Sustainability is a large topic. The meaning of the word differs from person to person, some believe that it is about agriculture, others believe that it’s the climate, and others are more economically focused on improvements for financial sustainability.

The foundation of sustainability has been damaged by the development of society, that has happened within the late years. Sustainability is about being able to take care of the needs of both the society and the citizens need for development, but in the process, keep the environment in mind and improve the climate in the most sensible and economical way. One of the things that have an effect on the environment is the release of CO2 from agriculture, industry and transport.

The overpopulation of Earth also has a really large effect on the climate – the more people there are, the higher the load on the climate. Earth’s population today is around 7.2 billion people, which means that the use of (for example) fossil fuels grows, and there will be more people to feed. According to the UN, in 2050 there’ll be 9.6 billion people on Earth. In Denmark, they have begun KlimaDanmark2050-planen (The ClimateDenmark 2050-plan) in order to improve the climate compared to development and usage.

There are four kinds of sustainability:

Institutional sustainability: institutions help with climate problems and try to maintain improvements to the climate. Some believe that it is the institutional sustainability that should be the role model for the population.

Economical and financial sustainability: The focus is primarily on economy instead of the environment. There needs to be a link between environment plans and the economy, so that the individual states don’t get a deficit.

Environmental sustainability: The environment has the greatest significance. If there is a risk of deficit due to an eventual environment plan, then that is what it takes.

Sustainable design: Design and sustainability is planned together as the foundation for the products that are the result of the design process.