It is one thing to suggest a general outline of policies, but it is something else entirely to say how we will secure the will, strength, and clarity of purpose to carry out these policies—especially when we have treated growth as the summum bonum for the past century. Such will requires a major change in philosophical vision and ethical practice, a shift that is hardly guaranteed even in light of the increasingly perilous circumstances in which the planet finds itself. Spash, C.L. ( 2018). Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics: Nature and Society. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. This handbook describes the advanced state of the development of ecological economics since its beginnings in the 1980s. The early critique of mainstream economics and the discussion of environmental degradation and limits to growth developed into a rich interdisciplinary subject with a polyphony of critical voices, approaches and theories in a variety of research themes. Two salient perspectives include the broadening of the thematic scope of ecological economics to “social ecological economics”, and the transformation to another future economy and society as a guiding perspective for which the development of ideas about a post-growth society is the signpost. The subject develops through interdisciplinary knowledge gathering and integration, with knowledge from social- and natural-scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches, especially heterodox economics and political ecology. This provides a continuously improved understanding of biophysical and social reality and their interrelations. Norgaard, R. (1994). Development Betrayed: The End of Progress and a Coevolutionary Revisioning of the Future. London: Routledge. Oceans cover approximately 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and hold about 97 percent of the Earth’s water. They are essential for regulating the planetary system by driving the climate and weather systems and by influencing the global carbon cycle. Oceans capture and store 54 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide humans emit, 9 thus being our best ally in fighting climate change. They also provide ecological services like coastal protection, nutrient cycling, and degradation of organic wastes (toxin neutralization). Oceans supply numerous biotic and abiotic resources from fish and marine biotechnology to minerals, oil and gas, and renewable energy. It is assessed that the global capacity of wave and tidal energy systems could exceed that of about 120 nuclear reactors, as 80 percent of the potential kinetic energy from waves can be converted into electricity. 10 Oceans also provide social and economic goods and services like tourism, recreation, and marine transportation for both goods and people. Thousands of ships are crossing the ocean daily carrying 90 percent of all internationally traded goods, according to the International Maritime Organization. In the Netherlands, where already floating houses exist, an aquatic architecture firm DeltaSync is working to design and develop the first self-sufficient floating city in the world. What is the optimal scale of economic and social activities that can take place in the ocean?

This is despite notable contributions from Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and Kenneth Boulding. See Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971); Kenneth Boulding, “The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth,” in Environmental Quality in a Growing Economy, ed. H. Jarrett (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), 3-14. Rees, W. (2014). Avoiding Collapse: An Agenda for Sustainable Degrowth and Relocalizing the Economy. Vancouver: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Victor, P.A., & Dolter, B. (Eds.). ( 2017). Handbook on Growth and Sustainability. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Give your favorite gardener an antidote to the winter blues. The lush photographs of Wild by Design, and inspirational advice on cultivating landscapes in tune with nature, transport readers to spectacular parks, gardens, and far-flung forests. This book is guaranteed to be well-thumbed and underlined by the time spring planting season arrives!Rees, W. E. (2003). Economic development and environmental protection: An ecological economics perspective. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 86(1–2), 29–45. The remaining perspective is the steady-state subsystem. It does not attempt to eliminate the subsystem boundary, either by expanding it to coincide with the whole system or by reducing it to nothing. Rather, it affirms both the interdependence and the qualitative difference between the human economy and the natural ecosystem. The boundary must be recognized and drawn in the right place. The scale of the human subsystem defined by the boundary has an optimum, and the throughput by which the ecosphere physically maintains and replenishes the economic subsystem must be ecologically sustainable. The goal of the economy is to minimize the low-entropy used up to attain a sufficient standard of living—by sifting it slowly and carefully through efficient technologies aimed at important purposes. The economy should not be viewed as an idiot machine dedicated to maximizing waste. Its ultimate purpose is the maintenance and enjoyment of life for a long time (not forever) at a sufficient level of wealth for a good (not luxurious) life. It is clear from Figure 1 that the transition from empty to full world involves both costs and benefits. The brown arrow from Economy to Welfare represents economic services (benefits from the economy). It is small in the empty world but large in the full world. It grows at a diminishing rate because, as rational beings, we satisfy our most important wants first—the law of diminishing marginal utility. The costs of growth are represented by the shrinking ecosystem services (green arrow) that are large in the empty world but small in the full world. It diminishes at an increasing rate as the ecosystem is displaced by the economy because we—in theory—sacrifice the least important ecosystem services first—the law of increasing marginal costs. Cato, M. S. (2009). Green economics: An introduction to theory, policy and practice. London: Earthscan, Dustan House.

Spash, C. L., & Ryan, A. M. (2010). Ecological, Heterodox and Neoclassical Economics: Investigating the Differences. München: Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), paper 26292. Herman Daly is an American ecological economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States. He was Senior Economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank, where he helped to develop policy guidelines related to sustainable development. While there, he was engaged in environmental operations work in Latin America. He is closely associated with theories of a Steady state economy.Altvater, E. (1992). Der Preis des Wohlstands oder Umweltplünderung und neue Welt(un)ordnung. Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot.

Since GDP reflects both harmful and beneficial activity, ecological economists have not considered it to be a desideratum in itself. Instead, they have distinguished growth (quantitative increase in size by accretion or assimilation of matter) from development (qualitative improvement in design, technology, or ethical priorities). Ecological economists advocate development without growth—qualitative improvement without quantitative increase in resource throughput beyond an ecologically sustainable scale. Given this distinction, one could indeed say that there is no necessary conflict between qualitative development and the environment. GDP accounting mixes together both growth and development, as well as costs and benefits. It thus confuses more than it clarifies. Atkinson, G., Dietz, S., & Neumayer, E. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of Sustainable Development. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

GreenCom and Academy for Educational Development. (Eds.). (2000). Environmental Education and Communication for a Sustainable World: Handbook for International Practitioners. Washington, DC: Academy for Educational Development. This essay has been adapted from a speech delivered on the occasion of the Blue Planet Prize, Tokyo, November 2014.