Course Name- Environment and Sustainability
Course Code- NCC-201
Lecture No-1
Topic –Introduction to Sustainability: Humanity
and the Environment, Sustainability,The IPAT
Equation
Date-
Model Institute of
Engineering & Technology
Course Outcomes
Course Description Mapping with
Outcomes Program Outcomes
CO1 Describe the relationship between Humans, Environment 3,6,5,8
and Sustainability.
CO2 Articulate different environmental risks and issues and 2,4,5,9,12
potential interventions to tackle them.
CO3 Appraise sustainable energy systems through case-studies 3,7,8,11
and real-world examples.
CO4 Articulate Sustainable Infrastructure Development plan. 3,6,7,12
CO5 Appreciate global sustainability best practices in diverse 4,6,8,11
domains.
Assessment and Evaluation Plan
• Assessment Tools • Evaluation
Course Outcome -Delivery Plan
Course Topics Blooms Taxonomy
Outcomes
To understand the concept and features of Understanding
Environment
CO1
To Analyze the basic problems related to Analyzing
environment
To understand the concept of Sustainability Understanding
To analyze the pillars of sustainability Analyzing
Outcomes of Today’s Lecture
• To understand the concept and features of
Environment
• To Analyze the basic problems related to
environment
• To understand the concept Sustainability
• To Analyze the pillars of sustainability
• To understand the concept of IPAT equation
• To Analyze the basic terms and problems
Environment
Environment can be defined as a sum total of all the living and non-living
elements and their effects that influence human life. While all living or
biotic elements are animals, plants, forests, fisheries, and birds,. non-living
or abiotic elements include water, land, sunlight, rocks, and air.
Environment functions
(1) Provides the supply of resources
• The environment offers resources for production.
• It includes both renewable and non-renewable resources.
• Examples: Wood for furniture, soil, land, etc.
(2) Sustains life
• The environment includes the Sun, soil, water, and air, which are
essential for human life.
• It sustains life by providing genetic and biodiversity.
Functions..
(3) Assimilates waste
• Production and consumption activities generate waste.
• This occurs mostly in the form of garbage.
• The environment helps in getting rid of the garbage.
(4) Enhances the quality of life
• The environment enhances the quality of life.
• Human beings enjoy the beauty of nature that includes rivers,
mountains, deserts, etc.
• These add to the quality of life.
Forms of Environment
Natural Environment
• Physical Environment (Land, Water, Air)
• Biological Environment (Plants, Animals)
Cultural Environment
• Factories, dams, roads and buildings
Problems related to Environment
Pollution
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Noise Pollution
Excessive exploitation of natural resources
• Deforestation
• Degradation of land
Sustainability
The definition of “sustainability” is the study of how natural systems
function, remain diverse and produce everything it needs for the ecology to
remain in balance.
Sustainability is not just
about the environment it's
also about our health as a
society in ensuring that no
people or areas of life suffer
as a result of environmental
degradation.
Sustainability & Development
It focuses on balancing - our need to move forward technologically and
economically, and also the needs to protect the environments in which
we and others live.
Sustainability development
Sustainability development implies meeting the basic needs of everyone
and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspiration for better
life, without compromising the needs of future (Future generations).
Sustainability development is a process in which natural resource base is
not allowed to deteriorate.
It is a development that is everlasting…
Primary Goals of Sustainability
• The end of poverty and hunger
• Better standards of education and healthcare – particularly, it
pertains to water quality and better sanitation
• To achieve gender equality
• Sustainable economic growth while promoting jobs and stronger
economies
All of the above tackling the effects of climate change, pollution and
other environmental factors that can harm and do harm people's health,
livelihoods and lives.
Three Pillars of Sustainability
Economic Development
This is the issue that proves the most problematic as most people disagree
on political ideology what is and is not economically sound, and how it
will affect businesses and by extension, jobs and employability.
It is also about providing incentives for businesses and other organisations
to adhere to sustainability guidelines beyond their normal legislative
requirements. Also, to encourage incentives for the average person to do
their bit where and when they can; one person can rarely achieve much,
but taken as a group, effects in some areas are cumulative. Modern life
requires a lot of resources every single day for the sake of the
environment, getting what we consume under control is the paramount
issue.
Economic development is about giving people what they want without
compromising quality of life, especially in the developing world, and
reducing the financial burden and “red tape” of doing the right thing.
Social Development
There are many facets to this pillar. Most importantly is awareness of
protection of the health of people from pollution and other harmful
activities of business and other organisations.
In North America, Europe and the rest of the developed world, there are
strong checks and programmes to ensure that people's health and wellness
is strongly protected. It is also about maintaining access to basic resources
without compromising the quality of life. The biggest hot topic for many
people right now is sustainable housing and how we can better build the
homes we live in from sustainable material.
The final element is education - encouraging people to participate in
environmental sustainability and teaching them about the effects of
environmental protection as well as warning of the dangers if we cannot
achieve our goals
Environmental Protection
We all know what we need to do to protect the environment, whether that is
recycling, reducing our power consumption by switching electronic devices
off rather than using standby, by walking short journeys instead of taking
the bus.
Businesses are regulated to prevent pollution and to keep their own carbon
emissions low. There are incentives to installing renewable power sources
in our homes and businesses. Environmental protection is the third pillar
and to many, the primary concern of the future of humanity. It defines how
we should study and protect ecosystems, air quality and sustainability of
our resources and focusing on the elements that place stress on the
environment. It also concerns how technology will drive our greener future;
the EPA recognized that developing technology and biotechnology is key to
this sustainability, and protecting the environment of the future from
potential damage from technological advances could potentially taken care
of.
A Sustainable Future
It is not yet clear what our sustainable future will look like but with
emerging technologies and the improvement of older cleaner fuel sources,
many people now look to a post fossil fuel world. Since the 1950s, we
have experienced unprecedented growth including intensive farming, a
technological revolution and a massive increase in our power
needs putting even greater pressure and strain on the planet's resources.
We are also far more aware of the plight of the developing world and that
facing our planet as we now observe both natural and human-caused
disasters and the effects that these can have on the ecosystems and on
human population. It's vital that we develop new, cleaner technologies to
cope with our energy demands but sustainability is not just about the
environment.
Activist and sustainability professionals hope to remove trade barriers in
future so that they may benefit everyone, contributing to the economic and
social development core of sustainability while promoting good
environmental practice
IPAT Equation
I = (PAT) is the mathematical notation of a formula put forward to
describe the impact of human activity on the environment
I=P×AxT
The expression equates human impact on the environment to a function of
three factors: population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T). It is
similar in form to the Kaya identity which applies specifically to
emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
The validity of expressing environmental impact as a simple product of
independent factors, some environmentalist have drawn attention to
potential inter-relationships among the three factors; and others have
wished to stress other factors not included in the formula, such as political
and social structures, and the scope for beneficial, as well as harmful
environmental actions.
Population
In the I=PAT equation, the variable P represents the population of an area.
Since the rise of industrial societies, human population has been
increasing exponentially. Some researcher think that this growth would
continue until checked by widespread hunger and famine.
The United Nations project that world population will increase from 7.7
billion (2019) to 9.8 billion in 2050 and about 11.2 billion in 2100. These
projections take into consideration that population growth has slowed in
recent years as women are having fewer children.
Although the UN projects that human population may stabilize at around
11.2 billion in 2100, the I=PAT equation will continue to be relevant for
the increasing human impact on the environment in the short to mid-term
future.
Environmental impacts of population
Increased population increases humans' environmental impact in many
ways, which include but are not limited to:
• Increased land use - Results in habitat loss for other species
• Increased resource use - Results in changes in land cover
• Increased pollution - Can cause sickness and damages ecosystems
• Increased climate change
• Increased biodiversity loss
Affluence
The variable A in the I=PAT equation stands for affluence. It represents
the average consumption of each person in the population.
As the consumption of each person increases, the total environmental
impact increases as well.
A common proxy for measuring consumption is through GDP per
capita. While GDP per capita measures production, it is often assumed
that consumption increases when production increases. GDP per capita
has been rising steadily over the last few centuries and is driving up
human impact in the I=PAT equation.
Environmental impacts of affluence
Increased consumption significantly increases human environmental
impact. This is because each product consumed has wide-ranging effects
on the environment. For example, the construction of a car has the
following environmental impacts:
605,664 gallons of water for parts and tires
682 lbs. of pollution at a mine for the lead battery
2178 lbs. of discharge into water supply for the 22 lbs. of copper
contained in the car.
The more cars per capita, the greater the impact.
Technology
The T variable in the I=PAT equation represents how resource intensive
the production of affluence is; how much environmental impact is
involved in creating, transporting and disposing of the goods, services and
amenities used. Improvements in efficiency can reduce resource
intensiveness, reducing the T multiplier.
Environmental impacts of technology
Increases in efficiency from technologies can reduce specific
environmental impacts, but due to increasing prosperity these technologies
yield for the people and businesses that adopt them, technologies actually
end up generating greater overall growth into the resources but indirectly
affecting the environment.
SUMMARY
After the completion of this lecture, students are able to understand:
• The concept of Environment
• Basic problems related to environment
• The concept of Sustainability
• Sustainability and sustainability development
• Pillars of Sustainability
• The concept of IPAT equation
• Basic problems related to environment
Thank You
