The Habitability of the World in Danger
In order to complement the model of planetary boundaries and improve the analysis of the situation, the DEAL laboratory (Doughnut Economics Action Lab, Oxford, UK) has presented a ring (donut) that incorporates basic aspects related to social well-being. According to this hoop, the world is unbalanced and the habitability is at risk in several aspects. The lab calls for rejecting the goal of continued economic growth and an economy that focuses on the environment and equity, in an article published in the journal Nature.
The ring of planetary boundaries determines the minimum environmental conditions for the world to be habitable for humans in 9 key systems: biosphere integrity, climate change, land use, freshwater, phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, environmental pollutants, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosols and stratospheric ozone. The model was created in 2009 and has since been revised several times to update the situation, add more systems and, above all, include the social aspect. In fact, the problems associated with planetary boundaries affect different parts of the world, different social groups, or different people.
Minimum social needs
Therefore, researchers from the DEAL laboratory have added 12 aspects related to social welfare to the ring of planetary boundaries: food, health, education, income and employment, water, energy, connectivity, housing, equity, social cohesion, political voice and peace and justice. In addition, 35 indicators have been identified and the evolution between 200-2022 has been analysed.
According to the analysis, the global economy (global GDP) doubled in this period, but the improvement has been very slow in reducing poverty and the lack of basic services: five times faster progress should be made to meet the social goals by 2030.
At the same time, environmental degradation does not cease. The researchers have made it clear that it is essential to stop it. It would also be necessary to move towards sustainability almost twice as fast as now in order to maintain the stability of the planet by 2050.
The inequality between countries has also been highlighted: the richest countries (20% of the nations, 15% of the population) generate more than 40% of ecological abuse; and the poorest (40% of the nations, 42% of the population) suffer more than 60% of social deprivation.
Looking at environmental limits, chemical pollutants and biodiversity are the worst. On the other hand, if we look at the social aspect, the greatest imbalances are in peace and justice, in the political voice, and in income and employment.
The basis of new policies
DEAL confirms that the data from the study are useful, in macroeconomic models, to distinguish human well-being from economic growth and environmental degradation. He mentions that more than 50 local governments are already using the renewed hoop in their policies.
He also mentioned the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It recalls that the SDG specifies 169 targets, while the hoop contains only 35 indicators. However, DEAL considers that the social and ecological aspects are more balanced and that their representation is more illustrative.
He also highlights the uniqueness of the model he has presented now: it measures the percentage of the population that is below the minimum social needs, taking into account material needs (food, energy...) and not material needs (cohesion, political voice...). In any case, he admits that he has not yet directly related the social and ecological aspects.
DEAL intends to update the ring annually to move the economy away from continued growth and closer to human well-being and the health of the planet.
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