Lecture 4 Sustainability and Responsibilities to the Future (Ch4) Flashcards
“Sustainability” began by?
a formal way with a UN Commission in the 1980s, chaired by Brundtland
What is the goal of sustainability?
to improve economic prosperity without unduly taxing the environment and jeopardizing future generations
what are Brundtland’s three pillars of sustainability?
- economic
- environmental
- ethical
what kinds of questions are raised for “sustainability”?
Is it fair to developing nations that they cannot use the same tools we used to achieve prosperity?
Do we know what the future holds? If our actions pare placing future generations at risk?
What challenges sustainability?
population growth consumptive lifestyle
Our impacts as human beings is a function of which equation?
I = P x A x T
impact = population x affluence x technology
Disappearing Beneficiaries
Make a decision to change something to benefit future generations, but it will not exist because they will be a different generation with different needs;
You eliminate/harm a group of people to benefit another group of people.
The fact that a beneficiary might disappear doesn’t mean that the suffering will, because it will go to someone.
We do not know what people in the future will need, so why sacrifice present needs for future needs we are not sure about?
We probably have a good idea; we are legally able to hold responsible for foreseeable (even if unintended) consequences of action
Responsibilities to future generations
We have no obligation to them because they do not exist. It is better of than they would have been, assuming that they would exist at all if we chose the alternative.
Major policy changes likely result in different people being born. Without our policies, we are choosing between 2 different groups of future people.
According to Bentham, do present people’s concerns override those of the future?
Yes
Uncertain and remote VS certain and immediate
Ex: your own children (immediate/certain) is more important than our great grandchildren (remote/uncertain)
In economic analysis, present people’s concerns override those of the future (investment/discounting), but why does discounting become a slipper slope?
Ultimately you will end up at zero, we do NOT want to say that future generations do not matter
can it be applied to health, life?
What does Williams argue for?
maximum sustainable yield: using as much as possible NOW, without compromising for the future
The responsibilities we have to future generations: are we aiming at total overall happiness, or average happiness, or total avoidance of suffering?
Overall happiness: mean lots of moderately happy folks
Average happiness: a small number of very happy people
Total avoidance: logical extreme may dictate NO people at all
What if we propose to leave the future no worse off than if depletion hadn’t happened? (by technology, etc)
We are not obligated to leave particular resources, but to leave opportunity. This translates into: develop new energy sources conserve resources limit population growth work to eliminate poverty
What are some proposals to sustainable economics?
How are resources allocated for production?
How are goods distributed?
At what rate do resources flow through economy (need to close the loop)?
