Sustainable biosphere: critical overview of basic concept of sustainability

Abstract

If we observe the evolution of different globalistic concepts from T. Malthus up to recent concepts such as the models of the Club of Rome and the sustainability suggested by the Brundtland commission, we can see that all the concepts are principally anthropocentric. For instance, the models of the Club of Rome, though differing by the levels of spatial and functional complexity, are first of all macro-economic models, including the biosphere processes as disturbances of global processes. On the other hand, we can consider the human society as a natural component of the biosphere. We can consider also the Biosphere (in accordance to Vernadsky V.I. (1926)(The Biosphere. Leningrad, Nauchtekhizdat (in Russian)) as an entity and study its reactions to human impact. Thus, we suggest the concept of coevolution of mankind and the biosphere as a further development and an alternative to sustainability. We try to show in this work how terms such as `limits to growth', `sustainable development' can be understood. We try to analyse a few technocratic illusions and reveal some physical contradictions contained in the basis of some globalistic concepts.