SUS1501: SUSTAINABILITY AND GREED COMPLETE EXAM QUESTIONS AND
EXPLAINED ANSWERS GRADED A+ RECENTLY UPDATED 2026/2027
Q1: What is sustainability?
ANSWER Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, as
defined by the Brundtland Commission (1987).
Q2: What are the three pillars of sustainability?
ANSWER The three pillars are environmental (ecological), social (people), and
economic (profit/prosperity) sustainability — often called the Triple Bottom Line.
Q3: Who coined the most widely used definition of sustainable
development?
ANSWER The Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment
and Development) in its 1987 report 'Our Common Future'.
Q4: What does SUS1501 primarily study?
ANSWER SUS1501 studies the relationship between sustainability and greed,
exploring how human economic behaviour, consumerism, and corporate greed
undermine ecological and social sustainability.
Q5: What is the 'tragedy of the commons'?
ANSWER A concept by Garrett Hardin describing how individuals, acting in
self-interest, deplete shared resources even when it is not in anyone's long-term
interest to do so.
Q6: What is ecological sustainability?
ANSWER Maintaining the health, diversity, and productivity of ecosystems so
they can continue supporting life and human activity indefinitely.
Q7: What is social sustainability?
ANSWER Ensuring equity, inclusion, justice, and well-being for all people, both
present and future generations.
Q8: What is economic sustainability?
ANSWER Maintaining economic systems that support human well-being
without depleting natural or social resources over the long term.
,Q9: What is the relationship between greed and unsustainability?
ANSWER Greed drives over-exploitation of natural resources, social inequality,
and short-term profit-seeking at the expense of long-term environmental and
social health.
Q10: What is the Anthropocene?
ANSWER A proposed geological epoch dating from when human activities
began significantly impacting Earth's geology and ecosystems, often associated
with industrialisation and mass consumption.
Q11: How is greed defined in the context of SUS1501?
ANSWER Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one
needs, particularly wealth or power, often at the expense of others or the
environment.
Q12: What is neoliberalism?
ANSWER An economic ideology favouring free markets, deregulation,
privatisation, and reduced government intervention, often linked to increasing
inequality and environmental degradation.
Q13: What is consumerism?
ANSWER A social and economic order encouraging the acquisition of goods
and services in ever-increasing amounts, often fuelled by advertising and cultural
norms.
Q14: How does consumerism contribute to unsustainability?
ANSWER It drives overproduction and overconsumption, leading to resource
depletion, waste, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Q15: What does 'planned obsolescence' mean?
ANSWER A strategy by manufacturers to design products with a limited
lifespan to encourage consumers to buy replacements more frequently.
Q16: What is the difference between needs and wants?
ANSWER Needs are essentials for survival and well-being (food, shelter,
clothing), while wants are desires beyond basic needs, often shaped by culture
and advertising.
Q17: What is 'greenwashing'?
ANSWER When companies misleadingly market their products or practices as
environmentally friendly without making meaningful sustainability improvements.
, Q18: What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
ANSWER A business model in which companies integrate social and
environmental concerns into their operations and interactions with stakeholders
voluntarily.
Q19: What is the 'growth imperative'?
ANSWER The notion embedded in capitalist economies that continuous
economic growth is necessary and desirable, which often conflicts with ecological
limits.
Q20: What is degrowth?
ANSWER An economic and social movement advocating for the reduction of
production and consumption to bring the economy within ecological boundaries.
Q21: What are planetary boundaries?
ANSWER A concept identifying nine Earth-system processes with boundaries
that, if crossed, could generate abrupt or irreversible environmental changes
threatening human civilisation.
Q22: Name three of the nine planetary boundaries.
ANSWER Climate change, biodiversity loss (biosphere integrity), land-system
change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion,
ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading, and novel entities.
Q23: What is the ecological footprint?
ANSWER A measure of how much biologically productive land and water an
individual, population, or activity requires to produce resources consumed and
absorb waste generated.
Q24: What is climate change?
ANSWER Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily
caused since the 20th century by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
Q25: What are greenhouse gases?
ANSWER Gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour) that trap heat in
the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Q26: What is biodiversity loss?
ANSWER The reduction in the variety of life on Earth, including extinction of
species, loss of genetic diversity, and destruction of ecosystems.
Q27: How does agriculture contribute to environmental unsustainability?
EXPLAINED ANSWERS GRADED A+ RECENTLY UPDATED 2026/2027
Q1: What is sustainability?
ANSWER Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, as
defined by the Brundtland Commission (1987).
Q2: What are the three pillars of sustainability?
ANSWER The three pillars are environmental (ecological), social (people), and
economic (profit/prosperity) sustainability — often called the Triple Bottom Line.
Q3: Who coined the most widely used definition of sustainable
development?
ANSWER The Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment
and Development) in its 1987 report 'Our Common Future'.
Q4: What does SUS1501 primarily study?
ANSWER SUS1501 studies the relationship between sustainability and greed,
exploring how human economic behaviour, consumerism, and corporate greed
undermine ecological and social sustainability.
Q5: What is the 'tragedy of the commons'?
ANSWER A concept by Garrett Hardin describing how individuals, acting in
self-interest, deplete shared resources even when it is not in anyone's long-term
interest to do so.
Q6: What is ecological sustainability?
ANSWER Maintaining the health, diversity, and productivity of ecosystems so
they can continue supporting life and human activity indefinitely.
Q7: What is social sustainability?
ANSWER Ensuring equity, inclusion, justice, and well-being for all people, both
present and future generations.
Q8: What is economic sustainability?
ANSWER Maintaining economic systems that support human well-being
without depleting natural or social resources over the long term.
,Q9: What is the relationship between greed and unsustainability?
ANSWER Greed drives over-exploitation of natural resources, social inequality,
and short-term profit-seeking at the expense of long-term environmental and
social health.
Q10: What is the Anthropocene?
ANSWER A proposed geological epoch dating from when human activities
began significantly impacting Earth's geology and ecosystems, often associated
with industrialisation and mass consumption.
Q11: How is greed defined in the context of SUS1501?
ANSWER Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one
needs, particularly wealth or power, often at the expense of others or the
environment.
Q12: What is neoliberalism?
ANSWER An economic ideology favouring free markets, deregulation,
privatisation, and reduced government intervention, often linked to increasing
inequality and environmental degradation.
Q13: What is consumerism?
ANSWER A social and economic order encouraging the acquisition of goods
and services in ever-increasing amounts, often fuelled by advertising and cultural
norms.
Q14: How does consumerism contribute to unsustainability?
ANSWER It drives overproduction and overconsumption, leading to resource
depletion, waste, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Q15: What does 'planned obsolescence' mean?
ANSWER A strategy by manufacturers to design products with a limited
lifespan to encourage consumers to buy replacements more frequently.
Q16: What is the difference between needs and wants?
ANSWER Needs are essentials for survival and well-being (food, shelter,
clothing), while wants are desires beyond basic needs, often shaped by culture
and advertising.
Q17: What is 'greenwashing'?
ANSWER When companies misleadingly market their products or practices as
environmentally friendly without making meaningful sustainability improvements.
, Q18: What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
ANSWER A business model in which companies integrate social and
environmental concerns into their operations and interactions with stakeholders
voluntarily.
Q19: What is the 'growth imperative'?
ANSWER The notion embedded in capitalist economies that continuous
economic growth is necessary and desirable, which often conflicts with ecological
limits.
Q20: What is degrowth?
ANSWER An economic and social movement advocating for the reduction of
production and consumption to bring the economy within ecological boundaries.
Q21: What are planetary boundaries?
ANSWER A concept identifying nine Earth-system processes with boundaries
that, if crossed, could generate abrupt or irreversible environmental changes
threatening human civilisation.
Q22: Name three of the nine planetary boundaries.
ANSWER Climate change, biodiversity loss (biosphere integrity), land-system
change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion,
ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading, and novel entities.
Q23: What is the ecological footprint?
ANSWER A measure of how much biologically productive land and water an
individual, population, or activity requires to produce resources consumed and
absorb waste generated.
Q24: What is climate change?
ANSWER Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily
caused since the 20th century by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
Q25: What are greenhouse gases?
ANSWER Gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour) that trap heat in
the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Q26: What is biodiversity loss?
ANSWER The reduction in the variety of life on Earth, including extinction of
species, loss of genetic diversity, and destruction of ecosystems.
Q27: How does agriculture contribute to environmental unsustainability?
