Sustainable development at the turn of the century: perceptions and outlook

International Journal of Sustainable Development

Volumn 1, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 73-98

  Leisinger, Klaus M ^a  

^a NOVARTIS PHARMA AG   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

conditionality; empirical performance; good governance; subsidiarity; sustainable development concept and policy; sustainable modernization ideals; technological progress; voluntary simplicity

Indexed keywords

EID: 58849101684     PISSN: 09601406     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1504/IJSD.1998.004201     Document Type: Article

References (102)

1. Ward, B and Dubos, R. (1972) Only One Earth-the Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet, Deutsch, London.
2. The World Commission on Environment and Development (1937) Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, p.8.
3. Malthus, T.R. (1798) An Essay on The Principle of Population As It Affects The Future Improvement of Society, London.
4. Liebig, J.v. (1862) Die Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie, Braunschweig, 7, ed.
5. In his 1917 analysis of the social costs of entrepreneurial activities, Veblen, Th., The Technicians and the Revolution. Reprinted in Veblen, TH. (1948) The Portable Veblen, Viking Press, New York.
6. Pigou made a difference between the ‘private net product’ and the ‘social net produce’ and listed examples of environmental and social damage resulting from private action; Pigou, A.C. (1932) The Economics of Welfare, Macmillan, London, p.134.
7. Kapp, K.W. The Social Cost of Private Enterprise, Reprinted as Schocken Paperback ed. New York, 1971. The book deals with air pollution, water pollution, loss of biological diversity, premature depletion of energy and other non-renewable resources, erosion, and deforestation, as well as unsustainable social developments like widening income disparities, etc. Kapp concludes, that amongst other measures, legislation has to be changed in a way that the ‘true costs of production’ become obvious, in other words, that an internalization of environmental costs becomes feasible.
8. Meadows, D. et al. (1972) The Limits to Growth, Universe Books, New York.
9. The Global 2000 Report to the President Entering the Twenty-First Century. A Report prepared by the Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of State, Blue Angel Inc., Charlottesville 1981.
10. The World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford University Press.
11. See e.g.Serageldin, I. and Seers A. (Editors) Making Development Sustainable: From Concepts to Action. Environmentally Sustainable Development Occasional Paper No. 2, World Bank Washington DC, 1994; Serageldin, I. Sustainability and the Wealth of Nations, Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No. 5, Washington DC 1996; Serageldin, I. (1996) Sustainability as Opportunity and the Problem of Social Capital, in The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. III, Issue 2, Summer/Fall, pp.187–203; Serageldin, I. and Grootaert, C. Defining Social Capital: An Integrating View (forthcoming).
12. Serageldin, I. (1996) Sustainability as Opportunity and the Problem of Social Capital, in The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. III, Issue 2, Summer/Fall, pp.188.
13. See World Bank (1997) Expanding the Measure of Wealth. Indicators of Environmentally Sustainable Development, Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No. 17, Washington DC.
14. Commission on Sustainable Development: Indicators of Sustainable Development. Indicators of Sustainable Development. (http://www.un.org/dpcsd/dsd/isd.htm).
15. Adelman, I. and Taft Morris, C. (1967) Society, Politics, & Economic Development A Quantitative Approach, The John Hopkins Press, Baltimore.
16. Hundreds of billion of dollars in subsidies harm the environment AND the economy, equity and trade: seede Moor, A.P.G. (1997) Perverse Incentives, Institute for Research on Public Expenditure/Earth Council, The Hague, San José.
17. For a detailed overview see World Bank (1997) Five Years after Rio. Innovations in Environmental Policy, Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No. 18, Washington, p.8.
18. Ehrlich, P.R. and Ehrlich, A.H. (1996) Betrayal of Science and Reason, Island Press, Washington DC and the literature quoted therein.
19. Simon, J.L. (1996) The Ultimate Resource 2, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
20. See Pinkerton, J.P. (1997) Enviromanticism. The Poetry of Nature as Political Force, in Foreign Affairs, May/June pp.2–7.
21. In a quick search in May 1998, the term ‘sustainable development’ came up on Alta Vista 25 351 702 times, whereas ‘sex’ was found only 7 317 510 times; the result on search.com was 5 659 384 times ‘sustainable development’ and 1 461 430 times ‘sex’!
22. For an introduction to constructivismWatzlawick, P. (1986) Wie wirklich ist die Wirklichkeit? Serie Piper, 17th ed., Munich, Idem (Ed.) Die erfundene Wirklichkeit. Wie wissen wir, was wir zu wissen glauben? Beiträge zum Konstruktivismus, Serie Piper, 7th ed., Munich 1991.
23. If no other reference is given, all statistical data are taken from UNDP (1997) Human Development Report 1997, Oxford University Press, New York.
24. WHO (1998) The World Health Report 1998. Life in the 21st century. A vision for all, Geneva.
25. Quote from the executive summary of United Nations Environment Programme (1997) Global Environment Outlook, Oxford University Press, New York, p.2.
26. United Nations Environment Programme (1987) Global Environment Outlook. Oxford University Press, New York, p.2.
27. See, in this context, World Bank (1997) World Development Report 1997. The State in a Changing World, Oxford University Press, New York.
28. Worldwatch Institute (1998) Vital Signs 1998, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, p.23.
29. If no other reference is given, all statistics are from UNDP (1997) Human Development Report 1997, Oxford University Press, New York.
30. WHO (1998) The World Health Report 1998. Life in the 21st century. A vision for all, Geneva p.v.
31. Statistical data from UNDP (1997) Human Development Report 1997, Oxford University Press, New York, and the World Bank World Development Report 1997.
32. Data from UNEP (1997) Global Environment Outlook, Oxford University Press, New York, p.10.
33. World Resources Institute/UNEP/UNDP/The World Bank (1998) World Resources 1998-99. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York, pp.139ff.
34. World Bank (1997) Advancing Sustainable Development. The World Bank and Agenda 21, Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No. 19, Washington, DC, p.3.
35. Ref. 34.
36. Ref. 28.
37. Ref. 28.
38. World Resources Institute/UNEP/UNDP/The World Bank (1998) World Resources 1998-99. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York.
39. Ref. 28
40. UNDP: Human Development Report 1997. Oxford University Press, New York 1997, p.24.
41. Ref. 38.
42. United Nations Environment Programme (1997) Global Environment Outlook, Oxford University Press, New York, p.3.
43. World Bank (1997) World Development Report 1997. The State in a Changing World, Oxford University Press, New York, p.4. See also Chhibber A. (1997) ‘The state in a changing world’, Finance & Development, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp.17–20.
44. For the political framework see e.g. Commission on Global Governance (1995) Our Global Neighbourhood, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
45. On the economic basics see e.g. World Bank (1996) World Development Report 1996. From Plan to Market, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
46. On the social essentials see e.g., UNDP (1995) Human Development Report (1994) Oxford University Press, Oxford.
47. On the ecological basics see e.gBuitenkamp, M. et al., Milieudefensie (Eds.): Sustainable Netherlands. Amsterdam 1993. Misereor, Bund: Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland. Ein Beitrag zu einer global nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1996. Biermann, F., Büttner, S., Helm, C. (Eds.): Zukunftsfähige Entwicklung, Herausforderungen an Wissenschaft und Politik. Festschrift für Udo E. Simonis. edition sigma, Berlin 1997. Umweltbundesamt: Nachhaltiges Deutschland. Wege zu einer dauerhaften umweltgerechten Entwicklung. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1997. von Weizsäcker E.U., Lovins A.B., Lovins L.H.: Faktor Vier: Doppelter Wohlstand-halbierter Naturverbrauch. Droemer Knaur, München 1995; See also the World Bank’s Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series.
48. Serageldin, I. (1995) Nurturing Development. Aid and Cooperation in Today’s Changing World, The World Bank, Washington DC, p.60.
49. Fukuyama, F. (1992) The End of History and the Last Man, New York.
50. World Bank (1997) World Development Report 1997. The State in a Changing World, Oxford University Press, New York.
51. World Bank (1992) Governance and Development, Washington DC, p.9f.
52. On this point see the particularly impressive 50 examples in the new Report to the Club of Rome: von Weizsäcker E.U., Lovins A.B., Lovins L.H.: Faktor Vier. Doppelter Wohlstandhalbierter Naturverbrauch. Der neue Bericht an den Club of Rome. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1995; for criticism of this study see Voss G.: Das Leitbild der nachhaltigen Entwicklung – Darstellung und Kritik. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag (Hrsg.): Beiträge zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik No.237 Köln 4/1997, pp.21ff.
53. Leisinger, K.M. and Schmitt, K. (1994) All Our People. Population Policy with a Human Face, Island Press, Washington DC.
54. See the results of the survey on development politics conducted by the market and opinion research institute Isopublic, dated 25 February 1994, Entwicklungspolitik, Report p.18. The only reservation: Resources from donations or tax revenues should actually benefit the needy depicted in requests for donations.
55. Leu, R., Burri, S. and Priester, T. (1997) Lebensqualität und Armut in der Schweiz, Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern.
56. Data from OTC, Comtext wire service, 25 December 1997.
57. Kaplan, R. (1996) The Ends of the Earth, Random House, New York.
58. A position that has also been put forward by the international business community: see Schmidheiny, St. (1992) Business Council for Sustainable Development: Changing Course. A Global Business Perspective on Development and Environment, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
59. Meadows, D. et al. (1972) The Limits to Growth, Universe Books, New York.
60. A concept that depends on the current prices and current technologies and hence changes with new scientific discoveries and technological progress as well as they recycling rate.
61. Simon, J.L. (1996) The Ultimate Resource 2, Princeton University Press;
62. Simon, J.L. (1995) The State of Humanity, Blackwell, Oxford.
63. Simon, J.L. (1996) The Ultimate Resource 2, Princeton University Press.
64. Simons deals also with the arguments that the concept of entropy and the associated second law of thermodynamics are against business as usual, see p.77ff.
65. von Weizsäcker, E.U., Lovins, A.B. and Lovins L.H. (1995) Faktor Vier. Doppelter Wohlstand-halbierter Naturverbrauch. Der neue Bericht an den Club of Rome. Droemer Knaur München 1995.
66. For example, on the discussion of the risks and benefits of continuing high population growth!
67. Lovins, A.B. (1976) ‘Energy strategy. The road not taken?’ Foreign Affairs. October.
68. Simon, J.L. (1995) The State of Humanity, Blackwell, Oxford.
69. See Ehrlich, P.R. and Ehrich, A.H. (1996) Betrayal of Science and Reason, Island Press, Washington, DC as well as many other publications.
70. See, amongst others, the yearly publications State of the World s and Vital Signs, both published by the Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC.
71. Bailey, R. (1993) Ecoscam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse, St Martins Press, New York.
72. Avery, D.T. (1995) Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic, Hudson Institute, Indianapolis, 2nd printing.
73. World Bank (1997) Expanding the Measure of Wealth: Indicators of Environmentally Sustainable Development, Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monographs Series No.17, Washington DC.
74. Serageldin, I. (1996) ‘Sustainability as opportunity and the problem of social capital’, in The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol.III, Issue 2, Summer/Fall 1996, pp.188ff.
75. Simon, J.L. (1996) The Ultimate Resource 2, Princeton University Press, p.153ff.
76. von Weizsäcker, E.U., Lovins, A.B. and Lovins, L.H. (1995) Faktor Vier: Doppelter Wohlstand-halbierter Naturverbrauch, Droemer Knaur München.
77. Friends of the Earth (1997) Ten Times Better: Fair shares in environmental space, Amsterdam.
78. Umweltbundesamt (Ed.): Nachhaltiges Deutschland. Wege zu einer dauerhaft umweltgerechten Entwicklung. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1977; Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen: Welt im Wandel, Wege zur Lösung globaler Umweltprobleme. Springer Verlag, Berlin 1996. Enquete-Kommission ‘Schutz der Erdatmosphäre" des Deutschen Bundestages: Mehr Zukunft für die Erde. Nachhaltige Energiepolitik für dauerhaften Klimaschutz. Economica Verlag., Bonn 1995 sowie Misereor, BUND (Hrsg.): Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland. Ein Beitrag zu einer global nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Birkhäuser Verlag (Wuppertal Institute für Klima, Umwelt und Energie), Basel 1996. Zur Kritik an dieser Studie siehe Linz M.: Spannungsbogen. ‘Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland in der Kritik. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 1998.
79. World Resources Institute (1994) World Resources 1994-95. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York.
80. Because some of the goods produced in industrialized countries are exported for use in developing countries. To the extent that production is relocated from industrialized countries to developing countries, the environmental load in the former countries is reduced. However, since it will arise ceteris paribus at the new location, the net global load is undiminished.
81. Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie (1996) Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland. Ein Beitrag zu einer global nachhaltigen Entwicklung, Commissioned by BUND and Misereor, Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel.
82. ‘Measures to protect the Earth’s atmosphere’: Mehr Zukunft für die Erde. For more information on climate change see also Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1995) Climate Change 1994, Cambridge University Press, New York.
83. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1995) Climate Change 1994, Cambridge University Press, New York, p.18.
84. Federal Commission of Inquiry on ‘Measures to protect the Earth’s atmosphere’ (Ed.): Mehr Zukunft für die Erde.
85. World Resources Institute (1996) World Resources 1996-97. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York, p.326.
86. World Resources Institute (1998) World Resources 1998-99. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York, p.344.
87. Population Reference Bureau (1997) World Population Data Sheet 1997, Washington DC.
88. Based on the data given for 1995; see World Resources Institute World Resources 1998-99, p.344f
89. A ratio of 10.2 tonnes per capita carbon emissions in Germany to 1.0 tonnes in India, multiplied by the population of Germany in 1998 (about 82 million).
90. A ratio of 20.5 tonnes per capita carbon emissions in the US to 2.7 tonnes in China, multiplied by the population of the US (268 million).
91. Pinkerton, J.P. (1997) ‘Environmanticism: the poetry of nature as political force’, in Foreign Affairs, May/June 1997, p.6f.
92. World Resource Institute (1998) World Resources 1998-99. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York, p.170.
93. World Resources 1996-97. A Guide to the Global Environment, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996, p.327.
94. Livernash, R. and Rodenburg, E. (1998) ‘Population change, resources, and the environment’, in Population Reference Bureau Population Bulletin, Vol. 53, No. 1, March.
95. See Leisinger, K.M. and Schmitt, K. (1994) All Our People. Population Policy with a Human Face, Island Press, Washington DC.
96. Eppler, E. (1996) Komplettes Stückwerk, Insel Verlag.
97. Frankfurt a.M. Glotz, P. (1996) Die Jahre der Verdrossenheit, DVA, Stuttgart 1996.
98. Bahr, E. (1996) Zu meiner Zeit, Karl Blessing-Verlag, Munich.
99. Hösle, V. (1991) Philosphie der ökologischen Krise, Beck’sche Reihe, Munich, p.16.
100. Suppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie (1996) Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland. Ein Beitrag zu einer global nachhaltigen Entwicklung, commissioned by BUND and Misereor, Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, p.58ff; Zur Kritik an dieser Studie siehe Linz M (1998) Spannungsbogen. ‘Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland in der Kritik, Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel.
101. An expression used by the authors of the study Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland: ref. 82, p.166.
102. Jaspers, K. (1949) ‘Über Bedingungen und Möglichkeiten eines neuen Humanismus’, in Die Wandlung, Schneider Verlag, Herbstheft, Heidelberg, p.734.