What it takes to be sustainable

Sustaininability

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Systemic sustainability: the ultimate frontier
Yet black is greener than green
War: The elephant in the sustainability room
A convenient tale
PDCs to advance reductions beyond NDCs
COP21: Historic, historical or hysterical?
COP20: CBDR or ECBDR?
Doha: Gateway or Giveaway?
An epic battle in the wrong war
What it takes to be sustainable
Making the Copenhagen Accord equitable
Post-2012 climate regime: equitable, effective, sufficient?
An equitable and effective climate regime
Are global citizens equal before the Climate Convention?
Decarbonising with renewables? Extremely difficult
Financial crisis and sustainable development

What it takes to be sustainable

The following numbers may remind us what it takes to be sustainable, just on the natural environment side.

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are now 8.7 billion tonnes per year (Table 1 below). Almost half builds up in the atmosphere and must be cut as soon as possible. Let us forget for the moment the other half removed by natural sinks (land and ocean), despite its eventual environmental consequences.

World population is about 7 billion. Present per-capita carbon emissions from fuel combustion (1.26 tonnes per year) should be reduced at least to 0.69 tonnes.

What it takes to reduce our personal carbon emissions to 0.69 tonnes per year?

Driving our new car emits 0.48 tonnes per year. That vacation flight to Gran Canaria adds another 0.21 tonnes (Table 2).

And our equitable carbon allocation is gone!, even without counting other direct emissions from electricity use and heating. And there is still more: indirect emissions from food, water, and the myriad of other goods and services we consume.

Bottom line: Our lifestyle is definitely unsustainable.

Table 1	Carbon emissions from fossil fuels
	(tonnes/year)	(billion)
Global population		6.9
Global emissions	8.69 billion
Emissions per capita	1.26
Airborne emissions	3.91billion
"Sustainable" emissions	4.78 billion
"Sustainable" emissions per-capita	0.69

Table 2	Rated emissions	Travel	CO₂	Carbon
	Euro IV (g/km)	(km/year)	(tonnes/year)	(tonnes/year)
Vehicle*	134	13,000	1.74	0.48
Flight**		7,900	0.78	0.21
Total travel emissions			2.52	0.69

(*) VW Golf 2010 1.2 TSI 105PS S, M6
(**) Berlin - Las Palmas direct round flight

Sources:
Carbon Budget 2009
World POPClock Projection
CarbonNeutral® Flights

Mhai Selph, November 2010