关于可持续性九大谬见.docVIP

关于可持续性九大谬见 　　When a word becomes so popular you begin hearing it everywhere, it means one of two things. Either the word has devolved into a meaningless cliché1), or it has real conceptual heft2). “Green” falls squarely3) into the first category. But “sustainable”, which at first conjures up4) a similarly vague sense of environmental virtue, actually belongs in the second. True, you hear it applied to everything from cars to agriculture to economics. That’s because the concept of sustainability is at its heart so simple that it legitimately applies to all these areas and more. Despite its simplicity, however, sustainability is a concept people have a hard time wrapping their minds around. 　　 　　当一个词流行到你随时随地都能听到它的程度,那就意味着出现了下面两种情况之一:要么这个词已经转变成空洞的陈词滥调,要么它确实代表着具有重要意义的概念。“绿色”一词刚好就属于第一种情形。而“可持续”一词,虽然乍看之下,其所蕴含的环境美德同样让人不知所云,但实际上它属于第二种情形。没错,从汽车到农业再到经济,你会听到这个词被广泛应用于所有领域。那是因为可持续性这一概念从实质上来说非常简单,用于上述这些领域以及其他更多的领域都是合情合理的。然而,简单归简单,要想自己理解可持续性这一概念,还是需要费一番脑筋的。 　　 　　Myth 1: Nobody knows what sustainability really means. 　　谬见一:没人明白可持续性的真正含义。 　　That’s not even close to being true. By all accounts5), the modern sense of the word entered the lexicon in 1987 with the publication of Our Common Future, by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. That report defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Or, in the words of kindergarten teachers, “Don’t take more than your share.” Note that the definition says nothing about protecting the environment. 　　 　　事实远非如此。据说,该词的当代含义首次被录入词典是在1987年,继联合国世界环境与发展委员会发布报告《我们共同的未来》之后。该报告这样定义可持续发展:“它既满足当代人的需求,又不会损及后代人为满足自身需求所需的能力”。或者,用幼儿园老师的话来说,就是 “别拿自己份外的东西”。请注意,这里对可持续发展的定义丝毫没有提到环境保护问题。 　　 　　Myth 2:“Sustainable” is a synonym for “green”. 　　谬见二:“可持续”与“绿色”是同义词。 　　Although there’s a fair amount of overlap between the terms, “green” usually suggests a preference for the natural over the artificial. With 6.5