106 research outputs found
Sustainability, economic restructuring and social change
In what could perhaps be referred to as the postmodernist mother of
fiction - the novel 'Haroun and the sea of stories' - Salman
Rushdie at one point puts his main character Haroun in a mail coach
driven by a Mr Butt, on a rocky, windy, slippery road high up in the
mountains, trying to reach a certain point before sunset. Faster and
faster the bus goes, no longer stopping even to collect or deposit mail,
frightening the passengers, but Mr Butt disregards their howls. Then
Mr Butt sees another dangerous bit of road ahead and exclaims: 'The
snow line! Icy patches ahead! Crumbling road surface! Hairpin bends!
Danger of avalanches! ... ' and quite contrary to what Haroun had hoped,
Mr Butt then turns his observations into a possibly fatal conclusion by
shouting to himself: 'Full speed ahead' (Rushdie, p.36). I tell this story
- which, incidentally, has a happy ending - because I regard Mr
Butt's attitude as illustrative of the archetypical mainstream economist's
response to almost any problem he or she may be confronted.
with: they are very likely to conclude their analysis by recommending
more economic growth - to develop at full speed. In a context of trying
to contribute to sustainable development from a social science perspective,
I think there is much more - if not much else - to say. We should
learn from the warning on the wall near the exit of the bus station where
Haroun read:
If from speed (read: growth - JBO) you get your thrill,
Take precaution - make your will
This inaugural address marks my passage from the domain of environmental
economics to the wider one of development studies, and the
bridge between the two is called 'sustainable development'
Klimaatverandering, wetenschap en debat
De KNAW is ervan overtuigd dat er geen aanleiding meer is de gevolgen van de toegenomen concentratie kooldioxide en andere broeikasgassen in de atmosfeer te bagatelliseren of weg te wuiven. Ook al zou de klimaatverandering milder uitpakken dan verwacht dan nog is het, in het kader van andere overwegingen zoals zorg om toekomstige energievoorziening en duurzame ontwikkeling, verstandig in het beleid rekening te houden met de klimaatverandering zoals die wordt verwacht in de rapporten van het IPCC
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