Sustainability economics
HOC 1: INTRODUCTIN
HOUSE OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSITIONS
A PRESSING AGENDA
Selkirk’s context
How did Alexander Selkirk (guy that was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) survive in the Pacific.
His captain dropped him of on an island where there was:
1. Infinite time
2. Finite resources
3. Little tools
4. Creativity
The island is representative for planet earth in the universe
Humanity’s context?
• Infinite generations
• Finite global resources (= we only have 1 earth)
• Tools & sciences
• Infinite creativity
• we are taking more than this earth can give
• If everybody was consuming like people in Belgium, we would need 4.2 earths (5 for
Americans)
• If Robinson did that on the island, he wouldn’t have survived
How can we live in a way that we are really respecting the ecosystem we live in?
• How can we live in a regenerating way, so the ecosystem can regenerate itself, while respecting
the boundaries
1
,Planet boundaries
• Ocean acidification
• Biogeochemical flows
• Freshwater change
• Land system change
• Biosphere integrity
• Climate change
• Novel entities
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Atmospheric aerosol loading
If we stay in the green safe space, then we can survive. If we get into the red/ orange zones, it will be
very difficult to survive as humans. At start they only assessed 7 boundaries and saw that 3 of them
passed those boundaries, and now, last year, already 7 of these boundaries are crossed. The different
boundaries are also connected to each other.
Sustainability is also more than just a climate crisis. There is much more than only the carbon
emissions:
1. Biodiversity crisis: -69% biodiversity loss over the last 50 years
2. Health: plastic & air quality
3. Inequality: the difference between the rich and the poor is getting bigger and bigger
4. Wellbeing: more and more people are in burn-out, probably because of the system that makes
us go further and further
• All those crises are related
2
,HOW DID WE GET HERE?
It all started in the industrial revolution, when craftmanhshifts was changed into machines powered
operations. These machines worked with fossil fuels.
• due to the change in our economic system we increased the CO2 releases into the
atmosphere.
THE GREAT ACCELERATION
For humans this is the most challenging time. The real acceleration started during the industrial
revolution. This shows the interrelationship between the socio-economic trends and the earth system
trends.
The main challenge today is the is addressing the imbalance between ecological and economic
inequality. Populations that remain within the earth’s biocapacity (under the maximal ecological
footprint) frequently experience lower economic well-being, while those who exceed these limits tend
to have higher levels of affluence.
3
, THE DOUGHNUT ECONOMY
Instead of saying that we need continuous growth, she
states that there are limits to growth and a pace within
which we can operate. The same planetary boundaries
we discussed earlier are used here to guide economic
activity within these limits.
At the same time, there are still many social issues that
need to be addressed. To reduce these social issues,
some level of economic growth remains necessary.
Within the doughnut, we van find a safe space in which
we can operate. Wherein we can have our economic
growth to try and solve the social problems, but still
within those planetary boundaries.
• WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
= ability to sustain life on the long term
= meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs (united nations Brundtland commission 1987)
Meeting the needs:
We have Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs as a
pyramid, where lower needs must be met before
higher ones become important.
Max-Neef’s matrix of fundamental needs describes
the needs as equally important.
It contains 2 dimensions:
Fundamental needs (what we need) => subsistence, protection, affection, …
Satisfiers (how we meet them)
➢ Being (qualities)
➢ Having (things, tools, resources)
➢ Doing (actions)
➢ Interacting (settings/ context)
The idea is that needs are universal and finite, but what changes is how we satisfy them. One action
can satisfy multiple needs at once, e.g. sports => health, social connection, etc. But also some
satisfiers can be negative or harmful with e.g. overconsumption.
• There is also a big difference between needs and wants (more luxury products) But those
needs and wants are a little different from people to people.
4
HOC 1: INTRODUCTIN
HOUSE OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSITIONS
A PRESSING AGENDA
Selkirk’s context
How did Alexander Selkirk (guy that was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) survive in the Pacific.
His captain dropped him of on an island where there was:
1. Infinite time
2. Finite resources
3. Little tools
4. Creativity
The island is representative for planet earth in the universe
Humanity’s context?
• Infinite generations
• Finite global resources (= we only have 1 earth)
• Tools & sciences
• Infinite creativity
• we are taking more than this earth can give
• If everybody was consuming like people in Belgium, we would need 4.2 earths (5 for
Americans)
• If Robinson did that on the island, he wouldn’t have survived
How can we live in a way that we are really respecting the ecosystem we live in?
• How can we live in a regenerating way, so the ecosystem can regenerate itself, while respecting
the boundaries
1
,Planet boundaries
• Ocean acidification
• Biogeochemical flows
• Freshwater change
• Land system change
• Biosphere integrity
• Climate change
• Novel entities
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Atmospheric aerosol loading
If we stay in the green safe space, then we can survive. If we get into the red/ orange zones, it will be
very difficult to survive as humans. At start they only assessed 7 boundaries and saw that 3 of them
passed those boundaries, and now, last year, already 7 of these boundaries are crossed. The different
boundaries are also connected to each other.
Sustainability is also more than just a climate crisis. There is much more than only the carbon
emissions:
1. Biodiversity crisis: -69% biodiversity loss over the last 50 years
2. Health: plastic & air quality
3. Inequality: the difference between the rich and the poor is getting bigger and bigger
4. Wellbeing: more and more people are in burn-out, probably because of the system that makes
us go further and further
• All those crises are related
2
,HOW DID WE GET HERE?
It all started in the industrial revolution, when craftmanhshifts was changed into machines powered
operations. These machines worked with fossil fuels.
• due to the change in our economic system we increased the CO2 releases into the
atmosphere.
THE GREAT ACCELERATION
For humans this is the most challenging time. The real acceleration started during the industrial
revolution. This shows the interrelationship between the socio-economic trends and the earth system
trends.
The main challenge today is the is addressing the imbalance between ecological and economic
inequality. Populations that remain within the earth’s biocapacity (under the maximal ecological
footprint) frequently experience lower economic well-being, while those who exceed these limits tend
to have higher levels of affluence.
3
, THE DOUGHNUT ECONOMY
Instead of saying that we need continuous growth, she
states that there are limits to growth and a pace within
which we can operate. The same planetary boundaries
we discussed earlier are used here to guide economic
activity within these limits.
At the same time, there are still many social issues that
need to be addressed. To reduce these social issues,
some level of economic growth remains necessary.
Within the doughnut, we van find a safe space in which
we can operate. Wherein we can have our economic
growth to try and solve the social problems, but still
within those planetary boundaries.
• WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?
= ability to sustain life on the long term
= meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs (united nations Brundtland commission 1987)
Meeting the needs:
We have Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs as a
pyramid, where lower needs must be met before
higher ones become important.
Max-Neef’s matrix of fundamental needs describes
the needs as equally important.
It contains 2 dimensions:
Fundamental needs (what we need) => subsistence, protection, affection, …
Satisfiers (how we meet them)
➢ Being (qualities)
➢ Having (things, tools, resources)
➢ Doing (actions)
➢ Interacting (settings/ context)
The idea is that needs are universal and finite, but what changes is how we satisfy them. One action
can satisfy multiple needs at once, e.g. sports => health, social connection, etc. But also some
satisfiers can be negative or harmful with e.g. overconsumption.
• There is also a big difference between needs and wants (more luxury products) But those
needs and wants are a little different from people to people.
4
