Computational Methods for a Sustainable Environment, Economy, and Society

The dramatic depletion of natural resources in the last century now threatens our planet and the livelihood of future generations. Our Common Future, a report by the World Commission on Environment and Development published in 1987, introduced for the first time the notion of “sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (UNEP, 1987). The concerns raised in that report were reiterated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). In the fourth Global Environmental Outlook report published later that same year the authors concluded, “there are no major issues raised in Our Common Future for which the foreseeable trends are favorable” (UNEP, 2007). Key issues in the development of policies for sustainable development will entail complex decisions about the management of natural resources and more generally about balancing environmental, economic, and societal needs. Making such decisions optimally, or nearly optimally, presents significant computational challenges that will require the efforts of researchers in computing, information science, and related disciplines, even though environmental, economic, and societal issues are not usually studied in those disciplines. In this author’s opinion, it is imperative that computer scientists, information scientists, and experts in operations research, applied mathematics, Carla P. Gomes Computational Sustainability Computational Methods for a Sustainable Environment, Economy, and Society