Where Economic and Environmental Prosperity Meet
By Michael Renner and Laura Reynolds*
WASHINGTON, Apr 6, 2012
(IPS) - One of the lesserknown catalysts of the 2011
Arab Spring uprisings was a
global grain crop failure in
2010, caused by drought and
flooding that year from
Russia to Canada.
Low grain stores worldwide
caused food prices to
skyrocket, leaving millions in
the Middle East - a net foodimporting region - without the basic ability to put food on their table. It was yet another
indication that environmental crises cannot be separated from socioeconomic ones.
Humanity is now outstripping its resource base at an unprecedented global scale,
contributing to rapid species loss, deforestation, and a decrease in the planet's ability to
absorb our waste. The problems that arise from economic inequality, like food insecurity
and a lack of access to clean water, are sharpened by ecological stress and resource
limits.
Avoiding these problems requires reframing the ideas of wealth and prosperity. With the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in June, this is the year to catalyse a move toward widespread sustainable
prosperity.
"State of the World 2012: Moving toward Sustainable Prosperity", a new report by the
Worldwatch Institute, outlines the need for, and benefits of, a new approach to
economic development.
As a result of globalisation, and the adoption of capitalism as the dominant economic
model, societies across the world are now essentially mortgaging themselves both
economically and ecologically.
While workers in many countries are forced to accept lower and lower wages to boost
corporate profits, social norms pressure the very same people to acquire and consume
more and more things. This serious contradiction has led to endless debt, and
increased socioeconomic instability.
Environmental sustainability is ultimately impossible without social and economic equity.
Employment at adequate incomes is key to making any economy work, and without this
basic element, attempts by different countries to transition to a green economy have
been met with disillusionment from the general public and a loss of credibility for
government leaders.
Overdeveloped countries, including the United States, need to adopt a strategy of
economic "degrowth" to limit ecological collapse and severe climate shifts. This does
not mean stagnating economic development; it means cutting down on waste and
overcoming the social pressure to accumulate material wealth at the expense of others'
well-being.
Corporations in the United States are now entitled to the same free- speech rights as
individuals, while the majority of U.S. citizens have no say in how these same
corporations operate. Improved economic democracy and participation are essential for
a collaborative effort to slow unsustainable economic growth.
Many of the actions that societies can take to achieve degrowth will also boost their
citizens' physical and psychological health. These actions include creating walkable and
bikeable communities, eating less and lower on the food chain, shrinking new-home
sizes, and generally using less stuff: in 2010, U.S. citizens generated about 250 million
tonnes of trash, or about 4.4 pounds of trash per person each day.
This need for degrowth in overdeveloped countries comes at a time when the poorest
one-third of humanity still needs to considerably increase its daily consumption to
achieve a decent quality of life. Only action from both industrialised and emerging
economies will bring about an equitable and sustainable global prosperity.
The world's consumer class will need to reduce its enormous claim on the Earth's
resources. And China, India, Brazil, and other rapidly developing countries will need to
chart a different course toward prosperity than the one taken by countries that
industrialized in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Japan is a world leader in pursuing prosperity that does not compromise environmental
health. Drawing from its technological advances in recent decades, Japan's Top Runner
programme makes the most-efficient model of a given appliance the standard that every
manufacturer must match.
This drives continuous innovation and improvement in energy efficiency, resulting in a
kind of "leapfrogging" toward sustainability. Adopting the underlying idea to promote a
global form of a Top Runner programme can be an effective tool in the pursuit of more
sustainable economies everywhere.
And while the world's population and economic output continue to shift to urban areas,
policymakers need to focus on lifting the estimated 828 million urban poor out of slums
or other unsanitary living conditions.
While reactive measures like food stamps and homeless shelters provide a necessary
safety net for the urban poor, more proactive or preventative measures, like creating
inclusive public transit systems, or improving access to fresh food and clean water in
disadvantaged communities, would more effectively move cities toward the equitable
societies they could be.
Societies around the world need to reorient their economies to not only prevent further
degradation of the Earth's systems, but also to actively restore these systems to health.
Pursuing degrowth in overdeveloped countries provides the space needed to reduce the
social and economic inequalities that keeps one billion people worldwide in conditions of
chronic hunger while another billion are overweight or obese.
The paths to sustainable prosperity will look different in industrial and developing
countries, but these paths will converge when both people and planet can thrive.
*Michael Renner is a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and co-director of
State of the World 2012. Laura Reynolds is a research intern at the Worldwatch
Institute.
"State of the World 2012: Moving toward Sustainable Prosperity" will release
Wednesday, April 11 at the Woman's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C.