ECO-ECONOMY

Lester Brown is one of the most widely influential environmental thinkers whose Worldwatch Institute produces its annual volume on The State of the World, which I review every year in Network. Recently he has moved to form the Earth Policy Institute (www.earth-policy.org where you can sign up for their regular updates) and this book is its first output. It is one of Brown's most ambitious and important books yet. Progress reports are one thing but a route map for change is another. The fundamental issue is a simple one: is economy a subset of ecology or ecology a subset of economy? Our present system follows the second mode, but this leads to inherently unsustainable practices, which are exacerbated by basic differences in thinking patterns: ecologists think in terms of cycles, limits, support systems and by-products of growth while economists concentrate on growth and markets with a linear style of thinking. If ecology is translated into economic terms then the natural system is an endowment on which we can draw interest but must beware of eroding the capital base. An introductory chapter on the economy and the earth is followed by a more detailed analysis the stressed relationship between the two, first in terms of climate and water, then the biological base. Much of this will be familiar to readers but the scope is disturbing when taken together: melting icecaps, more destructive storms, dried up rivers, falling water tables, fisheries collapse, shrinking forests, depleted rangeland, eroding soils and species disappearance. All of this is amply documented and one appreciates how feedback loops make it an unpredictable system. The second part is more constructive, looking at the shape of the emerging eco-economy and calculating the value of services provided by the environment. Four chapters follow, on the solar-hydrogen economy, the new materials economy, food, protection of forests and redesigning cities for people. Then the third part explains a strategy for getting from here to there through stabilisation of population, restructuring the economy and means of accelerating the transition. Brown's proposals for new energy rely heavily on a transition to wind power and the development of new types of car engines. Much can be done along these lines but I suspect a series of technological breakthroughs will be required, which will have to be followed by a political process that could stifle inventions that threaten the livelihood of large corporations. Materials are an area that deserves close attention. New York produces 12,000 tons of garbage a day, which now have to be taken distances of up to 300 miles since the closure of the Fresh Kills landfill site in March 2001. This translates into 600 lorries carrying 20 tons each. This situation will be reproduced in other cities if comprehensive recycling schemes are not adopted – even now New York could encourage more recycling at least of the 35% of paper rubbish. Nor are such schemes hot air: Brown describes a highly successful one in Brazil which has the additional advantage of generating a good deal of employment. We also need to take a close look at pollutants, beverage containers and even the cyanide used in the process of extracting gold. The third part is partly about ensuring that the market sends honest signals by getting it to tell the ecological truth, as Ernst von Weizsacker observed. This can be achieved both through legal and fiscal measures as well as through education. Some of this education can take place via the media, as Brown illustrates through the family planning or literacy plots of a soap operas in Mexico. Governments need to refocus subsidies away from support of cars and fossil fuels. The World Resources Institute calculates that the Federal Government's expenditure on roads and related infrastructure exceeds income by $111bn a year. Brown uses the devastation caused by AIDS as an example of what happens when governments delay their response to a threat. In the same way, the governments of India and China are letting the water tables fall. Both governments and the media have important roles to play. Governments need a shared global vision and an understanding of the fiscal restructuring needed to realise the vision. The balances in nature will eventually be re-established willy-nilly. The only question is how. Encouragingly, the separate necessary measures have already been taken by individual countries, but not across the board. We need regular indicators by which to assess government performance. Then the media can play a role in helping bring about a broad change in our public priorities and private behaviour. One current drawback is that they are not organised to deal with global issues and trends since any major news organisation is set up with a national and a foreign desk. Companies and NGOs, not to mention individuals, can all play a constructive part. In answer to the question: is it too late? Brown responds: too late for what? Too late to save the Aral Sea – yes, the fish are already dead. But not too late to reverse trends that will eventually lead to economic decline. However this demands a much more co-ordinated and concerted effort than hitherto. As Oystein Dahle, retired Vice-President of Esso for Norway remarked: 'Socialism collapsed because it did not allow prices to tell the economic truth. Capitalism may collapse because it does not allow prices to tell the ecological truth'. We all have a duty to remain informed on these matters and bring what influence we have individually and collectively to bear on accelerating a change of thinking, values, priorities and policies. This book gives the reader the tools to do just this.