Back to the Basics of Sustainability

People who make New Year’s Resolutions know instinctively that with each new year comes a chance for reflection, for renewal, and for rebirth. Since my hope is for a New Millennium’s Evolution (particularly in the economic and financial systems), it’s important for me to remember WHY I am working on such issues.

I’ve been fortunate in my life to have experienced some pretty powerful connections with living species and systems. But my biggest “AHA!” moment came from an encounter with a smart Swedish scientist named Karl-Henrik Robèrt. He described how economic growth relies on increased demand for energy and inputs. As companies and industries have been growing globally, so too has the need for fossil fuels, metals, water and land. Since traditional business theory is to keep growing in terms of quantity, we can only assume that demand for resources and ecosystem services will continue to rise, increasing the economy’s eco-footprint.


At the same time, we are witnessing an unprecedented decline of the productive capacity of Nature. There are too many examples of ecosystem decline to name them all, but some of the most stunning losses are of the world’s forests and sharks. Non-renewable resources like metals and fossil fuels are just that: non-renewable. Therefore, Earth’s supply is being diminished everyday as mines and drilling rigs continue to operate.


When you consider these two trends together, you get a situation that looks a lot like a funnel!


As we continue with business as usual, the planet is entering further into the funnel, increasing the likelihood of a major catastrophe that could cripple the global economy, tear apart social fabric, and do permanent damage to life-producing ecosystems. We can debate the timing of such a crash, but it will happen sooner or later if we do not change course. Moreover, it will cost much less to prevent the problems now, rather than trying to fix them later.

Achieving Sustainability is about leveling out these two major trends, so that our social and economic systems can continue to operate indefinitely. It is about minimizing personal eco-footprints and consumption rates to levels within the productive means of the planet. And at the same time, it is about investing in new business models and processes that generate economic growth without depleting Nature’s capacity. It is about creating the conditions for endless economic growth, by pursuing quality of life and not quantity of material belongings.

I don’t imagine that an economic shift of this scope will come quickly or easily, but momentum is growing and a tipping point is near!