Abstract
This paper seeks to focus the definition of environmental sustainability (ES), partly by distinguishing ES from social sustainability and from economic sustainability. The challenge to social scientists is to produce their own definition of social sustainability, rather than load social desiderata on to the definition of ES. Similarly with economic sustainability; let economists define it or use previous definitions of economic sustainability. The three types of sustainability—social, environmental and economic—are clearest when kept separate. They are contrasted in Table 1. While there is some overlap among the three in the goals of economic development (Figure 1), and certainly major linkages, the three are best disaggregated and addressed separately by different disciplines. Social scientists are best able to define social sustainability, and environmentalists do not have a major role in that task. The disciplines best able to analyze each type of sustainability are different; each follows different laws and methods. After disaggregating environmental sustainability we show that it is not ecosystem or nation specific, rather it is universal. Furthermore, we show that while all nations and eco-regions may need their own different approaches to ES, it is essentially non-negotiable.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ahmad, Y., S. El Serafy, and E. Lutz, eds. 1989. Environmental Accounting. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
Boutros-Ghali, B. 1994. An Agenda for Development. New York, United Nations. NGO Liaison Service 46: 20.
Brown, L.B. et al. 1994. State of the World: 1994. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC.
Cernea, M. 1993. The Sociologist’s Approach to Sustainable Development. Finance and Development 30(A): 11–13.
Daily, G.C. and P.R. Ehrlich. 1992. Population, Sustainability and the Earth’s Carrying Capacity. BioScience 42(10): 761–771.
Daly, H.E. 1991. Sustainable Growth: A Bad Oxymoron. Grassroots Development 15(3): 39.
Daly, H.E. and J. Cobb. 1994. For the Common Good. Beacon Press, Boston.
Daly, H.E. 1994. Consumption: Value Added, Physical Transformation, and Welfare (Draft). Public Affairs, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742–1821.
Dasgupta, P. and C. Heal. 1979. Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ehrlich, P. and A. Ehrlich. 1989a. Too Many Rich Folks. Populi 16(3): 3–29.
Ehrlich, P. and A. Ehrlich. 1989b. How the Rich Can Save the Poor and Themselves. Pacific and Asian Journal of Energy 3: 53–63.
Ehrlich, P.R. and J.P. Holdren. 1974. Impact of Population Growth. Science 171: 1212–1217.
El Serafy, S. 1991. The Environment as Capital. In Ecological Economics, R. Costanza, ed. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 168–175.
El Serafy, S. 1993. Country Macroeconomic Work and Natural Resources. The World Bank, Washington, DC. Environment Working Paper No. 58.
Goodland, R., and H.E. Daly 1993a. Why Northern Income Growth Is Not the Solution to Southern Poverty. Ecological Economics 8: 85–101.
Goodland, R. and H.E. Daly. 1993b. Poverty Alleviation is Essential for Environmental Sustainability. The World Bank, Washington, DC. Environment Working Paper No. 42.
Goodland, R. 1992. The Case That the World Has Reached Limits. Population and Environment 13(2): 167–182.
Haavelmo, T. and S. Hansen. 1992. On the Strategy of Trying to Reduce Economic Inequality by Expanding the Scale of Human Activity. In Population Technology Lifestyle: The Transition to Sustainability, R. Goodland, H. Daly, and S. El Serafy, eds. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Hardin, G. 1993. Living Within Limits. Oxford University Press, New York.
Hicks, Sir J.R. 1946. Value and Capital. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Ludwig, D. 1993. Uncertainty, Resource Exploitation and Conservation: Lessons From History. Science 260(2 April): 17
Ludwig, D. 1993. Uncertainty, Resource Exploitation and Conservation: Lessons From History. Science 260(2 April) 36.
Lutz, E., ed. 1993. Toward Improved Accounting for the Environment. An UNST AT-World Bank Symposium. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
Meadows, D., D. Meadows, and J. Randers. 1992. Beyond the Limits. Chelsea Green Publishing, Post Mills, VT.
Mies, M. 1991. Consumption Patterns of the North: The Cause of Environmental Destruction and Poverty in the South: Women and Children First. UNCED, UNICEF and UNFPA, Geneva.
Orr, D.W. 1992. Environmental Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World. State University of New York, Albany.
Parikh, J. and K. Parikh. 1991. Consumption Patterns: The Driving Force of Environmental Stress. UNCED, Geneva.
Putnam, R.D. (with R. Leonardi and R. Y. Nanetti). 1993b. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Putnam, R.D. 1993a. Social Capital and Public Affairs. The American Prospect. 13(Spring):1–8.
Serageldin, I., H. Daly, and R. Goodland. 1994. The Concept of Environmental Sustainability. In Towards Sustainable National Income, W. van Deen, ed. IMSA, Amsterdam, pp. 71–95.
Serageldin, I. 1993a. Making Development Sustainable. Finance and Development 30(4): 6–10.
Serageldin, I. 1993b. Development Partners: Aid and Cooperation in the 1990s. SIDA, Stockholm.
Simonis, U.E. 1990. Beyond Growth: Elements of Sustainable Development. Edition Sigma, Berlin.
Solow, R. 1974. The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics. American Economic Review (May): 1–14.
Solow, R.M. 1991. Sustainability: An Economists Perspective. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: The Eighteenth Seward Johnson Lecture (June 14), Woods Hole, MA.
Solow, R.M. 1992. An Almost Practical Step Toward Sustainability. Resources for the Future (40th Anniversary Lecture), Washington, DC.
Steer, A. and V. Thomas, (forthcoming). Promoting Development That Lasts.
Steer, A. and E. Lutz. 1993. Measuring Environmentally Sustainable Development. Finance and Development 30(4): 20–23.
Tietenberg, T. 1990. The Poverty Connection to Environmental Policy. Challenge 33(5): 26–3.
Tietenberg, T. 1992. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Harper Collins, New York.
Tinbergen, J. and R. Hueting. 1991. GNP and Market Prices: Wrong Signals For Sustainable Economic Success That Mask Environmental Destruction. In Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development: Building on Brundtland, R. Goodland, H. Daly and S. El Serafy, eds. The World Bank, Washington, DC. Environment Paper 36: 36–42.
Vitousek, P.M., P. Ehrlich, A. Ehrlich, and P. Matson. 1986. Human Appropriation of the Products of Photosynthesis. BioScience 36: 368–373.
Westra, L. 1994. An Environmental Proposal for Ethics: The Principle of Integrity. Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham MD.
World Bank. 1990. World Development Report. The World Bank, Washington DC.
World Bank. 1991. World Development Report: Poverty Alleviation. The World Bank, Washington DC.
World Bank. 1992. World Development Report 1992: Development and the Environment. Oxford University Press, New York.
World Bank. 1992. Environmental Assessment Sourcebook. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
World Bank. 1993a. The World Bank and the Environment 1993. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
World Bank. 1993b. World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. Oxford University Press, New York.
World Bank. 1995. World Development Report. Infrastructure For Development. The World Bank, Washington DC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Goodland, R., Daly, H. (1995). Universal Environmental Sustainability and the Principle of Integrity. In: Westra, L., Lemons, J. (eds) Perspectives on Ecological Integrity. Environmental Science and Technology Library, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0451-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0451-7_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4202-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-0451-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive