The "One Planet Living": an holistic approach toward the future that we want

On friday 22nd of June, the "One Planet Living" approach was presented during one of the Rio+20's side events, the "Major Groups Pavilion", by members of the BioRegional Development. It regards a new cross-cutting sustainable development strategy, based on ecological and carbon footprint, sustainable patterns of consumption and production, and ten principles, encompassing all three pillars of sustainaility.

This plan states that, globally, we are far exceeding the carrying capacity of the Planet. In fact, we are annually consuming resources and polluting our Earth more than it could ever renew or absorb (50% more, in percentage). The Ecological Footprint shows that if everyone in the world consumed as much as the average person in western Europe, we would, in the future, need THREE planets to support us. If everyone consumed as many natural resources as the average North American, we would then need FIVE planets. Carbon emissions are responsible of our global ecological footprint for around fifty per cent,. Moreover, there is a lack of a basic level of human needs for 20% of people, a financial crisis and a need to restructure towards fair sustainable economies.

"One Planet Living" uses a set of unique principles of sustainability as framework. These are social, environmental and economic indicators which come together to form a holistic approach to sustainability: 1) Zero Carbon; 2) Zero Waste; 3) Sustainable Transport; 4) Local and Sustainable Materials; 5) Local and Sustainable Food; 6) Sustainable Water; 7) Land and Wildlife protection; 8) Culture preservation and Community involvement; 9) Equity and Local Economy; 10) Health and Happiness.

One Planet Living designs a sustainable world in which people, everywhere, can live happily and healthily within the natural limits of the planet, by adopting sustainable lifestyles, which leave sufficient space for wildlife and wilderness. Lots of organisations around the world are using the "One Planet Living" approach to take measurable steps towards sustainability. In fact, originally designed by BioRegional for planning sustainable communities in 1998, this innovative approach has been found to be scaleable and adaptable to many different situations, including the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The One Planet Living framework is now used in more than fifty countries. During the Rio+20 conference, BioRegional and its partners committed to enable the One Planet Living approach to be more widely used and available through communications, e-learning and traininto a team of 10,000 people to help them deliver an aspirational sustainable lifestyle in a world's population that is soon going to reach nine billion people.

Romina Puccetti

Marta Castellani