Reversing unsustainable development

Capgirar un desenvolupament insostenible

J. Sempere-Carreras, J. Pujol-Soler, J. Parés-Grahit, E. Furro, M. Crehuet

J. Sempere-Carreras, J. Pujol-Soler, J. Parés-Grahit, E. Furro, M. Crehuet

Abstract

Sustainable development aims to preserve the continuity of life and enable human development within the framework of a planet with finite resources. Physical resources include renewable flow resources such as solar radiation, the water cycle or biomass and non-renewable finite stock resources such as minerals and fossil fuels; but there are also ecosystem resources, such as environmental health and species biodiversity, essential for life.

Simply changing fossil fuels for renewable sources of energy does not in itself guarantee a change to sustainable development, although it is unavoidable to recover less devastating climate and environmental pollution scenarios.

Sustainable development at the end of the fossil age is presented as a true change of civilization. It presents multiple and different facets that need to be addressed in their entirety and interdependence and that have in common the need to reverse many practices that have been harmful to the natural environment and, in turn, to humanity.

Today there is a very broad consensus around the idea that a priority task is to face the climate emergency, trying to mitigate and reverse it as soon as possible. And this involves fundamentally changing the energy matrix, abandoning fossil fuels and building a new renewable energy system. Without recourse to the intensive and easily available energy of fossils, a new balance will have to be found in the use and management of basic resources for the sustenance of life and human civilizations; that is, energy, water, food, the natural environment and biodiversity.

The aim of this communication is to contribute to laying the foundations for this important transformation and specifically in: a) the definition of new accounting tools, both energy and economic, suitable for the new sustainable society; b) the reconversion of economic activities towards a "green" economy; c) a more balanced territorial distribution of both the population and human activities, and in particular a relocation of these activities to avoid the unsustainable hypertrophy of transport on a global scale; and d) The promotion of new values and new forms of social and political organization appropriate to the collective responsibilities of the new society.

Keywords:

Sustainable development
climate policy
energy transition
resources
Renewable energies

How to cite

J. Sempere-Carreras, J. Pujol-Soler, J. Parés-Grahit, E. Furro and M. Crehuet, Reversing unsustainable development , Abstracts_4rceec (2024). 143 URL https://www.scipedia.com/public/Sempere-Carreras_et_al_2024a

1 Title, abstract and keywords

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3 Bibliography

4 Acknowledgments

5 References

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