Anita Boros, Gyula Koi (eds): Sustainability and Law
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1.The conceptual framework of sustainability (Anita Boros)
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1.1. The concept of sustainable development and sustainability
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1.1.2. The concept of sustainability

1.1.2. The concept of sustainability

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In recent decades, the number of sustainability-related research and scientific publications has increased significantly. In fact, some people refer to sustainability science as an independent scientific field.1

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Compared to sustainable development, sustainability is mostly examined in a completely different context by representatives of science, even though the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are sometimes used synonymously even in academic literature.

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Based on a review of relevant literature sources, it can be concluded that the concept of sustainability is not uniform, but rather a dynamically changing and expanding one. The experts dealing with the topic try to explore the characteristics of the definition of sustainability based on the specific aspects of different scientific fields.

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However, most authors agree that the issue of sustainability is multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary in nature and that most disciplines need to contribute directly and indirectly to answering the complex questions of sustainability. Elliott specifically emphasises that the impact needed to effect real, systemic change can only be made through interdisciplinary integration.2

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Some authors provide a definition of sustainability based on the complex systems theory,3 for example according to Walker and his co-authors, the sustainability of social-ecological systems depends on the trichotomy of flexibility, adaptability and transformability.4According to another theory, sustainability is a characteristic of networked systems that is transmitted through networks in complex organisational systems, changing (increasing or decreasing) at each step.5

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In recent years, analytical discourse on sustainability has been characterized by the debate between two perspectives: strong and weak sustainability. Representatives of the former support the full preservation of natural values in the face of economic development. Strong sustainability is primarily a specific principle of ecological economics, which is based on the assumption that the economy is a subsystem of nature, which imposes limits on the physical growth of the economy.6 This also means that human activities and economic systems must be operated within the limits of the planet. The substitutability of natural capital and man-made capital has ultimate limits and at least a part of natural capital must be maintained in order to achieve sustainability.7

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On the other hand, for representatives of weak sustainability, the maintenance of economic systems is the priority.8 The basic premise of weak sustainability is that man-made and natural capitals can be replaced and that both economic growth and sustainable use of resources can be realized, that is, permanent prosperity becomes attainable over time.9 This so-called Porter hypothesis deserves special attention because it assumes that there can be win-win solutions for both the economy and the environment.10 This concept is closer to neoclassical economics, according to which the inefficient use of natural resources is the cause behind environmental problems.11

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In some contexts, sustainability also means that certain institutions of human society (states, organisations, operating mechanisms) are able to survive in the long term. That is, their existence is not unsustainable. According to Richard Heinberg, it is reasonable to treat sustainability as a kind of reference frame for determining the time horizon of sustainability.12 In this context, it includes a global spatial dimension and an infinite temporal dimension that requires consideration of long-term impacts and global interactions.

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The mention of future generations in Heinberg’s work may mean two things: that sustainability can be interpreted within long time frames; and that the living conditions and needs of the upcoming generations must also be taken into account during evaluation.
 
1

Kates, R. W. et al. (2001). ‘Sustainability science.’ Science, 292(5517) 641-642. DOI: 10.1126/science.10593;

Komiyama, H., Takeuchi, K. (2006). ‘Sustainability science: building a new discipline.’ Sustainability science, 11(3) 1-6. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-006-0007-4; Kajikawa, Y., Tacoa, F., Kiyohiro Yamaguchi, K. (2014). ‘Sustainability science: the changing landscape of sustainability research.’ Sustainability science, 9(4) 431-438. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-014-0244-x

2 Elliott, S. R. (2005).‘Sustainability: an economic perspective.’ Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 44(3) 263-277. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2005.01.004
3 Folke, C., Carpenter, S., Elmqvist, T., Gunderson, L. H., Holling, C. S., Walker, B. (2002). ‘Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations.' AMBIO, A journal of the human environment, 31(5), 437-440. DOI: 10.1579/0044-7447-31.5.437; Ben-Eli, M. U. (2018). ‘Sustainability: definition and five core principles, the systems perspective.’ Sustainability Science, 13(5)1337-1343. DOI: 10.1007/s11625-018-0564-3
4 Walker, B., Holling, C. S., Carpenter, S. R., Kinzig, A. (2004). 'Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social – ecological systems.' Ecology and society 9(2) https://www.jstor.org/stable/26267673
5 Crojethovich Martín, A. D., Perazzo, A. R. (2006). 'Organización y sustainability en un sistema urbano socio-ecológico y complejo.' (2006) 1 (1) Revista Internacional de Tecnología, Sostenibilidad y Humanismo, 1(1) 103-121.; Ramos, T. B., Caeiro, S., Disterheft, A., Mascarenhas, A., Deutz, P., Spangenberg, J. H., Montaño, M., Olayide, O., Sohal, A. (2020). ‘Rethinking sustainability: questioning old perspectives and developing new ones.’ Journal of Cleaner Production, 23(6) Vol. 258 120769, DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120769
6 Ekins, P., Simon, S., Deutsch, L., Folke, C., De Groot, R. (2003). ‘The framework for the practical application of the concepts of critical natural capital and strong sustainability’ Ecological economics, 44(2-3)165-185. DOI: 10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00272-0
7 Lorek, S., Spangenberg, J. H. (2014). ‘Sustainable consumption within a sustainable economy - beyond green growth and green economies.’ Journal of cleaners production, 63(15) 33-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.045
8 Pearce, D.W., Atkinson, G. D. (1993). ‘Capital theory and the measurement of sustainable development: an indicator of “weak” sustainability.’ Ecological Economics, 8(2) 103-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(93)90039-9; Brand, F. (2009). 'Critical natural capital revisited: Ecological resilience and sustainable development.’ Ecological economics, 68(3) 605-612. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.09.013; Costanza, R. (1989). ‘What is ecological economics?’ Ecological Economics, 1(1) 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(89)90020-7
9 Bina, O., La Camera, F. (2011). ‘Promise and shortcomings of a green turn in recent policy responses to the “double crisis”‘ Ecological Economics, 70(12) 2308-2316. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.06.021
10 Porter, M. E., van der Linde, C. (2000). Green and competitive. Ending the Stalemate. In: Wubben, E.F.M. (ed.), The Dynamics of the Eco-Efficient Economy. (Cheltenham (UK)-Northampton (US):Edward Elgar Publishing). 33-56. ISBN 178254397X (ISBN10) 9781782543978 (ISBN13)
11 Pelenc, J., Ballet, J. (2015). ‘Strong sustainability, critical natural capital and the capability approach.’ Ecological economics, 112(4) 36-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.02.006
12 Heinberg R. (2010). ‘What is sustainability,’ In: Heinberg, R., Lerch, D. (eds.), The post carbon reader: managing the 21st century's sustainability crises. (Corvallis (OE):Post Carbon Institute). 11, 19. ISBN 9780970950062 ISBN 0970950063
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