Global economics for growth and survival: The need for fundamental shifts in economic, social and political systems
Synesis: A Journal of Science, Technology, Ethics, and Policy 2010; 1:T47-54
This paper examines the concept of a new paradigm that sees economic growth, social justice and environmental care advancing together and becoming the common sense of our age. Last year the G20 countries declared themselves committed to a sustainable economic future. The Copenhagen Accord allied at least 49 countries, and for the first time the US and China, to this cause but the radical plan for a greener brand of economics as put forward by the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission asks far more of us than the relatively simple fiscal stimulus and sustainable economic packages that have grown up in response and through the recent financial crisis and recession. All around us we can see moves toward a more sustainable economic future but is it enough and will it actually be too late from the point of view of natural resources, threatened species and ecosystems?
Key words: climate change, economic growth, global economics, sustainable development.