Spaceship Earth Vision and Goals

Spaceship Earth

Communal Vision and Goals | Individual Vision and Goals

An Introduction to Ecological Economics, Robert Costanza et al., pp.79-80, 83:

"This transdisciplinary way of looking at the world is essential if we are to achieve the three interdependent goals of ecological economics discussed below: sustainable scale, fair distribution, and efficient allocation. This requires the integration of three elements: (1) a practical, shared vision of both the way the world works and of the sustainable society we wish to achieve; (2) methods of analysis and modeling that are relevant to the new questions and problems this vision embodies; and (3) new institutions and instruments that can effectively use the analyses to adequately implement the vision.

"The basic points of consensus in the ecological economics vision are:

the vision of the earth as a thermodynamically closed and nonmaterially growing the human economy as a system, with subsystem of the global ecosystem. This there are implies that limits to biophysical throughput of resources from the ecosystem, through the economic subsystem, and back to the ecosystem as wastes;

the future vision of a sustainable planet with a high quality of life for all its citizens (both humans and other species) within the material constraints imposed by 1;

the recognition that in the analysis of complex systems like the earth at all space and time scales, fundamental uncertainty is large and irreducible and certain processes are irreversible, requiring a fundamentally precautionary stance; and

that institutions and management should be proactive rather than reactive and should result in simple, adaptive, and implementable policies based on a sophisticated understanding of the underlying systems which fully acknowledges the underlying uncertainties. This forms the basis for policy implementation which is itself sustainable."

Priorities

"It seems clear, then, that we need to address the problems in the following order: first, establish the ecological limits of sustainable scale and establish policies that assure that the throughput of the economy stays within these limits. Second, establish a fair and just distribution of resources using systems of property rights and transfers. These property rights systems can cover the full spectrum from individual to government ownership, but intermediate systems of common ownership and systems for dividing the ownership of resources into ownership of particular services need much more attention. Third, once the scale and distribution problems are solved, market-based mechanisms can be used to allocate resources efficiently. This involves extending the existing market to internalize the many environmental goods and services that are currently outside the market."

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