Sustainable growth and development, sometimes referred to as sustainability, was defined by the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) as ECONOMIC GROWTH that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Paul Hawken, owner of the Williams-Sonoma catalog company, described sustainability as an economic golden rule: “Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or other environment, make amends if you do.” Others have defined sustainability as eco-efficiency and the foresighted utilization, preservation, and/or renewal of forests, waters, lands, and minerals for the greatest good for the greatest numbers for the longest time. Sustainable growth and development is a relatively new topic among economic-development specialists. For decades GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) and growth in GDP were widely accepted as the measure of economic and social well-being. Only in the 1970s did economists, led by the efforts of Herman Daly, challenge the assumption that increases in output (GDP) equal improvements in the quality of life of citizens. Daly and John Cobb Jr. developed an alternative, the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW). Their index adjusts GDP to account for environmental and social factors, including the distribution of INCOME, value of household labor, environmental damage, and social and environmental spending. Daly and Cobb found that in the United Kingdom, GDP and ISEW were positively related for the period from 1950 to 1970, but since that time GDP has continued to grow while the ISEW has stagnated and declined. Their analysis suggests a growing disparity between GDP and sustainable growth and development. More recently, collaboration among the Global Leaders for Tomorrow, the Yale Center for Law and Environmental Policy, and the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network resulted in a Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index (PESI). The PESI is a massive study that uses 64 variables to quantify 21 factors measuring sustainability. Preliminary analysis found that decisions to pursue economic growth and environmental sustainability appear to be separate choices, or even that high levels of economic growth encourage sustainability. Often political leaders in industrialized and developing countries rationalize environmental degradation, saying that once they have economic growth, then they will be able to afford environmental controls. (President George Bush once said, “I am an environmentalist, but we just cannot afford it now.”) The PESI study suggests a cause-and-effect relationship that, if proven in further analysis, would be a significant addition to the study of sustainable growth and development. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT analysis requires full accounting of negative and positive environmental impacts of development activities. Internalizing these EXTERNALITIES is critical to evaluating the total impact of economic changes. Similarly, economic development analysis often weighs the utility or well-being of present consumers and CONSUMPTION versus the opportunities of future generations. Economists use DISCOUNTING—adjusting the value of future streams of COSTS, income, or benefits to the present time period—and benefit-cost analysis to analyze the economic impact of economic development efforts. In his Declaration of Sustainability, Paul Hawken lists 12 strategies for sustainability.
• Take back the charter . . . eliminate businesses that violate the public trust.
• Adjust price to reflect cost . . . internalize externalities.
• Throw out and replace the entire tax system . . . the current system encourages waste and discourages conservation.
• Allow resource companies to be utilities . . . encourage resource companies to conserve rather than expand.
• Change linear systems to cyclical ones . . . incorporate recycling and reuse into PRODUCTION systems.
• Transform the making of things . . . design would include plans for decomposition or return and discourage creation of unrecyclables.
• Vote, don’t buy . . . know who are responsible CORPORATIONs and who are not responsible.
• Restore the “guardian” . . . restore the role of government as guardian of the interests of society.
• Shift from electronic literacy to biologic literacy . . . improve Americans’ understanding of ecosystems.
• Take inventory . . . of our planet and the species that are threatened.
• Take care of human health . . . address the present dangers faced by people worldwide.
• Respect the human spirit . . . have businesses support hope and initiate change toward sustainability.