CSR sustainability Motto It is easy to dodge
CSR & sustainability Motto: “It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibility’ (Josiah Charles Stamp) Corporate & research agendas – different, even divergent CSR & sustainability – reduced budgets bec. Not considered core business (perceived as cost, rather than investment) To be assessed: CSR impact on business (added value, ROI) 1
Social economy & social performance Emotional impact of CSR serves trust capital, equity brand developed affinity with target audiences Social performance of sustainable brands that streamline reputation as “the new business DNA” or “age of responsibility” (Visser, 2011)’ 2
KPIs of social performance Ensured endorsement of quality & safety regulations throughout entire supply chain Minimised interventions carrying a negative ecologic footprint Supporting initiatives for improving community-based quality of life & livelihood Compliance with integrity, honesty, transparency standards Promoting equal treatment 3
CPI as means to gain customer loyalty Internal & external customers (Stakeholders) – more demanding & more likely to resonate to more subtle persuasion means such as CSR & sustainability programs than to classical marketing techniques (Klintman, 2013) Innovative, ingenious way for companies to develop customer retention: loyal consumers convert to sponsors of charity or environmental protection – They are doing much more than merely buying products or services – legitimised consumption, nothing to feel guilty about 4
CSR positioning At the crossroad between economic sociology, marketing, corporate communications, advertising, PR & HRM How visible, attractive & credible are commercial brands? CSR reports as means of understanding the social world inside the organisation, its identification with corporate citizenship, mission, vision, values, strategies of brand differentiation & positioning How much is a good name worth, in the corporate world? How much money does it bring? 5
Romanian CSR & sustainability landscape Heterogeneous, eclectic Implementation of ecological standards – at incipient level Program selection – usually decided from headquarters level CSR actions imply participation of various partners to formal and informal associative structures Participation is a determining factor for CSR, as well as employer branding (free will, free choice, still mostly non-imposed 6
CSR consultation Proportion of group members that take part in consultation and resolution stages = indicator of the democratic group leadership & civic engagement (Adler & Goggin, 2005) Ostrom (1990): collective action = to manage to get a critical mass of members involved in the common good, despite their tendency to refrain from participation and exclusively see to their private interests 7
Dilemma of collective action People tend to benefit from / exploit public property and resources, colonise them for their own good Oblivious to the fact that they do not own them and should compensate the depletion they produce Otherwise, future generations will suffer – their inheritance will be caused by predecessors’ greed and ignorance 8
CSR and tragedy of the commons (Hardin) CSR seeks to prevent / counter-act the situation in which a number of social actors, each one in rational pursuit of his / her own interest, end up involuntarily depleting or destroying a limited shared resource 9
Tragedy of the commons Factors that attenuate the tendency to dodge off responsibility: Perceived effectiveness of one’s contribution Group heterogeneity Strength of social networks Cultural norms that stimulate participation 10
Why corporations focus on well -being & responsibility? Customers become more knowledgeable and selective Free market transparency: abundant information available Competitiveness: multiple competitive offers to choose from, most often standardized bec. of accelerated transfer (ideas on enhanced service & products travel fast) 11
Impact of CSR – risk mngm, equity inducer CSR - intensely researched as pro-social behaviour and altruism, as well as marketing tool for promoting the brand image of a good corporate citizen (Williams & Aguilera, 2008) Sustainable brands are expected to form the new wave of high affinity and equity inducers CSR role in avoidance of incidents that are potentially devastating for corporate reputations or image crises such as corruption scandals or environmental hazards and pollution 12
CSR growing popularity Longitudinal study on Google: 24. 200. 000 results in November 2015, 18. 600. 000 results in November 2011, compared to only 3. 850. 000 results three years ago (in October 2008) with search word: CSR When compassion meets profit: CSR is good for corporate reputation, but also for profitability figures CSR becoming more of a necessity than a fashion, more of a rule than an exception 13
CSR reporting standards Many companies introduce compliance programs and deliver trainings to their staff on ethics, professional conduct standards including integrity, honesty, ownership and fair play Internationally acknowledged standards: ISO 14000 – environment management audit systems, ISO SA 26000 – CSR guide 8000 – decent work conditions standard 14
Transparency in CSR policies components Code of ethical conduct – creation & promotion by internal & external communication CSR and sustainability reports, based on rigorous in-house and independent (externalised) auditing procedures Evaluating the impact of CSR programs on the targeted beneficiaries 15
Responsibilities of CSR role Evans & Davis (2011) – 4 sets of attributes: Discretionary attributes: to invest volunteering time or other resources for civic projects Legal attributes: zero tolerance to discrimination, equality of treatment, compliance with national laws and organizational regulations, reporting all fraudulent and illegal actions to appropriate authorities Economic attributes: coming up with cost reduction & revenue maximization solutions - financial and sustainability objectives Ethical attributes: refraining from deceptive or manipulative practices, publicly disclosing any conflicts-of-interest 16
CSR theoretical models Citizen-Consumers and Evolution: Reducing Environmental Harm through Our Social Motivation Mikael Klintman (2013). Palgrave Macmillan: London Social identity theory - interplay between solidarity and competition, as a factor important to regulating behaviour (Stets & Burke, 2000) 17
Environmental behavior theories Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior(Ajzen & Fishbein): the “subjective norm” - what people think that others will think about a certain action that they perform Motivation-Opportunity-Ability Model (Ölander & Thøgersen, 1995) - significance of (socially based) opportunity for practices such as (infra)structural opportunities 18
Responsibility, Liability, Guilt: Responsibility for a crime or for doing something bad or wrong A bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong The fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty feelings of culpability & self-reproach especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy (Oxford Dictionary) 19
Responsibility, Liability, Guilt Responsibility: The state of being the person who caused something to happen A duty or task that you are required or expected to do Something that you should do because it is morally right, legally required, etc. Personal quality of being committed, reliable, trustworthy (Merriam Webster Dictionary) 20
Responsibility, Liability, Guilt Liability: The state of being legally responsible for something : the state of being liable for something Something (such as the payment of money) for which a person or business is legally responsible (pecuniary obligation, debt) One that acts as a disadvantage: drawback, shortcoming 21
Responsibility, Liability, Accountability: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions <public officials lacking accountability> Esp. negative – lack of. . . lack of accountability has corroded public respect for business and political leaders Required or expected to justify actions or decisions; responsible: Parents cannot be held accountable for their children’s actions 22
Free choice vs. external imposing where do we draw the line? Is the state legitimised to protect us against ourselves? Is it useful? Ec: Car speed to be limited by default (factory settings) to 150 km/h? Pros & cons Under-regulation, de-regulation & overregulation – hidden traps 23
World’s Most Ethical Companies FTSE 4 Good Ethical Index Measured dimensions: Corporate governance, innovation power, management style, quality assurance, query processing systems, reputation management and corporate citizenship Consultation mechanisms in CSR: At Henkel – Ways to support projects voted by team members as most worthy: financial & material donations (mostly own products & services), paid days off to attend to projects, technical consultancy. Alumni network (ex-employees, including retirees) – call for action to get involved in volunteering 24
Sustainability & Wellbeing Bandarage, A. (2013). Sustainability and Wellbeing: the Middle Path to Environment, Society and Economy. New York: Palgrave. Macmillan We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. 25
Sustainable global society To move forward, we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. Sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights (coupled with shared responsibilities), economic justice, and a culture of peace Preamble, THE EARTH CHARTER (2000) 26
UN Outlook Sustainability stands inseparable from human well-being United Nations working definition of sustainability: sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ” 27
Unsustainable market approach Source: Bandarage (2013, p. 7)) 28
Conventional approach to SD (sustainable development) 29
Ecological approach to SD (sustainable development) 30
Biggest threats to environmental health Climate change, stratospheric ozone, land use change, freshwater use, Biological diversity (unprecedented extinction rate for plants and animals: biodiversity extinction rate of more than 100 extinctions per million species), Ocean acidification, nitrogen, and phosphorus inputs to the biosphere and oceans, aerosol loading, and chemical pollution 31
Worrisome projections Heat-trapping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to increase 50 percent by 2050 due primarily to a 70 percent growth in energy-related CO 2 emissions. According to the OECD Environmental Outlook, the “global energy mix” in 2050 will not be significantly different from today: 85 percent from fossil energy (coal, oil, and natural gas); just over 10 percent from renewable energy, including biofuels; and 5 percent from nuclear energy 32
Worrisome projections (2) Average global temperature is predicted to rise by 3– 6°C by the end of the century, exceeding the internationally agreed goal of limiting it to 2°C above preindustrial levels. Conclusion of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) & NASA research: owing to global warming, we are likely to see more extreme events: severe drought, torrential rain, and violent storms earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions in the coming years 33
Population relocation due to climate and geologic change Threatened island nations, such as the Maldives (Indian Ocean) and Inoui indigenous (Alaska) Necessary strategy for resettlement of climate refugees Estimated number of refugees could rise as high as 1 billion people by 2050 (United Nations International Organization for Migration) Bangladesh, referred to as the “ground zero of climate change, ” is already experiencing severe flooding, destruction of agricultural land, and massive displacement of people 34
Other concerns World’s poor without access to resources will continue to suffer the most from climate impacts While the tropical rainforests now cover just 2 percent of the Earth’s land surface, they are home to two-thirds of all the living species on the planet. Human activities—principally agriculture, logging, extraction of resources, construction, and tourism— have greatly aggravated nature’s normal extinction rate of rainforests According to the Rainforest Action Network, if the current alarming rate of destruction continues, “half our remaining rainforests will be gone by the year 2025, and by 2060 there will be no rainforests remaining”. 35
Threats to bio-diversity International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Red List of Threatened Species, 19, 817 out of 63, 837 plant and animal species assessed were threatened with extinction: 41% of amphibians 33% of reef building corals 25% of mammals 13% of birds 30% of conifers About one-third of global freshwater biodiversity has already been extinguished 36
Tipping Point “unprecedented loss of species comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory Most sensitive ecosystems — most damaged ones: the Amazon rainforest, freshwater lakes, rivers, and coral reefs—we’re approaching a tipping point, after which they may never recover There is virtual unanimity among scientists that we have entered a period of mass extinction not seen since the age of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, only that this extinction is taking place at a much faster rate 37
Livelihood, crisis & pollution Unsustainable nitrogen outputs exacerbate ecological and social problems such as: Global warming Endangered Food biodiversity and water security Health The increasing volatility and collapse of financial markets in recent years have aggravated fear and uncertainty about livelihood across regions and wider groups of people. Major detrimental influence on resource depletion (contrary to assumptions that economic slowdown decreases pollution risks 38
Time, immediacy and urgency e. g. harmful influence: use of agrochemicals and biotechnology led by agribusiness corporations Contamination of water and soil Too late to act? It’s all a question of time – time commodification: wasted, spent, invested Some economists and social analysts have predicted that the vast majority of the 8 billion or so people expected to inhabit the earth in the first quarter of this century will be neither producers nor consumers. 39
Global population stabilisation "It is now clear that we face a deepening global climate crisis that requires us to act boldly, quickly, and wisely” (Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth) Current downward global trends in fertility is expected to converge to below-replacement levels by 2100 and a faster global population stabilization than earlier is expected. Even with population stablization, large proportions of the world’s people, both young and the old, are likely to be surplus populations – redundant for world economy 40
On social disparities & despair Loss of means of survival by increasing numbers of people including the well educated reflects a structural, macro-level problem. Jobless economy (Jeremy Rifkin) According to a 2008 United Nations University study, 85 percent of all global assets belonged to the richest 10 percent of the global population 41
On social disparities & despair Credit Suisse Research Institute in October 2010, the richest 0. 5 percent of the global adult population held 35. 6 percent of the world’s wealth 2011 United Nations estimates, 1. 44 billion people still live on less than US$1. 25 a day with close to one-third of the world’s population experiencing “multidimensional poverty”: Closed horizon of opportunities – limited access to health, social services, education, basic amenities & living standard – income - livelihood means 42
Global market consolidation Privatization and market-de-regulation that should support free competition ultimately leads to global market consolidation – extension of Big Four market model – corporate neo-oligarchy E. g. : In the food sector, today, four companies— ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus—account for 75 to 90 percent of the global grain trade; Four other firms—Monsanto Dupont, Syngenta, and Limagrain—account for over 50 percent of global seed sales; Six corporations—Du. Pont, Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow, Bayer, and BASF—control 75 percent of the agrochemicals market 43
Corporate neo-oligarchy Also valid for pharma, car production, retail, oil&gas industries. This dependency on major suppliers enhances permanent food crisis, inequalities and social unrest – protest, terrorism, migratory flows – refugees 44
Militarism & environment destruction Energy consumption by the US Department of Defense (DOD) for 2009 was 932 trillion Btu, (British thermal unit- standard measurement stating amount of energy in fuel) Equivalent to the energy consumed by Nigeria’s population of more than 140 million Militarism - “exterminist mode of production. ” (E. P. Thompson) 45
Militarism Economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard public finance expert Linda Bilmes reveal that the war in Iraq cost the US “$720 million per day, $500, 000 per minute—enough to provide homes for nearly 6500 families, or health care for 423, 529 children in just one day Contrary to nuclear dis-arming protocols, some 31, 000 nuclear warheads deployed or in reserve in the stockpiles of just eight countries: Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Israel, and Pakistan. 46
Domination paradigm Paradigm - “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality” Paradigms guide social action – ascending throughout global modern history Based on dualistic thinking: „us against them”, win-lose. Competition as the only form of inter-dependency 47
Minimalist self-sufficiency & humankind history Evolutionary biologists and cultural anthropologists agree that humanity has spent much of its history, perhaps as much as 80 percent of its 40 000 years history as Homo sapiens, as foragers – hunters-gatherers No surplus accumulation Settled agricultural societies—the Neolithic Revolution—some 10, 000 years ago 48
Surplus accumulation With the advancement of technology (for example, irrigation infrastructure) and social surplus, larger populations could be maintained. Social hierarchies emerged as social life became more complex Leading to racial, class and gender inequality 49
Great transformation & neo-marxism The Great Transformation, Karl Polyani warned of excessive commoditization which relegates human society to being “an accessory of the economic system” British environmentalist Jonathon Porritt “Capitalism as if the World Matters”, there is an “extraordinary mismatch between the power of multinationals and their contributions to global employment. ” 50
Jobless Growth In 2005, the world’s 200 largest corporations accounted for 28 % of global economic activity but employed less than 0. 25% of the global workforce – illustration of jobless growth Pressure for academic grades and the competition for dwindling jobs intensifies Independent critical thinking is replaced by a narrow view of intelligence and creativity valued only for what will bring success in the market Short-sighted view that leaves most of human potential unfulfilled 51
Consumerism Growing recognition that excessive consumerism does not necessarily empower people or make them any happier – „Why be happy when you could be normal? ” (Jeanette Winterson) Loneliness in conformity Increased fragmentation and atomisation Overload of infomercials and Internet “posts and links and apps and texts. ” – selectivity put to the test: „We can’t keep up anymore” 52
Pressed for success Overstimulation & instant gratification lead to growing ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactive disorder) incidence? Or is it more accessible to diagnose & more intensely studied? The Brave New World (1931): Aldous Huxley warned how unknowingly people can come to love their oppression and adore the very technology and consumerism that undo their capacities to think Parallel with Stockholm syndrome – victim’s irrepressible emotional attachment & alliance with his / her oppressor 53
Custom-made nature, Custom-made babies What is a designable nature? Do we want a new nature? What kind of new nature do we want? What is a designable human? What is a new human? What kind of new human do we want? 54
Genetic modification Approaching the point where “designer babies” could be produced through cloning and manipulation of genes Parents’ desires as to their offspring’s height, weight, color, athletic prowess, and even mental capacities can be soon met Labeling of GM food is already a highly contentious issue between consumers and agribusiness 55
Genetic modification (2) Genetic modification is poised to become the norm as more and more bioengineered transgenic fruits, vegetables, trees, and animals are released into the environment Questions about biodiversity, environmental sustainability, human health, and ethics According to a video from Fidelity Investments promoting synthetic biology In 50 years there could be more lab-created forms of plant and animal life on the planet than those identified in nature 56
Eugenics Social Darwinist theory Belief in the betterment of the human genetic stock through selective breeding – neo-Arian, “superman” conception Heritable inequality between those who can buy genetic modification and pass on traits to their offspring and others who cannot – playing God? Legitimacy 57
Genetic modification (2) Genetic modification is poised to become the norm as more and more bioengineered transgenic fruits, vegetables, trees, and animals are released into the environment Questions about biodiversity, environmental sustainability, human health, and ethics According to a video from Fidelity Investments promoting synthetic biology In 50 years there could be more lab-created forms of plant and animal life on the planet than those identified in nature 58
Is science immoral? Science without moral character Demise of human nature: “techno-scientific curiosity unbounded by care for social consequence” “Divided Planet: The Ecology of Rich and Poor” (Anthanasiou) “Artificial intelligences are not merely tools. They are potentially independent agents” (Nick Bostrom) Technology as substitute for natural bonding: “The only way to keep pace will be for … [human] species to merge with its technology…” 59
Spiritual machines? “There is too little nature left to return to, and there are too many human beings. For better or worse, we’re stuck with technology” (Ray Kurzeweil – The Age of Spiritual Machines) “Machines derived from human thinking and surpassing humans in their capacity for experience, will claim to be conscious, and thus to be spiritual” Ecologist approaches (esp. radical ones) – criticized as being leftist, neo-communist – even eco-terrorist groups that engage in violent acts 60
Malthusian approach Thomas Malthus & his advocates identify overpopulation as the root cause of environmental destruction have called for restricting the numbers of the poor as a strategy to safeguard natural resources. Earth First! radical environmental group in US claims “Famines in Africa and the AIDS epidemic are nature’s mechanisms for dealing with the population explosion” 61
Eco-fascism “Ecology” – concept launched by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel: scientific study of the interaction between organisms and the environment. Haeckel - Pro-fascist Eco-fascism: the extensive environmental legislation implemented by the Nazi regime for reforestation, the protection of animals and plant species, and the blocking of industrial development 62
Eco-fascism(2) Staudenmaier: “Hitler and Himmler were both strict vegetarians and animal lovers, attracted to nature, mysticism and homeopathic cures, and staunchly opposed to vivisection and cruelty to animals. Himmler even established experimental organic farms to grow herbs for SS medicinal purposes”. And Hitler, at times, could sound like a veritable Green utopian, discussing authoritatively and in detail various renewable energy sources: water, wind, sun and tides” 63
Eco-extremism “Marriage of ecology and authoritarian social views” allowed eco-fascism in power to develop genocide “into a necessity” under the mantle of environmental preservation The concept of blood and soil (Blut und Boden) and living space (Lebensraum) was used as moral justification for colonization of Eastern Europe, mass murder of ethnic others, especially the Jews- stigmatised as a “rootless, wandering people, incapable of any true relationship with the land. ” 64
Successors of eco-fascism Successors – Green German Party - spiritualism along New Age lines. ”In his last years, he advocated for a “selectively repressive” “ecodictatorship” under a “Green Adolf ” Aim: to facilitate withdrawal from the apocalyptic “Megamachine” of industrial culture – rage against the establishment Linked racial preservation and immigration control (also by territorial Apartheid – neoghettoes) with environmental preservation 65
“Occupy Wall Street” Occupy Wall Street protests that began in September 2011 in New York City - characterized more by reaction and opposition to the status quo than a vision of an alternative. “We are the 99 percent” Lobby means: Online campaigns, Grassroots Mass organizing, public actions Protests in nearly 200 countries to bring pressure to “put a price on carbon and take effective action to put a cap on its production”. Basic principle: the polluter pays 66
Cost effectiveness and Exporting pollution 1991 World Bank report called for export of polluting industries to the Third World on the grounds of cost effectiveness, “Demand for a clean environment for aesthetic and health reasons is likely to have very high income elasticity” “A given amount of health-impairing pollution should be done in the country with the lowest cost, which will be the country with the lowest wages” 67
Indexes United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), which measures life expectancy, literacy, and per capita income Happy Planet Index, developed by the New Economics Foundation, measures sustainable well -being by incorporating global data on experienced or subjective well-being in addition to: Life expectancy Ecological footprint - accounting for resource consumption AND cost of human development to future generations. 68
Milennium Development Goals UN Milennium Development Summit in 2000 set eight Milennium Development Goals (MDGs to be reached by 2015: Poverty alleviation Universal Gender Child primary education equality, mortality reduction Maternal Combat health, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, Environmental sustainability, and partnership for development (poor countries leg behind) 69
Renewable Revolution Rise of renewable revolution – Third Wave, postcarbon revolution Current population growth is due largely to population momentum resulting from the high proportion of people in the child bearing age rather than high fertility rates Global fertility rate has come down significantly: it is now 2. 5 children per woman, and the United Nations expects it to drop to 1. 85 Rich, powerful Global North – most deeply fueladdicted – did not sign carbon emission reduction by Kyoto protocol - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 70
War & pollution The United Nations Conference on Disarmament has been deadlocked for 15 years in its attempts to reduce proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), first introduced in 1954 to ban atomic explosions (on the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, underwater and underground), is yet to come into force. Among nuclear technology holder countries, India, North Korea, and Pakistan have yet to sign the treaty and China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United States have yet to ratify it. 71
CSR agenda – deviation & distortion Failure to mainstream CSR agendas: attributed to the polarization of the environmental movement between corporate and radical interests Trade in carbon credits allows the world’s worst polluting countries and companies to continue polluting „Green Inc. ”, journalist Christine Mac. Donald asserts that almost all major green organizations in the United States accept funding from companies known to cause environmental destruction. 72
Dubious funding Groups that once dedicated themselves solely to saving pandas, and parklands today compete for the favors of: Mining operations that remove entire mountaintops Logging and paper companies that clear-cut old— growth forests Homebuilders who contribute to urban sprawl. Among the most generous donors are the biggest environmental scofflaws of all: energy companies. 73
CSR criticism Greenwash – softcore money laundry But polluters argue: „You don’t want our dirty money? If not us, who else? We can’t help being profitable. You should be grateful if we share this margin with you”. Means of silencing media & public opinion & civil society 74
Corporate greed MNEs often present misleading or inflated environmental credentials Corporate greed prevails even when science is clearly showing that we are dangerously close to the climate’s point of no return in global warming and that the future of humanity itself is at stake. Metaphor in rock climbing – no-return point 75
Limitation of radical ecological thinking & eco-feminism Tendency to romanticize precapitalist societies Mystical return to nature – eco-feminist and deep ecology approaches, oblivious to lack of progress and personal freedom and mobility. Belonging to subsistence communities – by necessity, rarely by choice While pushing women to bear the greater responsibility for change, eco-feminism too advances an essentialism that equates the female with nature and the male with culture, which constrains the potential of both sexes 76
Middle Path What we need is not an attitude of antidevelopment or antiglobalization and autarkic, dark age anti-consumerism Instead: an environmental justice movement dedicated to: Creating renewable and energy-efficient technologies More just and ethical relations of production and consumption Middle Path - way forward that avoids the extremes of both corporate unbridled growth and radical no-growth 77
Middle Path - illustrations Ethics of global consciousness, moderation, tolerance, nonviolence, and compassion, as the answer to the current crisis by: Use of appropriate technology Rational allocation of resources Balanced and equitable consumption Built-in acceptance of impermanence and mortality 78
Middle Path – illustrations (2) Example of balanced alternative – middle path: integrated pest management, which uses chemical pesticides when necessary in conjunction with organic agricultural methods In medicine, homeopathy & preventative holistic practices such as Indian ayurveda and Chinese acupuncture are being combined with Western interventionist approaches. 79
Bioregionalism & de-centralisation It is not possible to return to the stagnation that characterized precapitalist societies or abandon economic growth and technological innovation altogether Community-level economic systems are vital for the survival of local ecosystems, cultures, ethnic groups, communities, and livelihoods. Demand for bioregionalism and decentralization (Hazel Handerson) – alternative to monopolistic capitalism 80
Under- and over-consumption It is more important than ever to learn to distinguish between human needs and wants, Between what is sufficient for human and planetary well-being and what constitutes craving and domination over nature Underconsumption / underdevelopment (poverty and deprivation), but also excessive material consumption tends to decrease overall human well-being and leads to: Natural resource depletion, Human alienation from nature, Spiritual emptiness 81
Equilibrium Curve Equilibrium Curve: after a certain point, natural resource use and consumption bring diminishing returns, both socially and personally Resource limitation: increased consumption among the poor can only be achieved by reducing overconsumption by the wealthy Win-lose, null sum game 82
Graphics- Equilibrium Curve Source: Sustainability and Wellbeing – Bandarage (2015, p. 94) 83
Consumer typology (environmentalist Alan Durning & economist David Korten): Over consumers Under consumers Sustainers Pareto ratio applied to environmentalism: about 80 percent of the world’s environmental damage is attributed to the wealthiest 20 percent of the world’s population Moderation attitude - renewable sources of energy, organic agriculture, community gardening and marketing, cohousing, biking, public transportation, and recycling. 84
Consumer typology - Profiles Over consumers’ profile: they live mostly in the industrialized North and whose “lives are organized around [individually owned] cars, meatbased diets, use of packaged and disposable products Under-consumers’ profile/ truly disadvantaged 20% of global population: travelling mostly by foot, eating nutritionally inadequate diets, drinking contaminated water, using local biomass, and producing negligible waste Sustainers’ profile: travel mostly by bicycle and public transportation, eat healthy diets of grains, vegetables and some meat, use unpackaged goods, and recycle wastes 85
Reduced meat consumption Woods Hole Research Center (2012 study) estimates that the average person in the developed world would “need to cut meat consumption in half by the year 2050” to meet the emissions reduction targets set by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Reduced meat consumption – attractive solution for reducing carbon emissions As well as deforestation, soil erosion, water consumption, pesticide and fertilizer runoff, ground water depletion Most accessible, in terms of immediacy of action & feasability (even if it incurs major dietary & lifestyle change) 86
Turn-around recovery Bull-fighting, cock-fighting & other violent entertainment – banned. Sustainability and well-being cannot be postponed to the distant future. They must be upheld in how we think and live in the here and now: “We are the ones we have been waiting for”. We – our generation - are probably Mother Earth’s last hope for turn-around recovery 87
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