Societal choices and actions implemented in the next decade determine the extent to which medium- and long-term pathways will deliver higher or lower climate resilient development (high confidence). Importantly climate resilient development prospects are increasingly limited if current greenhouse gas emissions do not rapidly decline, especially if 1.5°C global warming is exceeded in the near term (high confidence). These prospects are constrained by past development, emissions and climate change, and enabled by inclusive governance, adequate and appropriate human and technological resources, information, capacities and finance (high confidence)
(source: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability)
By focussing on levers of change such as relationships, patterns, and culture, we will identify the preconditions for change and impacts, even where those impacts themselves may be intangible and difficult to isolate or quantify. Things which move us towards sustainability are:
- Reducing inequalities in society by any metric - see The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
- Behaviours which promote wellness and reduce the need for health and social care - see New Economics Foundation. Five Ways to Wellbeing New applications, new ways of thinking (2011)
- Incorporating sustainability thinking into board papers and decision-making tools
- Transitioning to net carbon zero
- Increased active travel - see: Health Impact Modelling of Active Travel Visions for England and Wales Using an Integrated Transport and Health Impact Modelling Tool (ITHIM) James Woodcock, Moshe Givoni, Andrei Scott Morgan
- Plant based, seasonal diets and a thriving local food system - see: Re-fashioning food systems with sustainable diet guidelines: towards a SDG2 strategy by Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, UK for Friends of the Earth
- Increased biodiversity and wild space
- Reducing unwarranted variation and unwanted intervention - see Supporting NHS teams to provide high quality patient care and continuous improvement and Dying well at home: the case for integrated working
- Increased availability and take up of training about sustainability
Because of the multidimensional complexity and long-term nature of sustainability, success is usually measured by process measures rather than outcomes. We will facilitate this by incorporating a sustainability element into all impact assessment tools. It is then possible, by using an integrated sustainable decision making model, to quantify and visualise the costs, benefits and trade-offs of decisions in terms of societal inequalities, environmental impact, service provision and financial cost.