amazon highlights: The Cheap Guide to Sustainability & CSR / Leo Raudys / 2016

the only truly sustainable economy is one in which resources are infinitely reused for some other purpose, whether it be through sharing, reuse or recycling.

Entropy being what it is, we may never reach a state of a fully circular economy

The main idea behind CSV is that a business can generate incremental value or wealth by placing social and environmental issues at the core of its overall business strategy.

socially responsible investing (SRI). The objective of SRI is to generate better returns by investing in companies that meet or exceed high standards of environmental and social performance.

Finding out what really matters to your business as it relates to your impact on the world.

Natural capital includes the geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms on Earth.

Global Citizen www.globalcitizen.org  Global NGO focused on fostering grassroots engagement on big challenges such as sustainability, poverty and inequality. Impressive mobilization efforts, particularly among millennials.

US Green Building Council (USGBC) www.usgbc.org Membership-based non-profit focused on promoting sustainability in the built environment. Owns and operates the LEED certification program.

Climate Counts www.climatecounts.org A collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together to address climate change. Climate Counts issues a scorecard that evaluates the performance and commitment of companies working to reduce their impact on the Earth’s climate.

Sustainable Brands www.sustainablebrands.com Information resource and convener of conferences worldwide that are among the most well attended. Excellent resource, particularly for those who operate on the branding side of the business.

Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) www.rila.org/sustainability/Pages/SustainabilityHome.aspx  Trade association for the retail industry. Operates a very active sustainability program for its members.

amazon highlights: Moving to a Finite Earth Economy - Crew Manual 3 of 3 / David Houle ve Bob Leonard / 2019

We can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet. A carbon-based, market-driven economy can work, but it will look quite different than the growth-based capitalism we are used to. Cooperation and collaboration must replace competition.

At Every Level, Global to Personal. Nations are currently the highest level of political and governmental organizations. The current problem is that nations think nationalistically, not globally. Humans are the only species to have political boundaries.”

Utopia is not certain, but is a true possibility. It can be reached if we think, coordinate and act with an all-inclusive systems approach. 

Oblivion as manifested by a collapse of civilization will happen if we do not take urgent action to move to a Finite Earth Economy. We must ALL become active crew members on Spaceship Earth.

Strategic Retreat:  It is the planned and managed relocation of millions of people triggered by extreme weather, droughts, floods and Sea Level Rise [SLR]. It is impossible to determine exactly the number of people who will be forced to migrate due to climate change. most of the large cities threatened by SLR are in Asia. There will be tens of millions of people forced to move due to SLR. Where will they go? Will there be compensation for the lost value of their coastal homes? Who will pay for their resettlement?  Insurance companies (especially reinsurers) have seen this coming for decades.  Will they pick up the tab? Will the state or federal governments? Hardly likely.  On average, 26 million people are displaced by disasters such as floods and storms every year.  Since there has never been a refugee problem due to climate change, it has not been incorporated into legal definitions. All refugee laws (national and international) must be rewritten. Climate refugees and strategic retreat are an opportunity for global compassion, collaboration and cooperation. Humanity must start to discuss, strategize and plan for the coming migration of over 100 million people in the next 30 years. Humanity must face and accept that extreme weather is the new norm, and take action to manage the risks. Humanity must accept that Sea Level Rise is occurring and should plan for it, budget for it, and construct infrastructure to manage it.

Population and Family Planning: population growth and climate change are two sides of the same coin Having one fewer child will save 58.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year.  “Clearly, the potential savings from reduced reproduction are huge compared to the savings that can be achieved by changes in lifestyle.” To keep a population at a constant number, the replacement rate requires an average birth rate of 2.1 children per woman. The developed countries are mostly under this 2.1 number and countries in Africa and Asia are mostly above. Empowering and educating women is a primary area of focus in our move to a Finite Earth Economy Women should have the full say on how many children to have. Africa and Asia represent the biggest challenge (and largest opportunity) for population planning. Overpopulation causes more suffering than population planning.

Nation States: The benefit of this Fee and Dividend is that it is a financial redistribution from those that create carbon emissions to the citizens of the country. It has been estimated that the $40/ton fee will generate an annual dividend of approximately $2,000 for each family of four. The dividend offsets the increased cost consumers will pay at the pump and elsewhere. it could replace tariffs. A key principle is to tax the behaviors we want less of.

Tax what is bad. all currently tax-exempt entities such as religious groups and nonprofits must pay some discounted rate based upon their carbon footprint. Nonprofits don’t get taxed today because they exist in a profit-based economy. In a Finite Earth Economy, taxes are based on GHG emissions. The “nonprofit” will change to “non-carbon”. In the Population chapter we showed that the decision to have a child is the single most impactful carbon emissions decision a family can make. Given that 2.1 children per child-bearing woman is the replacement rate, there is a $20,000 one-time carbon fee due for child number three and any subsequent child.

it is a good time to create a non-military national service.  Every country can create some form of national service that confronts climate change issues. The economic and other benefits of these Crews could solve multiple social and economic problems. We use US metrics here: Everyone gets paid $15 an hour. These mandatory service crews will largely be comprised of people who are 18 to 24 years old. Unemployed older citizens will be offered an employment opportunity if they choose to take it. For every year worked (minimum two years), each crew member would get a $10,000 credit for higher education, to be used within 5 years. This addresses the horribly high costs of college and universities. This benefit would be capped at $50,000 for five years. Widely implemented, this will create a national spirit of collaboration and cooperation… all working toward the common good. Different countries will have different agendas.

Corporations: as governments reach their limits of functionality and authority, corporations can step into the void. They (due to their size, resources and talents), will be leaders in the move to a Finite Earth Economy. They are often large GHG emitters. Their emissions must be cut drastically and eliminated altogether within a couple of decades. The move from monetary growth measurement to emissions reduction measurement will be the most difficult to undertake. between now and 2030, no growth in sales is the new target. Again, a difficult cultural and mind set transition. They will now need to promote non-consumption. Note to those that think ‘big bad corporations don’t care’ about climate change and their responsibility in helping to create it: this is why we must move to a carbon emissions/carbon footprint tax base. We will be moving from a focus on shareholders to a focus on stakeholders. Selling with the new metrics of the Finite Earth Economy creates an entirely new sense of collaboration between seller and buyer, between company and customers. advertising and marketing are in direct conflict with saving civilization.

States and Provinces: Make it clear to all state employees and citizens that we have entered a new age – The Age of Climate Change. And we must all evolve our mindsets from being passive passengers to active crew members on Spaceship Earth.  Levy a purchase tax on all internal combustion engine vehicles. Based not on cost, but upon miles per gallon which convert to carbon emissions. Inform state residents that in the near future (establish a date), highway lanes will be allocated to encourage EVs. Some states and provinces have a personal income tax. These states would move from an income tax to a carbon footprint tax. States and provinces could provide trees to plant at a nominal cost. These would be the types of trees that survive best in the state’s climate and also absorb the greatest amount of CO2. Distributed energy is more resilient to natural disasters. States can provide a tax credit for the installation of “grey water” systems in homes and businesses. Grey water is water that has been used more than once. Fresh water is supplied to a home or business. Allow citizens and businesses to capture rainwater. Perhaps lawn could be allowed IF they are irrigated using a grey water system. The energy source and carbon footprint for all buildings must be transparent to city and state authorities (as well as the property owners).

Cities: Cities are the future of humanity. It was in 2013 that, for the first time, more than 50% of all humanity lived in an urban setting. That number is now 54%. Almost every population forecast increases that to 70% by sometime in the 2040s. Cities are where the majority of humanity lives. They also can move more quickly than states and nations, so they must lead the other levels of government to a Finite Earth Economy. Every year an increasing percentage of humans will live in cities. Megacities – those with more than 10 million people – will grow in number, and will increasingly be where human culture and commerce occur. There are a number of ways that city governance can trigger change and they all must be considered. What they do and how they do it will vary by location, climate and size of the city.

Personal – Becoming Crew: Every dollar we spend is a vote: 

We are voting for where our food is produced – if it must be transported long distances, or is locally and organically grown.

We are voting for the ingredients that comprise each product we buy – are they toxic chemicals or non-biodegradable plastics?

We are voting for how much waste is generated in the manufacture of each product.

We are voting for the entire impact the product will have throughout its useful life and after it’s disposed of.

Think before you buy. Do you really need a new sweater? How many are sitting in your dresser drawer? Is your urge for a new sweater prompted by a need to stay warm, or is it because your sweater is no longer in style? “Fast fashion” is a major contributor to global warming. The fashion industry was responsible for 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2015. Buy quality over quantity. Have two sweaters in that dresser drawer instead of six.

Neighborhood: Alternative Transportation Challenge, Bike and Transit Buddy Programs, Bulk Energy Purchasing, Bulk Food Buying Clubs, Clean Up and Recycling Event, Community Composting, Community Vegetable Gardens, Neighborhood Green Business Agreements, Neighborhood Tool & Resource Sharing Programs, Neighborhood Tree Planting, Weatherization Teams

 “It isn’t enough to do our best, sometimes we have to do what is required.” – Winston Churchill

Saving Civilization: Darwin suggested in his 1859 book “The Origin of Species” that in the 5,000 years prior, evolution had accelerated. This was due to the creation of civilization, religion, laws, government, culture, language, education and, of course, commerce.  Evolutionary biologists have argued that from 1859 to the early part of the 21st century, in 150 years, humanity has achieved a leap of evolution rivalling the prior 5,000 years.

Today with the unfolding of big data, machine learning, global connectivity and accelerating breakthroughs in medicine, energy and Brain Machine Interface (BMI), we might well achieve another evolutionary leap by the year 2050 or 2060. We are ever accelerating, ever growing in complexity and functionality. Unfortunately, as we stand on this evolutionary threshold, we also are facing a global climate crisis. Every prior apex species has collapsed. Most for the same reasons… as byproducts of their success. They died out from overpopulation and resource depletion.

The 6th Extinction Event is well underway. It is of our own making. 200 years ago, there were one billion people on earth. Today we are almost eight times as many.  Yet the Earth and its finite resources has not expanded. Living in growth economies, with ever more people, has now run its course, and is the cause of what we must now face, together.  To ensure that our species has a chance to take the next evolutionary step, we must face this climate crisis with urgency.

Loosely speaking, Capitalism is now degrading Democracy. It is hard to think of an existing Democracy that has not been corrupted by money. Wealth inequality is putting both Capitalism and Democracy at risk. The endless pursuit of growth has hit the wall of a finite planet. It is truly time to let go of the status quo. Business as usual is killing us. We need to create a new form of capitalism that will put humanity, all living things and earth first.

Urgency is the state we must move to. The cost of not rising to this challenge is an uninhabitable home – for us, our progeny, and most other life on the planet. We must accept the reality that global warming is accelerating faster than expected. 

In the U.S., a large part of the Defense budget is reallocated to the development of technologies to address climate change. The Pentagon determined that this expenditure was more effective in increasing safety and stability than the purchase of more advanced weaponry.

Asimov concluded with… “In the same way, democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive overpopulation. Convenience and decency cannot survive overpopulation. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn’t matter if someone dies, the more people there are, the less one individual matters.”

amazon highlights: Moving To Finite Earth Economy - Crew Manual 2 of 3 / David Houle & Bob Leonard / 2019

Fundamental Metrics Must Change

Here are the metrics of Growth Economies. There are two types of indicators you need to be aware of: Leading indicators often change prior to large economic adjustments and, as such, can be used to predict future trends. Lagging indicators, however, reflect the economy’s historical performance and changes to these are only identifiable after an economic trend or pattern has already been established.

Leading Indicators: Stock Market Manufacturing Activity Inventory Levels Retail Sales Building Permits Housing Market Level of New Business Startups

Lagging Indicators: Changes in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Income and Wages Unemployment Rate Consumer Price Index (Inflation) Currency Strength

Interest Rates Corporate Profits Balance of Trade Value of Commodity Substitutes to U.S. Dollar Growth Economy metrics reward behaviors that lead to pollution, poor health, depression and destruction of the biosphere’s ability to support life. First, the United States has the single largest GDP in the world. It must lead the way as it represents the greatest opportunity to reach 70% clean energy by 2030.  Second, if you look at the top ten countries by GDP you will see that all except India – and still large parts of western China – are relatively wealthy. The wealthy countries must lead the way. The poor countries do not have the resources for rapid transformation.

There is a good deal of overlap between the list by GDP and the list by level of GHG emissions. Actions taken by the major polluters and largest/most resilient economies can bring the world to 70% clean energy by 2030. The implementation of a Carbon Fee and Dividend policy is the most important step to take in every major economy. Fee and Dividend is based on the Free Market Economics of Milton Friedman.  It will immediately increase the cost of carbon, resulting in a decrease in fossil fuel use and emissions. Receiving a $2,000 check for a family of four will be welcomed. Consumers/voters will support an increase to $50/60/70 a ton because their annual dividend checks would increase accordingly. This is why it must be a Fee and not a Tax, so the money goes back to the consumers and voters, not government coffers. This is a wealth redistribution from the largest emitters to the individual citizens that aligns all with the end goal of zero emissions. Every organization of every size, from individuals to the largest  multinational corporations will be rewarded or penalized on their carbon footprints. The list of concepts that all citizens should understand will include the cost to nature of agriculture, manufacturing, transportation. Education on all aspects of the Circular Economy and the deadly costs of carbon will be universal.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created in 1933 by FDR to combat unemployment. The CCC was responsible for building many public works projects that are still in use today. This is particularly relevant to today as there is so much work to be done in every country: planting trees, restoring habitats destroyed by pollution and toxic chemicals, cleaning up plastic waste, etc. These projects will put millions of unemployed and underemployed people to work. If these projects were folded into a mandatory two-year national service with the initial purpose of working on all things that will result in habitat restoration and emissions reductions, there would be an alignment that would not only train young people, but would create a society that values cooperation. By 2030, 50% of all cars in the U.S. will be electric vehicles. Subsidize, and therefore accelerate, the movement to ever better battery technology for air travel, municipal buses and trains. Incentivize private industry to support this needed and massive undertaking in every country.

The New Metrics:  “Tell me how you measure me, and I will tell you how I will behave.” – Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Moving to a Finite Earth Economy is NOT about ending Capitalism. It is recasting it with an ‘earth first’ and ‘humanity first’ focus. Possible New Metrics are:

 The Social Cost of Carbon: The social cost of carbon reflects the global damage of emitting one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, accounting for its impact in the form of warming temperatures, more severe storms, rising sea levels, etc. It’s what we should be willing to pay to avoid emitting that one more ton of carbon. In real ways, this is the truest and most important metric relative to living in a carbon fueled economy.

Moving Earth Overshoot Day Back This metric addresses levels of consumption and waste. Earth Overshoot Day (the date in the current year when humanity has used 100% of the resources the planet can regenerate) is now in early August. Ideally it should be after midnight on December 31. By country there is a wide range of national Earth Overshoot Days. Honduras is the only country that is at 12/31. Luxembourg is the earliest at 2/17. Australia, Canada and the U.S. are close together at 3/12, 3/13 and 3/14 respectively. Much of Europe is May and June. China is 6/23 and Brazil is 7/26. The The bigger a country’s economy and the earlier its Overshoot date, the more that country is living beyond its resource means. Those countries must take the most drastic and immediate action.6 To no longer regard declining GDP as a negative phenomenon, we need to evolve to regarding the movement of Earth Overshoot Day back every year as a sign of success.

Percentage of Total Energy that is Fossil Fuels: The rapid conversion away from fossil fuels to all forms of clean, non-polluting energy is crucial. Currently the percentage of global energy that is obtained from fossil fuels is 77%.7 This number is now measured annually.  The 2030 goal is no more than 30% of global energy provided by fossil fuels.

Global and National Annual Totals of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Currently humanity is emitting approximately 37 gigatons of greenhouse gases each year. GHG emissions are invisible. The several millimeter rise in sea level each year is hard to see. It is essential that these top 20 emitting countries lead the way. If the goal is to limit energy from fossil fuels to 30% by 2030, these top 20 countries, currently responsible for 79% of emissions, could get to 10% and the other 175 countries would not have to do anything at all. At the very least, the United States, China and the Eurozone must bear the largest burden as they are the largest three producers of greenhouse gases in the world – currently and historically.

Business Sector Percentages of Total Emissions: Different segments of the economy will experience different degrees of difficulty in reducing their respective emissions totals. The most straightforward position is to move on all sectors at once, keeping the overall goal in focus: lowering GHG emissions every year.

Reduction of CO2 Parts Per Million (PPM) in Atmosphere:  As of this writing, the CO2 PPM in earth’s atmosphere has reached the highest number in three million years. It is at 415 PPM. This is the critical issue relative to global warming and hence climate change.  Even dramatically reduced annual emissions will add to this PPM number. Resident CO2 continues to accumulate as CO2 stays in the atmosphere for decades and even centuries. We must measure this number on an annual basis with the goal of reducing it to 350 or below by 2030

Essential Technologies

Energy: The goal is to transition off fossil fuels ASAP. Fossil Fuels. Wind and Solar- Solar and wind currently represent 7% of energy used globally6 and 10% of U.S. energy. Hydroelectric- Hydroelectric power currently supplies 18% of global energy usage. Geothermal- Geothermal currently comprises only 1% of global energy usage. Ocean Energy- It refers to the renewable kinetic energy (i.e. motion) derived from waves and tides. Nuclear- It will be an integral technology on our journey to a Finite Earth Economy by 2030. The arguments for nuclear are rational and based upon hard data and critical need. The arguments against it are based on emotion and misperceptions. Space-Based Solar Power. Energy Storage Technology. Future Sources of Energy: Nuclear Fusion- ITER will be the first fusion device to produce net energy (produces more energy than what was required to generate it). ITER will be the first fusion device to maintain fusion for long periods of time. Agricultural Technologies- The agriculture business sector is the largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore a top priority to change how and where food is grown, and what technologies might help in the lowering of emissions.

Regenerative Permaculture

Lab-based Meat - The production of meat, particularly beef, comes at a high cost. It is the least efficient way to deliver nutrients to humans. It generates massive amounts of greenhouse gases in its production and transportation. Other undesirable factors of meat production include that animals must be slaughtered, and the antibiotics and growth hormones given to them at factory farms are then consumed by humans. If current meat production processes were replaced with lab-grown meat, it is estimated that 40% less energy would be required, 80% less land would be needed, and 80 to 90% less water would be used.

Transportation Automotive - 100 years ago, society moved from horse and buggy to internal combustion engine.  Now we are moving from internal combustion to electric and perhaps hydrogen powered vehicles.

Autonomous Vehicles - The technology is viable, but there will be a lag time before the public, and many legislators, are ready to accept cars without drivers on the open roads. Here are some statistics that may help. 97% of all driving fatalities globally are due to “driver error”. The other major statistic is that in the U.S. the average car is used only 5% of the time. Now, envision a reality where there are autonomous cars constantly on the streets, roads and highways 20 to 22 hours a day (autonomous EVs will drive themselves to a charging station a couple of times a day). They are always available to people who need a lift. This means that by 2030 there could be half as many cars on the road as today. People would still be able to get where they need to be when they need to get there… and they’ll spend a lot less to do so. We don’t need to spend hundreds of billions on light rail or some other costly endeavor. We have the green infrastructure in place: the Interstate Highway system! With half as many cars on the road, traffic will be a non-issue. This will allow governments at all levels to save money on unnecessary infrastructure projects and instead invest in helping citizens transition from a car culture to a shared vehicle culture.

Air Travel - The good news about air travel is that it has roughly an 81% occupancy rate, making it the most efficient in terms of passenger load. The bad news is that air travel accounts for approximately 12% of all GHG emissions. In the past couple of years there has been a nascent development of electric batteries for air travel.

Technological Environmentalism / Fourth Wave of Environmentalism

Drawdown This is the strategic, data driven effort to reduce existing and future GHG emissions by reengineering how we do things and what we can use as intelligent replacements to the current carbon intensive reality of today. It can be used as an umbrella term for any technology or process that reduces carbon emissions (whether at the source or by removing CO2 from the atmosphere).

Carbon Capture This is the process of capturing carbon that is a byproduct of fossil fuel production.  It is primarily used in the processing of “clean coal”.48  The current limitation to the growth of its use is that a C02 aftermarket has not fully developed. In addition to reuse, the carbon that is captured can also be sequestered. This technology must be further developed to increase efficiency and to lower cost. Then it must be deployed to every source of fossil fuel production. ASAP.

Sequestration This is the back end of carbon capture. It takes C02 and sequesters it in the earth, deep underground or elsewhere in a fashion that prevents the CO2 from escaping back into the atmosphere.

Carbon Offsets The idea is that if I do not have a carbon neutral footprint, then I can buy or invest in a carbon capture plan to offset my carbon emissions. Paying for the planting of trees is a simple example. A tree can consume up to 48 pounds of C02 per year.49 To improve on that, artificial trees are being produced and sold  that can absorb more than 1000 times that. The other option is to invest/buy into one of the above carbon technologies as an offset.

Direct Air Capture Direct air capture scrubs CO2 directly from the ambient air. Removing CO2 to reduce the amount resident in the atmosphere is a major goal.

Atmospheric Cleansing This is a future technology to reduce C02 in higher altitudes of the atmosphere.  There has been research done on how the upper atmosphere cleanses itself of pollutants and that it can be a balanced process.

Seawater Capture Seawater capture is akin to direct air capture, except CO2 is extracted from seawater instead of air. By reducing CO2 concentration in the ocean, the water then draws in more carbon from the air to regain balance.

Enhanced Weathering Some minerals naturally react with CO2, turning carbon from a gas into a solid. The process is commonly referred to as “weathering,” and it typically happens very slowly – on a geological timescale.

High Risk Technologies Geoengineering   Geoengineering is the creation of massive engineering projects to significantly alter Earth’s atmosphere to offset global warming.

Timelines and Attainable Milestones It is essential to have a global mobilization on all fronts. The top 10 polluting countries must take the lead and must be held accountable by the rest of the world. All metrics set forth in this book – and others that will be adopted – must be accomplished by the suggested timeline above. Daily measurements of all metrics are taken and communicated to all of humanity. Urgency must be internalized in all levels of society. Some nations will move more quickly than others. Citizens will push their political leaders to meet their national commitments.

Design and Redesign We are living in a world primarily designed for a population of 2.5 billion. In 1950 there were 2.5 billion people alive. Today in 2019 there are approximately 7.7 billion! Humanity must redesign its thinking around population. Until recently, population growth was perceived as a good thing.

First, Improving medical science and sanitation has largely extended life expectancy. Second, religions have always wanted to populate the planet with offspring (therefore increasing the number of their “faithful”). Third, an expanding population has a direct correlation to GDP. More people means more consumption, which means more production and a higher GDP

We have to completely redesign the 20th century electrical grid to the more decentralized, distributed energy landscape of this century. We need to redesign all forms of industry, transportation and daily life from being powered by fossil fuels to being powered by clean, non-polluting energy sources. It’s a gargantuan (and exciting) design effort.

Designers and engineers who use the process of whole-systems problem solving consider the relationships among complex systems, instead of focusing on individual parts of systems. This is important because challenges such as climate change represent a set of interconnected issues that can’t be solved in isolation. By taking a big-picture view and considering the whole system, the most important opportunities often arise, and can be incorporated, early in the process. By all means, we should continue to reduce, reuse and recycle; as well as develop sources of clean energy and green technologies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. But those are half measures. In the Finite Earth Economy, we want to continue (and expand) our current quality of life, so we should borrow design and production techniques from Mother Nature.

The collapse of physical retail in the last decade has created countless numbers of vacant big box stores. They can be converted into vertical gardens that have four to six crop yields per year. Intercropping or companion gardening intersperses different varieties of crops and plants that are mutually beneficial to each other.

Staggered planting, whether at indoor vertical farms or intercropped farms, staggers when a crop is planted. Instead of planting an entire field at once, one section is planted every couple of weeks to let the soil rest and lengthen the harvest. Indoor farms can do staggered planting year round. If there’s a glut in the market for a certain crop, the farmer can plant something else.

Urban agriculture is much less mechanized so there’s no need for the cost and debt of large farm machinery. Whole systems problem solving combined with holistic design is at the center of all that we need to do. Biomimicry and Cradle to Cradle design must be further developed, expanded and deployed as central design concepts for a Finite Earth Economy. Agriculture, the leading producer of GHG emissions must be completely redesigned. How we grow, where we grow, what we grow, and what we eat will all be redesigned. Moving to a Finite Earth Economy means completely redesigning the global economy, the biggest systems thinking and holistic design project in history.

amazon highlights: Moving To Finite Earth Economy-Crew Manual 1 of 3 / David Houle&Bob Leonard / 2019

There is no such thing as a Growth Economy without waste. We are not “saving the planet”, we are saving ourselves from ourselves. Facing climate change and slowing global warming is the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. Climate Change is happening NOW. We must start by standing in forgiveness. We must forgive ourselves as we were all born into a Growth Economy/fossil fuel reality. We didn’t have any real choice. We do now and we must make the right one.

The planet doesn’t need saving. It is simply adapting to the warming that humans have created. We need to save ourselves from ourselves. Reduce our use of fossil fuels as fast as possible. At the same time, reduce all levels of consumption. Since 1950, the Parts Per Million (PPM) of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by over 60% to its highest level in at least 400,000 years! The problem is that humanity is consuming more than Earth can regenerate. As of the writing of this book, humanity consumes at the level of 1.7 Earths per year. The developed economies are now moving from an ownership paradigm to one of rental/access. Tools defined the Agricultural Age. Machines defined the Industrial Age. Technology defined the Information Age. Consciousness will define the Shift Age.

By 2030, we need to: move to 70% renewable and alternative energies globally, reduce atmospheric CO2 from 420 parts per million to 315 ppm, cut the current 37 gigatons of annual CO2 emissions by at least 50%. As a futurist, I have stated that we left the Information Age and entered the Shift Age. Ranging roughly from 2005 to 2030, this is when much of human reality shifts to the new, future reality.

Growth Economy: Every reader of this book has lived his or her life in a Growth Economy. For most of history, humans have lived in growth economies. Think about how the economic health of any developed country is measured. All the metrics concentrate on growth, expansion and output. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an output. We measure the success of a nation’s economy by how much growth has occurred in its GDP. Our current form of Capitalism does not take into account the value of natural capital.

The Circular Economy: It espouses an economy that was to replace the produce, use and discard paradigm with a closed loop system that produced, used and then reused or reprocessed. The result would be lower consumption.

Finite Earth Economy: In a Finite Earth Economy, Earth comes first. All economic, material and energy issues attend to the needs of the planet first… then humanity’s needs. More wealth was created in the last 100 years than in all of human history. The Industrial Age delivered labor-saving technologies and spread new wealth around the globe. Three dynamics transformed this scenario.

The first is that, starting in 1950, there was a population explosion unprecedented in the history of mankind. The global population in 1950 was 2.5 billion and today it is 7.7 billion, a three-fold increase in just 70 years. The replacement rate for any population to maintain equilibrium is 2.1 children per woman of child-bearing age. In the age of climate change, lowering population growth is a major moral issue for all humanity.

The second dynamic was that, post-WWII, the United States (especially Hollywood and Madison Ave.) did a wonderful job marketing “the American Dream and the American Way of Life” around the world. If everyone on Earth lived at the American standard of living, humanity would need five Earths worth of resources to maintain equilibrium.

The third dynamic was the ever-ascending level of consumption in America. Consumption of stuff has increased geometrically since the mid-20th century.

The fourth and perhaps most significant dynamic has occurred in the last 30 years. While we were adding numbers to the total population of Earth, simultaneously people all over the world were moving up the socio-economic ladder. Hundreds of millions of people entered the middle class for the first time. Growth Economies have been the economic models throughout all history. Growth Economies, powered by fossil fuels and with an outcome of ever-increasing consumption, are the key drivers of global warming and climate change.

The combination of unprecedented economic growth, wealth creation and population expansion has accelerated consumption and resulted in unacceptable levels of waste and greenhouse gas emissions. To save ourselves from ourselves, we must move away from Growth Economies. We can no longer live on a finite planet operating in an economic model that is based upon infinite growth. Our planetary spaceship has limited resources and we must work within them to avoid aborting the mission. 

The Circular Economy:  “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” – a popular phrase from Earth Day 1970. Here is Wikipedia’s definition of a Circular Economy:  “A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. This regenerative approach is in contrast to the traditional linear economy, which has a 'take, make, dispose' model of production. In a circular system resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing energy and material loops; this can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, recycling, and upcycling.

Proponents of the circular economy suggest that a sustainable world does not mean a drop in the quality of life for consumers and can be achieved without loss of revenue or extra costs for manufacturers. The argument is that circular business models can be as profitable as linear models, allowing us to keep enjoying similar products and services. To achieve models that are economically and environmentally sustainable, the circular economy focuses on areas such as design thinking, systems thinking, product life extension, and recycling.” If only the Circular Economy had been more widely integrated after Earth Day 1970! Here we are 50 years later and only 9% of the global economy is Circular.

In moving to a Finite Earth Economy, we will adopt a Circular Economy reality along the way. It addresses the following issues: decreasing consumption and waste, designing products to last and to be fed back into the production cycle, ending the practices of disposability and fast fashion, and evolving past the conditioned response that something bought new is better than something bought used.  In both Circular and Finite Earth Economies, “used” is a positive term. Used means that something can be purchased without causing depletion of Finite Earth resources.  “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – R. Buckminster Fuller

Humans are the only species that creates “waste”. The Finite Earth Economy (FEE) places Earth first. That is the call to action for moving to a FEE: Earth First! Tax laws and codes at all levels of government will focus on the carbon footprint of all entities. For example, a corporation that is carbon neutral will receive a significant tax deduction. If a corporation reduces its carbon footprint at least 10% from year to year, they will receive a tax incentive. These new carbon footprint-related taxes will also apply to individuals, families and businesses of all sizes. Any entity that promotes itself as being green must be 100% carbon neutral, or they will be fined.

It would replace fast fashion with slow fashion. Instead of new “styles” every year, it will be fashionable to buy or make the most durable, high quality clothing and other products. The best designed pieces will be repairable, and at their end of life will be easily fed back into the production cycle to create a new piece. There are several macro-trends that are currently happening that align with the Finite Earth Economy: 

The Sharing Economy – Share what you own and what others own. Share almost anything such as cars, extra rooms, tools, books, kitchen utensils… anything that is only used occasionally.

Moving from Ownership to Rental – This has already happened with content streaming services.

The Sufficiency Movement – This is a spiritual and consciousness concept being adopted by many. It’s a knowing that there is enough for all and there’s no need to scramble and fight. “There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Simplifying – Is living happily with less. There’s a freedom and stress reduction that comes with downsizing… with eliminating the stuff we don’t need and creating space.

Preferring Used over New – Other than food, beverages, personal products and medicines, think used first. This will ultimately creep into the social mores of societies.

Now in 2019 there are three loose paths to 2100. They are: Catastrophic, Risky and Best Probable.

Catastrophic: Business as usual with a gradual move away from fossil fuels over time is no longer an option. Current forecasts, if we don’t take drastic action now, put the rise in temperature at 3 to 7 degrees Celsius. "Most of the planetary surface would be functionally uninhabitable. Agriculture would cease to exist everywhere, apart for the polar and sub-polar regions. The oceans would stratify and become oxygen-deficient, which would cause a mass extinction. It's pretty much equivalent to a massive meteorite striking the planet, in terms of the overall impacts." – Mark Lynas, “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet”

Risky: We focus our energies on demonstrations, protests, and the signing of Accords as meaningful action. Slowly chipping away at the Carbon Combustion Complex, or assuming market forces will fix the problem, won’t work. This approach is too slow and takes too long. We almost assuredly will pass more tipping points that trigger runaway global warming that will take a century or more to constrain. The result will be massive suffering for man and most other species.

Best Probable Future: We must move to a Finite Earth Economy as fast and completely as possible. We accept the current reality of a 1degree Celsius warming of the surface of the planet and strive to keep that below 1.5 degrees. This path allows humanity to enjoy a thriving, evolved civilization by the end of the Earth Century.  “If the success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... How would I be? What would I do?” –  R. Buckminster Fuller 

We are ready. Are you? Are you ready to make huge changes in your life and your business for the sake of humanity and countless other species on the planet?

 “Only in economics is endless expansion seen as a virtue. In biology, it is called cancer.” – David Pilling