Reading through the Scottish Liberal Democrats manifesto I came across the “green” section. The intro sounded OK referring to ‘a sustainable economy’. I turned over the page and started to read the Climate Change Action Plan’. In the second paragraph it went downhill by referring to ‘sustainable economic growth’.
In my opinion this was obviously written by someone who doesn’t understand the contradiction in these two phrases. You can either have a sustainable economy or you have economic growth, you can’t have both!
What is an Economy?
You need to be aware that ‘the economy’ is a sub-system of the environment (or biosphere), it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Every input into the economy comes from the environment and all the wastes produced by it are returned there. As the economy grows it requires more and more resources and produces more and more waste. As we live on a planet with finite resources it’s not possible for the economy to grow forever.
Economic Growth
Economic growth is concerned with continuously increasing production and consumption of goods and services and is measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). It’s about people buying things on a regular basis before they need to, it relies on a disposable, throw away society, always being in a rush to buy the latest ‘must have’ technological gadget or buying a new washing machine just so that you can wash your socks at 30 degrees!
Sustainable Economy
A sustainable economy on the other hand is economic development that is achieved with concern for the environment, a strong, healthy and just society and the responsible use of science. Sustainability was defined in the Brundtland Commission report, Our Common Future: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Conclusion
Manifesto’s that promote economic growth are unrealistic and not sustainable. By stating they want ‘sustainable economic growth’ means they want the economy to continue in its present form. It ignores the fact that the resources of the planet are finite. It suggests a complete and utter disregard for the planet and our future lives. It is not environmentally sustainable.
