INTRO
Importance of economic dynamics for the earth system and global sustainability
Increases in size of the human population and the economy are two trends that epitomizes the current environmental challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change and improvementes in living standards in many countries that have undergone economic growth in the 20th and 21st century. Associated with these trends is the dilemmas of global equity on a finite planet, including the question of whether countries with large economic prosperity need to consume less to allow the developing countries to achieve similar living standards.
In this context, understanding how the economy is linksed to the environment and to social aspects of society is of foundational importance for global sustainability that emphasizes environmental, social and economic prosperity.
It is therefore concerning that scientific fields of the three pillars of sustainability are still only connected to a very limited extent. In particular, the field of economics and finance remains the pillar most poorly addressed by sustainability science [REF]. This is of great concern for the prospects of sustainable development guided by sound advice from the scientific community.
To address the need to integrate economics and finance better with sustainability science, in this Sustainability Science perspective we highlight two areas of importance:
- We highlight recent advances in integrating economics into sustainability-oriented sciences.
- We hightlight major gaps for integrating economic into sustainability-oriented sciences.
- History of economicS and sustainability science - what concepts has been important for SS
History of economics and sustainability science - what generally characterizes the research questions that have been taken up?
Valuation of environmental and social goods.
Inequality
History of economic and sustainability science - what generally characterizes some of the research questions that hasn’t been taken up?
Finance
Trade
Trade Policy and Public Health - Annual Review of Public Health - Vol. 36: 325-344 (Volume publication date March 2015) - First published online as a Review in Advance on December 10, 2014 - DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122739
Role of money in preventing democracy and implications sustainable transitions
Role of illicit financial flows
Impact of major financial corporations on global sustainability
Financial market dynamics and impact on global sustainability
- Paragraph - summarizing intro and outlining content and purpose of the main body of the paper - EXAMINE BRIGHT SPOTS AND BLIND SPOTS
RECENT ADVANCES
National (greener) economic accounting
Integrating measures of natural and social capital into national accounting systems
Political attention to global sustainability and the unsustainable dynamics of current measurements of economic growth has facilitated international research progress on integrated measures of growth
- E.g. Genuine progress measure (Nature paper by Costanza)
- Green accounting mandated by OECD countries - what will happen next
Socio-economic inequality and health and environmental quality
- Reference
- The Haves, the Have-Nots, and the Health of Everyone: The Relationship Between Social Inequality and Environmental Quality Annual Review of Public Health, 2014
AREAS THAT NEED ATTENTION
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES AND CONCLUSION
NOTES ON INTEGRATION
Emphasis on need to fully integrate economics and finance into sustainability science.
The current state of sustainability science or (environmental, social and economic sciences) is ripe with example of lack of integration.
Examples of lack of integration between ecological, social and economic perspectives:
- Lack of integration of an explicitly ecological perspective into social sciences and socio-economic policy (Brown et al. 2014, Burnside et al. (2012))
- With the implication of overlooking natural resource exploitation as an underlying trend for the “great recession” (Brown et al. 2014)
Paper notes
- (Brown et al. 2014)
- Malthusian vs. Darwinian dynamics (i.e. growth and resource limitation vs. organic and cultural selection for innovation to circumvent those)
Malthusians [population, resource limitation and conflict] vs. Cornucopians [technological innovation to facilitate eternal growth]
Read: Arrow et al. 1995, 2004 (Arrow et al. 1995, Arrow et al. (2004))
- Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment, Science, 1995 (Arrow et al. 1995)
- Outlines the origin and current evidence for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
Are we consuming too much (Arrow et al. 2004)
- (Lenzen et al. 2012)
- “Our findings clearly demonstrate that local trheats to species are driven by economic activity and consumer demand across the world.”
Older snippets
INTRO
The concept of capital is important to sustainability science and environmental conservation
The concept of capital, a term borrowed from economics, is foundational for sustainability science. Natural, social and financial capital distinguishes between the assets possess in currencies of environmental, societal and monetary value. This is one example of an important interplay between sustainability science and economics where sustainability science has adopted central concepts of economics. Sustainability science is addressing some research areas of economics
Sustainability science has begun to address the interplay between economic dynamics/sustainability and socio-environmental sustainability. Examples include, (1) the influence of economic inequality on environmental sustainability, (2) the measurement of economic growth integrating measures of financial capital with social and natural capital.
Sustainability science has been slower to pick up other central lines of economic research * However, many central areas of economics has yet to make into integrated sustainability research. These include, (1) the influence of money in politics and how they influence democratic transitions toward sustainability, (2) how international monetary transactions and illicit capital flows influence social and environmental outcomes at their destinations and to what extent this tele-couples econo-socio-environmental dynamics in areas fare apart.
Main body
Green accounting (progress, next steps)
Inequality and environmental, social and financial sustainability
The role of money in facilitating or slowing down democratic transformations toward sustainability
Perspective * From green accounting to national accounts revisions
Even older snippets
Title:
Blind spots: Gaps and recent progress in linking real world economics and sustainability science
Tenet:
Sustainability science has made good progress in showing the environmental and social effects and limits to current resource use. Yet, the field has had what can best be described as a “blind spot” to the impacts of capital and so-called real world economics on the environmental and social aspects of sustainability.
Format suggestions:
A comment or perspective piece, e.g. for PNAS sustainability science section, or some more realistic target journal. The piece would comment on and highlight recent progress and future potential for stronger integration of real world economics into sustainability science.
Four topics to highlight as gaps or areas of recent progress Remaining gaps
The influence of capital in governance on environmental issues
International financial flows and consequences for democracy and the environment Areas of recent progress?
The environmental and social sustainability of income distributions (an area of progress?)
’ Macroeconomic indicators (an area of progress?)
The influence of finance in environmental decision making
Main argument: Democracy as a cornerstone in a future Anthropocene that is just, fair and sustainable.
Research questions: Do elected representatives represent the electorate and the environment? What is the role of vested interest in environmental policy?
Research needs: Studies looking at voting behaviour of elected representatives on environmental issues in relation to campaign financing and total amounts of raised capital and public opinion etc.
Resources:
Tom Ferguson analysis of votes and campaign finance in congress elections (in prep)
Analysis of elected representatives’ behavior on 1700 policy issues in relation to vested interest and public opinion (Garry has reference that cites Ferguson).
Illicit financial flows - hidden connections to democracy and the environment?
Research questions: What is the role of financial flows in and out of countries in affecting foundational aspects of a sustainable future?
Do international investment/money laundering affect aspects of democracy and thus opportunities for sustainability?
What are the direct and indirect impacts of international financial flows? Are they captured by analysis of commodity flows and supply chain/life cycle analysis?
Resources:
Biocapacity exports and imports (Lenzen, political ecology)
Lenzen, M., Moran, D., Kanemoto, K., Foran, B., Lobefaro, L., & Geschke, A. (2012). International trade drives biodiversity threats in developing nations. Nature, 486(7401), 109-112. doi:10.1038/nature11145
Lenzen, M., Kanemoto, K., Moran, D., & Geschke, A. (2012). Mapping the structure of the world economy. Environmental Science & Technology, 46(15), 8374-81. doi:10.1021/es300171x
Datasets on financial flows (illicit financial flows report/database, Garry has database )
Sustainable income distributions (an area of recent progress?)
Research question:
Which (post-transfer) income distributions are most sustainable in terms of environment (and other aspects of human wellbeing)?
Recent progress:
Happiness and inequality studies?
GDP growth and inequality studies (does GDP growth increase inequality while decreasing ecosystem and human well-being?)
What are unaddressed gaps here?
Resources:
Garry Peterson publications in PLoS One and Conservation Biology.
What are other important resources Garry?
The sustainability of macroeconomic indicators (an area of progress?)
Aim of section: Highlighting progress in reforming macroeconomic indicators of growth to include ecoysytem services and human well-being. Research question: I’m not sure what the area for sustainability science is her
Basically I guess this section could be a description of the many known undesirable environmental and societal effects of a pure GDP growth based focus and an analysis of science’ role in current progress in changing the policy agenda.
Resources:
Costanza, R., Kubiszewski, I., Giovannini, E., Lovins, H., McGlade, J., Pickett, K. E., . Wilkinson, R. (2014). Time to leave GDP behind. Nature, 505, 283-285.
And Ida’s ecological economics paper and global environmental change paper
References
Arrow, Kenneth, Bert Bolin, Robert Costanza, Partha Dasgupta, Carl Folke, C. S. Holling, Bengt Owe Jansson, et al. 1995. “Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment.” Science (New York, N.Y.) 28: 520–21. doi:10.1126/science.268.5210.520.
Arrow, Kenneth, Partha Dasgupta, Lawrence Goulder, Gretchen Daily, Paul Ehrlich, Geoffrey Heal, Simon Levin, Karl-Göran Mäler, Stephen Schneider, and David Starrett. 2004. “Are we consuming too much?” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 18 (3): 147–72. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00770.x.
Brown, James H, Joseph R Burger, William R Burnside, Michael Chang, Ana D Davidson, Trevor S Fristoe, Marcus J Hamilton, et al. 2014. “Macroecology Meets Macroeconomics: Resource Scarcity and Global Sustainability.” Ecological Engineering 65 (April). Elsevier B.V.: 24–32. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.07.071.
Burnside, William R, James H Brown, Oskar Burger, Marcus J Hamilton, Melanie Moses, and Luis M a Bettencourt. 2012. “Human macroecology: linking pattern and process in big-picture human ecology.” Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 87 (1): 194–208. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00192.x.
Lenzen, M., D. Moran, K. Kanemoto, B. Foran, L. Lobefaro, and A. Geschke. 2012. “International trade drives biodiversity threats in developing nations.” Nature 486 (7401). Nature Publishing Group: 109–12. doi:10.1038/nature11145.