Product Design and Sustainability: Strategies, Tools and Practice [1 ed.] 1138301973, 9781138301979

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“For anyone fatigued by the term ‘sustainability,’ Jane Penty breathes vitality back into the word – expanding its purview and animating its potential. Traversing multiple disciplines from material culture and artificial intelligence, to business frameworks, ethics, and social innovation, Jane Penty’s Product Design and Sustainability may be the single most effective compendium for simultaneously defining a contemporary understanding of sustainability while providing an actionable toolkit for its practice. Required reading for design professionals, educators, and students; essential reading for anyone who needs to believe that we can find a way forward.” Allan Chochinov, Chair, SVA MFA Products of Design, NY; Partner, Core77 “A book that is timely and urgently needed – revisiting the complex and fast-evolving relationships between design, consumption, economics and technology at a pivotal moment. Product Design and Sustainability will help answer questions we all have as designers, and help further close the gap between the work that we do and our lived experience of the world.” Hugo Jamson, Creative Director, New Territory, London “Far from the tired, doom and gloom rhetoric peddled by so many academics on this topic, Penty’s hopeful treatise lights the way toward a sustainable design future. Her clear and precise theoretical writing is further elucidated by a rich repertoire of case studies, methodological tools and practical examples. This important book will surely become an essential point of reference for anyone working at the intersections of design, sustainability and systems change.” Jonathan Chapman, Professor and Director of Doctoral Studies, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh “A wonderfully comprehensive real-world guide through the maze of sustainability for anyone involved in new product creation. It manages to be both rigorous and pragmatic in equal measure and is the perfect starting point for designers, students and academics.” Alex Hulme, director, Map Project Office, London

“Through a very accessible yet profound work, Jane Penty reminds us that product designers can play a major role in the transition to a more sustainable and meaningful tomorrow. For a whole new generation of designers ready and mobilised to engage on this course of action, this book offers a valuable tool to inform their thinking and practice.” Anne Marchand, Professor of Product Design, School of Design, Université de Montréal “Product Design and Sustainability is a resource primed for designers to tackle wicked global problems they are increasingly required to help solve. Penty sets the scene of humanity’s ‘unsustainability’ from a vast body of knowledge, identifying practical environmental, economic and social levers for designers to use in response. Real world examples then contextualise frameworks that are life cycle based; systemic; efficiency-led; regenerative; regulatory; socially equitable; circular; and economically transformative, to assist designers in reorienting their practice to be sustainability-driven.” Simon Lockrey, Senior Lecturer, RMIT University, Executive Director, Glowpear, Melbourne “Jane Penty’s book is a well-informed and engaging overview of the dramatic material challenges of our contemporary world we live in, as well as a useful and practical guide as to how design tools, methods and practice can be used to drive change.” Clare Brass, designer, circular economy expert and director, Department 22, London “In a world where doomsday scenarios paint alarming pictures while designers work on the next new trend, Jane Penty’s voice is calm and points to a better world through design. She asks the difficult question – what problems are we solving and how? Product Design and Sustainability calls upon us to be conscious and responsible designers and shows us how. The mix of carefully put together information, insightful analysis, detailed examples and design strategy is valuable for both the student and practitioner of design. It is comprehensive and covers several design disciplines and their intersections.” Naga Nandini, Industrial Arts and Design Practices, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore

Product Design and Sustainability Whether it is the effects of climate change, the avalanche of electronic and plastic waste or the substandard living and working conditions of billions of our fellow global citizens, our ability to deal with unsustainability will define the twenty-first century. Given that most consumption is mediated through products and services, the critical question for designers is: How can we radically reshape these into tools for sustainable living? As a guide and reference text, Product Design and Sustainability provides design students, practitioners and educators with the breadth and depth needed to integrate the most appropriate sustainable strategies into their practice. It establishes the principles that underpin sustainability and introduces a diverse range of social, economic and environmental design responses and tools available to designers. The numerous real-world examples illustrate how these strategies play out in different product sectors and reinforce the view that sustainability is the most positive opportunity and creative challenge facing designers today. This book:

• delivers a comprehensive guide to the principles of

sustainability and how they apply to product design that can readily be integrated into curricula and design practice

• reveals many of the issues specific product sectors are facing,

and provides the depth and breadth needed for formulating and developing sustainable design strategies to address these issues

• empowers and inspires designers to engage with sustainability through its many examples and insightful interviews with practitioners

• is fully illustrated with over 300 photographs, graphs and

diagrams and supported by chapter summaries, annotated further reading suggestions, and a glossary.

Jane Penty is a designer and educator focused on the creative challenge of transforming how and what we consume into tools for sustainable living. She is Sustainable Design Leader for BA Product Design at Central Saint Martins, UAL, London, UK.

Product Design and Sustainability Strategies, Tools and Practice

Jane Penty

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Jane Penty The right of Jane Penty to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Penty, Jane, author. Title: Product design and sustainability : strategies, tools and practice / Jane Penty. Description: New York : Routledge, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019003362| ISBN 9781138301979 (hb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138301986 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780203732076 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Industrial design--Environmental aspects. | Sustainable design. Classification: LCC TS171.4 .P45 2019 | DDC 745.2--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019003362 ISBN: 978-1-138-30197-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-30198-6 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-73207-6 (ebk) Typeset in ITC Officina Sans by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire All Taylor & Francis books are printed on paper produced from certified sustainable resources.

for the next generation of designers to seize this pivotal moment to reshape how we will live and reconnect us to our fellow humans and the generosity of our planet

Contents

Preface  xi Acknowledgements  xii Introduction  1

PART 1  CONCEPTS AND CONTEXT  3 CHAPTER 1  Sustainability and design in context  4 1.1  our unsustainability and major threats  4 1.2  the concept of sustainability: definitions and models  5 1.3  a timeline: design and the sustainability movement  17 1.4  obstacles, challenges and key players for change  26 Chapter summary  29 Notes  30 Key texts and further reading  32

PART 2  STRATEGIES, TOOLS AND APPROACHES  33 CHAPTER 2  Environmentally led strategies  34 2.1  from less bad to better and positive: an overview of strategies and approaches  34 2.2  thinking in systems and designing for lifecycles  38 2.3  tools and metrics for better design choices  45 2.4  carrot and stick: voluntary or mandatory regulations and certification  54 2.5  radical rethinks: high tech, low tech, new tech and old tech  58 Chapter summary  76 Notes  78 Key texts and further reading  80 CHAPTER 3  Socially led strategies  82 3.1  overconsumption: shifting the consumer society through behaviour change  84 3.2  better products and real needs: human-centred and socially responsible design  92 3.3  the other 70%: design for the base of the pyramid  95 3.4  ethics and sustainability: design as a tool for change  112 Chapter summary  119 Notes  121 Key texts and further reading  124

ix

Contents

CHAPTER 4  Economically led strategies  126 4.1  introduction to economy and sustainability  126 4.2  the rise of more responsible business  133 4.3  emerging business models: the collaborative economy  141 4.4  emerging business models: open design and distributed production  154 4.5  emerging business models: the circular economy  158 Chapter summary  162 Notes  164 Key texts and further reading  168

PART 3  IN PRACTICE  171 CHAPTER 5  Short-use products: packaging, consumables and disposables  172 5.1  in the balance: pros and cons of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)  174 5.2  key redesign strategies  182 Chapter summary  205 Notes  206 CHAPTER 6  Electronic tools and digital gateways  209 6.1  the visible and invisible environmental impacts of the digital world and their causes  209 6.2  design strategies for reducing the environmental impacts of electronic devices  217 6.3  the social value of digital tools  232 Chapter summary  243 Notes  245 CHAPTER 7  Furniture and space-related products  249 7.1  furniture trends and their sustainability implications  249 7.2  problematic materials and toxicity in furniture  254 7.3  design strategies for more sustainable furniture  265 Chapter summary  282 Notes  283 CHAPTER 8  Transportation and mobility: products and services  287 8.1  the environmental, social and economic impacts of transportation and mobility  287 8.2  design for more sustainable transport modes  293 8.3  systems thinking: new technologies and business models for mass-personalised mobility  324 Chapter summary  331 Notes  332 Conclusion  337 Glossary  340 Index  346

x

Preface

Only a few years ago while researching for this book, a very experienced senior designer at one of the top global product design consultancies confessed to me off the record that he had never had a single brief from a client that explicitly mentioned sustainability as an outcome. Further conversations with many other designers and graduates at the time confirmed that, much to their frustration, this was by no means unusual.

our global predicament, the only thing that might be worse than talking about sustainability is writing about it, because what it is really crying out for are ‘deeds not words’. So why a book full of words, and why this book, when the very notion of sustainable product design is considered by many to be an oxymoron? Even, or perhaps especially, in this age of digital connectivity and hyper access to information, you would be forgiven for questioning the choice of a book as a format for delivering and accessing this important content. The reason behind this choice is that, first, the sustained narrative of a book can establish the emotional connection needed for engagement in positive and confident action. Second, that to be effective, this action must be informed by sufficient analysis and detail to avoid the pitfalls of sound bites, greenwashing or inadvertently causing more harm than good. Third, through the platform of a book, it is possible to set out and synthesise the principles and the breadth and diversity of approaches and opportunities from which this subject can be tackled.

Thankfully, as this book goes to print, the situation is very different. In a matter of a few years there has been a huge shift in public attitudes. Greta Thunberg has spoken and there is now an admission in many quarters that we are facing a climate emergency and mass species extinction. This is making businesses take sustainability, or the lack of it, much more seriously, as they see it hitting their bottom line directly or indirectly through brand reputation. It seems that clients are now actively seeking direction and leadership in this area from designers, making this a pivotal moment that must be seized to reshape the nature of products and consumption for the next generation. But for this design input to lead to truly meaningful change, designers need to know more than the basics and be equipped to show their clients what a creative opportunity sustainability presents for the triple bottom line.

This book is the product of several years’ extended research initially born out of my own frustration at not being able to point students and designers towards a reference text of sufficient scope and depth. But the writing of it is has also served to answer many questions, clarify many points, and get to the bottom of many assumptions, oversimplifications and contradictions that surround this subject and have been challenging my own design practice and teaching. In short, I hope this book will provide design students and practitioners alike with a coherent frame of reference upon which to confidently base their practice, and dare to imagine and create a more sustainable future.

At the same time, sustainability has become one of the most overused, oversimplified and misunderstood words currently in circulation. Not only does it mean different things to different people, it is also being used for a range of different ends, from the blissfully naïve to the intentionally deceitful. Given the urgency of

xi

Acknowledgements

Time, space, energy – and copious amounts of generosity, enthusiasm and dogged determination – these have all been essential ingredients in the realisation of this book. For this I have many to thank.

To the hundreds of companies, organisations, designers and individuals for their generosity in freely sharing their knowledge, expertise, critical feedback and photographic material. In particular to my interviewees, all designers and practitioners in this field who have enriched the text with their personal experience and valuable insights. Making new connections with so many people who are genuinely committed to making a difference has given me fresh optimism.

To my publishers. At Routledge, I am indebted to Jennifer Schmidt who championed the project and took time out to provide much needed editorial advice; to Fran Ford for so calmly and skilfully enabling the bigger picture; to Trudy Varcianna for always being at the end of an email with her detailed grasp of process; and to Ed Gibbons for his full commitment to shaping the manuscript into a book. For their earlier support with the book project I would also like to thank Jo Lightfoot and Sophie Drysdale for giving me the opportunity to begin the journey, and Anne Townley for her patient questioning and detailed editorial counsel.

In obtaining the very many images and requisite permissions, to my daughter Edith Penty Geraets for taking on the lion’s share of this formidable task with such diplomacy, organisation and persistence over many months; to Saffie Pluck for her valued contribution to the collective effort; and to Sachiko Osawa, Ryo Terui and Hazuki Ysunaga for their assistance with Japanese permissions, interviews and translations.

At Central St Martins, to the very many art and design students over the years with whom I have had the privilege to work, inspire, and duly be inspired by. This book is a direct response to your appetite for more clarity on the subject and your desire to put your creative skills to good use. To the College, and the Product and Industrial Design Programme, for allowing me to take the time to give this project the focus it needed. I have discovered and learnt so much in the process. And in particular to my close colleagues in Product Design for your unswerving support over these past few years and your undiminished good humour.

To all my family and friends for proving the power and resilience of social capital by accepting my neglect over the past few years, yet always being ready to give me support when I have needed it – reading, suggesting, checking, editing, proofing, photographing, and photoshopping. And, most especially to Patrick, for always being there, unconditionally. It is more than thanks I owe you. Y por fin, gracias Teresin por haber esperado. Este libro es testimonio de los valores que nos enseñaste. Creo que al final nos ha cundido.

To the Internet and our creative commons. Testament to our ability to collaborate.

xii

Introduction

Today, whether we choose to or not, we are all unwitting observers and active contributors to the biggest collective existential challenge the human race has ever faced: climate change. And we are pushing hard towards the sixth mass extinction of our fellow living species. The fact that these are both man-made at least has the positive implication that reversing the course we are on is, for a few more years, largely in our hands.

happy. If we, as product designers, connect this line of thinking with the view that products are the problem, then we are well on our way to talking ourselves out of doing what we are good at: designing transformative products and services. Given that by 2050 over 9 billion people will continue to need food, shelter, security, education, mobility, cultural connections and meaningful employment, not engaging in the design of ‘better’ products would be far worse.

As we explore in the book, climate change and species loss are only two facets, albeit very urgent ones, that design must address. The bigger question is: How can we as citizens and designers become a positive force in enabling a transition from our present state to a world where we all have an equitable share of the planet’s physical and intellectual resources while living secure and meaningful lives within the Earth’s biological carrying capacity?

Based on that conviction, this book confronts the real consequences of the products we produce and consume, their causes and the barriers that prevent them from being more sustainable, equitable and meaningful. It also seeks out new, and revisits old, lines of thinking and opportunities, be they mainstream or niche, local or global, that product designers can explore and exploit in shaping a more positive co-existence between ourselves and the biosphere.

On the face of it, the aim of sustainability is simple and uncontroversial: meeting our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Or, not taking out more than we put back in while sharing what there is within planetary boundaries. However, the deeper we dig into just how much would have to change practically on the ground, the more challenging it becomes to realise this vision.

This is approached in three parts. Part 1 sets the scene in terms of the global issues of unsustainability that most need addressing, the precedents of design activism upon which current attitudes and actions build, and the scope for sustainable product design. Part 2 looks at each of the three pillars – environmental, social and economic sustainability – in depth. It establishes the main issues, principles and objectives, and connects these with the key strategies and tools for sustainable product design. Part 3 turns some of the holistic principles espoused in earlier chapters on their heads when it looks at four product sectors in practice: short-use products and packaging, electronic and digital tools, furniture-related products, and transportation and mobility. Here, we delve into the particular problems, constraints, business models and technological developments and opportunities that each sector faces in delivering more sustainable products and services.

Questions about what and how much we consume, how this is produced and who has access to it come up time and again in international discussions on sustainable development. In this regard, product designers are in a unique position to help catalyse the rethinking and reshaping of products and services into enabling tools for more sustainable lives. In order to do this successfully however, we must appreciate the constraints of the socio-economic web we have created that have locked us onto this destructive course, or we will merely continue adding to the problem.

Throughout the book, topics and strategies are supported by interviews with practitioners offering diverse viewpoints and illustrated through a wide range of examples. These are consciously drawn from realised and commercially available

In his 1971 book Design for the Real World, Victor Papanek accused industrial design of being one of the most harmful professions, mindlessly feeding consumption to keep business

1

Introduction

projects in recognition of the considerable journey between a ‘good idea’, a ‘good concept’ and a viable, scalable and successful product or service. It also avoids being a catalogue of the latest potential innovations, as inspiring and fascinating as many are, and instead seeks to celebrate leading companies and designers active in this field and credit ‘firsts’ where possible to help give some context to their subsequent evolution and derivatives.

(UI). Therefore, for the purposes of this book, a product designer includes anyone involved in the conceptualisation and realisation of product service systems (PSS) and their physical touchpoints. While the principle of sustainability is simple, getting there successfully is complex but need not be complicated. Ultimately, Product Design and Sustainability aims to give designers the confidence to set their own sustainability agendas by helping them navigate some of this complexity and by revealing many of its true opportunities. From whatever angle or starting point we engage with sustainability, the only certainty is that it will lead us further in and alter our perception of the world around us and everything we do. What may start with a desire to design products that do less harm may one day evolve into the ability to create truly regenerative products and services that actively enable one-planet living.

Dealing with the complexity of sustainability requires systems thinking, and producing a sustainable product requires the powerful combination of design thinking and systems thinking. Although no product has ever existed outside of a wider ecosystem, in today’s digitally connected world the lines between product and service have melded. Product design now encompasses a range of activities that include the design of physically tangible artefacts as well as user experiences (UX) through user interfaces

2

PART 1

Concepts and context

CHAPTER 1

Sustainability and design in context

Chapter 1 sets out to contextualise and build an agreed understanding and vision of what a sustainable planet might look and feel like. Because sustainability is more of a goal than a tangible reality, it is easier to grasp by what it is not – the unsustainable. Thus we begin by focusing on some hard facts about the state of the planet, its biggest threats and their causes. From this perspective, we can construct a working definition of sustainable product design. We also look back at the inspiring actions of a few of the remarkable individuals and movements connected to design that have given physical form and voice to more equitable and sustainable ways of living. Finally, we identify the role of different actors in driving the necessary change forward and consider the particular contribution product designers can make in transforming our way of consuming, producing and doing business if we are to co-exist sustainably on the planet.

Summarising the findings in Boxes 1.1 to 1.5, life on Earth is progressively being put under greater and greater stress. In the past 40 years population and CO2 emissions have more than doubled, and in the mid-1970s human consumption of resources overtook the Earth’s bio-capacity to replenish itself. The picture we have is of a planet struggling to cope. Over 7.7 billion very unequal human beings are consuming over 1.75 planets of resources annually. This rising level of overconsumption is destroying habitats and wildlife, and driving up the Earth’s average temperatures. This in turn is creating disruptive and increasingly catastrophic weather events, causing ever-more deaths, displacement and economic losses. By these accounts, climate change, also referred to as climate emergency, is considered the most critical threat. At its worst it is an existential threat to all life, and at its mildest it will continue to have increasingly significant socio-economic impacts across the globe. The message from the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C (2018) is clear. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 50% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.1

1.1 our unsustainability and major threats Before we embark on designing more sustainably we need to grasp the nature and severity of the current threats that mankind and all life on the planet are facing in order to set clear priorities. We should also try to understand the underlying behaviours that cause them and be persuaded that changing these behaviours can and will make enough of a difference to reduce or even eliminate the dangers. Boxes 1.1 to 1.5 present the statistics behind the biggest man-made threats to life on the planet along with their causes and consequences. Although the threats are placed under environmental, social and economic headings, it quickly becomes apparent that their causes and effects are closely interconnected. These widely accepted headings, which we use throughout the text, are merely convenient constructs that allow us to break down the complexity of sustainability into manageable elements. They should not however be allowed to get in the way of considering the issues holistically.

The next 10 years will be absolutely crucial in determining what kind of world will exist in the decades beyond. If we act decisively, and innovate and invest wisely, we could both avoid the worst impacts of climate change and successfully achieve the sustainable development goals. If we do not, we face a world in which it will become increasingly difficult for us and future generations to thrive.2 One of the keys to resolving these big issues is the realisation that the world’s environmental, social and economic problems do not recognise national boundaries. Floods in Thailand cause production problems for Japanese companies and customers globally. A banking crisis in America and Europe creates a slowdown across all economies. And rising commodity and food prices from droughts, floods, resource depletion, rising population

4

Sustainability and design in context

demand and futures speculation cause economic and climate migration, political instability and conflict.3 The world is so interconnected that global collective consciousness and local action are the first prerequisites for change. As we will see, denial is finally giving way to greater cooperation and action.

decision-making, negotiations and conflict resolution. In a win-win scenario, each part seeks the best for itself but not at the expense of each other, since they recognise that they are all interdependent within the same system. In the same way, sustainability is about constantly seeking win-win-win outcomes between environment, society and economy through collaborative and creative thinking.

1.2 the concept of sustainability: definitions and models

sustainable product design How then does this translate into sustainable product design and what part might product designers play in creating this dynamic equilibrium? A superficial look at product design as an activity that just produces and encourages the consumption of more ‘stuff’ that we don’t really need might lead to the conclusion that product design and sustainability are simply incompatible. But product design can and should offer much more. Without a doubt the rising billions of people living on the planet will need to eat, drink, dress, be sheltered, feel secure, communicate, travel, work and play. All these activities happen in some way in real time and space, and this is where product designers play an important role. If those ‘needs’ can be met more intelligently by creatively balancing the planet’s health while enhancing the human experience within a viable economic framework, then we will be approaching the idea of sustainable design.

Earth can provide enough for man’s needs but not for every man’s greed.4 Sustainability is both simple and complex – simple in its intentions but complex in its workings. While no concept can ever be fully defined by words, it helps to look at it from a range of perspectives to arrive at an understanding that resonates with us personally to inspire our work and act as a yardstick by which to measure our actions. The most generic definition of sustainability is the ability to self-maintain over a period of time. Based on this definition, it seems self-evident that an ecosystem that is consuming over 75% more than it is able to replenish, and rising; that is, destabilising and destroying its own natural cycles and habitats through overproduction; and, where over half the population struggle to get by, let alone fulfil their potential because of deprivation or social injustice, is not self-maintaining over time and is therefore highly unsustainable.

To achieve this, product designers need to shift their emphasis from creating objects to meeting real needs. The change of focus from the physical object to satisfying physical and emotional needs through the experiences, narrative and meaning that products can create is liberating for designers. This allows more holistic and therefore sustainable thinking that takes into account the wider context and interrogates the need. It does not assume that a product is the answer but, when it is, the whole ‘product ecology’ or ‘product service system’ (PSS) surrounding it comes into play. And because all products exist within their own ‘product ecology’, especially as the digital and physical worlds merge, in this text we will assume that a ‘product’ includes its product service system (PSS).

Perhaps the most quoted definition for sustainable development and one that intuitively resonates with many people comes from Our Common Future, a UN report by the Commission on the Environment and Development (WCED) published in 1987, commonly known as The Bruntland Report: [Sustainable development is development that] […] meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.5

Thus, we begin to have sustainable product design when the experiences facilitated through products produce net positive value over their negative impacts. Sustainable products are therefore products that create net value socially, economically and environmentally through their entire product ecosystem. Put another way, sustainable products ultimately give more than they take. In this definition the word net is important, because it accepts that during the process of designing, the day-to-day social, environmental and economic balance sheets may fluctuate but, taken as a whole, our design actions should produce many more positives than negatives and ultimately lead us towards more ambitious restorative outcomes.

Although this definition serves as a good starting point and is easy to relate to on a personal level, it does not give us any tangible leads as to what sustainability might look like or how we might begin to get there. A useful way to understand sustainability is not as a static state, but rather as a system in dynamic equilibrium. For dynamic equilibrium to exist, the constituent parts compete and support each other, while allowing the whole system to change and evolve. This is known as a win-win strategy commonly used in

5

Concepts and context

Box 1.1 environmental threat: global warming and climate change • extreme weather events and natural disasters have increased by 300% since the 1960s8 with over 60% directly attributable to global warming9 • even when we reduce emissions to net-zero, temperatures will continue to rise because the GHGs we are producing today will still be in the atmosphere for between 100 to over 1000 years, making immediate action essential.10

Climate change isn’t an “issue” to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call. Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything

the basics Global warming together with loss of natural capital are combining to create humanity’s biggest existential threat. The average temperature of the Earth is rising at an unprecedented rate, with 75% of this increase in the past three decades, primarily due to human activity.6 Unchecked, this will have catastrophic effects for life as we know it because human beings and the Earth’s ecosystems cannot adapt quickly enough.

causes Exponentially increasing levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs), primarily from human activity, are trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, raising overall temperatures. GHGs and emission sources break down into:11 • 76% CO2 carbon dioxide • 65% from burning fossil fuels • 11% from deforestation and decay • 16% CH4 methane from animal farming and waste • 6.2% N2O nitrous oxide from chemical fertilisers and fossil fuel burning.

some facts • average temperatures have already risen by 1.1°C (1.98°F) from pre-industrial levels (1850–1900) to 2017 with 16 of the past 17 years the hottest ever7

40 35

Gigaton of CO2 equivalents

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1800

1820

1850

1900

1950

2000

2018

Figure 1.1  Our main GHGs are intrinsically tied to our lifestyle. The choice is ours: burning coal for electricity; heat and air-condition buildings; deforestation for animal feed and palm oil; fossil fuels for transportation; methane from meat and dairy production (photo credits: CreativeNatureNl; Pattarapol Wesrungwit; Alf Ribeiro / Shutterstock.com; Rich Carey / Shutterstock.com; NotarYES)

6

Sustainability and design in context

consequences12

positive signs

The effects of a 1°C rise are already a reality across the globe and worsening yearly:

• to avert a 2°C rise, 197 countries signed the Paris Agreement pledging to binding targets for 40 to 70% GHG reductions by 2050 and zero net CO2 by 2100. Limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C is now considered far safer, but that requires net zero CO2 by 2050 • for the first time, energy-related CO2 emissions levelled out between 2014 and 2016 despite economic growth thanks to renewables, but grew again by 1.4% in 201713 • we have the answers: Project Drawdown outlines 100 solutions we can implement today to rapidly reverse global warming.

• sea levels and the frequency of extreme weather events are rising, submerging islands and causing draughts, floods and water stress • ecosystems are unable to adapt, causing bleached coral reefs and 30% of species facing extinction • food production is decreasing in low latitudes and will eventually spread across the globe • malnutrition, disease and deaths from heatwaves, floods and draughts are increasing. If global temperatures rise over 2°C, all elements will worsen with a greater likelihood of sudden large irreversible and catastrophic events known as tipping points.

Figure 1.1b  Predicted global temperature rises for four different potential future emissions pathways. (source: OurWorldinData.org. Visualisation Hannah Ritchie & Max Roser)

7

Concepts and context

Box 1.2 environmental threat: loss of biodiversity and natural ecosystems • 50,000 wildlife species become extinct each year in the rainforest • it is the second biggest cause of global warming.

The 21st century presents humanity with a dual challenge of maintaining nature in all of its many forms and functions and creating an equitable home for people on a finite plane. WWF Living Planet Report 2016

species loss:20

the basics

• 30% of all vertebrate species declined between 1970 and 2006 • 25% of the world’s mammals and 30% of all amphibians are at risk of extinction • freshwater wildlife has declined 83% in 40 years.

We are continuing to press forward with the sixth mass extinction of vertebrates.14 Animal populations on the planet decreased by 60% from 1970 to 201415 and all species assessed are in a worse state due to the loss and degradation of natural habitats.16 The most threatened are tropical rainforests, wetlands, and freshwater and marine environments.17

oceans and fish: • 80% of the world’s fish stocks are exploited beyond their sustainable limits and another 40 million tonnes of bycatch and 300,000 marine mammals are accidentally killed each year • coastal deadzones (zero oxygen) have increased four-fold and open ocean low-oxygen areas ten-fold since 1950, and half of freshwater corals are dead.

some facts deforestation:18, 19 • 50% of the Earth’s rainforests have already been destroyed and we are still losing an area the size of England or Oregon every year • 80% of the world’s land species live in forests

1.00

Better

Corals

0.95 Low-oxygen zones (2 mg/L of O2 or less) Coastal Open ocean

IUCN Red List Index of species survival

Birds

0.90 Mammals

0.85

Arctic Sea Ice Area

Millions km2

2015

7 0.80

6

Amphibians Worse

5 0.75

4 3

0.70 1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

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2010

2012

2 1980

1985

1990

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2000

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2010

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Year

Figure 1.2a  a. IUCN Red List shows that all species groups are on a downward trend as human consumption, pollution and global warming shrink their habitats. b. The Global Oxygen Network (GO2NE) maps out the exponentially growing coastal and open ocean dead zones globally c. NASA’s satellites track the rapidly shrinking ice at the poles. (sources: IUCN; GO2NE 2018; NASA Scientific Visualization Studio)

8

Sustainability and design in context

causes21

• the supplies of food, fibre, medicines, freshwater, crop pollination, filtration of pollutants and protection from natural disasters by natural ecosystems are all being reduced by overconsumption • rainforest destruction is driving up global warming and the loss of tens of thousands of species, many as yet unknown to humans • at our current rates, wildlife loss will reach 67% by 2020 • extinction is irreversible.

The increasing demand for resources from a growing global population is putting all natural ecosystems under pressure. These include: • rainforest clearance for agriculture, notably for animal feed and palm oil • mining, oil and gas exploitation causing habitat loss and threatening fragile environments like rainforests, polar regions and deep seas • overexploitation of wild species, especially overfishing • climate change altering ecosystems faster than species can adapt • thoughtless introduction of invasive alien species driving native species to extinction • severe pollution, contamination and degradation of ecosystems from human activities.

positive signs • the rate of deforestation decreased by half between 2010 and 2015 compared to 1990 to 2000.22 This is thanks to a combination of reforestation, aforestation, carbon offsetting and net zero carbon initiatives, and an increased demand for certified forest products • UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) countries have pledged to protect at least 17% of land and freshwater and 10% of our oceans by 2020 • internationally, scientists are pushing for a post-2020 target of safeguarding 50% of the planet in order to protect the bulk of biodiversity from extinction.23

consequences Human beings are destroying the natural ecosystems they depend on for economic and biological survival.

Population

Consumption

Resource efficiency

CAUSAL FACTORS

INDIRECT DRIVERS

DIRECT PRESSURES ON BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS

STATE OF GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY

Agriculture and forestry

Fishing and hunting

Urban and industry

Over exploitation Habitat loss, alteration and fragmentation

Energy and transport

Pollution Invasive species

Terrestrial

Water use

Freshwater

Climate change

Marine

Figure 1.2b  Interconnections between people, biodiversity, ecosystems health and provision of ecosystem services. (source: courtesy WWF Living Planet Report Rio+20)

9

Concepts and context

Box 1.3 environmental threat: global overshoot and resource depletion • 1.5 earths as Asians • 0.8 earths as Africans • 0.5 earths as Eritreans

Humanity is living off its ecological credit card and it can only do this by liquidating the planet’s natural resources. Mathis Wackernagel, co-founder of Global Footprint Network

causes

the basics

• the doubling of world population between 1970 and 2010, expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by the end of the twenty-first century26 • continuing unsustainable levels of consumption in developed countries together with growing middle classes in emerging economies seeking to improve their standard of living.

We have been living beyond the Earth’s capacity since 1970. Most non-renewable resources, particularly fossil fuel and minerals, will run out this century at our current rate of overconsumption. Many natural resources are also being permanently lost.

some facts

consequences

• known reserves of non-renewable resources, many commonly used in consumer products, are running out, some quite rapidly • using ecological footprint accounting, in 1970 our resource consumption surpassed the capacity of the Earth to support that consumption and has been getting worse ever since. This is known as overshoot24 • globally we need 1.75 earths to support our consumption, but a closer look reveals huge regional variations in how much we consume:25 • 14.4 earths as Qataris • 5.0 earths as North Americans • 3.9 earths as Australasians • 2.8 earths as Europeans • 1.7 earths as South Americans

3.0

• increasing scarcity of minerals and fuel will extend destructive exploration and extraction, damaging ever more ecosystems and threatening fragile environments like the deep sea, polar regions and even space • energy will eventually need to come entirely from renewable sources, all metals and minerals will need to be completely recovered, and natural and renewable resources will become much more precious.

positive signs • the global shift to renewable energy is reducing our reliance on fossil fuels • the principle of circular economies and material recovery is gaining momentum with governments and business.

1960–2019 Ecological Footprint

2.5

2019–2050, Scenarios Moderate business-as-usual Rapid reduction

2.0

1.5

1.0 Earth Overshoot 0.5 1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

2030

y-axis: number of planet earths, x-axis: years source: Global Footprint Network (2019)

10

2040

2050

Figure 1.3a  Planet Earth has been in environmental overshoot since 1970 and increasing ever since. Do we continue on this course or aim for One Planet Living by 2050? (source: Global Footprint Network 2019)

Sustainability and design in context

The Great Acceleration –7

–6

–5

–4

–3

–2

–1

0

1

2

Temperature anomaly (°C) Global financial crisis 5

35 000 die in European heat wave

3

4

5

7

8

9

Fraction Forest (x10)

10 2010

Total material consumption (gigatonnes)

CO2 (d260ppm/20)

Water withdrawals (thousand km3) Fraction Cropland (x10)

6

GWP Index (1960=1)

2005

Human population (billions) 2000

10

Collapse of Soviet Union

Methane (d400ppb/180)

Mt. Pinatubo eruption

Apple

Year before present (logarithmic scale)

50

Global oil consumption (Index=1)

Start of Great Acceleration

1960

World War II World War I

US Dust Bowl 100

1910 Peak of British Empire Industrial Revolution

Manila Galleon Trade

1788-1795 El Niño/La NiñaSouthern Oscillation

American revolution Tokugawa Shogunate Ch'ing

Pilgrims land

Ming "Black death" Mongol Empire Incas Aztecs Vikings visit 1000 Sung North America Collapse of Maya Tang Roman Empire 2006 Han Chou Greece Shang Egypt First Peruvian cities 500

Internet

Mechanical loom

1510

Conquistadors

Olmecs at peak 5000

Hsia

Peak of Mongol Empire 1010 Peak of Islamic Caliphate Peak of Roman Empire

Arabic numerals Paper

AD 0 BC

Iron Age starts

First Sumerian cities Writing Early agriculture

10000 Biologically modern humans organized in small hunter/gather bands

Paleo-Indian migration to Americas

3010 BC

8010

Bow and arrow

50000

48010 Migration of modern humans out of Africa

100000

88010

Years before present (logarithmic scale)

Source: Adapted from Costanza al. 2007 Figure 1.3b  The world has been experiencing a huge acceleration of consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources since theet 1950s. Based on current known reserves and technology, even if we stabilise our current consumption rates we will only have between 10 and 100 years of many commonly used minerals and non-renewables. (source: GEO-5 / infographic courtesy of UN Environment, Nairobi)

11

Concepts and context

Box 1.4 socio-economic threat: damage to economies, future prosperity and wellbeing from climate change, environmental degradation and resource depletion the basics

The poorest countries will suffer earliest and most, even though they have contributed the least to the causes of climate change. Nicholas Stern, The Economics of Climate Change

The social and economic cost of climate change and lost natural capital is growing year-on-year. Damage from rising sea levels, more frequent and intense extreme weather, mass species extinctions, toxic air and loss of essential supporting ecosystems directly affect economic outputs, productivity, infrastructure, agriculture and global resource supply chains. It also impacts negatively on social wellbeing in the form of displacements and threats to security, health and prosperity. It is already affecting developing countries the most due to their geographical location and inability to fund adaptation measures.

Our economies and our societies are dependent on nature, and once it’s gone, so are we […] the global economic system […] continues to merrily saw away at the branch we’re all sitting on.27

Figure 1.4a  Bangladeshi farmers leaving their home with essential belongings in the 2017 floods. The increasing intensity of monsoon rains and cyclones in Bangladesh affects millions annually and costs the country over 5% of GDP. (photo credit: Farid_Ahmed)

Figure 1.4b  Floods in Thailand in 2011 directly affected global supply chains and the delivery of goods around the world. (photo credit: Cpl. R. Maurer, US Marine Corps)

12

Sustainability and design in context

some facts

consequences

• between 1980 and 2016 hydrological events such as flooding rose 400%; climatological events such as extreme heat, droughts and forest fires, and meteorological events such as storms, cyclones and hurricanes rose more than 200%28 • damage from climate change already costs well over US$1 trillion annually and will grow exponentially as global temperatures continue to rise29 • there are already over 60,000 annual deaths from natural disasters and tens of thousands from extreme heat • 150,000 additional deaths were attributed directly to climate change in 2014 and these are projected to rise to 250,000 annually from malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea between 2030 and 205030 • in 2015 alone, pollution cost over US$4.6 trillion and led to 9 million deaths.31

• the cost of not taking action will go up the longer we delay investing in a low-carbon economy, mitigation, protection and restoration32 • climate change and environmental degradation will also affect social cohesion and wellbeing through a reduced ability to grow food and access clean water, an increased spread of diseases and air pollution, and population displacement from extreme weather events33 • climate change has no national boundaries and will affect the poorest the most, creating migration pressures and aggravating tensions between individuals, nations and regions34 • average global incomes are predicted to be 23% less by the end of the century because of climate change.35

causes

• initiatives like the Global Footprint Network and Natural Capital Coalition are helping governments and businesses to measure, protect and enhance their stocks of natural capital • over and above national targets, forward-thinking businesses are also leading the shift to 100% renewables (Re100) and net-zero carbon targets • New Zealand has introduced the first Climate Refugee visa as neighbouring low-lying South Pacific Islands are submerged.

• overconsumption and the lack of immediate tangible feedback on the environmental damage our consumption choices create • short-termism, lack of visionary governance and insufficient collective responsibility or collaborative action to protect natural habitats, radically reduce GHG emissions and consume much more intelligently, especially in riche countries • ‘natural capital’ has no monetary value in our current accounting systems, rewarding business-as-usual at the expense of the natural environment.

500 450

No. of Disasters

400

Geophysical disaster

Climate-related (hydro-meteorologic) disasters

Economic damage

400 350 300

350

250

300

200

250 200

150

150

100

100

50

50

0

19 5 19 0 52 19 5 19 4 56 19 5 19 8 6 19 0 62 19 6 19 4 66 19 6 19 8 7 19 0 72 19 7 19 4 76 19 7 19 8 80 19 8 19 2 84 19 8 19 6 8 19 8 9 19 0 9 19 2 9 19 4 96 19 9 20 8 0 20 0 02 20 0 20 4 0 20 6 0 20 8 1 20 0 12 20 1 20 4 1 20 6 18

0

source: EM-DAT The Emergancy Events Database/UCL-CREO. www.endat.be Figure 1.4c  Climate-related disasters and their human and economic costs are increasing dramatically (source: EM-DAT The emergency Events Database www.endat.benote)

13

Economic Damage (billions of 2017 US $)

positive signs

Concepts and context

Box 1.5 socio-economic threat: inequality of income, wealth, social security and employment For those working:44 • 42% per cent of workers worldwide (1.4 billion) are in vulnerable employment mostly in developing and emerging economies • in developing countries, up to 77% or 300 million workers are in extreme (