Sustainable Economy
Sustainable Economy is a complex concept connected to a variety of social, political, historic, and environmental contexts. Sustainable Development is at the heart of an economic strategy that represents a path to a future that works.
Our Common Future, the report issued by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development described "sustainable development" as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
That document also goes on to describe both the relationships of environment and economy and the relationships between a global economy and local economies.
The discussions that started with this report have laid the ground work for building a sustainable economic strategy that benefits humanity by stressing equity and promoting the real bottom line as the environment.
Our Common Future, the report issued by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development described "sustainable development" as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
That document also goes on to describe both the relationships of environment and economy and the relationships between a global economy and local economies.
The discussions that started with this report have laid the ground work for building a sustainable economic strategy that benefits humanity by stressing equity and promoting the real bottom line as the environment.
Thinking Like a Region in a Globalized World
The role of a local economy is fundamental. Strong local
economies make for stronger communities and regions. This often translates into
quality of life for those that live and work in communities.
The politics of economics often determine the strength of local economies. Globalized interests such as multi-nationals often have little interest in the quality of life of the communities in which they extract profits. Those profits allow for large scale political control which tend to focus almost exclusively on wealth building for the global interests and not for the communities effected or the people that live there. You may have heard of statistics that say that in the United States the top 1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%, or that as few as 500 individuals control as much wealth as 50% of the American population or more than 150 million people. Those are staggering figures that point to a widening divide between the rich and the poor. This reality does little to solve cultural problems such as poverty and social unrest. Working toward creating strong local economies as opposed to allowing local wealth to be extracted by global interests is a sustainable political strategy.
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The politics of economics often determine the strength of local economies. Globalized interests such as multi-nationals often have little interest in the quality of life of the communities in which they extract profits. Those profits allow for large scale political control which tend to focus almost exclusively on wealth building for the global interests and not for the communities effected or the people that live there. You may have heard of statistics that say that in the United States the top 1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%, or that as few as 500 individuals control as much wealth as 50% of the American population or more than 150 million people. Those are staggering figures that point to a widening divide between the rich and the poor. This reality does little to solve cultural problems such as poverty and social unrest. Working toward creating strong local economies as opposed to allowing local wealth to be extracted by global interests is a sustainable political strategy.
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Protecting the Environment
Ecological Economics One of the great sources of wealth on planet earth has been our environment and the natural resources that the environment provides. Today we are in a global condition that portends the end of environmental sustainability. It is critical that we understand and try to become better economic stewards of our environment. Our future success depends upon this. The business community often hears that “environmentalists” refuse to use the environment in any productive way to create wealth.” Sustainability experts disagree. Instead of just commodifying the environment, for example turning forests in to lumber products, sustainability experts say that forests and other ecological conditions nurture wealth, health, and well-being. Traditional economics identifies the value of an intact ecosystem an “externality”. For example, this value stares that "the only value of a forest" is the value that can be counted in the price of lumber per board feet. This is how we count our GDP. This is our fundamental economic framework. Ecological economists recognize that an acre of intact ecosystem such as a forest or a marsh or an estuary, is worth several hundred times more than an acre of clear-cut forest. The value lies in the ecological benefits of clean water, clean air, and a balanced, life-sustaining atmosphere. The multipliers of ecological economic values include the comparative cost to artificially clean air and water, and pay for the resulting health benefits. Ecological economist Robert Costanza led an evaluation of the earths ecosystems that suggested an annual ecological GDP of of $54 trillion while traditional economics provided an annual global GDP of $24 trillion. Ecology counts. It is how the earth works economically for humans. Ecological Economics provides an important scientific and economics exchange. It is highly charged with political discussions including the costs and values of climate change, agriculture, industrial pollution, and energy. The politics of these discussions, and the politics of economic development provide the nexus of a sustainable future that works, or one that collapses upon itself. |
ResourcesUnited States Society of Ecological Economics International Society of Ecological Economics University of Vermont Gund Institute for Ecological Economics Portland State University Institute for Sustainable Solutions Authors and Academics Robert Costanza Elinor Ostrom Herman Daly Bill McKibben Paul Hawken Bill McDonough McDonough TED Presentation (video) Elinor Ostrom wins Nobel Prize
In 2009 the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Science went to Elinor Ostrom, an American political economist. Essentially her work focused on showing that privatizing natural resources is not the route to halt environmental degradation. To learn more: Wikipedia Article in the Guardian Elinor Ostrom Breaks Nobel Mold Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America- Profile of Elinor Ostrom |
