lovesouthernsocial.com

Implementing a Sustainable Economy involves changing attitudes

Concept of Sustainable Economy, in which there is a harmonious relationship between human beings and nature. Image "Familie - Double Exposure #2" (CC BY-ND 2.0) by A.M.D.

The concept of Sustainable Economy is broad and has different approaches, being generally seen as a set of practices that take into account not only profit, but also the quality of life of individuals and harmony with nature. A sustainable economy is one that focuses its growth on the well-being of human beings, placing them at the center of the development process.

The model defends that the human being no longer has a price to endow himself with dignity. Nature's capacity for regeneration is also considered as a good to be preserved for the continuation of economic activity. Sustainable Economy is a new ethic to be adopted by companies and countries, overcoming not only the belief that the economy is an end in itself, but also the notion that the human being is an instrument (replaceable and devoid of dignity) .

Authors such as Ignacy Sahcs, Ricardo Abramovay, Amartya Sen and Sudhir Anand are some of those who study Sustainable Economics, also called economic sustainability. They question the idea of ​​development based only on GDP (gross domestic product), pointing to the need to include other factors, such as social well-being and concern for ecosystems, in economic planning. This would be one of the best ways to develop a sustainable economy, which is above all a path to be followed through changing attitudes.

What is sustainable economy?

Ignacy Sahcs

in your book Transition Strategies for the 21st Century, economist Ignacy Sachs defines sustainable economics, or economic sustainability, as the efficient allocation and management of resources and a steady flow of public and private investments. An important condition for the development of a sustainable economy, for the author, is to overcome the harm generated by external debts and the loss of financial resources in the south, by the terms of trade (relation between the value of imports and the value of exports of a country in a given period) unfavorable, by protectionist barriers still existing in the North and by limited access to science and technology.

In Sachs' view, the sustainable economy presupposes that economic efficiency must be evaluated in macro-social terms, and not only through the criterion of business profitability of a microeconomic nature. To be effective, the model must encourage balanced intersectoral economic development measures, food security and the capacity for continuous modernization of production instruments.

Amartya Sen and Sudhir Anand

Writers Amartya Sen and Sudhir Anand, in the article "Human development and economic sustainability", argue that the definition of sustainable economy must include the relationship between distribution, sustainable development, optimal growth and interest rate. These factors, for them, must be developed and taken into account based on the concerns of the present.

The growing concern with "sustainable development" stems from the belief that the interests of future generations should receive the same kind of attention as those of the current generation. We cannot abuse and exhaust our stock of resources, leaving future generations unable to take advantage of the opportunities that we take for granted today, nor can we contaminate the environment, violating the rights and interests of future generations.

The demand for "sustainability" is a universalization of demands applied to future generations. However, according to the authors, this universalism also makes us, in our anxiety to protect future generations, to ignore the claims of today's less privileged. For them, a universalist approach cannot ignore today's underprivileged people in an attempt to avoid deprivation in the future, but must address both present and future people. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to measure and guess what the needs of future generations will be.

For the authors, to the extent that the concern is with the general maximization of wealth, regardless of distribution - there is a serious disregard for individual difficulties, which may be the main reason for the most extreme deprivations. Furthermore, the quest for a sustainable economy cannot be left entirely to the market. The future is not adequately represented in the market - at least, not the distant future - and there is no reason for the common behavior of the market to take care of the obligations of the future.

Universalism requires the state to serve as an administrator for the interests of future generations. Government policies such as taxes, subsidies and regulation can adapt the incentive structure to protect the environment and the global resource base for people who are not yet born. The authors note that there is broad agreement that the state must protect the interests of the future to some degree against the effects of our irrational discounting and our preference for ourselves over our descendants.

Ricardo Abramovay

The sustainable economy, for the author Ricardo Abramovay, in his book Far beyond the green economy, must take place through several fronts. The economy must not only be guided by its own growth, but also by real results of social well-being and the regeneration capacity of ecosystems. A sustainable economy must recognize that there is a limit to society's exploitation of ecosystems.

According to the author, the prevailing economic thinking of the 20th century - that technologies and human intelligence would always be capable of repairing environmental damage - proved to be explicitly wrong. The consequences already felt as a result of climate change are one of the proofs of this mistake. For Abramovay, it is essential that - for the development of society and a sustainable economy - there is innovation; and it must be linked to the recognition that ecosystems have limits. It is in this sense that a sustainable economy must guide the development of its innovation systems.

The sustainable economy, or economic sustainability, is called by author José Eli da Veiga the "new economy". It would be the capacity to develop a social metabolism in which constant regeneration of ecosystem services and sufficient supplies to cover essential human needs coexist. The author concludes that the sustainable economy is closely linked to ethics. The latter being defined as issues relating to good, justice and virtue, it must, therefore, occupy a central space in economic decisions, which imply decisions on how material and energy resources will be used and the organization of the work of the people.

Abramovay states that: "the idea of ​​incessant growth in production and consumption clashes with the limits that ecosystems impose on the expansion of the productive apparatus. The second problem is that the real capacity for the functioning of the economy to create social cohesion and contribute to A positive way to eradicate poverty has so far been very limited. Even though material production has reached an impressive scale, there have never been so many people in extreme poverty, even though proportionally they represent a smaller portion of the population than at any time in the modern history."