Environment and human rights
(2004)
Wolfgang Sachs argues for environmental human rights as a fundamental prerequisite to end the violence of development. He outlines the numerous conflicts over natural resources in the struggle for livelihoods and argues for a transition to sustainability in the more affluent economies, in both the North and South, as a necessary condition for the safeguarding of the subsistence rights of those whose livelihood depends on direct access to nature.
National welfare is no longer an effective frame of reference for enlightened foreign policy. Policy consideration must encompass the common welfare of a world society. Environmental and resource crises are inextricably tied to security and justice. Sixty years after the founding of the United Nations there should be a new effort to establish a genuinely sustainable global order - a "San Francisco 2.0".
Comparing the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations and the Laudato si' by the Pope, both authored in 2015, one point stands out: the Development enthusiasm of the twentieth century is gone. In its place, we are now dealing with the demise of expansive modernity. The motto of the previous century (playing on words of the Lord's Prayer), "on Earth as in the West", now seems like a threat. The world is in crisis roundabout: the biosphere is being shattered and, in more ways than one, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. While both publications agree that the global economic model can now be considered old iron, there are equally significant differences. While the Agenda 2030 seeks to repair the existing global economic model significantly, the encyclical calls for a pushing back of economic hegemony and for more ethical responsibility on all levels. While the Agenda 2030 envisions a green economy with social democratic hues, the encyclical foresees a post capitalist-era, based on a cultural shift towards eco-solidarity.
Der vorliegende Artikel hat das Themenheft "Suffizienz" der Zeitschrift Umweltwirtschaftforum eröffnet. Er hat als Ausgangspunkt die These: Sowohl Dematerialisierung (Effizienz) wie Naturverträglichkeit (Konsistenz) verfehlen ihr Ziel, nämlich Nachhaltigkeit, wenn nicht das Prinzip der Selbstbeschränkung (Suffizienz) an ihre Seite tritt. Aufgefächert wird der Begriff der Suffizienz in fünf Dimensionen: Entschleunigung, Regionalität, Gemeinwohlökonomie, Commons und Lebenskunst. Der Beitrag knüpft an den Artikel "Die vier E's: Merkposten für einen maß-vollen Wirtschaftsstil" (W. Sachs, 1993) an.