Is the coffee system a sustainable activity?

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Economic & environmental decision making         Matthew Griffin        

Is the coffee system a sustainable activity?

Introduction

Coffee has become a popular drink throughout the centuries and is especially widespread today. However the question is can we continue to produce and sell coffee in this manner? Or will the present system create too many problems and no longer be accessible for future generations. The coffee industry seems to be thriving; the fast increase of prices among the western world suggests a real demand and growing business in this area. But who benefits from the expansion of the “designer drink.” Where does the money go? The following points on sustainable development will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the coffee trade, focusing on one of the worlds leading coffee retailers, Starbucks.

What is sustainability?

The word “sustainability” derives from the Latin sustinere, meaning "to uphold." Sustainability, then, refers to the quality of upholding or supporting. In a human-environment context, those with a goal of achieving ecological sustainability share in common the mission of living in such a way as to allow others to meet their life needs now and in the future. We always think sustainability is so complicated, but actually it's a very simple concept. How can we all live well within this one planet that we have with out exhausting the resources it has to offer? What's hard about sustainability is the emotional drama around it. Intellectually it's simple.

This is the most commonly quoted definition and it aims to be more comprehensive than most:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations to meet their own needs”. (Brundtland 1987)

We can sometimes be confused by the definitions of others and defining sustainability is no exception. Too many commentators provide too many varying definitions. Wakernagel uses an analogy in the attempt to simplify the meaning behind sustainability:

“Sustainability is like buying a chair. There's no question whether the chair should be strong enough to sit on or not. That's the non-negotiable condition. The questions are: Do you want a red one, a green one, a wooden one, a metal one? But not whether the chair is strong enough. What we are looking at now is that our weight is too big for the chair we have. Unfortunately, we cannot change the chair. That's the planet we have. We are heavier than what the chair can hold in the long term. That's a non-negotiable bottom line condition. If we use more than the world can support, then we are just eroding our most essential asset”. (Wackernagel 2000)

Unfortunately most of the technological advances we use are those that actually use more resources, like larger cars, or moving more materials or bigger houses. I don't say any technology will make us more sustainable but we have the best technology ever and it will play a big role to help us move us to sustainability. At the same time we have to address population issues, we have to address consumption issues. Often people say sustainability is about population vs. consumption. I think it's not the case. It's population AND consumption.

The thing is not "Will we become sustainable?" Sustainability is not an option. That's what the future will be. The question is only at what price will we get there. In some way you can say nature bats last. How will the readjustment happen? Will we do it in a humane way or will it be with a lot of human suffering?

(Riley 1992) pointed out that “the level of analysis of sustainability is important” and quoted the following table: Source: Pretty, J. N. The Living Land (1998)

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Effects of sustainable development on businesses

Innovest Founder Matthew Kiernan explained the logic behind using environmental performance as a proxy for good management capabilities at both a strategic and operational level. He explains that it touches all aspects of a firm's operations from product design to finance, and it also holds implications for a wide range of stakeholders from the government to investors to community citizens. Perhaps more significantly, environmental problems are relatively "young" issues; their treatment demands strategic thinking, superior execution, and organizational agility. These are not capabilities that can be ...

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