Sustainable development models must be factored into standard economic theory as well

Sustainable development models must be factored into standard economic theory as well

Sujay Rao Mandavilli

 

Sustainable development

Sustainable development is an approach to growth and human development that aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, or to preserve their own standards of living.  it is therefore a holistic, long-term and a comprehensive approach to development which seeks to advance the interests of large sections of the population, and was first popularized by the the Brundtland Report (“Our common future” report) in 1987, and the Rio earth summit at Rio de Janerio in 1992. United Nations climate change conferences are also regularly held in different parts of the world, and these advance the goals of various climate change mitigation missions. These approaches are however, loosely based on earlier concepts that emanated in Europe and elsewhere in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries such as afforestation and water management programs. Examples of non-sustainable development and the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest, and the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. Rapid population growth is also at odds with sustainable development, just as resource-intensive developmental models are. Another pillar of this approach and concept is the “tragedy of common” problem. In 1968, the ecologist and philosopher Garret Harding wrote the essay, “The tragedy of the Commons”, according to which he stated that if individuals pursued their own goals selfishly and recklessly, they would go against community interests.

Systematic and structured environmental studies began as early as the late 19th century, particularly in Britain as a reaction to rapid industrialization, emergence of great factories, movement of populations to cities, and worsening air and water pollution. Under increasing pressure from the populace, the first environmental laws were enacted in the form of Britain's Alkali Acts, passed in 1863, to regulate the worsening air pollution and its effects on human health.  There were mini environmental movements in India too; afforestation movements were initiated there in due course. James Ranald Martin, Alexander Gibson, Dietrich Brandis and others sought to promote large scale afforestation programs as a counter weight to industrialization and manmade degradation of the environment.  The government under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie also introduced the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation programme in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to other colonies, as well as the United States.

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. Its founder, former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, was inspired to create this day of environmental education and awareness after witnessing an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969. Greenpeace was created in 1971 to promote non-violent action for environmental causes. 1980 saw the creation of Earth First!, a group with an ecocentric view of the world – believing in equality between the rights of humans and the rights of all other species to flourish along with the rights of life-sustaining systems as well. Paul R. Ehrlich’s, book The Population Bomb which was published in 1968 greatly increased concerns about the impact of exponential population growth, particularly in developing countries. Since the 1970s, public awareness, environmental sciences, ecology, and technology have advanced to include contemporary issues such as ozone depletion, global climate change, sustainable technologies, genetically modified crops and genetically modified livestock.

Rachel Carson's environmental science book “Silent Spring” which was published in 1962, also sought to generate awareness on the environment. Kenneth E. Boulding, in his 1966 essay “The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth”, spoke about the need for the economic system to fit itself to the ecological system with its limited pools of resources. In the early 1970s. "Strategy of Progress", a 1972 book by Ernst Basler, explained the importance of preserving forests, and its role in environmental protection. A classic report on the “Limits to Growth” and the need for ecological balance and harmony, was commissioned by the Club of Rome and written by a group of scientists led by Dennis and Donella Meadows of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jorgen Randers, William W. Behrens, and others. Its findings are recommendations were presented at Moscow and Rio de Janerio in 1971. Other research groups like an MIT research group assessed the implication of growth on the environment. In 1980, the International Union for Conservation of Nature published a world conservation strategy and explained the need for  sustainable development as a global priority

The concept of sustainability may also be defined as “an economy in equilibrium and harmony with basic ecological support systems". Thus, as per this approach, harmony with the ecology and the environment are also emphasized to a high degree, in the short-term, medium-term, and the long-term, along with social harmony and well-being. Sustainable development overlaps with the idea of sustainability to a certain degree. According to UNESCO the distinction between the two concepts as follows: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal (i.e. a more sustainable world), while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it." In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted seventeen Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030. These development goals address various global challenges, including for example poverty, climate change, biodiversity loss, and peace. The idea of sustainability has several planes such as economic, environmental, social and cultural planes. These planes overlap to varying degrees. Sustainable development also reduces the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere trap heat, thereby raising its surface temperature. 

Industry, farming, and agribusinesses, all cause environmental degradation to varying degrees. Solution strategies may include afforestation, sustainable forest management, organic farming, preservation of biodiversity, modulation of human consumption patterns, and reducing deforestation. Some others have called for vegetarianism, and a reduction of meat consumption as a solution. Non-renewable energy sources are being replaced by new forms of environmentally energy such as solar and wind energy. ICE engines and fossil fuel automotive engines may be replaced by hydrogen and electric engines. All these will reduce the emission of green house gases greatly, and arrest runaway global warming. Corporate sustainability, and corporate social responsibility practices are also important to achieving sustainable development. Afforestation in India has been carried out by Indian states in a big way, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Telengana. Water conservation programs and rainwater harvesting programs have also been implemented in India by many states. Population control has been successful in many states, and one should not listen to pronatalist arguments.  The International Solar Alliance has been proposed by India, and is headquartered in the Indian state of Haryana near New Delhi. The MNREGA, a program by the Indian government,  also has among its missions, conservation of resources, and rural infrastructure creation.

These would also be aligned to the seventeen SDG's or sustainable development goals. These are based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, The seventeen adopted  SDGs are: No poverty (SDG 1), Zero hunger (SDG 2), Good health and well-being (SDG 3), Quality education (SDG 4), Gender equality (SDG 5), Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced inequalities (SDG 10), Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), Climate action (SDG 13), Life below water (SDG 14), Life on land (SDG 15), Peace, justice, and strong institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).

Agriculture

Agriculture encompasses a wide range of activities including crop and livestock production, aquaculture, irrigation, fisheries, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization around ten thousand years ago, whereby farming of domesticated crops created food surpluses that enabled people to move to bigger settlements which eventually morphed into the first cities. The development of agriculture is attested to at least ten thousand years ago, and it has undergone significant developments ever since. The earliest agriculture is attested to the Levant region, though independent development of agriculture perhaps occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and several regions of the Americas. The agricultural revolution is referred to as the Neolithic revolution.  Domestication of animals such as livestock happened around this period, and there was an increase in the types of sources available for nutrition. Some types of agricultural practices have historically been very destructive, and humans have at times adopted environmentally destructive practices like shifting agriculture, and slash and burn agriculture.

 

Sustainable agriculture

It is only in the recent past that sustainable agriculture has matured and come of age. Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways in order to meet a society's present food needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainability of agriculture can be achieved and accomplished through many new and novel techniques and methods, though it is only recently that best practices are being developed in this regard. Agriculture has a very large environmental footprint, and is a major contributor to climate change (Agriculture is responsible for one third of the total greenhouse gas emissions), water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation, etc. Elements of sustainable agriculture typically include a diverse set of best practices in areas such as permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation. Many of these practices are of relatively more recent origin.

Organic farming can be defined as an agricultural process that uses biological fertilizers, pesitcides and insecticides derived from animal or plant waste such as compost manure, green manure instead of synthetic and chemical fertilizers. Organic farming has taken off in a big way in Sikkim, though it had failed in Sri Lanka. Water conservation techniques are also being increasingly adopted by farmers. This includes rainwater harvesting and ground water management techniques. The slogan more crop per drop was introduced and popularized by the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  This catch phrase implies that water is the natural constraint for farming, particularly fresh water supplies.  Permaculture is another new approach to land management that adopts whole-system principles derived from natural ecosystems. The term was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, who formulated the concept in opposition to modern industrialized methods, instead adopting a more traditional or "natural" approach to agriculture. Organizations such as the PAANI foundation are actively involved in water conservation in India.  There are also major afforestation initiatives under way in states such as Telangana and Tamil Nadu. These are being organized by both governments and private initiatives. Solar energy, wind energy, and to a lesser extent, tidal energy are gaining traction. Sustainable transportation may eventually materialize as electric batteries improve, and become cheaper as well.

This paper is an essential part of our globalization of science movement. We have touched upon this concept very briefly in our paper on Anthropological economics. ur ten mantras would therefore, be as follows:

1.       Must not blindly ape western centric development models, ground realities in different countries may be fundamentally  different from one another.

2.       Issue-based, problem-based, and context-based solutions.

3.       Listen to more and more voices from diverse social and cultural spectrums.

4.       Always offer constructive criticism.

5.       Non-ideology based approaches must be adhered to, and counter-ideologies must also not be slavishly followed.  

6.       Course-corrections are required.

7.       Learn from past mistakes, and learn from each other.

8.       Efficiency, economy and productivity along with output-criteria driven economic measures.

9.       Benefit to maximum number of people.

10.   Pragmatism.

In sum, we had published the following papers on Anthropological Economics which deserve to be read in this context. Therefore, we argue and believe, that Anthropological Economics must also become an intrinsic part of the overall field of economics, and that everything else must be suitably built upon it:

1.       Introducing Anthropological Economics: The quest for an Anthropological basis for Economic theory, growth models and policy development for wealth and human welfare Maximization, ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Social studies (2020)

2.       Delineating “Cultural limits” and “Anthropological limits” as central theorems in the social sciences: Some more useful and practicable techniques for social sciences research, Social Sciences Research Network 2024

3.       Measuring economic performance against “Cultural limits” and “Anthropological limits”: Techniques and strategies for better economic planning and economic modeling, Social Sciences Research Network 2024

 

The following are our related books on the subject

1.       Plotting the contours for India’s economic development: Why this could be a role model for other developing nations as well, Google books, 2024

 

The following are our related articles on the subject which were published on our blog in 2024.

1.       Do Indians and people from other developing countries suffer from a general aspiration deficit syndrome? (2024)

2.       Why we believe and argue that the entire field of economics needs a structural reboot and a foundational overhaul. (2024)

All things considered, we must factor in sustainable developmental models into mainstream economic theory. This would be easier than envisaged because much of the ground work has already been put in place, though rather unfortunately not by mainstream economics. Integrating the two will up the ante greatly, and lead to much faster scientific and economic progress for all segments and sections of society, (while emphasizing environmental protection) just as the field of anthropological economics can lead us to much faster scientific progress.  We still only have traditional mass consumption models upto this point such as those proposed by WW Rostow. Agricultural economics is barely taught to students anywhere even though this is an important component of human civilization. Even in the few cases, and the few instances where it is taught, the syllabus is over theoretical, utterly obsolete, or lacks practical application. Even anthropologists such as Leslie a White fell into the same trap. This kind of a progress is largely illusionary. We must bring about a change sooner than later.