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The MIT Press Essential Knowledge
Sustainability
A concise and accessible examination of sustainability in a range of contemporary contexts, from economic development to government policy.
The word “sustainability” has been connected to everything from a certain kind of economic development to corporate promises about improved supply sourcing. But despite the apparent ubiquity of the term, the concept of sustainability has come to mean a number of specific things. In this accessible guide to the meanings of sustainability, Kent Portney describes the evolution of the idea and examines its application in a variety of contemporary contexts—from economic growth and consumption to government policy and urban planning.
Portney takes as his starting point the 1987 definition by the World Commission on Environment and Development of sustainability as economic development activity that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” At its heart, Portney explains, sustainability focuses on the use and depletion of natural resources. It is not the same as environmental protection or natural resource conservation; it is more about finding some sort of steady state so that the earth can support both human population and economic growth.
Portney looks at political opposition to the promotion of sustainability, which usually questions the need for sustainability or calls its costs unacceptable; collective and individual consumption of material goods and resources and to what extent they must be curtailed to achieve sustainability; the role of the private sector, and the co-opting of sustainability by corporations; government policy on sustainability at the international, national, and subnational levels; and how cities could become models for sustainability action.
The word “sustainability” has been connected to everything from a certain kind of economic development to corporate promises about improved supply sourcing. But despite the apparent ubiquity of the term, the concept of sustainability has come to mean a number of specific things. In this accessible guide to the meanings of sustainability, Kent Portney describes the evolution of the idea and examines its application in a variety of contemporary contexts—from economic growth and consumption to government policy and urban planning.
Portney takes as his starting point the 1987 definition by the World Commission on Environment and Development of sustainability as economic development activity that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” At its heart, Portney explains, sustainability focuses on the use and depletion of natural resources. It is not the same as environmental protection or natural resource conservation; it is more about finding some sort of steady state so that the earth can support both human population and economic growth.
Portney looks at political opposition to the promotion of sustainability, which usually questions the need for sustainability or calls its costs unacceptable; collective and individual consumption of material goods and resources and to what extent they must be curtailed to achieve sustainability; the role of the private sector, and the co-opting of sustainability by corporations; government policy on sustainability at the international, national, and subnational levels; and how cities could become models for sustainability action.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 2015
34 people are currently reading
365 people want to read
About the author
Kent E. Portney
13 books4 followersKent E. Portney is Professor and Senior Fellow in the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously (MIT Press).
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 10, 2019
It is sort of an academic summary of efforts aiming to address sustainability, identifying friends and foes, trends and needs.
Rather dry, matter-of-fact with some opinions stated here and there, it falls somewhere between a beginner's handbook and a scientific report, however is neither.
It could be a good place to start reading about sustainability, however if you're already well informed of the matter the book probably does not provide a lot of interesting information.
I find the section about why there is so much resistance to sustainability policies particularly interesting as this is not often discussed in public, so 4-star for that part.
Rather dry, matter-of-fact with some opinions stated here and there, it falls somewhere between a beginner's handbook and a scientific report, however is neither.
It could be a good place to start reading about sustainability, however if you're already well informed of the matter the book probably does not provide a lot of interesting information.
I find the section about why there is so much resistance to sustainability policies particularly interesting as this is not often discussed in public, so 4-star for that part.
March 9, 2025
El libro hizo lo que prometió hacer, explica el concepto de sustentabilidad en el presente y la manera en que toma diferente significados dependiendo de el contexto en el que se usa. Se nota mucho que está escrito por un profesor y a veces es muy notorio por las faltas de ortografía. Aún así, funciona como una buena herramienta para entender la sustentabilidad en un enfoque global y con una perspectiva que se enfoca en el limite de tiempo para implementar infraestructuras sustentables. Sí otorga una buena explicación de la importancia y los limites de la sustentabilidad en la vida moderna.
July 26, 2018
Good introduction and overview of sustainability based on research at time of publication in 2015. Good glossary of terms, insights into current global, national, and local perspectives, arguments for and against various policies and implementation strategies. Not heavy with graphs or statistics, but what is presented is salient and concise. Book is small format (5x8), so a quick read.
July 28, 2021
A useful introductory text on the various concepts of sustainability in academia, civil society, and the economy. Could be a little repetitive at times (especially the middle few chapters), but an otherwise great overview on the state of sustainability today.
July 30, 2022
Is Pursuing Greater Sustainability Hopeless? “Only Time Will Tell”
A group of 11 researchers published a study in 2010 with the title, “will limited land, water, and energy control human population numbers in the future.” Given the current available environmental resources (land, water, energy, food), they suggest a sustainable human population to be about 2 billion people at the European standard of living ($35,000 per capita/year). They believe this could be achieved in about one hundred years, but only if a majority of people work toward this goal. Otherwise, they expect a future with rampant disease, malnutrition, pollution, violent conflict, and other causes of suffering and increased mortality.
According to the US Census Bureau, the world population is approaching 7.7 billion. Anthony Cilluffo and Neil Ruiz of the Pew Research Center forecast the world population to reach 10.9 billion by 2100, with 4.3 billion in Africa and 5.3 billion in Asia. Should we prepare for a grim future?
Kent Portney’s book, Sustainability, gives an overview of the key issues and ideas surrounding sustainability. He provides a clear and concise investigation of the concepts of sustainability in our current context, with a focus on the private sector, public policies, sustainable cities, and associated controversies. However, you are more likely to come away with questions instead of answers and pessimism rather than optimism. Portney is Professor and Senior Fellow in the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Texas A&M University.
What is sustainability? Portney starts with the 1987 definition from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), “sustainable development seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability to meet those of the future.” Also originating from the WCED, Portney describes the three pillars of sustainability: economy, equity, and environment, each of which are believed to be essential for achieving sustainability. Portney asserts that sustainability goes beyond conservation of resources and seeks a long-term, holistic approach that attains “some sort of steady state so that Earth or some piece of it can support the human population and economic growth without ultimately threatening the health of humans, animals, and plants.”
To encapsulate the book, achieving sustainability may not be possible given our current economic and governance structure, and efforts to increase the sustainability of modern society seem doomed. Portney provides ample evidence to support this view: the reduction of carbon emissions appears to be a lost cause, freshwater resources are drying up from overuse, some US states have proposed or enacted laws making it illegal to pursue sustainability, “no one knows how to make cities truly sustainable,” and developing countries believe they are entitled to pollute as they follow the path of developed countries to become rich. This is depressing, but technology will save us, right?
Our environmental trajectory can be viewed as though we are a car attempting to make it through a railroad crossing with an oncoming train. We can either slow the car down until the train goes past by making major changes toward sustainability and how we approach nature, which will slow or halt economic growth. Or we can hope technology will speed us past the railroad crossing before the train reaches it. Sadly, this appears to be a false hope. Portney believes that the best we can expect from technology is to buy us time. Additionally, he presents an argument from a study describing how technological improvements have the potential to promote environmental degradation by enabling access to more resources and increasing the efficiency of production, which makes resources cheaper and increases consumption.
Within all of the gloom, there are a few bright spots. Portney reminds us that, without much delay, governments were able to agree on phasing out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions when it was found they were negatively affecting the ozone layer. Also, governments were successful in regulating sulfur emissions when the effects of acid rain were made known. Additionally, he found that many businesses around the world have been pursuing sustainable practices since the 1990s and a number of cities have been making decent headway in managing their impacts on the environment.
Portney’s book provides a readable and realistic coverage of sustainability. Although I would prefer some minor organizational changes, I would recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to sustainability. The first chapter is somewhat overwhelming because it attempts to define sustainability, lay the groundwork for our historical and current understanding of the topic, and present some of the key problems facing the world. I think it would have been preferable if some of this content was moved into an introduction instead of combining it all in one chapter. Overall, I found the book helpful in understanding this complicated topic.
What is the future of sustainability? Similar to the US national debt, we are pushing the costs of our current decisions onto future generations. Portney concludes that “future human well-being depends on defining a new path,” but it remains questionable, if not doubtful, that humans will be able to overcome the massive challenges necessary to take a new course of action. No single person, organization, or country can solve the world’s problems.
Even so, there are better practices that could help move us in the right direction. It would require new ways of thinking and new policies. Fifty years ago, the U.S. made a giant leap forward in environmental sustainability with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Endangered Species Act. All these laws were passed during the social upheaval of the civil rights movement and the chaos of the Vietnam War. Believing in the possibility of major improvements toward a more sustainable world is not unreasonable.
References
Cilluffo, A., & Ruiz, N. (2019, June). World’s population is projected to nearly stop growing by the end of the century. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...
Pimentel, D., Whitecraft, M., Scott, Z. R., Zhao, L., Satkiewicz, P., Scott, T. J., . . . Moe, T. L. (2010). Will limited land, water, and energy control human population numbers in the future? Human Ecology, 38(5), 599-611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-93...
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org...
US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/popclock/
A group of 11 researchers published a study in 2010 with the title, “will limited land, water, and energy control human population numbers in the future.” Given the current available environmental resources (land, water, energy, food), they suggest a sustainable human population to be about 2 billion people at the European standard of living ($35,000 per capita/year). They believe this could be achieved in about one hundred years, but only if a majority of people work toward this goal. Otherwise, they expect a future with rampant disease, malnutrition, pollution, violent conflict, and other causes of suffering and increased mortality.
According to the US Census Bureau, the world population is approaching 7.7 billion. Anthony Cilluffo and Neil Ruiz of the Pew Research Center forecast the world population to reach 10.9 billion by 2100, with 4.3 billion in Africa and 5.3 billion in Asia. Should we prepare for a grim future?
Kent Portney’s book, Sustainability, gives an overview of the key issues and ideas surrounding sustainability. He provides a clear and concise investigation of the concepts of sustainability in our current context, with a focus on the private sector, public policies, sustainable cities, and associated controversies. However, you are more likely to come away with questions instead of answers and pessimism rather than optimism. Portney is Professor and Senior Fellow in the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Texas A&M University.
What is sustainability? Portney starts with the 1987 definition from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), “sustainable development seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability to meet those of the future.” Also originating from the WCED, Portney describes the three pillars of sustainability: economy, equity, and environment, each of which are believed to be essential for achieving sustainability. Portney asserts that sustainability goes beyond conservation of resources and seeks a long-term, holistic approach that attains “some sort of steady state so that Earth or some piece of it can support the human population and economic growth without ultimately threatening the health of humans, animals, and plants.”
To encapsulate the book, achieving sustainability may not be possible given our current economic and governance structure, and efforts to increase the sustainability of modern society seem doomed. Portney provides ample evidence to support this view: the reduction of carbon emissions appears to be a lost cause, freshwater resources are drying up from overuse, some US states have proposed or enacted laws making it illegal to pursue sustainability, “no one knows how to make cities truly sustainable,” and developing countries believe they are entitled to pollute as they follow the path of developed countries to become rich. This is depressing, but technology will save us, right?
Our environmental trajectory can be viewed as though we are a car attempting to make it through a railroad crossing with an oncoming train. We can either slow the car down until the train goes past by making major changes toward sustainability and how we approach nature, which will slow or halt economic growth. Or we can hope technology will speed us past the railroad crossing before the train reaches it. Sadly, this appears to be a false hope. Portney believes that the best we can expect from technology is to buy us time. Additionally, he presents an argument from a study describing how technological improvements have the potential to promote environmental degradation by enabling access to more resources and increasing the efficiency of production, which makes resources cheaper and increases consumption.
Within all of the gloom, there are a few bright spots. Portney reminds us that, without much delay, governments were able to agree on phasing out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions when it was found they were negatively affecting the ozone layer. Also, governments were successful in regulating sulfur emissions when the effects of acid rain were made known. Additionally, he found that many businesses around the world have been pursuing sustainable practices since the 1990s and a number of cities have been making decent headway in managing their impacts on the environment.
Portney’s book provides a readable and realistic coverage of sustainability. Although I would prefer some minor organizational changes, I would recommend this book to anyone wanting an introduction to sustainability. The first chapter is somewhat overwhelming because it attempts to define sustainability, lay the groundwork for our historical and current understanding of the topic, and present some of the key problems facing the world. I think it would have been preferable if some of this content was moved into an introduction instead of combining it all in one chapter. Overall, I found the book helpful in understanding this complicated topic.
What is the future of sustainability? Similar to the US national debt, we are pushing the costs of our current decisions onto future generations. Portney concludes that “future human well-being depends on defining a new path,” but it remains questionable, if not doubtful, that humans will be able to overcome the massive challenges necessary to take a new course of action. No single person, organization, or country can solve the world’s problems.
Even so, there are better practices that could help move us in the right direction. It would require new ways of thinking and new policies. Fifty years ago, the U.S. made a giant leap forward in environmental sustainability with the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Endangered Species Act. All these laws were passed during the social upheaval of the civil rights movement and the chaos of the Vietnam War. Believing in the possibility of major improvements toward a more sustainable world is not unreasonable.
References
Cilluffo, A., & Ruiz, N. (2019, June). World’s population is projected to nearly stop growing by the end of the century. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...
Pimentel, D., Whitecraft, M., Scott, Z. R., Zhao, L., Satkiewicz, P., Scott, T. J., . . . Moe, T. L. (2010). Will limited land, water, and energy control human population numbers in the future? Human Ecology, 38(5), 599-611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-93...
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org...
US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/popclock/
March 30, 2024
And what will be the effects of global warming on the world and what further mark of destruction will human beings leave in these centuries of technological growth?
I think we should all do our bit. That is why BCM Corporate, the company where I work, is very involved in this issue, selling SW that, with the help of artificial intelligence, helps companies improve their carbon footprint.
I was honored that Win-Win magazine gave us an award in recent days for the area of sustainability government.
This book talks about the foundations of sustainability and its near future.
I think we should all do our bit. That is why BCM Corporate, the company where I work, is very involved in this issue, selling SW that, with the help of artificial intelligence, helps companies improve their carbon footprint.
I was honored that Win-Win magazine gave us an award in recent days for the area of sustainability government.
This book talks about the foundations of sustainability and its near future.
May 15, 2024
some interesting ideas, like maximum carrying capacity vs optimal carrying capacity, and focused a lot on the policy level. it would have been nicer with more punctual examples and more ample descriptions of successful and unsuccessful ones.
September 16, 2020
A good introductory text that touches upon various aspects of sustainability including politics and resistance. It is not detailed or in depth, which made for a quick, easy read.
October 20, 2020
Basic overview of theories related to the term sustainability. I work in agriculture research and life sciences academics so sustainability is a subject that is very relevant to my work environment.
January 3, 2022
Great overview of sustainability definitions!
July 28, 2022
Heavy scientific literature. Well-researched but pretty hard to focus and get into. >17
May 21, 2016
I chose this relatively short (4:30) book on Hoopla to listen to while I worked outside, trying to restore my yard to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable state. An academic and generally balanced look at what Sustainability is (or isn't), the history of the sustainability movement, how sustainability is being practiced or opposed by different types of governments, businesses, non-profits, and individuals. Probably good for people who are into environmentalism and sustainability, but not so much for people who need to be introduced or convinced of the merits of the movement.
January 22, 2016
This book focuses on concepts, institutions and policies.
September 28, 2016
Excellent over overview of the topic of sustainability.
January 16, 2016
An excellent introduction to sustainability, it's history, and background on the issues around it.
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October 28, 2016338.927 P8531 2015
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews