Alternative economics and the concept of sustainable development

Remigijus Ciegis




The balance of nature, which was achieved after thousands years of evolution, was seriosly changed in this age. The questions of the economical growth became especially acute, when, after the last 90 years industrial production growth, clearly highlighted contradictions between growth of material goods and pollution of the environment and depletion of natural resources. If this trends will endure in the future, the Earth balance can be desintegrated for long time, and this will create menancing concequences for all forms of the life (Ciegis, 1997).

Becouse of the very little prices of the natural resources and ecological goods, the direction of the technical and technological development exlusively conditioned the eagerness of economy of labor and capital. So, the technosphere started physically to oust ecosystems, injured the biochemical processes of nature. The processes of disturbance achieved such scale, that Homo sapiens activeness became equal to the biosphere activeness. This required from the people a new level of the responsibility for use of available possibilities to change ecosystem of the Earth.

But as said philosopher Bryan G. Norton, "Our capability to change the world exceeded our ability to understand all possible consequences of this changes". (Norton, 1992) And for dynamics of the modern development is characteristic that, what Langdon Winner called "technological imperative"- the fact, that the modern technological intervations often produce the new interventions and changes, which restructured all natural and social environment, in which they take place. (Winner, 1977)

So, the people tried quickly and easily to revise that, what the Nature silently and earnestly created millenniums. But infertile were the endeavours of the people to impose their willpower to the nature. And the negative changes in the nature had the direct impact to the quality and quantity characteristics of the social development. Finally, it became evident, that further non guided expansion of the technosphere can destroy all elements of the life (ozone lay, soil, water resources).

Therefore new outlook to the understanding for essence of economical growth to world community became important not only for solution contradictions between production and consumption, but for survive of mankind too. Without any doubt, industrial development created better living conditions for hundreds millions of people, especially from West countries. But from another hand, for furthemore people poverty grew more rather as world`s GNP.

Only fundamental (basic) global economical and technological changes can help to evade ecological catastrophe. If we want to find good solutions for modern environmental problems, we must to change our way of thinking. Now very important become such forms of human thinking and behaviour, which press people to comply laws of nature. people, who are thinking ecologically, are orientated not to the batle with nature, but to the harmony with it. (As said S. Shvarc, "people don`t must take functions of biosphere, they must only to make easer nature`s work".)

Modern pattern of development was inconsistent with the environment. It "economicaly worked good, producing ecological bads". (Dowdeswell, 1997) But most of the economists look on long term economical growth as one of the bigest economical achiviements, which allow for people better to control their environment. This view to the world, or economical growth doctrine, believe, that all social- economical problems (and ecological problems too) can be solved by economical growth, take deep roots in the West society.

But economical development is somethind wider and deeper than only economics. And on 1987 after Gro Harlem Brundtland report "Our Common Future, all the world started to speak about ecologically sustainable development. (Our Common Future, 1987) The philosophy of sustainable development is orientated to the harmony between people and nature as guarantee of the future of the world society. It is agreed, that preference for real income growth must be given, but was mentioned, that this growth will be not sustainable, if it will be achieved with high input of detriment to the environment. If we compare sustainable development philosophy with other systems of economical management and development, the sustainable development model consider the quality of the environment and the services of the environment more important. Sustainable development needs the new economy, which recognize the processes and the limits of biosphere development ang guarantees the balance between economical systems and ecosystems.

It must be mentioned, that proposition that the concept of sustainable development was created by WCED on 1987 is not correct. The specific term "development" is phenomenon of post- war years, but that, what it means - progress, technologies, growth- were characteristic for West from the seventeenth century. Debate about relations between economical growth and environment have very long history. and are very complex. many classical economists (T. Malthus, D. Ricardo, J. Mill) thought, that society developes by its nature and clearly recognised the natural resources limits and influence of that to the scale od economical activities. So, they considered the long- term economical growth not realistic.

On nineteenth century some ecologically orientated economists warned about possible impact to the nature, if a value concept, the basis for economics, will draw on individual preferences,which will be reflected in the market prices. In this aspect very important have been later works of L. Gray, H. Hotelling, H. Gordon, G. Hardin. But mainstream economists dont paid big attention to this problems. The strict and formal analysis, which is tipical for neoclassical economics, was the main reason, why in the economical theory was not assessed dependence of production, consumption and welfare from natural resources and ecosystems. Because in this theories was stressed the role of the market, so the natural resources were assessed only in that size, as there value was reflected in the market price, dont paing attention to difference between renewable and not renewable resources. And only after Second World War it became evident, that the big scale mass production builded very straight environmental problems.

But very long in the debate about relations between economical growth and environment dominated pessimistic view, which very good reflects D. Meadows report "The Limits to Growth". (Meadows, 1972) This report focused on the predicted results of continuing levels of resource depletion, pollution and popukation growth. But the report "The limits to Growth" started the new thinking, started to speak about need for global balance.

It must be mentioned economist Kenneth Boulding and his ideas about spaseship Earth. In the K. Boulding concept production factors are "know- how", the energy and materials, but not the land, labor and capital. (Boulding, 1981) So for K. Boulding economical development is the process of increase of the knowledge. One of the first endeavours to include to the neoclassical economics the need to protect natural environment and to make the model of social- economical system, which includes ecological factors were the works of H. Daly. (Daly, 1973) H. Daly included to economical debates the question of the possible scale of economical activities. The global economy operates within the boundaries of a global ecosystem with finite capacities to produce water, new topsoil and vegetables and, at the same time, absorb pollution from our growing activities. So we have to leave the idea of increased growth behind us. As s subset of the biosphere, theeconomy cannot out grow its physical limits and remain intact.

If we are speaking about the definition of sustainable development, it is possible to distinguih three groups: a) economical view, b) ecological view, and 3) social cultural view to the sustainable development concept. Now is a big need to integrate the scientific and traditional knowledge for investigation of conditions for the real sustainable development. E. Barbier sugest to investigate sustainable development as interaction of three systems: biological, economical and social. The sustainable development definition offered by E. Barbier is: "To maximize simultaneosly the biological system goals (genetic divercity, biological productivity), economic system goals (satisfaction of basic needs, enhancement of equity, increasing useful goods and services) and social system goals (cultural diversity, social justice)". (Barbier, 1987)

Many of scientists now agrees, that the concept of ecological sustainability is more cleare and preciser, then the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development we can imagine as the process, which consist from two phases. In the first phase the global community developes towards sustainability; in the second phase the society futher developes not exeeding the limits of sustainability. But it is difficulte to speake about single universal way for sustainable development. This ways to the sustainability will be very different for rich and poor countries.

From the A. Smith times, economists tried to find the answers to the questions: "what", "how", "whom" to produce. The sustainable development theorists look for answers to the same questions, but they to the concept "whom" are including the future generations too. Together the economical growth must be seen as complex concept, which motivate the peoples responsobility for all and reflects its mechanisms reproduction changes in the space and in the time. So sustainable economy can be the goal of our long- term development. But for this we must go from consumer economy, to the economy, which is orientated to the people and the environment.

Literature

  1. Barbier E. B. 1987. The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development. Environmental Conservation. N.14
  2. Boulding K. E. 1981. Evolutionary Economics. Beverly Hills.
  3. Ciegis R. 1997. Sustainable Development of Economy. Kaunas, 207 p. (In Lithuanian)
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