Economic sustainability

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Different models of the sustainability concept : on the left the three-pillar model , which weights ecology, economy and social issues equally, on the right the priority model which postulates the dependence of social sustainability and economic sustainability on ecological sustainability.

Economic sustainability is a concept at the interface between sustainability science and economics , which together with ecological sustainability and social sustainability form three dimensions of sustainability, as summarized, for example, in the three-pillar model . The aim is to create a sustainable economy in the sense of sustainable development that is functional in the long term.

Approaches to economic sustainability

Economic sustainability is a research topic of various social science currents, which derive various designs of sustainable economies from it. In the discussions, a distinction is made between weak and strong sustainability and their mixed forms. Neither currents nor designs can be clearly distinguished from one another.

Proponents of weak sustainability argue in terms of neoclassical environmental economics that dwindling natural capital ( e.g. non-renewable raw materials ) can be substituted by produced capital . It follows that there is no fundamental conflict between economic growth and sustainable development and that these are compatible. Ecology is treated as an externality and economic policy approaches (e.g. ecological tax reform ) are developed for a green market economy with which economic performance can be increased ( green growth ). In environmental economics, natural capital is determined by means of an environmental economic evaluation, e.g. of ecosystem services or the calculation of the total economic value .

In terms of ecological economy, the strong sustainability assumes that natural capital and produced capital are largely complementary and therefore natural capital itself must be preserved. From this a growth critique is derived and demands are made for a stationary economy , for which any growth constraints must be overcome. The role of the market economy is more controversial, and the analysis includes political, social and cultural aspects beyond the actual economy ( socio-ecological research ) and, for example, a strong focus on questions of justice (especially intergenerational justice ) or the balancing of the common good and self-interest laid. An important socio-political and ethical concept is the “Greifswald approach”, which goes back to Konrad Ott and Ralf Döring . Institutions in German-speaking countries are the Association for Ecological Economy (VÖÖ) or Association for Ecological Economic Research (VöW), and there is also a growth-critical social movement .

Between these two extremes there are various positions of "balanced sustainability", to which, according to Reinhard Steurer, the majority of the sustainability discussion can be assigned, for example the Brundtland report or ecological modernization . In Germany, for example, this position is represented by the Sustainable Economy Network around Holger Rogall , which regularly publishes the Sustainable Economy yearbook in the Metropolis publishing house .

Further research approaches are the integrated sustainability concept of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers , or industrial ecology ( energy and material flow management ). Also, business ethics and environmental law are among the topics of economic sustainability.

Indicators and implementation

Products and companies

A life cycle analysis can be created for products and, for example, ecodesign concepts can be used to improve this life cycle assessment .

Environmental reports or sustainability reports can be created for companies or authorities and used for sustainability management or corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Economies

Indicators for a sustainable economy are, for example, the ecological footprint , the Happy Planet Index (HPI), the ecological national product , the index of human development , the SDG index or the environmental and economic accounts .

The proposals for realizing a sustainable economy differ, firstly, in how the three dimensions of the three-pillar model are weighted. Therefore, there are different sustainability strategies . The weak sustainability primarily relies on improving eco-efficiency and consistency through environmental policy . The technical proposals for decarbonisation towards a carbon-free economy include, for example, renewable energies and negative emission technologies . In addition, the circular economy and recycling or upcycling are to be expanded. The strong sustainability includes sufficiency (frugality) and thus behavioral changes and social innovations.

More market-based concepts of a sustainable economy are the eco-social market economy , the green economy or the Green New Deal . For example, eco taxes or emissions trading are proposed to protect natural capital . The common good economy according to Christian Felber or the post-growth economy ( Niko Paech ) emphasize the social and cultural perspective . A rejection of a market economy can be found in concepts of solidarity-based economy , partly in the sharing economy and most clearly in eco-socialism .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Reinhard Steurer: Paradigms of Sustainability . In: Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik und Umweltrecht 24 (4), 2001, pp. 537–566.
  2. ↑ Michael von Hauff , Alexandro Kleine: Sustainable development. Basics and implementation . Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, p. 24ff., ISBN 978-3-486-59071-5 .
  3. ↑ Hans Corsten , Stefan Roth : Sustainability as an integrated concept . In: sustainability . Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012, doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-8349-3746-9_1 .
  4. ↑ a b Ralf Döring : How strong is weak, how weakly strong sustainability? In: Economic discussion papers of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Faculty of Law and Political Science , No. 08/2004, hdl : 10419/22095 .
  5. ↑ eg .: Robert Solow : The economics of resources or the resources of economics . In: The American Economic Review , Vol. 64, pp. 1-14. JSTOR 1816009 .
  6. ↑ Konrad Ott , Ralf Döring : Theory and practice of strong sustainability. 3. Edition. Metropolis Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-89518-695-0 .
  7. ↑ Iris Borowy, Matthias Schmelzer: History of the future of economic growth: historical roots of current debates on sustainable degrowth . Routledge, London, ISBN 978-1-134-86669-4 .
  8. ^ Matthias Schmelzer, Andrea Vetter: Degrowth / Post growth for the introduction . Junius Verlag, Hamburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-96060-307-8 .
  9. ↑ Holger Rogall: Sustainable Economy: Economic Theory and Practice of Sustainability . Metropolis, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89518-765-0 .
  10. ↑ Yearbook Sustainable Economy , www.nachhaltige-oekonomie.de. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  11. ↑ J. Kopfmüller, V. Brandl, J. Jörissen, M. Paetau, G. Banse, R. Coenen, A. Grunwald: Sustainable development viewed integratively - constitutive elements, rules, indicators . edition sigma, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89404-571-X .
  12. ↑ Jürgen Kopfmüller (Ed.): A concept on the test bench. The integrative sustainability concept in research practice . edition sigma, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-89404-582-1 .
  13. ↑ Christian Felber : The Common Good Economy - The Economic Model of the Future. 2010, ISBN 978-3-552-06137-8 .
  14. ^ Niko Paech : Liberation from Abundance - On the Way to the Post-Growth Economy , 8th edition, oekom Verlag, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86581-181-3 .