Twenty ways to achieve sustainability

2020 Vision for a Sustainable Society was edited by MSSI Director Craig Pearson, and includes chapters by Nobel Prize winner, Peter Doherty; Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, Kate Auty; Chair of Moreland Energy Foundation, Monique Conheady; and former Victorian Premier John Brumby.

Professor Pearson says he hopes the book – a copy of which will be sent to all Victorian state secondary schools – provides a practical way for everyone to make a contribution at home, at school or at work.

“Achieving sustainability requires a mind shift by everyone,” he says.

“Recall the lesson from history: all great transformations start with a few people with vision who inspire many. Now is the time for each of us to make a difference.”

The book’s aim is to “steer” Australia towards sustainability.

“In suggesting twenty actions by 2020, it provides a map to a more sustainable future – in a society that is healthier and happier but not radically different to what we enjoy today.

“In the lead-up to the Rio+20 Conference, this book aims to provide Australian delegates with answers to the burning question of the 21st century: “Where to from here?”

Author of the Garnaut Report on Climate Change and Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne Professor Ross Garnaut, who wrote the foreword to the book, says what Australians do over the next few years will have a significant influence on humanity’s prospects for handing on the benefits of modern civilization to future generations.

“This book will help Australians to understand their part in the global effort for sustainability.”

http://www.sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/

Actions for sustainability

What individuals can do:

1.    Engage personally

2.    Own less

3.    Reduce waste


What business can do

4.    Integrate sustainability into core business culture

5.    Provide accurate product labeling

6.    Lead globally with innovative design to reduce GHG emissions

7.    Create zero carbon landscapes

8.    Design for climate change

9.    Reduce disaster risks


What governments can do:

10.    Teach ethics

11.    Tax non-renewables

12.    Introduce water-trading

13.    Go solar

14.    Provide universal childcare

15.    Value culture that supports sustainability

16.    Promote the transport pyramid

17.    Restore ecosystems

18.    Plan for population increase


What the media can do:

19.    Factor sustainability into media coverage and act responsibly

20.    Involve the public as a knowledge base.