11/18/2018 5 reasons why the economy is failing the environment, and humanity | World Economic Forum

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5 reasons why the economy is

failing the environment, and
humanity

Image: REUTERS/Stringer

10 Jan 2017

Johan Rockström
Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

This article is part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

The world has entered the Anthropocene. We are today a "big world on a
small planet" where the economy exerts phenomenal pressure on Earth.
There is no free natural capital left. All remaining biodiversity, freshwater,

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atmosphere, coral reefs, oceans, forests and ice sheets play a direct role in
regulating the stability of Earth and thereby the economy.

The trouble is, our economic system was developed, from Adam Smith to
Keynes, when we were still a "small world on a big planet". When there were
no frontiers and the idea of the global economy affecting the planet was seen
as ridiculous. We could emit greenhouse gases for free, empty oceans for
free, pollute polar regions for free, without risking invoices being sent back
from Earth.

This is no longer the case. In the 1980s the first invoices started coming back
– the ozone hole, collapse of fisheries, tipping points in freshwater lakes,
accelerated ice melt, shifts in heatwaves and storm patterns. And, as
geopolitical fuel, the polluters are seldom the victims.

Here are five ways the economy is failing people and the planet.

The tragedy of the commons

Despite recognition by many economists, the economy remains frustratingly
locked in the tragedy of the commons. Economic growth comes with
unaccounted environmental costs and with it, rising risks of catastrophe. The
economy remains unable to internalize real Earth costs.

Today, the number one economic threat to humanity is our inability to value
nature.

This is not only about monetization. Sure, valuing natural capital and
ecosystem services is critical. A global price on carbon is necessary. But it is
- as science and myriad attempts have shown, not easy and not always
possible (particularly to get the right price). So, valuing nature also means that
we have to accept leaving the realm of economics. We enter the realm of
ethics, inclusiveness and justice.

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution can only succeed on a stable and resilient
planet. We need to set planetary boundaries for world economic
development. This requires political leadership. The markets cannot do it
alone.

From linear thinking to non-linear reality - why

discount rates do not work
Science clearly shows that human pressures on the environment follow a
resilience path. When environmental resilience is high, change is slow, linear
and incremental. Economies can exploit the environment with seemingly no
or limited impacts. This is possible when we have abundant biodiversity,
redundant atmosphere and glacial capacity to absorb greenhouse gases and
pollution. When resilience has been drained following long periods of linear
change, the environment can abruptly shift. Tipping points are crossed,
triggering large system shifts, often irreversible, potentially catastrophic.

When costs for society go from predictable to non-predictable, from

manageable to potentially infinitely dangerous, then we can no longer use
market based discount rates to assess where it is most cost-effective to

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place our investments. In essence this means that in a non-linear world -

where Earth sends invoices - the conventional economic theory falls apart.

Linear economic models do not work on a finite

planet
Our economic system builds on linear principles focused on throughput,
optimization and cost-benefit efficiency. We exploit, create value, and then
waste.

There is no such thing as a Fourth Industrial Revolution with 9 billion thriving

co-citizens in the world, if it is accomplished on linear economic principles.
We need a transition to circular economic principles and practice.

The current economic model benefits the few at

the expense of the many
There is an old belief that solving environmental problems can only be
achieved by first building enough economic wealth, so we can "afford to save
the environment". This "Kuznets Curve" thinking has never been correct and
must be abandoned once and for all if we are serious about economic
development for a thriving humanity on Earth.

The cynical truth is that it is only "thanks" to poverty that we do not have very
dangerous climate change already. People in low income nations are
responsible for far less emissions every year.

Moreover, economic growth - as shown by Piketty and others, does not

trickle down to the poor. An inequity aggravated by the fact that the
economic wealth in the world so far is accomplished through unsustainable
subsidies from the planet, while the cost for these subsidies are largely taken
up by others, in general to poorest communities.

Cost-benefit analyses no longer work for natural

capital
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And much less so for the stability and resilience of planet Earth. We are
unable in our current economic system to incorporate long-term risk and
value. We may, already when transgressing 2C, trigger the irreversible melting
of the Greenland ice sheet. Not over decades but over centuries. This would
subject future generations to a rise in sea level of 7-metres. Clearly, an
unacceptable future. Still, the economy is unable to place any value
whatsoever to long-term infinite and existential global risk.

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Image: Reuters

Under stable and incremental conditions, a free market economy spurs

entrepreneurship, ensures efficiency and generates wealth. Those conditions
no longer apply.

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Global risks are too high, and the benefits of transitioning to global
sustainable development are not recognised. We are failing to create the right
incentives on the market. Unsustainable behaviour still gives the highest
returns.

Global sustainability is now the only avenue to future inclusive progress that
can deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate
agreement. To succeed, we need to set planetary boundaries to create a safe
operating space on Earth for the world economy – that is, confining the
Fourth Industrial Revolution within social and environmental boundaries. This
is not a way of grinding the revolution to a halt. It is instead a way of spurring
deeper innovation and step-changes to a healthy, thriving global economy.

Written by

Johan Rockström, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World
Economic Forum.

Explore context

Environment and Natural Resource Security

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