Heyes, Anthony G. and Catherine Liston-Heyes. 1995. "Sustainable Resource Use: the Search for Meaning." Energy Policy 23 (1): 1-3.

Summary:

The authors maintain that current definitions of sustainability are varied and vague. They offer four commonly used definitions and identify the weaknesses of each.

A: "sustainable development requires that each generation leave the planet in the same state in which they found it" (see p. 1 for listing of definitions A,B,C,D). The authors call this definition a "non-starter" because the planet changes independent of human activities. Further, this definition assumes that humans should not utilize resources which are non-renewable and finite, regardless of cost. Finally, the authors maintain that it is restrictive in that it requires every generation (past, present and future) to utilize the same resources.

B: "sustainability requires that 'the value of natural capital assets should not decline through time' (Pearce et al. 1989)." The authors argue that this formulation of sustainability is weak in that it allows non-renewable depleted resources to be "traded" in terms of an investment in a second resource thereby providing future generations with a pre-selected alternative to the depleted resource. The problem, according the authors, is in determining the particulars of the resource trade; for example, how much reforestation is necessary to compensate for a polluted river.

C: "'sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' (WCED, 1987)." The problem with this definition, according to the authors, is its weak conceptualization of "needs."

D: "sustainability implies the 'non-declining utility of a representative member of society for millenia into the future' (Pezzey, 1992)." This definition, commonly used by economists, does not identify who a "representative member of society" is. The authors also ask, "why is it so natural and/or desirable that utility should be monotonically non-decreasing through time?" (p. 2)

The authors conclude by arguing that "existing definitions are either too vague to mean very muchor have been too strong to be always and everywhere appealing. What is needed is sensible middle ground - the search for satisfactory meaning goes on" (p. 3).

Keywords: sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable energy use