How can economics contribute to environmental and social sustainability? The significance of systems theory and the embedded economy

作者：Keith R. Skene · 发表于：Frontiers in Sustainability · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.3389/frsus.2022.980583 · 被引用次数：17 · 研究领域：Global Energy and Sustainability Research、Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis、Innovation, Sustainability, Human-Machine Systems

Concerns relating to resource extraction, manufacturing, waste in our supply chains, along with increasing consumption and with their consequences for the planet, have, to a greater or lesser extent, begun to impact the ideological approach and the decision-making of governments, business and consumers alike on the material world we continue to create. Parallel concerns circle around social and environmental resilience, recovery and sustainability. This paper seeks to explore what a sustainable economy should look like in order to contribute to a resilient, diverse and thriving planet, while furthering resilient, diverse and thriving communities. It is argued that at the center of any sustainability theory, whether economic, environmental or social, lies the Earth system. The Earth system represents much more than the organisms sharing this planet with ourselves. Rather, it involves the fluxes of radiation, food energy, water, nutrients and heat. More essentially, it determines our niche space [the multidimensional space where tolerances and requirements interact to determine the habitable space within which an organism can practice its way of life]. Given that humans are some of the most vulnerable organisms on the planet in terms of the narrow range of conditions within which they can survive, the dynamic nature of the planet that determines this range of conditions must surely form the prime focus of our attentions. The Earth System, like all complex, far-from-equilibrium ...