Sustainability is the capacity to endure.

In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well-being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

Healthy ecosystems and environments provide vital goods and services to humans and other organisms. There are two major ways of reducing negative human impact and enhancing ecosystem services. The first is environmental management; this approach is based largely on information gained from earth science, environmental science, and conservation biology. The second approach is management of human consumption of resources, which is based largely on information gained from economics.

Sustainability interfaces with economics through the social and ecological consequences of economic activity. Sustainability economics involves ecological economics where social, cultural, health-related and monetary/financial aspects are integrated. Moving towards sustainability is also a social challenge that entails international and national law, urban planning and transport, local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism. Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganising living conditions (e.g., Eco villages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities), reappraising economic sectors (permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or work practices (sustainable architecture), using science to develop new technologies (green technologies, renewable energy), to adjustments in individual lifestyles that conserve natural resources.

Definition
Three circles enclosed within one-another showing how both economy and society are constrained by environmental limits A representation of sustainability showing how both economy and society are constrained by environmental limits (2003)[1] Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts.(2006)[2][3]

The word sustainability is derived from the Latin sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up). Dictionaries provide more than ten meanings for sustain, the main ones being to maintain", "support", or "endure.[4][5] However, since the 1980s sustainability has been used more in the sense of human sustainability on planet Earth and this has resulted in the most widely quoted definition of sustainability and sustainable development, that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations on March 20, 1987:

sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.[6][7]

At the 2005 World Summit it was noted that this requires the reconciliation of environmental, social and economic demands - the "three pillars" of sustainability.[8] This view has been expressed as an illustration using three overlapping ellipses indicating that the three pillars of sustainability are not mutually exclusive and can be mutually reinforcing.[9]

The UN definition is not universally accepted and has undergone various interpretations.[10][11][12] What sustainability is, what its goals should be, and how these goals are to be achieved is all open to interpretation.[13] For many environmentalists the idea of sustainable development is an oxymoron as development seems to entail environmental degradation.[14] Ecological economist Herman Daly has asked, "what use is a sawmill without a forest?"[15] From this perspective, the economy is a subsystem of human society, which is itself a subsystem of the biosphere, and a gain in one sector is a loss from another.[16] This can be illustrated as three concentric circles.

A universally accepted definition of sustainability is elusive because it is expected to achieve many things. On the one hand it needs to be factual and scientific, a clear statement of a specific destination. The simple definition "sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems",[17] though vague, conveys the idea of sustainability having quantifiable limits. But sustainability is also a call to action, a task in progress or journey and therefore a political process, so some definitions set out common goals and values.[18] The Earth Charter[19] speaks of a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

To add complication the word sustainability is applied not only to human sustainability on Earth, but to many situations and contexts over many scales of space and time, from small local ones to the global balance of production and consumption. It can also refer to a future intention: "sustainable agriculture" is not necessarily a current situation but a goal for the future, a prediction.[20] For all these reasons sustainability is perceived, at one extreme, as nothing more than a feel-good buzzword with little meaning or substance[21][22] but, at the other, as an important but unfocused concept like "liberty" or "justice".[23] It has also been described as a "dialogue of values that defies consensual definition".[24]

ES in India

India is a complex, stunningly diverse country replete with seeming contradictions. It has a strong education ethic indicated by a significant segment of the population holding advanced degrees, yet also massive poverty and illiteracy. It is the world's largest democracy, yet weak implementation of laws and corruption are widespread. Its population is largely Hindu, a faith noted for harmony, peace, care for the poor, and vegetarianism, particularly in the version espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, considered the founder of modern India. Yet India has deep social divisions, most notably in the "untouchable" caste relegated to jobs such as handling human waste. Virulent religious conflict, especially between Muslims and Hindus, also polarize its society. Currently, India is undergoing tremendous economic growth, second only to China, yet its galloping population, together with poor policy and insufficient infrastructure, threaten environmental disaster that could end this growth.

India contains a large, complex, and variegated population packed into a relatively small area

With a smaller land area than China and a population over 1.1 billion-on the verge of becoming, or perhaps already, the world's most populous nation-India might be the ultimate test case of how many people one can squeeze into a given area and still provide a decent, modern lifestyle. Currently, India ranks 101 out of 146 countries on the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), which ranks countries based on such measures as health, governance, technology, and international cooperation and evaluates "the likelihood that a country will be able to preserve valuable environmental resources effectively over the period of several decades" (Esty 23). satellite image of pollution over India Aerosol pollution over Northern India and Bangladesh Although this is slightly better than China's ranking, India, with its soaring population, faces increasing stresses to its air and water; its future energy and resource use is uncertain, and its agricultural productivity is at risk. India is also testing the efficacy of democracy-which Winston Churchill called "the worst form of government, except for all the others"-and whether networks of individuals can provide a better watch on the environment than can an authoritarian system.

India, then, is in many ways a microcosm-albeit an extraordinarily large microcosm-of the tricky path to development that many poor and emerging countries must tread. On today's planet, development can

no longer follow the traditional path of emphasizing heavy industry while paying little attention to the surrounding environment. Sustainable development is the watchword of the day, which means that care must be taken to preserve existing environmental resources for the benefit of future generations. At the risk of failure, India may also provide a shining model of how to simultaneously advance democracy, economic growth, quality of life, and environmental health.

NEW DELHI: Calling upon India to strengthen its multi-stakeholder partnership and public participation in the environment sector, the World Bank has said environmental sustainability was the next greatest challenge, after population, in India's path to development.

According to a World Bank report `Strengthening Institutions for Sustainable Growth: Country Environmental Analysis for India' released here on Tuesday, there was a need to expand the regulatory mechanism to match the needs of the economy and successful global practice; and at the same time increase capacity and accountability of the environmental regulator to keep pace with growing mandates and demands.

The report says that owing to high population density, India's rapidly growing economy would put unprecedented pressure on its environment and natural resources such as land, water, air, soil and forests. These pressures are projected to become the highest in the world by 2020.

Pointing out that the country-wise average environmental compliance ratio of industries monitored was only 50 per cent, the report points out that these programmes did not cover many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which have a significant cumulative impact on the environment as a large number of these enterprises could not afford clean technology and pollution controls. The report highlights the urgent need to develop specialised environmental programmes for SMEs that take account of their constraints and help improve their environmental performance without adversely affecting their business. The report notes that despite India's efforts to develop alternative energy sources, coal will remain the dominant fuel for meeting the needs of its population and economy. The demand for coal will increase threefold in 20 years.