).

“Only when the last tree has been chopped down, the last fish has been taken, the last buffalo killed, will man realise that money cannot be eaten." Indian Proverb