1.8 Summary

This chapter has outlined a broad perspective of what sustainability is and how and why personal ethics are paramount to confront before confronting the challenge of sustainability. We have discussed exponential growth, its implications for world population and resource consumption, what the bio-physical limits to growth on the planet are, and why and how the engineering profession has a role to play in the sustainability arena.

In the following chapters we will look in more depth at specific areas outlined above – areas that have experienced exponential growth, and are putting ecological pressures on the earth towards the planetary boundaries outlined.