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How to measure and evaluate progress in achieving the “overarching objective” of sustainable production and consumption?
Posted on August 15th, 2009Categorized as Social-Ecological Systems Tagged as consumption, measuring progress, production, scientific consensus, sustainable development
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At the 1992 Earth Summit, world leaders acknowledged that unsustainable production and consumption patterns are the major cause of environmental degradation. These patterns drive climate change, biodiversity loss, and other global crises. In 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development identified sustainable production and consumption as one of the “overarching objectives” of sustainable development. However, to achieve this objective — to develop appropriate policies, programs, and criteria for critical decisionmaking — we need scientific consensus on how to define, measure, and evaluate progress. If this “overarching objective” is to be taken serious by the international community as a global priority it needs to be grounded in meaningful, operational definitions and measures.
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We humans monopolize much of the earth’s productive potential, and need to find better ways to take our harvest while maintaining some natural services. What incentives should be offered to encourage conservation plus production, and how can it be funded?
Posted on September 1st, 2009Categorized as Biodiversity, Social-Ecological Systems Tagged as anthropogenic factors, conservation, incentives, natural services, production
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Vitousek has warned repeated about the excessive impact of humans on the environment. In many places, production has become more intensive, and increasingly excludes natural services. We urgently need to find ways for production and conservation to co-exist.
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What modes of reorganisation of politics, economy and society could we envision in order to prevent global environmental catastrophe and the attendant conflicts?
Posted on September 3rd, 2009Categorized as Interdisciplinary, Social Science, Social-Ecological Systems Tagged as consumption, power relations, production, re-organization, social organization, systemic collapse
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At the root of the global environmental crisis are systems of organisation of society – production, consumption and power relations – which have led us to the increasingly unsustainable state in which we find ourselves. Clearly, it is within our reach to rethink the models of development and social organisation that we have followed to date in order to overcome the cumulative diificulties that now threaten systemic collapse.
