Key concepts in Sustainable Development Part 1 : Economics and ecology
By: SINNER, Jim
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Contributor(s): BAINES, James | SALMON, Guy | CRENGLE, Hana | FENEMOR, Andrew.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: Wellington , New Zealand : IPANZ, 2005Public Sector 28, 3, p. 2-9Abstract: The burgeoning literature on sustenable development often refers to the economic, ecological, and social components thereof. This paper examines some key concepts emerging from the intellectual traditions of each area and explores tensions between these concepts and the broader objectives of sustainable development. Examination of the underlying meaning of efficiency reveals that tension between efficiency and equit is more apparent than real. When efficiency is defined as maximising well-being rather than wealth, improving equity is often complementary to efficiency rather than in competition with it. The concept of critical natural capital provides a framework for defining ecological bottom lines in some contexts, but still requires subjective judgement. Wheather a loss of an ecosystem is "unsustainable" depends on the functions that the ecosystem provides and how to much needs to be retained to protect long-term human welfare and the wider life support processes of the planet.
The burgeoning literature on sustenable development often refers to the economic, ecological, and social components thereof. This paper examines some key concepts emerging from the intellectual traditions of each area and explores tensions between these concepts and the broader objectives of sustainable development. Examination of the underlying meaning of efficiency reveals that tension between efficiency and equit is more apparent than real. When efficiency is defined as maximising well-being rather than wealth, improving equity is often complementary to efficiency rather than in competition with it. The concept of critical natural capital provides a framework for defining ecological bottom lines in some contexts, but still requires subjective judgement. Wheather a loss of an ecosystem is "unsustainable" depends on the functions that the ecosystem provides and how to much needs to be retained to protect long-term human welfare and the wider life support processes of the planet.
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