The simple answer is that without it the future prospects are really not very good at all. The two main factors that force us into thinking about sustainability with a sense of panic and guilt are Climate Change & Energy Supplies and there is no denying that the situation is currently very serious. However sustainability can be desired for some very positive reasons as well.

Positive reasons to seek sustainability in all that we do

One of the main tenets of sustainability is to keep it local and this surely has to be a good thing. By choosing to stay local in many aspects of our lives we start to rekindle a very real force called connectivity or community spirit that has been missing fro some time now.

The very act of making a choice that considers more of the implications of that choice than merely the headline cost and personal satisfaction of taste is in itself good for us. It is by definition a personally sustainable choice as it helps us to both reconnect with our surroundings and to get some soul back into our life.

When we are trying to be sustainable, life takes on a very real meaning. We start making decisions, not just for the here and now but also for the further away and the future.

Sustainable development creates positive feedback loops that can be incredibly enriching. For example:

A good bus service to an area promotes access and employment thereby leading to more self-esteem which reduces crime rates and engenders community spirit which emboldens residents to consider issues such as solar power through a solar club which educates the whole population and gives them a sense of environmental stewardship.

Yes this is a simplistic view but it is the sort of reaction that is being observed where new development has been well considered.

Negative impacts of ignoring sustainability

Climate Change

The UK government has recently published a companion guide to PPS1 the Planning Policy Statement entitled Planning & Climate Change. Paragraph 1 of this document states:

'There is a compelling scientific consensus that human activity is changing the world's climate. The evidence that climate change is happening, and that man-made emissions are its main cause, is strong and indisputable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlights that we are already experiencing the effects of climate change and if these changes deepen and intensify, as they will without the right responses locally and globally, we will see even more extreme impacts.'

The important phrase here is 'without the right responses'. Sufficient sustainability to a degree that will make the difference is the right response.

The recent Stern Review forecasts that 1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) must be spent on tackling climate change immediately. It warns that if no action is taken:

• Floods from rising sea levels could displace up to 100 million people
• Melting glaciers could cause water shortages for 1 in 6 of the world's population
• Wildlife will be harmed; at worst up to 40% of species could become extinct
• Droughts may create tens or even hundreds of millions of 'climate refugees'
• Unabated climate change could cost the world at least 5% of GDP each year; if more dramatic predictions come to pass, the cost could be more than 20% of GDP

This is a stark analysis of the state of the world and the direction we are currently heading. Conversely, however, it is also a very positive message because it means that if we do spend a significant but not impossibly large sum of money we can mitigate some of the disastrous consequences currently forecast.

Plus, from a purely economic standing, the last bullet-point confirms that spending a little now will save a lot in the future. Many of the most sustainable of ideas are 'no-brainers' - and this is a good example!

Energy Supply (Peak Oil)

Peak Oil is a highly charged subject but it's no less real for that. Governments and big business would like to close their eyes and wish the issue away. It doesn't fit in with any of their economic models that are ALL based on growth.

The trouble is that the peak oil argument won't just go away - it is more than just a political or economic argument, it is also a physical argument - physical geography that is, or nature as we like to call it and nature has limiting factors.

Peak Oil, when it comes, will shatter this illusion. The supply of oil will simply not be able to keep up with the demand. The economic models will cease to work correctly. Perhaps it will only be then that we realise just how much of our lives are based on hydrocarbon energy sources. Our dependence is in every aspect of our lives - transport, food, heating, healthcare, manufacturing etc, etc.

We are rapidly coming to a point where the fundamentals of supply and demand can no longer hold because of the following two statements:

• Growth, by definition, has to tend towards infinity.
• The resources that supply our way of life come from a finite planet.

It may happen to us, our children, our children's children or even further down the line but it will happen. There is no logical argument that can refute this (feel free to put some up and then go to www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net. Whatever argument you came up with (technology / nuclear / hydrogen) will be shot down).

A further logical extension of these facts, therefore, is that we are on the wrong course NOW and must therefore change direction to follow a more sustainable path.

'We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive'

C.S. Lewis