Systems Thinking In Sustainability

Running head: SYSTEMS THINKING IN SUSTAINABILITY
Systems Thinking In Sustainability
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1SYSTEMS THINKING IN SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
System is indicative of separate parts that are interrelated to each other and which
works towards reaching a common goal. Systems thinking can prove to be useful in dealing
with problems relating to sustainability as it helps to look at things from a macroscopic
viewpoint as compared to that of a short picture. Systems thinking has been made use of by
academicians along with practitioners to resolve issues relating to sustainability.Sustainability
is the unique property pertaining to the biological systems and it is characterized by pursuit of
common ideal. Healthy ecosystem is necessary for the survival of the organisms on earth.
The specific term, “sustainability” refers to the target of humanity to reach a state of human-
ecosystem equilibrium (Haines 2016). This essay talks about deforestation which is a
problem in Australia and how systems thinking can help in developing solution to that of
sustainability development challenge.
Discussion
Australia is the sixth largest country in the world and it can be said to be one of the
developed countries. It is known for the harsh climates along with that of poor soil fertility
but the social success of the place are on account of the sound environmental policies. The
sound environmental policies have helped in preventing large-scale disaster. It has been
suggested that habitat loss through that of vegetation clearing is an important driver
pertaining to decline in population. The highest clearance rates are in those areas where the
soil was suited to that of agriculture which was generally in the coastal area (Molderez and
Ceulemans 2018). The forests in South Australia were mostly cleared during that of early 20th
century. The woody vegetation of Australia is an important carbon store that can help in
removing gas house emissions. With the growth of vegetation, carbon can be sequestered in
that of the plant tissue that can result in reduced level of that of carbondioxide. It has been

2SYSTEMS THINKING IN SUSTAINABILITY
found that the forest soil of Australia can store around 44 billion tonne of that of carbon
dioxide that represents 80 times of the annual emission of that of Australia (Millon 2015).
The clearing of trees paves the path for releasing of large amount of greenhouse gas into that
of the atmosphere. Deforestation takes place in Australia owing to various reasons like for
development of infrastructure and for that of housing development.
According to me, systems thinking can help in dealing with the environmental related
challenges. There is significant difference between that of the traditional thinking approach
and that of system thinking approach. The world had moved towards the era of globalization.
The world has to face several complexities in the coming years and system thinking can be of
immense help for developing solutions to that of sustainability challenges (Princiotta and
Loughlin 2014). The different organizations can make a meaningful impact by introducing
the policy of “zero deforestation” that can help in cleaning up the supply chain.The suppliers
should be held accountable for producing different kinds of commodities like timber along
with paper (Barlow et al. 2016). The non-recycled products that are bought by the company
should help in ensuring that the virgin fiber that has been used is certified by that of third
party certification. Sustainability challenges are also known as adaptive challenges as the
protocols that have already been established cannot be applied to the particular situation.
However, it can also be stated that no unified approach exists that can help in dealing with the
sustainability challenge (Burns, Kick and Davis 2015). System thinking can prove to be of
immense help in changing the mental models that can help in dealing with the problems
related to sustainability. It comprises of technologies along with skills that can help in
removal of a problem.
Sustainability challenges require innovative thinking on the part of the
environmentalists and it will need innovative research methods to resolve the problems.
Systemic thinking can prove to be of great help in resolving the issue of deforestation that