Harry,
So we should believe you, an economist?, and choose a Georgist
philosophy (which was formulated when global pop was around the 2B that
many thousands of scientists think is close to optimal) rather than
believe the scientific consensus shown below.
Harry:
> If there isn't enough land, how do they survive now?
Steve: They ain't! 1/3 are severely malnourished, starving to death, or
dying prematurely from various illnesses. (see the Pimentels' essay) The
food aid that is produced and transported by fossil fuel is
insufficient, unsustainable, and subject to climate risks it could cease
anytime. (52 day global grain reserve last I heard from Worldwatch)
TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
CONCEPTS, METHODS, AND POLICY
published by The International Society for Ecological Economics
and Island Press, 1994. Phone:
800-828-1302 or 707-983-6432; FAX: 707-983-6164
UNSUSTAINABILITY:
A CONSENSUS
"In the 20 years (1972-92) between the U.N.
Conference on the Environment in
Stockholm and the one on Environment and
Development (UNCED) in Rio de
Janeiro, a scientific consensus has gradually
been established that the damage
being inflicted by human activities on the
natural environment render those
activities unsustainable. It has become clear
that the activities cannot be
projected to continue into the future, either because they will have
destroyed the environmental conditions
necessary for that continuation, or because their environmental effects
will cause massive, unacceptable
damage to human health and disruption of human ways of life.
"This is not the place to review the evidence that has led to the
scientific, consensus, but now perceived
seriousness of the problem can be illustrated by a by a number of
quotations from the conclusions of reputable
bodies that have conducted such a review. Thus the Business Council for
Sustainable Development stated
bluntly in its report to UNCED: 'We cannot continue in our present
methods of using energy, managing forests,
farming, protecting plant and animal species, managing urban growth and
producing industrial goods'
(Schmidheiny 1995, 5). The Brundtland report, which initiated the
process that led to UNCED, had formulated
its perception of unsustainability in terms of a threat to survival:
'There are thresholds which cannot be crossed
without endangering the basic integrity of the system. Today we are
close to many of these thresholds; we must
be ever mindful of endangering the survival of life on earth' (WCED
1987, 32-3).
"The World Resources Institute (WRI), in collaboration with both the
Development and Environment programs of
the U.N., concludes on the basis of one of the world's most extensive
environmental databases that 'The world
is not now headed toward a sustainable future, but rather toward a
variety of potential human and environmental
disasters' (WRI 1992, 2). The World Bank, envisaging a 3.5 times
increase in world economic output by 2030,
acknowledged that 'if environmental pollution and degradation were to
rise in step with such a rise in output, the
result would be appalling pollution and environmental pollution and
damage.' (World Bank 1992, 9). The Fifth
Action Program of the of the European Community acknowledges that 'many
current forms of activity are not
environmentally sustainable' (CEC 1992a, 4), as indicated by 'a slow but
relentless deterioration of the
environment of the Community, notwithstanding the measures taken over
the last two decades' (CEC 1992b, 3)
"In its annual State of the World reports, the Worldwatch Institute has
documented current environmental
damage, concluding in 1993: 'The environmentally destructive activities
of recent decades are now showing up
in reduced productivity of croplands, forests, grasslands and fisheries;
in the mounting cleanup costs of toxic
waste sites; in rising health care costs for cancer, birth defects,
allergies, emphysema, asthma and other
respiratory diseases; and in the spread of hunger. ' These trends mean
'If we fail to convert our self-destructing
economy into one that is environmentally sustainable, future generations
will be overwhelmed by environmental
degradation and social disintegration' (Brown et al. 1993, 4-5, 21)
"Little wonder, therefore, that in 1992 two of the world's most
prestigious scientific institutions saw fit to issue a
joint statement of warning 'Unrestrained resource consumption for energy
production and other uses could lead
to catastrophic outcomes for the global environment. Some of the
environmental changes may produce
irreversible damage to the earth's capacity to sustain life. ... The
future of our planet is in the balance.' (RS and
NAS 1992, 2, 4)" [p. p. 26-27] [see also WORLD SCIENTISTS' WARNING TO
HUMANITY]
This book is edited by: Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh and Jan van der
Straaten.
The text is from chapter # 2 which was written by: Paul Ekins,
Department of Economics, Birkbeck College, The
University of London, 7-15 Gresse Street , London, W1P 1PA U.K.
Refs: Brown, L. R. et al. 1993. State of the World 1993. London:
Earthscan
CEC (Commission of the European Communities). 1992a. Towards
Sustainability: a European Community
Programme of Policy and Action in Relation to the Environment and
Sustainable Development, Volume 1.
Proposal for a resolution of the Council of the European Communities.
Brussels: Commission of the European
Communities.
1992b. Towards Sustainability: a European Community Programme of Policy
and Action in Relation to the
Environment and Sustainable Development, Volume 2. Executive Summary,
Brussels: Commission of the
European Communities.
RS and NAS (Royal Society and National Academy of Sciences). 1992.
Population Growth, Resource
Consumption and a Sustainable World. London; New York: RS; NAS
Schmidheiny, S. (with the Business Council for Sustainable Development).
1992 Changing Course: a Global
Business Perspective on Development and the Environment, Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development). 1987. Our Common
Future. New York: Oxford
Univ. Press.
World Bank. 1992. World Development Report 1992-1993. Oxford Univ.
Press.
WRI (World Resources Institute). 1992. World Resources, 1992-93. Oxford;
New York; Oxford Univ. Press.
