- \

~~ Matters

David Suzuki,

David Suzuki

Foundation

 

Sustainability A new bottom line

here are many different factors

that have led to a shattering of

our worldview, but in previous
columns I have only hinted at the biggest
one—the economy. And it’s our economy
that needs the most work.

As currently constructed, the global
economy exists in isolation. It exists in a
world without limits, without constraints
on growth, pollution, or exploitation. The
trouble is, there is no such world. Our
world—the only planet that we know of

in the entire universe that is capable of
supporting life—is finite. Our resources
are limited. Our little planet can only pro-
vide so many goods and absorb so much
of our waste. Given these constraints, our
current economy, which is predicated on
relentless growth, is
Something has to give.

Under the current economic system,
essential aspects of the natural world like
air, the ozone layer, water, topsoil, biodi-
versity, and many others are considered
“externalities,” that is, outside the econo-
my. But it is through these features that
nature performs vital services, such as fil-
tering water, pollinating flowering plants,
composting vegetation, exchanging car-
bon dioxide for oxygen, and much more.
Many of these critical services could
never be duplicated by human technology,
yet because they are provided for free by
nature, they are essentially ignored as
though they were worthless.

The biosphere—the zone of air,
water, and land where life exists—is a thin
band that surrounds the earth. If the
earth were reduced to the size of a basket-
ball, the biosphere would be thinner than

unsustainable.

 

a layer of Saran Wrap and it’s fixed. It
can’t grow. And that thin layer is where we
derive our existence, where we deposit all
the emissions from our machines, where
we get our air, water, and food. It is what
makes our lives and an economy possible.

According to standard economic theo-
ry, none of that matters. Instead, human
inventiveness and productivity are seen as
the basis of the economy. And since there
is no limit to human creativity, it is often
assumed that the economy can grow for-
ever. A growing economy is therefore
equated with progress. No one wants to
stop progress, but when it is so narrowly
defined, we never ask, “How much is
enough?” We fail to ask, “Why do we
need all this?” or, “What is an economy
for?”

When we stand back and ask these
questions, it becomes clear that what we
want out of an economy is to be able to
lead a high quality of life and to ensure
that future generations have the same
opportunities. That means the standard
for measuring economic growth, Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), is woefully
inadequate. GDP measures all the money

 

that changes hands in a country. This
includes money to clean up oil spills, treat
illness caused by smog, clean up car acci-
dents, and more. So oil spills, smog, and
car accidents are good for the economy,
but bad for us.

We need a new bottom line that recog-
nizes that we are embedded in the natural
world and therefore acknowledges the
value of its services for our health and
quality of life. We need to recognize that
our world is finite and that it is in our best
interest to find ways for us to lead fulfill-
ing lives without depleting the natural
services upon which we _ ultimately
depend. In short, we need to find sustain-
ability.

The survival attribute of our species
was our brain. We used it to look ahead, to
recognize dangers, and to take appropriate
action to ensure survival. It’s time we
began to use that brain again, this time to
rediscover the real world that sustains us
and sets the real bottom line for our qual-
ity of life and, ultimately, for our survival.

Take the Nature Challenge and learn

more at <www.davidsuzuki.org>.

 

 

  

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accelerated degree programs are designed for college diploma graduates,
allowing you to earn your Bachelor’s degree in just 12 months. And, ask

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Visit www.royalroads.ca/moreinfo, email us at learn.more@royalroads.ca
or call 1-800-788-8028. Royal Roads University is located in Victoria, BC.

aos,
ROYAL ROADS
UNIVERSITY

 

 

Accelerated programs: Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management; Bachelor of Science
in Environmental Science; Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies; Bachelor of Arts in Applied Communication

 

 

 

January = 12/8005

DGnEPPPESSs