Stimulating growth through adjusting macroeconomic conditions remains the principal policy responses to pressing problems of unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation. However, are the current policy approaches capable of tackling these problems by generating win-win solutions or are they the root causes of these problems? The current growth trajectory has neither lead to a reduction of our overall resource use -- as we use resources and energy more efficiently we consume more -- nor create the conditions for employment and well-being.
Increasingly, there is the realisation that it is necessary to make substantial interventions into our national economies and create better framework conditions and incentive systems in order to more widely and rapidly develop and disseminate workable, innovative solutions for realizing sustainable development. This is the task of politics, and the concrete design of the measures must be built upon a broad public debate and shared long-term visions.
The authors of this book intend to trigger a dialogue among stakeholders about how we can shape this transformation process towards sustainability. Following a detailed presentation of the key arguments for reconsidering the necessary conditions for sustainable economies, an international cast of commentators from politics, administration, civil society, business and science engage with the central question: is there an alternative trajectory for Western economies that sustains wellbeing whilst confronting ecological and social breakdown?
Edited by:
Friedrich Hinterberger,
Elke Pirgmaier,
Elisabeth Freytag,
Martina Schuster
Imprint: Earthscan Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 1.050kg
ISBN: 9781849713955
ISBN 10: 1849713952
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 02 December 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Primary
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface:The growth debate, revisited Rita Trattnigg (Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water) What kind of growth is sustainable? A presentation of arguments Elke Pirgmaier and Friedrich Hinterberger (Sustainable Europe Research Institute) Part 1: Research perspective Elitist Cheap Labour Policies Stimulate Uneconomic Growth Herman Daly (University of Maryland)Prosperity without Growth Tim Jackson (University of Surrey) Exit Ramp to Sustainability?Juliet Schor (Boston College) China’s Economic Growth: Pattern and Limits Yang Cuihong (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Part 2: Policy perspective Growth – Crisis – Change: How the financial and energy crises reveal the need for sustainable development Andreas Breitenfellner (European Commission) The EU on the pathway to sustainable growth? Jo Leinen (European Parliament) Advancing eco-innovation as an enabler of decoupling Tomoo Machiba (OECD) The growth path of Europe: sustainable, smart and inclusive Robin Miège (European Commission) Driving growth with new engines Fulai Sheng (UNEP) Economic Fluctuations in Latvia or a Human on the Path of Transformation Mara Zira, Guntars Ruskuls and Agrita J?ruma (Riga City Council) Part 3:Civil society perspective Dispelling the Myths of Growth and Consumerism Erik Assadourian (Worldwatch Institue) A New Economy inspired by Sustainability Science Gianfranco Bologna (WWF Italy) The Tragedy of the Growth-Saga Maja Göpel (World Future Council) There is enough for everyone! On growth and distributional justice Michaela Moser (European Anti Poverty Network) Part 4:Business perspective Dimensions of Sustainable Growth Kurt Bayer (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Good-Bye ‘Ownership’, ‘Materialism’ and ‘Monetization’ in Lifestyles: A New Era Dawning in Japan Junko Edahiro (Japan for Sustainability) The Future of Growth Philip Reuchlin (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) What kind of growth is sustainable? Martin Sieker (E
Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger is founding president of the Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) in Vienna, Austria. Earlier he worked at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany and was lecturer at several universities. Elisabeth Freytag is Director for EU-affairs in the Austrian Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management Elke Pirgmaier is a Researcher at SERI, focussing on ecological macroeconomics, policy and quality of life research. Martina Schuster is head of the Department for Environmental Economics and Energy policy in the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Environment.
