SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
DOUGHNUT
STYLE
2023 APRIL ISSUE
By CAROLINE KOPAS
From the Desk of the Publisher
This piece is contributed by Caroline Kopas, and again it is under our Environmental & Sustainability sector. This time she is referring to Kat Ratworth’s model that she quoted as the “Doughnut Economics”.
It is using the two rings—the inner ring and the outer ring. The inner ring is emphasizing to the social foundation which consisted of twelve criteria of living. The outer ring is referring to the nine planetary boundaries.
A lot of these things could have overlooked and for social foundation many of these things can become a separate issue no matter if it is within the western model of democracy as after all the political parties would have all their agenda that can create the shortfall in all these criteria.
The boundaries set for the nine planetary boundaries are referring to our planet Earth where all these are part of our overall environment. We need to deal with the climate change in a more precise attitude.
The last part has to do with the correct attitude as a 21st century economist.
This piece of writeup by Caroline would need some coaching in order to understand the technique to apply for the practicing. This is not a piece for casual reading.
In a world where an increasing emphasis is being put on sustainability and its many facets, a core question comes to mind: is it possible to implement sustainable actions while not hindering but rather directly facilitating development and growth? Sustainable efforts can be said to focus on issues such as overconsumption while ignoring opposite issues, such as poverty and malnutrition. Global initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals try to bridge this gap between human development and environmental sustainability by displaying the intrinsic interconnectedness between human and environmental issues. However, these initiatives are not completely recognizing of how, in many instances, human development is a required precursor—or at least a concurrent to—to sustainability. A new way of thinking about sustainable development is needed, one that is better equipped to deal with the modern, changing, and altogether widely unequal world. Economist Kate Ratworth has proposed a new model to adequately deal with these nuances, and it’s called Doughnut Economics.
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” is one of the most well-recognized definitions of sustainability. Originating from 1987’s United Nations Brundtland Commission, this definition is one of the cornerstones of Ratworth’s model. Working within the established nine planetary boundaries, Doughnut Economics speaks of human development in terms of Earth’s capacity, aiming for greater well-being and universal prosperity. Consisting of two rings, one nested within the other, Doughnut Economics is named as such because of its model’s dessert-like shape.
The inner ring is entitled “social foundation,” and it consists of various parameters that ensure a sufficient standard of living, and the outer ring is referred to as the “ecological ceiling” and is dictated by the nine planetary boundaries. Between these rings lies “the safe and just operating space for humanity,” within which is a thriving and diverse economy. Side note: the ‘just” part is just as significant as the “safe” one.
Firstly, the inner ring must be addressed considering it dictates parameters many leave forgotten. Meeting the social foundation means adequate access to the following criteria: energy, water, food, health, education, income and work, peace and justice, political voice, social equity, gender equality, housing, and networks. Not meeting this foundation dictates a shortfall, where the needs of the present are not being met. Currently, for all of these issues, many global communities are facing a shortfall while others are overshooting. This means that in order to develop sustainability, emphasis must be placed on meeting the needs of these communities and facilitating an equal and satisfactory standard of well-being for Earth’s human inhabitants.
Notice how many parameters dictate some form of equity and freedom. This is important because, without basic freedoms and equality, the meeting of this social foundation cannot be achieved. This intrinsically ties government, policy, and social norms with this model. This is not to be said that any form of social construct that exists outside the western model of republicanism and capitalism cannot exist congruently with development, but rather that every citizen of the Earth is entitled to their civil rights and liberties, which includes a fair, equitable, and transparent state of residence. Now, for the outer ring. An overshoot of this ring is the surpassing of the established nine planetary boundaries.
These boundaries are as follows, in no notable order:
- Stratospheric ozone depletion
- Loss of biosphere integrity
- Chemical pollution/novel entities
- Climate change
- Ocean acidification
- Freshwater consumption and the global hydrological cycle
- Land system change
- Nitrogen and phosphorus flows to the biosphere and oceans, and Atmospheric aerosol loading.
Marked with a lot of scientific jargon, in sum, these boundaries are various environmental facets that are being stressed by human activity. Although boundary does not equate to capacity, the surpassing of all of these boundaries does not allow for an adequate space for humanity to live comfortably in. In fact, similarly to the social foundation, humanity has exceeded this boundary in several criteria, the most egregious being biodiversity loss, and the others, less severe but just as consequential and important, being climate change and the nitrogen cycle.
So now that it’s established that humanity has both overshot and fallen short of the concentric safe and just operating space ring, aka, the doughnut, how to rectify these failures it has to be acknowledged. Firstly, one must look at the big picture and past age-old economic principles that fail to acknowledge many forgotten parts of society. This will allow for a more holistic and empathetic worldview that is a greater harbinger for meaningful change than a narrow and unadaptable one. One also must realize that the earth’s systems, both ecological and human, are highly interdependent and complex, and that sustainability is all-encompassing, benefits everyone, and paves the way for a more united and regenerative society that acknowledges the world’s differences. This allows for a model that is uniquely adapted to the needs of the twenty-first century.
In other words, thriving in today’s world means living within the doughnut.
