Abstract
Sustainable development, while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend, is one of the most important development goals. In this review, the theories of five sustainable development pathways are presented, followed by a discussion on the influences of involuntary and voluntary practices. Specifically, this paper reviews the literature on limits to growth and on planetary boundaries, examines the critique of green growth, and outlines the debate between degrowth and a-growth. Then, the importance of economic recession as an involuntary instrument and working time reduction policies as a voluntary instrument in mitigating environmental pressure is examined. Policy implications are highlighted in the final section.
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Acknowledgments
Shao acknowledges the financial support provided by the State Scholarship Fund from the China Scholarship Council (grant no. 201306240017), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant no. 2019 M653047), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 71903131). Shao thanks Giorgos Kallis (ICREA Professor), Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos (ICTA, UAB), and Lei Rao (School of Economics, Sichuan University) for valuable feedback on earlier drafts and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
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Shao, Q. Paving ways for a sustainable future: a literature review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 13032–13043 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08247-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08247-9