Club Of Rome Research Articles

Sustainable biosphere: critical overview of basic concept of sustainability

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.

Das Leitbild Nachhaltigkeit und das Konzept Technikbewertung

AbstractSustainable Development and Technology Assessment. Changes in the environmental consciousness of wealthy western societies began t o appear in the 1960s. These changes manifested themselves in three ways. First, in the mid‐1960s the term “Technology Assessment” (TA) was coined in the USA. The TA discussion in Germany – as well as in other comparable countries – lead t o growing TA activities and the opening of institutions connected with Technology Assessment. Secondly, in 1968, the Club of Rome was founded, which in 1972 brought out its first study “The Limits to Growth”. Thirdly, the sustainability debate followed and intensified with the report in 1980 “Global 2000” and the Brundtland report in 1987 “Our Common Future”, which formulated the concept of sustainable development. Debates intensified further in 1992 with the “Agenda 21”. the closing document of the Rio Conference for Environment and Development. The following will show both that the diffuse idea of sustainability can be operationalised with the technology assessment concept; and – as has recently taken place at the TU Clausthal – that technology assessment should be established in research and teaching at the university level.

Integrating Micro, Meso and Macro Levels in Business Ethics

My title refers to a very modern problem, for what else is modernization than a process of rational differentiation of society in autonomous, mutually isolated sub-spheres, to the point where no one any longer knows what the unity of it all is? We differentiate, we specialize, we hyperspecialize, and then we get puzzled over the fragmentation we have produced around us, between ourselves and even within ourselves. Look at our own area. You cannot even specialize in practical ethics any more. You have to limit your attention to medical ethics, for example, the ethics of engineering, or business ethics. And within business ethics, my own field of research, the homo universalis is also threatened with extinction. You can do marketing ethics, ethics of finance or computer ethics, until you finally become the typical ‘expert’: someone who knows almost everything about almost nothing. From the despair over hyper-differentiation, the call for integration arises: the call for meaning, for reconfiguration, for making sense of our world and our lives again, the call for reconnection with the great traditions of our culture, the call for community. If we read the great theorists of modernization — Weber, Durkheim, Parsons, Habermas, Munch — we learn that the quest for integration is in fact an equally important aspect of modernization as is differentiation. They are two sides of the same coin. In this sense, I think, the integrative endeavour of the EEN can still be considered a modern one. We are presently facing an escalation, or a climax, of modernity. We live in a state of hypermodernity, in which technological, economic and cultural forces dynamize our society on an unprecedented scale. We are really living high up on the dazzling slopes of the exponential growth curves that the Club of Rome predicted over 25 years ago. Everyone speaks of change. Everything is changing, and with institutionalized change, everything has become uncertain. Within uncertainty, however, social disintegration is lurking. Does not the structural uncertainty that we are introducing in our society bring us back to a state of nature, to a state outside the hypothetical social contract on which modern social communities are based? Is not the life of the individualized, flexible wanderers on the labour market again resembling the pledge of man which Hobbes described as ‘solitary, nasty and brutish’ (Hobbes 1968, I, §13). Has not the life of many in our society again become ‘very unsafe and very insecure, full of fears and continual dangers’, in the way that Locke depicted the state of nature (Locke 1980, §123). I understand business ethics as an integrative undertaking in our society, integrative in particular with respect to the economy and the realm of formal organization, integrative also at the interface between life-world and system, to use the terminology of Habermas. Integrative endeavours in our society have an ambiguous relation to change. Change is a key challenge to business ethics. Should we accept disruptive forms of change as inevitable, in order to remain on speaking terms with the economy and its spokesmen? Or should we fiercely resist certain changes? Is change on our side, perhaps? Business ethics is sometimes presented as a way to help managers cope with the many paradoxes of our time. One-dimensional technological rationality, we say, is no longer adequate to grasp the complexities, ambiguities and paradoxes of our world. Successful management requires more flexible, more creative forms of thinking. Philosophy and ethics are then presented as alternatives.

Climate protection policy: new taxes or voluntary undertakings?

Limits to Growth, the report published by the Club of Rome in 1972, triggered the global debate on the limits to energy consumption for the first time. Cybernetic models were used to determine the time at which raw materials would be exhausted as a result of human consumption and at which the Earth would be turned into an uninhabitable biosphere, partly as a result of pollutant emissions. The calls for equality of distribution regarding the use and consumption of the Earth's resources from one generation to the next resulted in a plethora of models ranging from rigid dirigism aimed at conserving natural resources to a ‘wait and see’ approach based on the belief that the price mechanism as the indicator of shortages would sort things out anyway. The proposal to use taxation instruments to create such equality in the distribution of the world's resources originated from the idea that the market prices of natural resources fail to reflect the finite economic nature of such reserves and that, as a result, resources are being consumed at an ‘excessive’ rate. Prices kept artificially high by tax surcharges would motivate consumers to reduce their level of consumption. The tax revenue could then be earmarked for investment in energy saving projects.

The Future of Universities∗

The world is going through a major transitional crisis that is touching all facets of human existence including all human institutions. The roots of this crisis, so far as higher education is concerned, go back to the events of 1968, a year that also saw the birth of the Club of Rome, an organization that has made sustainable human development its goal. The university, although it must change to meet new circumstances, remains the institution that can contribute most, from a global perspective, to preserving and developing the quality of life, within the limits of sustainable human development, and of conserving and furthering the material and spiritual future of humanity.

The necessity of solar energy

The idea of limits to growth has, understandably, achieved notoriety since the days of Malthus and, more recently, the Club of Rome. However, there must be some limits to the ability of the Earth to sustain a growing population. Fortunately, population models suggest that the world's population will probably level out at about two to three times the present numbers over the next hundred years. The question is whether the Earth's resources are sufficient to sustain that population at a high standard of living for all. In this the key issue is energy. It is clear that present trends in energy consumption, especially oil, cannot be sustained much longer. Regardless of this, however, prudence demands a drastic reduction in fossil fuel consumption, in view of the possibility of global warming. It can be shown that, combined with greatly improved energy efficiency, a transition to a solar (renewable) energy based economy capable of sustaining the anticipated growth in the world economy, is possible, but the constraints are extremely tight.

Taking Nature into Account: A Report to the Club of Rome.

Taking Nature into Account: A Report to the Club of Rome.

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Mediating Environmental Conflicts: Theory and Practice J Walton Blackburn and Willa Marie BruceAgroforestry in the Pacific Islands: Systems for Sustainability Edited by W C Clarke and R R ThamanThe Chao Phya: A River in Transition Steve van BeekHuman Development Report 1995 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Human Development Report 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Taking Nature into Account: A Report to the Club of Rome Edited by Wouter van Dieren

Población y desarrollo

Analysis of the different theories which explain the two-way relationship between population growth and economic development. The paper therefore reviews the positions of Malthus, Simon, Julian, the Club of Rome and the theories of demographic regulation and transition to further the understanding of the political, economic and social factors which influence the adoption of a particular population policy. Finally, the AA. propose the re-definition of woman's social role, on the basis of a philosophical exposition of their role and duty, that will lead to the questioning of the current asymmetry between the sexes and woman's role in the family, as an important part of the redefinition of population policy, which necessarily implies the exercise of greater democracy and joint responsibility in the basic unit of the social fabric : the family

Taking nature into account: a report to the Club of Rome: toward a sustainable national income

1 Introduction.- I Economic Growth and Western Society.- 2 The History and Roots of Growth.- 3 Economic Growth and and Gross National Product.- II Paradoxes of Growth.- 4 State of the Environment.- 5 Failures of the System of National Accounts.- III Sustainable Development.- 6 From Growth to Sustainability.- 7 The Concept of Sustainability.- 8 Vision of the South.- 9 Indicators for Measuring Welfare.- 10 The Role of Social Indicators.- IV Environmental Adjustment of the System of National Accounts.- 11 Defensive Expenditures.- 12 Depletion of Natural Resources.- 13 Estimating Sustainable National Income.- 14 Environmental Accounting and the System of National Accounts.- V Taking Nature into Account: Conclusions and Recommendations.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Steering By the Right Compass.- 3. SNA 1993 Revision and the UN Handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting.- 4. Adjustment of GDP: Different Objectives.- 5. The Current SNA: A Narrow Economic Point of View.- 6. Cost Accounting from a Comprehensive Economic- Point of View.- 7. Cost Accounting from a Responsibility Point of View.- 8. Resistance to and Solutions for Change.- 9. Strengthening International Coordination.- 10. Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations.- References.

Are there limits to growth? The need for a transition to a solar‐based economy

The idea of limits to growth has, understandably, achieved notoriety since the days of Malthus and, more recently, the Club of Rome. However, there must be some limits to the ability of the earth to sustain a growing population. Fortunately, population models suggest that the world's population will probably level out at about two to three times the present numbers over the next hundred years. The question is whether the earth's resources are sufficient to sustain that population at a high standard of living for all. In this the key issue is energy. It is clear that present trends in energy consumption, especially oil, cannot be sustained much longer. Regardless of this, however, prudence demands a drastic reduction in fossil fuel consumption, in view of the possibility of global warming. It can be shown that, combined with greatly improved energy efficiency, a transition to a solar (renewable) energy based economy, capable of sustaining the anticipated growth in the world economy, is possible, but the constraints are extremely tight.

El desarrollo sostenible y el futuro de la enseñanza de las ciencias

Although the idea of sustainable development came up in the first reports of the Club of Rome some twenty years ago, it was not taken into account by educationalists until the late eighties. The paper discusses two issues that have emerged from that of sustainable development: a) the operative consequences of this concept for citizens; b) the consequences for the educational system and curriculum. The consequences are discussed at three levels: a) the curriculum, where not only the scientific and technological innovations may be examined on environmental terms, but also the idea about economic development and growth (they are not always together on historical terms), b) on hands teacher training promoting evaluation linked to on the scene teacher training as an important skill; c) innovative learning where anticipating global situations and participating locally is based on situated learning.

From Malthus to the Club of Rome and Back: Problems of Limits to Growth, Population Control, and Migrations.

An anthropological study of a major national political party - one which dominated Israeli politics for nearly five decades and was returned to office in summer 1992. The analysis focuses on the relationship between culture and politics to explain the crucial role the Labour Party has played.

An APL implementation of the Club of Rome's world model

This paper discusses an application which models world population dynamics using initial value differential equations. The program provides the user with a simple interface that anyone with any level of experience with APL can use to generate different scenarios. In addition, the discoveries and difficulties encountered by a student using APL for the first time are explored.

From Malthus to the Club of Rome and back: problems of limits to growth, population control, and migrations

From Malthus to the Club of Rome and back: problems of limits to growth, population control, and migrations

A conflict of visions: Reflections on African futures studies

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with support from the World Bank, has begun a project to promote national long-term perspective studies (NLTPS) for all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is an important topic in view of the present concerns about the extent of famines and hunger in this part of Africa, and the widespread pessimism about the possibilities for sustained ‘development’ in Africa. This article reflects on earlier efforts by the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF), also under the auspices of UNDP, to prepare images of African futures, constructed by Africans, and considers some ways in which futures studies, including those of the WFSF, the World Bank and the Club of Rome, lend themselves to the manipulation of the development of other peoples.

The limits of technological optimism

‘Technological optimism’ is the doctrine that a growing number of technological improvements in such areas as food production, environmental quality and energy will sustain life as human population soars. It evolved as a response to the Malthusian study The Limits to Growth (The Club of Rome, 1972). Like population biologist Paul Ehrlich, Professor James Krier of the University of Michigan Law School believes that the technological optimists may be wrong. Krier describes how the marginal costs of pollution control increasingly rise. He faults biologist Barry Commoner for neglecting population growth as the cause of pollution and positing the postwar technological transition as its cause. He argues that population growth forced this transition as science searched for substitutes for dwindling resources. Krier criticises as “an article of faith” the technological optimists' belief that ‘S-curve’ patterns of technological advance will always arrive in response to the ‘J-curve’ of exponential population growth. He thinks that the technological optimists may be deluding humanity by predicting the continual emergence of technological breakthroughs at ever-increasing rates. He favours growth policies that would allow humanity to ease into a steady state of resource use and minimise the maximum cost, which would be a global crash after technological innovation fails. Krier laments that modern technolgy can worsen pollution and invites problems of latency, irreversibility, ‘zero-infinity’ risk and remoteness. He thinks that approapriate technologies which have failed economically may fail politically because the political process has been captured by opposing interests. Krier urges that the population crisis should be adressed instead

Journey to the Hebrides

Human ecology studies the ecology of our species: some would say the inter­ relationships between population, resources, environment and development. The Centre for Human Ecology at the University of Edinburgh was established in 1972 by the then Principal of the University and an influential group of futuristic thinkers. Some of these, most notably the Centre's first director, Professor C H Waddington, had been involved in commissioning the Club of Rome's seminal 'Limits to Growth' report. This drew attention to the planetary dangers of escalating growth in consumption and population. It laid the foundations for today's debate about sustainable and socially equitable development, which is the primary focus of our research and teaching.

The Club of Rome: The Declaration of Hannover

The Club of Rome: The Declaration of Hannover

The Club of Rome: The Mission

The Club of Rome: The Mission