Sustainable development, oil and the future: the trilogy

Résumé du document

Sustainable development has been extensively discussed in the past few years, and is still a great matter of concern nowadays. In fact, there is no single way to deal with this subject, except choosing a guideline of this workshop avoiding “clichés”. Its main objective is therefore to study the viability and the feasibility of sustainable development as a growth economic model. We may begin with a note about definitions. In this workshop, the term “sustainable” means that the practice, process, system or product so described allows people to meet their current needs without compromising future stocks of environmental capital, such as productive topsoil, clean air, fertile forests, abundant fish stocks or genetic diversity of both plants and animals. A veteran field biologist called sustainability 'taking care of capital and living off the interest'; but even within this interpretation the term can be defined widely or narrowly depending upon one's objectives and perspective. Against a background of an increasing depletion of oil, during the last quarter of this century, there has been an growing global concern for rethinking development, reexamining the traditional mode of development based on the logic of industrialism, reviving public interest in the uncertain future of the natural environment and nonrenewable resources, and reinforcing the focus on the question of sustainability. Due to increasing environmental challenges to widespread industrialization, there has been a considerable shift in developmental thinking toward a mode of development termed "sustainable" or enduring.

Extraits

[...] To demonstrate that, the notion of equity must be illustrated by the example of a government which, in order to increase the global access to resources and the raise of the citizens' quality of life, would lead a policy consisting in a better redistribution of wealth. Therefore, equity is essential for sustainable development because it tends to be accessible to all and adaptable to different situations and social levels. - Interdependence: Interdependence, which is very linked to the notion of equity, is another basic condition for sustainable development: common interest can only be served through international cooperation. With the industrialization of the European societies and the globalization of trade, the interdependence between countries has increased, even at a local level. [...]

[...] Objectives of State Policy in a prospect of sustainable development: An efficient governmental policy in terms of sustainable development of natural and energy resources such as oil pursues three main goals: 1. To incorporate depletion costs in the decisions of producers and consumers in order to reverse the tendency to treat exhaustive resources as a “free and to pass these costs on to other parts of society, other countries or to future generations To move more fully towards the integration of social and environmental costs into economic activities, so that prices of oil for instance will appropriately reflect the relative scarcity, the total value and the cost of depletion of this resource and thus contribute towards the prevention from its exhaustion To include, wherever appropriate, the use of market principles in the framing of economic instruments and policies to pursue sustainable development. [...]

[...] Sustainable development appears to be as one of the most promising solutions to this issue. In fact, this concept implies policies of managing resources of energy in order to support the current needs of the population without compromising the coming generation's needs. In addition, the liberalization and the growth of world trade as well as the markets' development have significantly modified the countries approach to energy resources. This approach focuses on the best way to use sustainable development and to apply it to the economy. [...]

[...] Externalities may be positive or negative. Positive externality arises when an action by an individual or a group confers benefits to others. For instance, a technological spillover is a positive externality and it occurs when a firm's invention not only benefits the firm but also enters into the society's pool of technological knowledge and benefits the society as a whole. On the other side, negative externalities arise when an action by an individual or group produces harmful effects on others. [...]

[...] Nowadays, the time seems to be at reassessing the role of private sector finance for sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. In 1992, the signatories of the Convention on Biological Diversity recognized that biodiversity would not be conserved unless there were economic reasons for protecting it as it is necessary that the private sector contributed with its vast technical, managerial and financial resources to the conservation effort. Moreover most economic activities have environmental and ecological impacts on biological resources. For example, the mining and petroleum industries, which can have very damaging consequences for biodiversity, can seek to limit these negative impacts and correct the negative externalities they produce. [...]