Chapter 03: Economic, social and environmental sustainability

Explainer, notes, worksheet and data.

Pillars of sustainability Identify ESG indicators and what they tell us Implications of sustainable development (ie balancing the pillars of balancing environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability)

Explainer

What you must be able to do

Explain and understand the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG's) and how they can be achieved
Draw and interpret the Kuznet's curve
Apply economic thinking to everyday decisions (trade-offs).

Core ideas

Economics studies how people, firms and governments make choices when resources are limited. The key is trade-offs: choosing more of one thing usually means giving up something else.

Exam focus

In chapter 2, we learned that resources are scarce and we must make choices about what needs and wants we must justify. Sustainability - through the UN SDG's - provide a framework for making informed decisions, because they give us clear targets to work towards.

Interactive: The Three Pillars of Sustainability

Sustainable development requires balance across three dimensions. Adjust the sliders to explore trade-offs — as in real policy, pushing one pillar often comes at the cost of another.

Economic ▶ e.g. Ireland GDP growth, FDI, employment rates, living standards Environmental ▶ e.g. Carbon emissions, renewable energy %, biodiversity loss, plastic waste Social ▶ e.g. Income inequality (Gini), healthcare access, education levels, housing availability

Economic growth: 70% Environmental protection: 50% Social equity: 60%

Economic: High growth, but at what cost? Environmental: Moderate protection Social: Some inequality remains

Try modelling Ireland's 2000s Celtic Tiger (high eco, low env, medium soc) vs Denmark's model (balanced) vs a resource-dependent economy (low eco, low env, low soc).

Chapter Notes

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Worksheet