1

Ashi&fromsustainable

developmenttotransi5ontosustainability?

Nicolas Buclet

28/06/2017

Before Sustainable Development

2

Eco-development•  ConferenceofStockholm(1972)•  TheCocoyocDeclara5on(Strong,Sachs…1974)

–  “Theproblemofdevelopmentisnotalackofresourcesbutofeconomicandsocialmaldistribu5onandmisuse”

–  “Thesolu5onoftheseproblemscannotbele&totheautoma5copera5onofmarketmechanisms.Marketmakesresourcesavailabletothosewhocanbuythemratherthanthosewhoneedthem”

–  “Unequaleconomicrela5onshipscontributedirectlytoenvironmentalpressures”

–  “Theexperienceofthelast30yearsisthattheexclusivepursuitofeconomicgrowth,guidedbythemarketandundertakenbyandforthepowerfulelites,hasthesamedestruc5veeffectsinsidedevelopingcountries”

Thepurposeofdevelopment(Cocoyoc,1974)

•  “Agrowthprocessthatbenefitsonlythewealthiestminorityandmaintainsorevenincreasesthedispari5esbetweenandwithincountriesisnotdevelopment.Itisexploita5on”.

•  “Werejecttheunilinearviewwhichseesdevelopmentessen5allyandinevitablyastheefforttoimitatethehistoricalmodelofthecountriesthatforvariousreasonshappentoberichtoday.Forthisreason,werejecttheconceptof"gaps"indevelopment”

Overconsump5on•  “Wemayalsotalkaboutoverconsump5vetypesof

developmentthatviolatetheinnerlimitsofmanandtheouterlimitsofnature”

•  “weareallinneedofaredefini5onofourgoals,ofnewdevelopmentstrategies,ofnew,lifestyles,includingmoremodestpa^ernsofconsump5onamongtherich”

Thesustainabledevelopmentconcept:apoli5calanswertoeco-

development

•  FirstappearanceinMay1975inadecisionoftheGoverningCouncilheadingtheUNEP:

•  «EnvironmentManagementimpliesthesustainabledevelopmentofeachcountry,aimingatsa5sfyingbasichumanneedswithouttransgressionofexternallimitsraisedbybiospheretohumanbehaviour»

Brundtlandreportandfurtherdevelopments

•  «Whatisneedednowisaneweraofeconomicgrowth-growththatisforcefulandatthesame5mesociallyandenvironmentallysustainable»

•  “webelievesuchgrowthtobeabsolutelyessen5altorelievethegreatpovertythatisdeepeninginmuchofthedevelopingworld”

•  “whereeconomicgrowthhasledtoimprovementsinlivingstandards,ithassome5mesbeenachievedinwaysthataregloballydamaginginthelongerterm”

Growthiseverywhere•  WithintheBrundtlandreport,thetermgrowthisused166

5mes(plus405mesfordemographicaspects)within349pages

•  Limita5onsaremostlytechnicalandorganisa5onal•  Thankstoprogresstheselimita5onswillbeovertaken

Sixconcep5onsofSD(Theys,2010)

Degreeofsubs+tuabilitybetweennature,economyandsocialaspects

PriviledgedApproach

Op5ons Verystrongsustainability

StrongSustainability

WeakSustainability

Integra5onEconomy/Environment

«Bioeconomy»andsustainabledegrowth

Ecologicalmodernisa5onandintegra5oneconomy/environment

Growthandminimisa5onofenvironmentcosts

DevelopmentStrategy

Solidareconomies.Alterna5vedevelopment

Sustainabledevelopmentasamul5dimensionalstrategyofdevelopment

Newgovernanceand«green»companies

The“crisis”ofthesustainabledevelopmentconcept

•  Relatedtothecrisisofinterna5onalins5tu5onsandeconomiccrisisinmanywesterncountries

•  Alsorelatedtotheweakconsidera5onofsocialaspectsofdevelopmenttothemainbenefitofecologicalsustainability

•  Shi&tootherexpressions:–  Ecological(andsocial)transi5on–  EnergyTransi5on–  GreenEconomy–  Post-CO2Economy–  CircularEconomy–  Resilience

Transi5on•  Theexpression«transi5ontosustainability»isnotnew.It

appearsintheearly90s(1989inapaperwithintheJournal«Environment:ScienceandPolicyforSustainableDevelopment»

•  TenyearsagoIns5tu5onsstarttalkingaboutEcologicalTransi5on(butwiththesamemeaningofSD)

•  TheturnisRobHopkins’bookwiththeTransi5onMovementini5atedin2005,inspiredby

permaculture

Twopathesfortransi5on•  Onevisionoftransi5onwherethetermdoesnotchangemuchwithSD.Itismostlyasocio-technicaltransi5on

•  Onevisionoftransforma5onofsociety(transi5onmovement,degrowthmovement…)Increaseofself-sufficiencyofhumancommuni5esEscapefromanexclusivemarketvisionofsocietyandcri5cismofglobaliza5onMoreplacegiventothelivingtogether,tolocalini5a5vesandgovernance

•  Thissecondvisionfitswithasocio-ecologicaltransi5on

Avisionfocusingmoreonpeople

•  Thetransi5onMovementfocusesonthetransforma5onofci5es,theplaceswherepeopleareleaving

•  Inbioeconomy,wherearepeople?

Intheend…

•  Theuseofterms,farfrombeingneutral,reflectsapoli5calapproachofrela5onstosociety

•  Itembedsvaluesandprinciples•  SDwasabletoincludemanydifferentandcontras5ng

visionsofsociety,butitislosingsenseandfacesmanycri5cisms,mostlyfromactorsinphasewitheco-development

•  CouldTransi5onconceptgivesmoresensetosustainableques5ons?

Whatcanbeaddresstoresearchagenda?

•  Istherepar5aland/ortotalornullcompa5bilitybetweensocio-technicalorsocio-ecologicaltransi5on?

•  Clarifica5onshouldbedoneconcerningtheplaceofbioeconomywithregardstotransi5on(socio-technicalorsocio-ecological)

•  Clarifica5onshouldalsobedoneconcerningtheplaceofbieconomywithinhumansocie5es