Progress is achieved through protection of the environment for future generations. Progress cannot be achieved through its degradation. Sustainable development is the latest idea in the discipline of development as it has been envisioned since the end of World War II. Sustainable development represents the movement to add protection for the environment to the agenda of security and peace, human rights, and economic development that was set by the international community after the devastation of the war. There was an evident need for strategic reconstruction.
The field of sustainability is strongly influenced, though not always motivated, by the movement to counteract global warming. The consensus of the scientific community is that global warming is leading to an increase in high-impact weather events. While scientists have clustered in support of the theory of global warming, the public has been slower to accept it as reality. As a result, there has been a slew of books, articles, reports, and documentaries to educate the public about the dangers. The most tangible example of global warming is the increasing number of high-impact weather events. Studies have been completed to determine the likelihood that there are linkages between global warming and specific events, which seem related although causality is difficult to prove. Article after article and study after study contain descriptions of recent weather events as evidence of climate change, but promoting the assertion that global warming is a manmade phenomenon has proven challenging.
In the United States, much has been done on the federal level to study the phenomenon of climate change and how it relates to disaster studies and preparedness. There are many resources available online. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains a statistical database for evidence of climate change as does NASA. The World Wildlife Fund releases its annual Living Planet Report on the effects of overdevelopment and climate change on the biodiversity of the planet. Joseph Romm maintains a blog called Climate Progress, which consistently reports on both climate change and related environmental news, including the risks of inaction, potential ideas for redesigning cities to better cope with weather shifts, and issues of rising sea levels. While the collection of this data is very important, it is equally if not more important that action is then taken by all of the stakeholders to better protect themselves from the threats defined by the research. International organizations have been pushing the sustainability agenda for a long time while meeting with a great deal of resistance. The public sector in the United States has been funding research, but most of the initiatives, such as cap and trade, have stalled at least on the federal level.
The private sector has had a varied response to the possibility, but most have nevertheless been preparing for the changing trend toward sustainability through recognizing the profit potential and also the positive aspects of adjusting for sustainability factors for insurance risk managers. In addition to the ideas emerging out of the insurance industry, there are some interesting ideas being proposed for how to create a financial incentive for sustainability that can be put into effect in the short term. The emerging wisdom is that intelligent corporate leaders can use sustainability principles strategically. The conversation was originally generated out of the discussion of socially responsible investing. Insufficiently acknowledged is the sector’s potential to leverage sweeping positive changes in the economy as has been attempted through the movement for socially responsible investment (SRI). Analysis of sustainability can increase the company’s ability to navigate unpredictable future macro-level risks and effectively manage the long-term risk of becoming non-competitive. The idea of green finance originates with socially responsible investing, but has been expanded by the impact investing movement. If so inclined, the finance industry could serve as a trendsetter for sustainability by including it as a part of their investment criteria. Certainly there is an opportunity for financing to promote positive change in the aftermath of an incident.
After a high-impact event, there is an opportunity for renewed focus on sustainability and the chance to rebuild in a new way that will create a better future. It has even been proposed that disaster studies and the focus on climate change be refocused under the umbrella of sustainability. The unification under sustainability creates an opportunity to build momentum to move the idea forward. Both threats and opportunities arise for sustainable redevelopment following large-scale disasters including high-impact weather events. Is it possible to take the time to rebuild in a thoughtful way that is more sustainable in the long-term?
Edgewood Insights 