Thinking about Sustainable Development, Economy and Democracy

‘The Ice Is Leaving’ Climate change is melting glaciers worldwide. Only we can stop it."
- By Katrin Jakobsdottir, prime minister of Iceland. In the New York Times of Aug. 17, 2019

Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland’s sixth-largest glacier, gained worldwide recognition when the volcano lurking under it erupted in 2010. Large levels of volcanic ash caused air travel disruptions in Europe, and news reporters across the world struggled with the difficult pronunciation of Eyjafjallajokull, much to the amusement of us native speakers. A less-known and less-tongue-twisting glacier is Ok, which is on a mountaintop in Western Iceland.

But Ok is no longer a glacier.

The ice field that covered the mountain in 1900 — close to six square miles — has now been replaced by a crater lake. It is certainly beautiful, surrounded by patchy snowfields, and is now the highest lake in Iceland. But that beauty quickly fades in the eyes of anyone who knows what was there before and why it is no longer there. Ok’s disappearance is yet another testimony of irreversible global climate change.

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* Article continues at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/17/opinion/iceland-glacier-climate-change.html

https://worldstreets.wordpress.com/2019/10/17/the-ice-is-leaving-climate-change-is-melting-glaciers-worldwide-only-we-can-stop-it/

Opinion | Iceland’s Prime Minister: ‘The Ice Is Leaving’ Climate change is melting glaciers worldwide. Only we can stop it.

Economic Principles for “Spaceship Earth” Kenneth Boulding’s 1966 essay on sustainability has relevance today for fostering economic policies that respect planetary boundaries.

The Reconstruction Of Capitalism - Robert Schalkenbach Foundation by Dr. Robert V. Andelson Dr. Robert V. Andelson (1931-2003) was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Auburn University, and Distinguished Research Fellow, American Institute for Economic Research. This essay was first published in booklet form in 1994 by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation (New York),?...

Coming Full Circle: Why Social and Institutional Dimensions Matter for the Circular Economy In light of the environmental consequences of linear production and consumption processes, the circular economy (CE) is gaining momentum as a concept and practice, promoting closed material cycles by focusing...

Barriers & Drivers towards a Circular Economy: Literature Review

- Freek van Eijk, Managing Director Acceleratio, March 2015

The transition to a circular economy requires a systemic approach which makes use of a wide toolkit of policies and measures, across different points of value changes and affecting the full set of private and public stakeholders.

The circular economy is rapidly rising up political and business agendas. In contrast to today’s largely linear, ‘take-make-use-dispose’ economy, a circular economy aims to decouple economic growth from the use of natural resources and ecosystems by using those resources more effectively. By definition it is a driver for innovation in the areas of material-, component- and product reuse, as well as new business models such as solutions and services. In a circular economy, the more effective use of materials enables to create more value, both by cost savings and by developing new markets or growing existing ones

The circular economy requires a system change.

Today we experience rapid change in our society. We are not in an era of change but in the change of an era. Our present set of regulation, aimed to protect consumers, companies and environment, has been drafted in the past and is by definition outdated. “We are looking with old spectacles to new initiatives”. We tend to be late and reactive in our adjustments of regulation which is frustrating new initiatives.

A deep transformation of production chains and consumption patterns and a shift in financial, fiscal and reporting instruments is envisaged to keep materials circulating in the economy for longer, re-designing industrial systems and encouraging cascading use of materials and waste. Some elements of circularity in the linear economy, such as recycling and composting need to be maintained. But a circular economy goes far beyond the pursuit of waste prevention and waste reduction to inspire technological, organisational and social innovation across and within value chains.

From the combined studies included in this review a picture comes forward that a Circular Economy demands a system change with parallel actions along the value chain rather than a purely sector and/or product focused approach. It requires actions in not only the regulatory field but also requires institutional changes, cultural changes, technological innovation and knowledge development & exchange just as closer cooperation and transparency between all actors (governments, businesses, Barriers & Drivers towards a Circular Economy A-140315-R-Final 4 Barriers towards a Circular Economy, November 2014 inhabitants and the science & education community).

In other words there is a need for a mix of complementary instruments and approaches across different parts of the circular economy (e.g. regulatory measures complemented by economic incentives to ensure pricing of a related product or resource, funding for innovation etc.) and efforts to engage and link actors along the value chain (to ensure circular thinking and identification of opportunities for greater circularity across the entire chain).

The present regulatory system is pre-dominantly sectorial and has a one sided orientation on risks. This hampers new opportunities. In many circular economy business cases perceived environmental risks will have to be balanced against the new economic opportunities. That could also be interpreted as a call not for more regulation but for better regulation and even a call for deregulation: less detailed and specific regulation and more performance based regulation. A Circular Economy also needs room for experimentation within the boundary conditions set by the government. This asks for courage of our regulators

Continues - https://wp.me/p1zD54-10Q

Circular Economy/ African Attitudes Vision, Strategy, Policy, Practice Just getting started with Circular Economy/Public Policy interface, in the context of our program on Sustainable Development, Economy & Democracy

Behavioral economics - Wikipedia Behavioral economics, along with the related sub-field behavioral finance, studies the effects of psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional factors on the economic decisions of individuals and institutions and the consequences for market prices, returns, and resource allocation, although not a...

The seven pillars of the circular economy - Daily Planet In response to the shortcomings of other current descriptions, here Metabolic’s Founder and CEO Eva Gladek presents "Seven pillars of a circular economy."

ECONOMICS FOR A FULL WORLD - Herman Daly 2015 (draft)

Introduction

Because of the exponential economic growth since World War II, we now live in a full world, but we still behave as if it were empty, with ample space and resources for the indefinite future. The founding assumptions of neoclassical economics, developed in the empty world, no longer hold, as the aggregate burden of the human species is reaching—or, in some cases, exceeding—the limits of nature at the local, regional, and planetary levels.

The prevailing obsession with economic growth puts us on the path to ecological collapse, sacrificing the very sustenance of our well-being and survival. To reverse this ominous trajectory, we must transition toward a steady state economy focused on qualitative development, as opposed to quantitative growth, and the interdependence of the human economy and global ecosphere.

Developing policies and institutions for a steady-state economy will require us to revisit the question of the purpose and ends of the economy.

Full text here -
fil:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/U2A9SAJL/Herman%20Daly-Economics-for-a-Full-World-pre-publication.pdf

Opinion | Rethinking Work Is it human nature to hate your job? On the contrary.