2013/09/02 by Michael S. Dittmar, Dittmar, Michael · 1 citation
Energy · Environmental Science · #FOS: Economics and business #FOS: Physical sciences #General Finance (q-fin.GN) #Global Energy and Sustainability Research #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Popular Physics (physics.pop-ph) #Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1309.0348
openalex publication_date 2013/09/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The scientific data about the state of our planet, presented at the 2012\n(Rio+20) summit, documented that today's human family lives even less\nsustainably than it did in 1992. The data indicate furthermore that the\nenvironmental impacts from our current economic activities are so large, that\nwe are approaching situations where potentially controllable regional problems\ncan easily lead to uncontrollable global disasters.\n Assuming that (1) the majority of the human family, once adequately informed,\nwants to achieve a "sustainable way of life" and (2) that the "development\ntowards sustainability" roadmap will be based on scientific principles, one\nmust begin with unambiguous and quantifiable definitions of these goals. As\nwill be demonstrated, the well known scientific method to define abstract and\ncomplex issues by their negation, satisfies these requirements. Following this\nnew approach, it also becomes possible to decide if proposed and actual\npolicies changes will make our way of life less unsustainable, and thus move us\npotentially into the direction of sustainability. Furthermore, if potentially\ndangerous tipping points are to be avoided, the transition roadmap must include\nsome minimal speed requirements. Combining the negation method and the time\nevolution of that remaining natural capital in different domains, the\ntransition speed for a "development towards sustainability" can be quantified\nat local, regional and global scales.\n The presented ideas allow us to measure the rate of natural capital depletion\nand the rate of restoration that will be required if humanity is to avoid\nreaching a sustainable future by a collapse transition.\n