 |
 |
| |
"The
historical assumption that that green investment comes
as a cost to the economy needs to be challenged. Destroying
the natural resource base upon which economies thrive,
and life depends, has never made for good economics.
As the world struggles to recover from one of the
worst economic crises in living memory we have an
opportunity to promote inclusive and sustainable development
based upon green growth, energy efficiency and the
sustainable use of natural resources. Cents and
Sustainability offers a coherent argument and
a collection of evidence to show how prudent policies,
market innovation and sheer common sense can lead
to green development solutions that cost less, destroy
less and benefit all. This message of this book is
clear. Its time to act!."
Dr Noeleen Hezyer, Under
Secretary-General of the United Nations, and UN Executive
Secretary of the Economic and and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific.
|
| |
“In
1987, Our Common Future offered the prospect
of decoupling as the resolution between environment
and development. Since then the debate has been dismal
and confused. Is significant, profitable decoupling
somehow impossible, as traditional economists might
think, or not permissable to speak of as an incomplete
answer, as some on the further green edge seem to
believe. Neither. Cents and Sustainability
offers abundant evidence that, supporting by appropriate
policies and institutions, the technical ability exists
for us to do much, much more to decouple human development
from environmental degradation. The only negative
is that this empowering work was not with us in the
1990s.”
Professor Stephen Dovers,
Director, Fenner School of Environment and Society,
Australian National University.
|
|
"Since
the publication of the Brundtland Report, [Our
Common Future] problems of unsustainable economic
growth have become even more severe. Unless standards
of living can be increased while sharply reducing
environmental pressures, the world is headed for disaster.
Fortunately, such decoupling is not only possible,
as this book shows, it is almost always the most economic
approach. Bad environmental policies are usually bad
economic policies as well."
Professor Robert Repetto,
UN Foundation Fellow, Professor for the Economics
of Sustainable Development, Yale School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies.
|
|
"In
these dangerous times of hype and spin about environment
"versus" the economy, it is refreshing to
get an update on what has proved to be one of the
most important books of the modern era: Our Common
Future, and its message of sustainable development.
Quite simply, we can not flourish without both economic
growth to help the poor to have a more equitable share
of the amenities of living, and environmental sustainability,
to ensure the ecological underpinnings of our economy--and
lives!--are secure over the generations. Of course
there are always trade-offs, but it is false to assert
it is an either/or situation--species or jobs, wealth
or forests etc. We can do well by doing good, and
in fact must if the world is to be both sustainable
and just. Cents and Sustainability is an
important road map to achieve these complementary
goals."
Professor Stephen H.
Schneider, Stanford University, (Contributor to each
IPCC Assessment), and Author of "Science as a
Contact Sport"
|
| |
"Cents
and Sustainability helps move the debate beyond
"growth versus the environment", focusing
on the potential for dramatic increases in resource
productivity. Now more than ever, realizing the vision
of sustainable development is imperative to achieve
a prosperous, just and ecologically viable common
future."
Professor Eban Goodstein,
Director of the Bard Centre for Environmental Policy,
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson New York, and author
of “The Trade-off Myth: Fact and Fiction about
Jobs and the Environment.”
|
| |
“By attending to the detail set out in this
book, more jobs and, in the long run, more "economic"
growth can be expected. A Global Green New Deal is
possible. The way forward is to decouple economic
growth from environmental damage. There is sense in
putting aside some cents for the future.”
Professor Mike Young,
Executive Director, The Environment Institute, The
University of Adelaide, founding member of The Wentworth
Group.
|
|
"Population
growth and climate change, combined with our current
approaches to doing business and managing water, are
placing our livelihoods, our communities, and the
environment at risk. Cents and Sustainability
suggests concrete alternatives for managing both
water and business in ways that will help sustain
our communities long-term."
Cheryl Davis –
San Francisco Water Utility Commission, and International
Water Association
|
|
"In
the years since Our Common Future was published,
we have learned much more about how to achieve sustainable
development while decoupling economic growth from
environmental pressure. In Massachusetts, USA, companies
have utilized forward-thinking approaches to production
that reduce the use of toxic chemicals before costly
safety measures or, worse, pollution control or remediation
measures are required. Between 1990-2005, Massachusetts
companies reduced their use of toxic chemicals by
40 per cent and onsite releases of toxic chemicals
by 91 per cent. This was achieved without harming
profits -- rather economic and worker health and safety
benefits have exceeded costs. This book, Cents
and Sustainability, is a wonderful compilation
of similar examples of how addressing environmental
pressures can be achieved in ways that represent a
win-win for businesses, the global economy and society."
Pam Eliason, Senior
Associate Director and Industry Research Program Manager
of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute
|
| |
"Our
Common Future was a wake-up. The publication
showed the real possibilities for economic growth
and development, outlining the advantages of basing
such development on policies that upkeep the environmental
resource base and showing how much could be gained
by not depleting them, as has largely been the case
in the past. The book Cents and Sustainability
is a welcome reminder of what can and should be done
to integrate economic growth and environmental sustainability.
It also is serving notice, reminding us of what needs
to be done to achieve the necessary scale of decoupling
of economic growth from environmental pressures to
secure the resources to sustain coming generations.
Professor Walter Leal
(BSc, PhD, DSc, DL, DPhil, DLitt) Distinguished Professor
of Sustainable Development and Chairman, International
Climate Change Information Programme (ICCIP), HAW
Hamburg,Germany
|
|
|
Cents and Sustainability: Securing Our Common Future
|
|
| |
The
development of this book has been made possible
through support from Purves Environmental Fund,
Griffith University, Australian National University,
and Curtin University of Technology.
Ranked
5th in the University of Cambridge Programme
for Sustainability Leadership ' Top
40 books of 2010'.
"This
book is an important addition to the 'beyond
growth' literature. One of the crucial points
is that while decoupling economic growth and
environmental impact is both desirable and possible,
it is not automatic; we must constantly create,
incentivise and strengthen this sustainability
holy grail."
|
|
| |
The
focus of this new book, Cents and Sustainability,
is to respond to the call by Dr Gro Brundtland
in the seminal book Our Common Future
to achieve, 'a new era of economic growth
- growth that is forceful and at the same time
socially and environmentally sustainable'.
With the 20th anniversary of Our Common Future
in 2007, it is clearly time to re-examine this
important work in a modern global context. Using
the framework of ‘Decoupling Economic Growth from
Environmental Pressures’, Cents and Sustainability
investigates a range of new evidence and research
in order to develop a deeper understanding of
how, and under what conditions, this 'forceful
sustainable growth' is possible.
With
an introduction by Dr Jim MacNeill (former
Secretary General to the Brundtland Commission,
and former Director, OECD Environment Directorate
1978 -1984), the book will carry forewords
from Dr Gro Brundtland (former Chair of the
World Commission on Environment and Development),
Dr Rajendra Pachauri (Chief, Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and joint
recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf
of the IPCC), and Dr Kenneth Ruffing (former
Deputy Director and Chief Economist of the OECD
Environment Directorate 2000 - 2005). Beginning
with a detailed explanation of decoupling theory,
along with investigation into a range of issues
and barriers to its achievement, the book then
focuses on informing national strategies for decoupling.
Then putting this into action the book focuses
on five key areas of decoupling, namely greenhouse
gas emissions, biodiversity, freshwater extraction,
waste production, and air pollution, and in each
case showing compelling evidence for significant
cost effective reductions in environmental pressures.
The book concludes with a detailed case study
of the groundbreaking application of public interest
litigation to combat air pollution in Delhi, India.
"I
commend the team from The Natural Edge Project
and their partners for undertaking to develop
a response to 'Our Common Future' to mark its
20th anniversary. The focus of this new book,
'Cents and Sustainability', is to bring together
significant evidence from the last 20 years to
demonstrate that environmental and social sustainability
and economic growth need not be incompatible but
rather can reinforce each other. The book will
cover a range of efforts, studies, policies and
mechanisms designed to show how effective and
proven strategies of achieving social and environmental
sustainability are already helping economic growth."
Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland
(Download
Foreword)
“It
gives me great pleasure to contribute this foreword
to ‘Cents and Sustainability’ and
support a response by our next generation to the
seminal publication Our Common Future, following
its recent 20th anniversary. The Natural Edge
Project is to be commended for tackling this vitally
important issue and highlighting where in the
world already communities, regions and nations
are creating solutions to this great challenge
of our time.”
R.
K. Pachauri, Chief of the Intergovernmental Panel
on
Climate
Change (IPCC), accepting the
2007
Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC
“The
leitmotif of this book is how to decouple environmental
pressures from economic growth while simultaneously
making progress towards attaining the millennium
development goals. It thus addresses a number
of economic, social, and environmental dimensions
of sustainable development. The book restates
the case for reducing environmental pressures.
Failure to do so will entail very high costs to
ourselves and future generations; the technological
means and the policy tools needed already exist
and, in most cases, have been deployed in one
country or another; finally, the costs of implementing
a decoupling agenda are eminently affordable,
amounting to only a few percentage points of future
increases in GDP.”
Dr.
Kenneth G. Ruffing, formerly Deputy Director
and Chief Economist of the OECD Environment
Directorate from 2000 to 2005
(Download
Foreword)
“It
is not wise simply to hope that our decision makers
will make the right choices, especially given
the fact that there are still powerful vested
interests who do not want to see a transition
to sustainable development. In the end, it is
up to each and every one of us to leave as positive
a legacy as possible to future generations. Cents
and Sustainability, with its inspiring world class
success stories, our earlier 1987 report to the
United Nations entitled Our Common Future, and
free online education and training packages by
The Natural Edge Project will help empower you
to play your part in helping achieve a sustainable
future.”
Jim
MacNeill, O.C., Secretary General, World Commission
on Environment and Development, and Chief Architect
and lead
author of Our Common Future (1987)
(Download
Introduction)
"The members of the Natural Edge Project
are representatives of Australia’s next
generation of decision-makers and thought leaders.
The Purves Environmental Fund is therefore delighted
to support the work of this committed and talented
team. Cents and Sustainability takes on the critical
issue of how we can improve human welfare while
not exceeding the limits of the natural world
we inhabit. To quote Ray Anderson, 'How to do
well and do good at the same time is the challenge'.
This book addresses that challenge. As with the
Natural Edge’s previous publication, The
Natural Advantage of Nations, Cents and Sustainability
is a tremendous achievement and a timely and important
contribution. I commend it as essential reading
for anyone who is concerned with long-term sustainability
and prosperity."
Robert
Purves, Chair, Purves Environmental Fund
Citation:
Smith, M., Hargroves, K., and Desha, C. (2010)
Cents and Sustainability: Securing Our Common
Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental
Pressures, The Natural Edge Project, Earthscan,
London.
Contents
Forewords by Dr Gro Brundtland, Dr Rajendra
Pachauri and Dr Kenneth G. Ruffing
Introductions by Jim MacNeill and Rob Purves
Preface and Acknowledgements
1
Securing ‘Our Common Future’
Are we destroying the world we are creating?
Understanding the threat of rising greenhouse gas
emissions
- The melting of sea ice
- The thawing of permafrosts
- The weakening of the capacity of the ocean to
absorb carbon dioxide
Entering a period of consequences
Dealing with unprecedented complexity
2 Achieving
Economic Growth and Reducing Environmental Pressures
What is ‘decoupling’?
What level of decoupling is required?
How can we represent and interpret decoupling trends?
What potential is there for relative and absolute
decoupling?
How does decoupling directly contribute to GDP?
Understanding and reducing the risk of negative
rebound effects from decoupling activities
3 Factors that can Undermine or Even Block
Efforts to Achieve Decoupling
The key role of government to underpin and accelerate
efforts to achieve decoupling
Responding to the fear of loss of profitability
Addressing fears about losing international competitiveness
Responding to the fear of job losses
Responding to fears of skills shortages and gaps
4 Factors that Affect Poorer Nations’
Ability to Achieve Decoupling
Escaping the ‘poverty trap’
Improving the effectiveness of foreign development
aid to reduce poverty
Addressing economic disparity: the inequality predicament
Stabilizing population growth
Spurring economic growth by reducing environmental
pressures
Bringing it together – Millennium Villages
5 Informing and Developing National Strategies
for Decoupling
What is needed to underpin a national decoupling
agenda?
Element 1: Past appreciation – an historical
perspective
Element 2: Ecosystem resilience – assessing
and monitoring the resilience of natural systems
Element 3: Performance evaluation – appropriate
decoupling indicators
Element 4: Decoupling requirements – determining
the required scale and speed of decoupling
Element 5: Cost of inaction – investigating
the costs of inaction on decoupling efforts
Element 6: Costs of action – estimating the
costs of action on decoupling efforts
Element 7: Economic resilience – investigating
and understanding the resilience of the economy
Element 8: International cooperation – identifying
the potential for synergy with global efforts
Element 9: Assessing and accounting for the national
security benefits of decoupling
6 Responding
to the Complexity of Climate Change
The overarching moral, economic, scientific and
technological challenge of our age
Facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities
- Unprecedented speed
- Unprecedented scale
- Unprecedented uncertainty
- Unprecedented need for education
- Unprecedented need for collaboration
- Unprecedented need for cooperation
- Unprecedented interconnectivity
Signs of change in the international business community
Signs of change within regulations and policies
- Climate neutral nations and cities
- 2020 Greenhouse gas reductions regional targets
- Energy efficiency targets
- Energy standards for buildings
- Energy-efficient products and services
- Disconnecting electricity utility profits from
energy sales
- Differential tariffs and smart meters
- Increasing the role of renewable energy
- Increasing the use of feed-in tariffs
- Reducing private vehicle transport greenhouse
gas emissions
- Improving freight and rail transport
- Reducing traffic congestion and encouraging modal
shifts
- Reducing growth in air transport greenhouse gas
emissions
- Reducing oil dependence
7 Decoupling Economic Growth from Greenhouse
Gas Emissions
Appreciating the cost of inaction on climate change
Estimating the cost of action on climate change
1 Assumptions about the availability of non-carbon
backstop fuels
2 Assumptions about the efficiency of economic responses
3 Assumptions about energy and product substitution
4 Assumptions about involvement in joint implementation
5 Assumptions about revenue recycling
6 Assumptions about air pollution damages
7 Assumptions about climate change damages
Support for ambitious commitments to emissions reduction
targets
A framework for decoupling greenhouse gas emissions
– stabilization trajectories
8 Decoupling Economic Growth from Loss of
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience
The complex challenge of reducing loss of biodiversity
and ecosystem resilience
Economic risks and benefits associated with biodiversity
and natural systems
Responding to the challenge of deforestation
Responding to the challenge of the loss of topsoil
and desertification
Responding to the challenge of the depletion of
global fisheries
Responding to the challenge of the growth of invasive
species and the loss of wildlife
9 Decoupling
Economic Growth from Freshwater Extraction
The complex challenge of freshwater extraction and
use
Economic benefits associated with reducing freshwater
consumption
Decoupling economic growth from freshwater extraction
for grazing
Decoupling economic growth from freshwater extraction
for cropping
1 Appropriate selection and rotation of crop
species
2 Sub-surface drip irrigation and irrigation scheduling
3 Advanced deficit irrigation strategies
4 Rainwater harvesting
5 Reusing urban stormwater and recycled water for
peri-urban agriculture
Decoupling urban economic growth from freshwater
use in industry
Decoupling economic growth from freshwater use in
cities
10 Decoupling Economic Growth from Waste
Production
The complex challenge of addressing waste production
Economic drivers for decoupling waste production
from economic growth
Decoupling economic growth from waste production
– by rethinking design
Decoupling economic growth from waste production
– by reuse and remanufacturing
Decoupling economic growth from waste production
– by recycling
11 Decoupling Economic Growth from Air Pollution
The complex challenge of air pollution
Economic benefits associated with reducing air pollution
Decoupling economic growth from sulphur dioxide
emissions
Decoupling economic growth from nitrous oxide, tropospheric
ozone and photochemical smog
Decoupling economic growth from lead pollution
Decoupling economic growth from particulate pollution
(PM2.5–PM10)
12 Reducing Air Pollution through Public
Interest Litigation: The Delhi Pollution Case
The role of the super-administrator
Environmental jurisprudence in India
Public interest litigation in India
M. C. Mehta v. Union of India (Vehicular Pollution
Case)
- Air pollution in Delhi
- Combating resistance to the court orders
- Environmental impact of the court orders
Critical analysis of judicial activism on environmental
issues
- Division of power and the constitutional role
of the judiciary
- Precedents and questions of stability and sustainability
- Strengthening bureaucracies
A caution on the use of a constitutional court in
matters of public interest
|
|
|