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Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution
Abstract
396 p., graph., ref. bib. : 28 p.1/2 In this groundbreaking paradigm for the economy, three leading business visionaries explain how the world is on the verge of a new industrial revolution, one that promises to transform our fundamental notions about commerce and its role in shaping our future. Over the past decade many farsighted companies have begun to discover remarkable opportunities for saving both money and resources through the ingenious application of novel technologies and business practices. Consider the following. The automobile industry is undergoing a transformation that will spell the end of the petroleum industry and a shift away from traditional car models to Hypercars"―fuel cell-powered vehicles that would be both lighter and safer, produce negligible pollution, cost both the producer and consumer less, and have fuel efficiencies as high as 200 miles per gallon. : New houses designed with heat-trapping "super-windows" can remain cool in temperatures as high as 115° F with no air conditioner and warm at - 47° F with no furnace, and cost less to build. Atlanta-based Interface Corporation is shifting from selling carpeting to leasing floor-covering services, using a new material that's more attractive, requires 97 percent less material, is cheaper to produce, and is completely recyclable. Today's best techniques for using wood fiber more productively could supply all the paper and wood the world currently requires from an area about the size of Iowa. In the long-anticipated new book by Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins, these durable, practical, and stunningly profitable principles are synthesized for the first time into the foundations for a system called natural capitalism. With hundreds of thousands of copies of their works in print worldwide, the authors are leaders in set-ting the agenda for rational, ecologically sound industrial development, and in Natural Capitalism they have written their most significant and genuinely inspiring work. Traditional capitalism, they argue, has always neglected to assign monetary value to its largest stock of capital―namely, the natural resources and ecosystem services that make possible all economic activity, and all life. Natural capitalism, in contrast, takes a proper accounting of these costs. As the first step toward a solution to environmental loss, it advocates resource productivity-doing more with less, wringing up to a hundred times as much benefit from each unit of energy or material consumed. Natural capitalism also redesigns industry on biological models that result in zero waste, shifts the economy from the episodic acquisition of goods to the continual flow of value and service, and prudently invests in sustaining and expanding existing stores of natural capital. Drawing upon sound economic logic, intelligent technologies, and the best of contemporary design, Natural, Capitalism presents a business strategy that is both profitable and necessary. The companies that practice it will not only take a leading position in addressing some of our most profound economic and social problems, but will gain a decisive competitive advantage through the worthy employment of resources, money, and people.
... The second concept, natural capitalism, is also driven by 4R as it seeks to ensure the effective, efficient, and sustainable use of natural assets (soil, air, water, trees, minerals, etc.) for productivity in production practices and technologies (Srinivas, 2015). Its practices are closely related to C2C based on biologically oriented closed-looped production and re-use of raw materials for other production processes (Hawken et al., 2013). "Natural capitalism is inspired by nature, and it involves investing in natural capital by promoting initiatives and aiming activities at restoring and regenerating natural resources" (Sillanpää & Ncibi, 2019, p. 17). ...
... The use of 'social practice' as the crux of policy initiatives can make farmers understand the importance of the natural environment (e.g. land, water, seeds, etc.) so that they treat them as assets leading to careful utilization during their farming practices, i.e. the concept of natural capitalism (Hawken et al., 2013). With the prescribed and described CFS model for food production, Ghana can gradually assimilate circularity practices in food production at the local level for a systematic transition towards environmentally sustainable food production underpinned by the 4R principle in the production processes. ...
In this book, circularity is introduced and discussed as a driver of the
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its progress in emerging
and developing countries. As we move forward, we want to capture the
realities of the circular economy concept as much as possible by moving
quickly to the fascinating theoretical and practical progress across various
sectors in these economies. The circular economy approach is inherently
accompanied by a wide range of other issues, which one must address
while exploring its progress path: early in the book, a state-of-the-art
review provides a theoretical framework for mapping the subtle characteristics, scope, and progress of emerging and developing economies, while
the diverse case studies provide insight into the real stories—the progress
and challenges.
This book was written to help students at universities, and other
institutions of higher education find empirical case studies on circular
economy from emerging and developing countries. It is also intended for
people pursuing a professional career in sustainability and readers with
a general interest in circular economy and the SDGs. At an advanced
level, this text can also be used as a handbook, providing an overview
of current theoretical and empirical debates and controversies regarding
circular strategies and SDGs. As well as providing a non-technical entry
point towards circular economy strategies in emerging and developing
economies, the book provides a broader perspective on circular economy
as an emerging field.
This indispensable reference is written by a team of international
scholars from a variety of disciplines, including development, education,
business, ecology, geography, and planning, and presents the current state
of circular economy research within emerging and developing economies.
... This will be reviewed below in more detail with regard to its North-South implications (see section 4). The same question can be raised in terms of the currently high appreciated efficiency or productivity in resource use: Can the "efficiency revolution" -now exalted everywhere-really reach "half of the nature consumption and double the welfare" (von Weizsäcker/Lovins/Lovins, 1997), i.e. reducing the utilisation of energy and other nature-based inputs in the production and final consumption of goods and services by " Factor 4 " (Ibid.; see also Hawken/Lovins/Lovins, 1999)? The EKC issue and the eco-efficiency postulate have to be seen against the background of the so-called 'threshold-hypothesis' of human scale development (Max-Neef, 1991). ...
... An even more interesting topic is the previously hypothesised transition process towards comprehensive globalisation which itself seems to give way to the emerging tendency of transformation from Fordist to Post-Fordist regulation in the context of a new economic and societal order of world capitalism (Jessop, 1992;Lipietz, 1992;Hein, 2000). Could then an increasing life-quality be expected due to new resource-saving technologies, production/consumption patterns and lifestyles of an emerging society based on information and services (see, for example, Hawken/Lovins/Lovins, 1999)? The corresponding research efforts, both globally and nationally (differentiating between ICs and DCs as well within the latter), would have to include a scenario analysis which would go beyond the currently valid "creative speculation" on the environmental relief in an information society in the Post-Fordist age (see critically Binswanger, 1992;and Hein, 1999). ...
This article aims at contributing to the recent debate on structural change with ecological orientation, assuming a perspective from sustainable development in the South. It starts from reviewing the issues of national innovation systems, social learning, socioeconomic equity, political institutions and the societal transformation from Fordism to an emerging post-fordist regime, within the context of current globalization. Subsequently, the environmental dimension of the global process of uneven development, i.e. the physically unsustainable scale and socially unequal appropriation of material flows, is assessed by recurring to the concept of environmental utilization space. Based on this, some ecological features of the structural change related to post-fordist globalization and its expected main consequences for the North-South-relationships are discussed. Addressing the mentioned structural change, the analysis is focused on the strategic guideline of dematerialization as the normative orientation of an overall eco-efficiency and sufficiency in economy and environment at global and national level. This leads to the assessment of the challenges for a proactive policy of an ecological structural change (ESC) in the South by means of an agenda for future research. Finally, main conclusions are derived with the purpose to clarify some elements for the debate on sustainable development, which are considered as essentials for both development theory and ecological-economic policy of structural change.
... Third, China's cities are growing at an unprecedented rate: the nation's urban population surpassed its rural counterpart in 2011, and is projected to exceed I billion by 2030. Many observers conclude that, in terms of addressing global climate change, "everything is won or lost in China" (Lovins 2008). ...
... SRI is a new trend (that originated among the Methodist Christians in the US in the 18th century and advocated the avoidance of investment in companies that engaged in producing socially non-desirable goods and services) among investment professionals who choose their investee companies based on the latter's ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) value preferences (Chen, 2021), with the intention of promoting the best practices of the socially responsible businesses. The success of the SRI movement shows that sustainability initiatives are inevitable for businesses, not only because of their social benefits but also because they make business sense (Hawken et al., 1999). ...
... (Singhania, 2021) This would make it possible to compare companies and their results in a coherent way, eliminating potential biases or subjective interpretations, allowing progress in achieving sustainability objectives to be monitored and any areas for improvement to be identified. (Lovins, 2003) The potential alignment of stakeholders would also benefit, as the use of an accepted and recognized benchmark would foster consensus among stakeholders such as investors, companies, regulators and target audiences. After all, CSR is considered an integral part of the concept of reporting in relation to ESG criteria, as broadly postulated by Freeman & Dmitriyev (2017). ...
The evolution of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria is an ever-growing process. The relevant organizations and bodies have started to develop ad hoc initiatives and guidelines for the assessment and measurement of ESG criteria using different lines of assessment. As a result, investors have begun to use these indices as tools to direct their investments towards companies that stand out for the careful and enlightened use of environmental, social and governance variables. Subsequently, the ESG criteria were further refined and standardized, with the goal, not always achieved, of producing consistent and reliable measurements. The diversity of the nature of the companies, the sometimes difficult and inadequate reporting of certain information, combined with the lack of standardization of the results obtained, have made it impossible to produce an index that can be applied transversally to all or most of the companies. The objective of this work is therefore to propose a benchmark as useful as possible to standardize the results, in order to have a potential reference index for comparing the results of companies also operating in different sectors and with different characteristics.
... Pakistan needs to pay attention towards conservation of 80% energy in buildings by smart technologies to encounter industrial, commercial and residential growth. With the passage of time, electrical energy demand is increasing [33,34]. The LED market is segmented based on product type, device configuration, technology, end-user, application, and region. ...
The techno-economic selection of an appropriate light source poses a significant challenge in areas experiencing power and energy crises, such as Pakistan, as electric lamps have become prevalent in domestic, commercial, and industrial settings. The ultimate choice is significantly affected by the conversion efficiencies, efficacies, useful working hours, life cycles, harmonics, and power factors of light lamps. An experimental study has been carried out to measure voltage and current harmonic distortions generated by various commercial fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and light-emitting diodes (LED) array lamps. The experiments were conducted using the conventional utility Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) source and an autonomous generator set Total Harmonic Distortion (THDv ≤ 2) to observe authentic power losses linked with harmonics. According to the results, the power loss range caused by distorted power factor is (30 to 35%), (1.5 to 28%), and (1% to 5%) for CFL, tube lights, and LED, respectively. The presence of high order harmonics leads to increased power utilization beyond the rated capacity, thereby augmenting the losses. Based on a comprehensive parametric analysis of a wide range of lamps, LED lamps emerge as the optimal choice for power conservation and environmental preservation. This suggests the need for frugality adaptation in conjunction with enhancing machine efficiency, efficient power end-use, and energy conservation practices for the purpose of conserving electricity.
... Lifset and Graedel (2002) introduced the concept of industrial ecology, which assumes that industrial systems can be considered a particular type of ecosystem. Finally, models such as Natural Capitalism maintain that it reduces waste and eliminates the concept of residue or waste (Hawken et al., 2013). They conclude with Blue Capitalism, which proposes taking advantage of marine resources to generate economic wealth, employment, and welfare (Pauli, 2010). ...
Sustainable consumption analyses the choice of products to address environmental issues. In recent years, the circular economy model () has offered strategies as possible solutions to address the growing demand for action on climate justice. The success of a business model depends on understanding the consumer's role. The power of individual consumer actions is vital for minimizing the adverse impacts of climate change. Although the effectiveness of in the business sector has been studied, the literature has ignored the role of consumers in sustainable consumption practices through. Thus, using a survey technique, this quantitative study analyzed part of the theoretical model of Mostaghel and Chirumalla to analyze how awareness and consumer attitude significantly impact purchase intention and ethical purchasing behavior. The data analyzed through PLS-SEM reflected several theoretical implications in the forms of consumer behavior, a topic that has not been addressed in the literature.
... Shell started oil production and exportation in Oloibiri at a rate of 5100 barrels per day, which doubled the following year, and crude oil production in Nigeria reached its peak in January 1979 at a rate of 2.44 million barrels per day (Lukeman, 1998). However, current living conditions in early oil-producing communities, such as Oloibiri, are a testament to the "squandering of natural capital" (Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins, 2000), and the Royal/Dutch Shell Company now operates in Nigeria as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). Akpan (2006) notes that the Niger Delta, located in Nigeria's southernmost tip, covers around 70,000 square kilometers and is home to approximately 28 million people. ...
Over time, there has been a strained relationship between the residents of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) due to the perceived inadequate implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by SPDC. SPDC, however, maintains that they are merely a company and cannot take on the role of the government in the development of the region. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the current perception of CSR among residents of the Niger Delta in Nigeria. It was anchored on Stakeholder theory. A secondary research was conducted to explore previous views and evolution of CSR, but it only provided insight into the concept without any conclusion. As a result, a primary research was carried out using an ethnographic qualitative method in eight oil-producing communities in Delta state, where the inhabitants were reluctant to disclose information to strangers. The findings revealed that while the residents had a favourable perception of CSR, they were inflexible in their insistence that it should be mandatory for SPDC to undertake CSR initiatives due to the environmental hazards resulting from the company's operations. It was recommended that public enlightenment programmes, on behalf of the SPDC/Government/Communities, could help change people's perception about who is responsible for what, and how the communities should be managed. It was also recommended that SPDC should strengthen its community relations team to interact more with the community and improve its corporate image. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Host Communities, Misconception, Niger Delta, Oil Companies, SPDC.
... All these correlations between the different concepts presented previously guide us towards finding some common points, but also differences that can outline the major areas of action of the circular economy. Numerous authors have mentioned capitalism in the sphere of biological resources (Lovins et al., 2008), ecology (Drăgoi et al., 2018) or circular business models (Lewandowski, 2016). Starting from these, Rizos et al. (2017) identified the main processes under CE, each with economic, social, and environmental implications. ...
The circular economy has increasingly attracted the attention of regulators as a result of the emergence of the challenges associated with climate change and the need to increase the lifetime of goods in order to reduce waste and high consumption of resources. Therefore, the paper aims to identify the current state of the circular economy in Romania by analyzing waste recovery in territorial profile. Also, another objective of the work is to identify the gaps in the territorial profile of the recovery rate of collected waste. To achieve the goals of the research, appropriate statistical methods were used in this study, such as: the Jenks algorithm and the Gini Coefficient. The main results of research suggest there are a lot of gaps in territorial profile from recycling rate perspective and a low concern about circular economy in Romania.
... The different concepts identified in the literature that contributed to the development of CE theory were industrial ecosystems (Jelinski et al., 1992), zero emissions (Graedel et al., 1995), regenerative design (Lyle, 1996), industrial ecology (Lifset and Graedel, 2002), cradleto-cradle design (Braungart et al., 2007), biomimicry (Benyus, 2009), performance economy (Stahel, 2010), zero waste (Pauli, 2010), industrial symbioses (Chertow and Ehrenfeld, 2012), product-service systems (Tukker, 2015), circular flow of materials (Lieder and Rashid, 2016), cleaner production (Pacheco et al., 2017), natural capitalism (Hawken et al., 2017) and ecoefficiency . ...
... The book, Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution by Hawken, Lovins, and Lovins (2013), is an example of a popular description of green capitalism. The authors suggest a system that would include methods for accounting for natural capital on balance sheets, which, they argue, would lead corporations to take ecological concerns seriously. ...
The adverse impacts of capitalism on the global ecosystem are well-identified, and have created consumer interest in ecologically friendly commodities. One corporate response to this situation has been the development of green marketing strategies designed to convince consumers that products are ecologically sustainable and/or less ecologically harmful. One strategies suggests that luxury commodities are ecologically sustainable due to their durability and/or longevity. That argument ignores empirical assessments of the ecological impacts of luxury commodity production. To illustrate this point, we examine the use of green labeling claims within the context of capitalism. As an empirical example, we focus on sustainability claims constructed around luxury diamonds, and estimate the ecological harms of mining a large diamond in carbon equivalent terms. We also examine related production claims linked to sustainable supply chain certification. In our discussion, we draw from arguments in green criminology to suggest that diamond mining could be viewed as a crime of ecocide, and should be discouraged through influence campaigns and perhaps legal restrictions on diamond mining.
... 19-28). Brown performed an in-depth analysis of eight bestselling books on sustainability, circular economy, and ecological business development by renowned researchers including Brown (2006), Hawken (1993, Hawken, Lovins & Lovins (1999), Holliday, Jackson & Svensson (2002), McDonough & Braungart (2002), Nattrass & Altomare (1999), Holliday, Schmideiny & Watts (2002), and the World Commission on Environment andDevelopment (2009/ 1987). Barrett C. Brown, whose report is titled Four Worlds of Sustainability: Drawing upon Four Universal Perspectives to Support Sustainability Initiatives, took an ontological approach to perform his investigation with the intention to find out how many different perspectives these progressive authors took in their effort to address humanity's crises. ...
... ekologisten, sosiaalisten ja taloudellisten hyvinvointitekijöiden integroituminen ja hierarkia (Salonen 2015) Ekologisten, sosiaalisten ja taloudellisten tekijöiden välisen hierarkian olemassaoloa ja planeettamme rajallisuutta ilmentää se tosiasia, että taloudellista kehitystä eivät enää niinkään estä heikkolaatuiset kalastusvälineet kuin vähenevät kalakannat, eivät tehottomat vesipumput vaan laskeva pohjaveden pinta, ei sahojen puute vaan häviävät metsät (Hawken, Lovins & Lovins 1999). Veikkola (1996, 200) kuvailee tällaista suljetulle systeemille ominaista tilaa seuraavasti: Jos mielimme säilyttää maapallon elinkelpoisena tuleville sukupolville, meidän on opittava uudet ajattelun ja käyttäytymisen mallit. ...
... Presently, the concept of the circular economy and the associated models aggregate the contributions of various schools of thought, having as a foundation principle the ancient philosophy of identifying natural systems from the real world. In search of its conceptual identity, the circular economy underwent various stages: "regenerative design" launched by Lyle [1]; "performance economy" represented by Stahel [17]; the "philosophy of redesign" and the "cradle-to-cradle model" as stated by McDonough and Braungart [24]; "industrial ecology" developed by Lifset and Graedel [25]; "the green economy", defined by UNEP [26]; "the blue economy" of Gunter Pauli [27,28]; and "bio-based economy" [29] and "natural capitalism" promoted by Lovins, Lovins and Hawken [20,21,23,30]. ...
This research paper aims to find a causal relationship between the circular economy and sustainable economic development. The implementation of the circular economy in the European Union requires, on the one hand, smart regulation and on the other hand, the long-term involvement of all actors in society at all levels—member states, regions, cities, businesses, citizens—and their ability to develop cooperation networks and suitable collaboration and exchange patterns. Moreover, the circular economy is based on business models for reusing, recycling and recovering materials in the production and consumption of goods. This research establishes correlations between circular economy performance measurement indicators and sustainable economic development using panel analysis. Statistically significant correlations were noted between GDP per capita and three independent variables, mainly due to the high R-squared coefficient. This research’s innovation contribution is related to the selection and combination of circular economy indicators. Finally, the results confirmed that an increase in the recycling rate of municipal waste and a decrease in environmental tax revenues and environmental protection expenditures led to an increase in GDP per capita and sustainable economic development.
... The different concepts identified in the literature that contributed to the development of CE theory were industrial ecosystems (Jelinski et al., 1992), zero emissions (Graedel et al., 1995), regenerative design (Lyle, 1996), industrial ecology (Lifset and Graedel, 2002), cradleto-cradle design (Braungart et al., 2007), biomimicry (Benyus, 2009), performance economy (Stahel, 2010), zero waste (Pauli, 2010), industrial symbioses (Chertow and Ehrenfeld, 2012), product-service systems (Tukker, 2015), circular flow of materials (Lieder and Rashid, 2016), cleaner production (Pacheco et al., 2017), natural capitalism (Hawken et al., 2017) and ecoefficiency . ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore circular economy (CE) initiatives and apply the stimulus-organism-response theory to find the socio-political drivers and enablers of CE in the pharmaceutical industry. CE as a concept was relatively not studied much with respect to socio-political interests from operations management perspectives. This was especially so in the pharmaceutical industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This research study was anchored in the theoretical conversation of stimulus-organism-response theory to find the socio-political interests and enablers of the regenerative CE principles. These were the functions of remanufacturing, reuse and recycle. For this research study, data was collected in two steps. First, eight industry practitioners were interviewed to understand the CE practices in the pharmaceutical industry. Then 166 chiefs of production and operations functions from 124 pharmaceutical companies were surveyed. The quantitative data was empirically analyzed using SmartPLS3 software.
Findings
This research study revealed that pressure from suppliers and other public stakeholders were driving regenerative CE practices in the pharmaceutical industry. The results further stated that CE enablers such as green information technology systems and internal environmental management were critical for making pharmaceutical manufacturing operations circular.
Research limitations/implications
This research study measured the constructs on a formative scale. Studies measuring socio-political interests, CE enablers and sustainability practices constructs on a formative scale were much required for the development of the CE theory. This research study output could be applied across geographies and industries to measure the indicators of CE.
Practical implications
This research study indicated that in the context of the pharmaceutical industry, there was an overemphasis on the remanufacture and reuse principles. However, the focus on recycling principles was mostly subdued. For managers and regulators in the pharmaceutical sector, this research study provided clear insights that for more effective CE implementation. This was based on an effective application of recycling practices in the critical functions in pharmaceutical industry.
Originality/value
Earlier research studies on green and environmental manufacturing were focused on linear production models. To provide clear and robust foundations for CE theory, this research study considered operations management from the perspective of the value chain. This comprised the entire circular production model. Earlier research studies had treated socio-political interests, CE enablers and sustainability practices as reflective constructs. This study was one of the foremost to measure these constructs on a formative scale.
... Natural capitalism states the necessity of transforming the current manufacturing system into a system that cares about the biosphere and achieves better competitiveness and profits thanks to production improvements and efficiency progression [50]. ...
A circular economy (CE) transforms the linear system into a resource flow model based on reusing products and materials and increasing lifetime periods. This academic work aims to review the current CE research status from business, economic, and managerial (BEM) research perspectives. We carried out a systematic and bibliometric analysis to gather information on the current state of the art applications and learn about the leading research topics and sources. To reach these goals, we reviewed 962 research papers published in journals indexed on the Web of Science. After analysing the articles, three categories emerged worldwide: literature reviews, case studies, and frameworks and guidelines based on the current closed-loop system approach. Results evidence that BEM research in the CE is focused on the existing barriers to adopting a CE. More concretely, findings show that CEs are being slowed by the fact that citizens and companies do not know how to be circular. At the same time, the article showcases how the BEM areas and the recurring topics in CE research are increasingly being developed by collaborations between engineers and economists to design and create robust and measurable closed-loop models.
Oasis Brew Coffee House aims to revolutionize the specialty coffee scene in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, through sustainability, cultural authenticity, and community engagement. Utilizing market frameworks like Porter's Five Forces and the Resource-Based View (RBV), this strategic venture is set to navigate competitive landscapes and leverage unique strengths for lasting success. Financial projections indicate strong growth, with profitability by Year 1 and expansion to five locations within five years. The franchising model ensures rapid market entry while maintaining excellence and brand integrity. By Year 10, Oasis Brew is expected to be a leader in the specialty coffee sector with significant sales and profits. This venture goes beyond business, fostering a sustainable, community-centered coffee culture. A comprehensive financial strategy combines debt and equity financing for stability and control. Bank loans provide liquidity without ownership dilution, supported by favorable regulations and sustainability trends. Government grants and Sharia-compliant financing reinforce social responsibility, while angel investors and crowdfunding expand capital and loyalty. Oasis Brew’s holistic approach positions it at the forefront of Saudi Arabia's specialty coffee market, prepared for sustainable growth and significant community impact, setting new standards for excellence and social responsibility in the global coffee industry.
This chapter focuses on urbanization and sustainability, introducing the concept of ecosystem services to help the reader understand the complex human-nature relationship. This chapter also highlights key topics in urban sustainability planning such as urban growth and land use, urban design, housing, transportation, green space, climate change, recreation, health and well-being, economic development, and biodiversity.
In studying circularity in the construction and demolition industry (CDI) in the EU, five projects in selected EU countries were compared to assess how the application of circularity achieved balance in the environment, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. The selected projects using secondary data based on a web search of these projects involved different stages of the circularity ladder, used diverse design principles, and focused on different stages of the construction life cycle, making them interesting comparators for applying circularity in CDI. For strong sustainability to exist, there should be a balance between the sustainability triptych covering environment, social and economic dimensions which is often overlooked in many circular and sustainability projects with an overemphasis on one dimension and disregard for another. Selected indicators for the three dimensions included those found in environmental impact and life cycle assessments for environmental criteria, social impact assessments for social criteria and economic feasibility, and project appraisal and evaluation reports for economic criteria. In weighting criteria, several methods exist comprising subjective, objective, and integrated techniques. The robustness of objective vs. subjective weights is rather debatable. The objective of the research is to test different weighting techniques using subjective and objective methods to determine if differences in project rankings exist in terms of sustainability balance. The ranking of projects and conclusions about best practices in the CDI circular economy could be influenced by the weighting techniques used. As the weighting of criteria could influence project outcomes, objectivity in weighting is often advised. However, in this study, computational comparisons indicated that subjective methods do not significantly differ from objective ones that use mathematical and statistical rigor. As such, subjective weighting methods still conveniently capture credible and consistent results. Nonetheless, this should not detract from efforts to objectify weighting methods that lend more credence and justification to scoring and ranking results.
This paper shows the importance of environmental innovation on the circularity performance of each country that creates favorable conditions to help countries move towards the circular economy. Six measures are used to reflect environmental innovation, including the percentage of enterprises that invest in environmental innovation, the percentage of enterprises implementing environmental innovation activities, the number of ISO 14001 certificates, patents related to environmental innovation, the total R&D personnel and researchers, and the amount of green early-stage investments. We provide empirical evidence that innovation in environmental activities is crucial for an economy’s circularity performance, especially in the long term. Environmental innovation is also an essential enable of circularity.
Given its unsustainable growth, the food packaging industry (FPI) has become a priority industry in the circular economy. Given the academic significance attributed to the gradations of circularity in maximising resource efficiency in the food packaging industry, this paper aims to identify the current state of the application of those gradations of circularity in the FPI by finding the least and most commonly used circular strategies in the FPI. Moreover, it aims to identify the drivers of and barriers to the implementation of the gradations of circularity and the levers for overcoming such barriers through SLR using multiple case studies, namely five small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the FPI that each represent one of the five least implemented circular strategies. The research identified that the efforts of the FPI toward adopting circular strategies were not aligned with the gradations of circularity. Based on the research findings, a lever–barrier matrix is proposed as a toolkit for SMEs planning a transition toward the circular economy or are in the transition phase.
p>O presente estudo teve por objetivo investigar a consciência ecológica de professores universitários dos cursos de administração de instituições brasileiras. Para tanto, adotou-se a escala do Novo Paradigma Ecológico (Escala-NEP) desenvolvida por Dunlap e Van Liere (1978) e atualizada por Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig e Jones (2000). Foi conduzida uma pesquisa do tipo survey para, posteriormente, realizar a análise fatorial exploratória e análises descritivas. Observou-se que professores universitários apresentam uma consciência ecológica considerada alta, com uma média de 3,66 para toda a Escala-NEP. Conforme os resultados, a consciência ecológica é mais evidente entre as mulheres, divorciadas, que têm filhos, estão na faixa etária dos 40 a 59 anos e possuem uma renda mensal familiar de 2 a 5 salários mínimos.Através da análise fatorial exploratória a Escala-NEP, antes com 15 variáveis, passou a contar com 9 variáveis distribuídas nos 4 fatores encontrados. A escala apresentou uma consistência interna significante, tendo um alfa de Cronbach de 0,743. O primeiro fator foi nomeado de anti-antropocentrismo, o fator 2 foi chamado de limites do crescimento, o fator 3 recebeu o título de crise ecológica e o fator 4 recebeu o nome de rejeição do excepcionalismo.</p
Currently, a large-scale food crisis is unfolding in the world, due to a number of exogenous and endogenous factors. Being an integral part of the emerging new socio-economic reality, this crisis is not only global, but also diversified, affecting many sectors not only of agriculture, but also of industry (food industry, fertilizer production, chemical industry, etc.), exerting its influence and on the state of food security of the Russian Federation. In this regard, an analysis of the causes, nature and possible consequences of this crisis is not only of considerable theoretical, but also quite practical interest. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to assess the nature, nature, dynamics, characteristics and consequences of the development of the global food crisis and its impact on the food security of the Russian Federation, as well as ways to prevent it. The main causes of the modern world food crisis are revealed. The difference between the current food crisis and other similar crises associated with the growing uneven socio-economic development of different regions of the world and the depletion of natural, primarily biological resources, has been identified and argued. The specificity of the food crisis is shown, due to a certain extent to the multiplicative effect of destructive processes in the production and distribution of food resources, miscalculations in the economic, environmental and social policies of individual states. The possible consequences of the food crisis are determined. Additional ways and mechanisms to prevent the food crisis in the territory of the Russian Federation are argued. The article substantiates the position that along with the quantitative aspects of food policy associated with increasing the volume of food production and import substitution, a special role in the conditions of macroeconomic instability and uncertainty is acquired by qualitative aspects, primarily the quality, nutritional value and safety of food itself, its economic accessibility, timeliness and completeness of food supply.
Sacrum w przestrzeni zamieszkiwania przedstawia szacunek dla niewidzialnego. Ludzie, tworząc prywatne sanktuaria w domach, stawiając przydrożne krzyże i kapliczki, podkreślają swoją potrzebę bezpieczeństwa i ochrony w codziennym życiu. Ale dzisiejsze sanktuaria są inne; architektoniczne i urbanistyczne środki wyrazu różnią się od tych z poprzednich stuleci. Jednocześnie często odnoszą się lub wykorzystują ten sam język by wyrazić ideę sacrum. Pogłębiona analiza prac teoretycznych i przykładów realizacji oparta na wieloletnich badaniach naukowych i obserwacji realizowanych obiektów pozwala autorce na sformułowanie tezy o zmianie paradygmatu zjawiska, które można zdefiniować jako sacrum w środowisku mieszkaniowym. The Paradigm Change. Environmental Aspects as Transformative Imperative in the Housing Environment The sacred in the habitation space depicts respect for the unseen. The people underlined their fear and hope for safety, comfort, and well-being in the sanctuaries inside their homes or roadside crosses and chapels. But contemporary shrines are different; architectural and urban means and solutions differ from those from previous ages. At the same time, they refer to or even use the same elements to express the holy. An expanded analysis of theoretical works and design examples based on longtime research and observations of the described phenomenon allows the author to formulate a thesis about a strongly changing paradigm in what one can describe as the sacred in a housing environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on almost all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), leaving no country unaffected. It has caused a shift in political agendas, but also in lines of research. At the same time, the world is trying to make the transition to a more sustainable economic model. The research objectives of this paper are to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the fulfilment of the SDGs with regard to the research of the scientific community, and to analyze the presence of the Circular Economy (CE) in the literature. To this end, this research applies bibliometric analysis and a systematic review of the literature, using VOSviewer for data visualization. Five clusters were detected and grouped according to the three dimensions of sustainability. The extent of the effects of the health, economic and social crisis resulting from the pandemic, in addition to the climate crisis, is still uncertain, but it seems clear that the main issues are inefficient waste management, supply chain issues, adaptation to online education and energy concerns. The CE has been part of the solution to this crisis, and it is seen as an ideal model to be promoted based on the opportunities detected.
Introduction: The relationship between humans and our planet is conditioned by an economic system that undermines rather than supports health. There has been an emerging focus on the relationship between economic structures and planetary health, but alternative economic approaches to support health for people and the planet require further development. Regenerative economics offers a compelling approach to transform humankind’s relationships with each other and their environment. Regenerative economics fosters grounded, pragmatic solutions to wider human and ecological crises that moves beyond a sustainability discourse towards one of regeneration. While there are, notionally, large areas of overlap between regenerative economics and planetary health, to date these have not been systematically articulated. Methods: A scoping review was performed to examine the background, principles, and applications of regenerative economics, and their implications for planetary health. Five databases (SCOPUS, Ovid Medline, Web of Science, Geobase, IEEE Xplore) were searched for peer-reviewed literature using key terms relating to regenerative economics and planetary health. Findings were reported using thematic synthesis. Results: The review identified a total of 121 articles and included 30 papers in the final review, from economics, industrial design, business, tourism, education, urban design and architecture, energy, technology, and food and agriculture. The principles of regenerative economics focused on people, place, planet, position, peace, plurality, and progress. Putting these principles into action requires identifying and valuing different forms of capital, taking a dynamic systems approach, applying regenerative design, developing a true circular economy, good governance, and transdisciplinary education and advocacy. Conclusions: While the principles of regenerative economics and planetary health are well aligned, the tools and actions of each field differ substantially. Planetary health can learn from regenerative economics’ grounding in natural design principles, systems-based approaches, actions at the right scale and cadence, respect for diversity, community and place, and mindset that moves beyond sustainability towards a regenerative future.
This chapterModels discusses the concept of developmentDevelopment within the current economicEconomic framework. It deals with the pros and cons related to the economicEconomicgrowthGrowth trajectory founded on neoliberalismNeoliberalism and capitalismCapitalism that has advanced many nations globally, especially the rich nations, while the darker and destructive impacts have increased to the detriment of especially the poorer countries. This darker side that has led to crises related to climateClimate, biosphere, and resources, subsequently causing a humanitarian crisis is examined. The chapter compares the current developmentDevelopmentmodelModels with the sustainable developmentSustainable developmentmodelModels. Even though the word developmentDevelopment figures in both modelsModels they are fundamentally different. The chapter defines these differences, and points to emerging symptoms that indicate a shift away from neoliberal capitalismCapitalism brought about by the pandemic, and talks about the reasons behind this. The chapter discusses the role of the state as it is the entity solely responsible for the well-being, safety, and progress of its citizens. As such, it is the most vital factor in implementing sustainabilitySustainability. The chapter closes by looking at future perspectives and other factors to assess the possibility of implementing sustainable developmentSustainable development in the current framework.
Topicality. Successful economic development of agriculture is one of the components of Ukraine's sustainable development. But this development very often leads to changes in natural and climatic conditions and to increased risks for doing business. Agricultural land is a natural asset and it should be taken into account that the change oflandscapes from natural vegetation to any other use can lead to loss, degradation, and fragmentation of the environment, all of which can have devastating consequences for biodiversity as a source of ecosystem services. Therefore, it is important to find ways to rationally manage the land.Aim and tasks. The purpose of our study was to substantiate the relevance of taxes for the management and rational use of land as a natural asset. As a tool, we consider a tax on crop rotation, which leads to a decrease in soil fertility and the release of carbon from dying plant residues. Crop rotation planning will help reprioritize crop selection, increase fertility and reduce carbon emissions.Research results. The main component of the sustainable development of the agricultural sector is soil fertility. At the same time, land use and agriculture are the main natural agents for reducing air pollution. Today, agriculture accounts for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, and humus losses range from 19% to 22% in different natural areas. Considering agricultural land as a natural asset, it should be taken into account that their irrational use leads to a change in natural and climatic conditions and an increase in risks for doing business. We have proposed to introduce carbon crop rotations as a tool for soil quality management. In our opinion, this should contribute to a change in priorities in the choice of agricultural crops, and as a result, an increase in fertility and an increase in carbon sequestration. To stimulate agricultural enterprises, we consider it expedient to introduce a tax on crop rotation. To substantiate this idea, we have created a model for the dependence of CO2 absorption/emission on the yield of various crops and a decision-making model for planning the costs of an agricultural enterprise.Conclusion. We have conducted a study of the relationship between the yield of various crops and the absorption/release of carbon dioxide. We put forward a hypothesis: there is a certain relationship between the yield of different crops and the balance of absorption/release of CO2. We have studied this connection. The model of dependence of CO2 uptake/emission on the yield of different crops shows that the ability to release carbon by plant residues of different agricultural crops has both a direct and inverse relationship with the yield of various crops. We have developed a decision-making model for planning the costs of an enterprise, subject to planning for environmental risks or paying a tax on carbon crop rotations. Thus, the problems of land use as a natural asset in agriculture can be solved by: the introduction of carbon crop rotations, which should help change priorities in the choice of agricultural crops, and the introduction of a balanced and evidence-based approach to the development and implementation of environmental taxes.
This chapter concludes the debates and discussions in this book, A Housing and Technology Nexus for Zimbabwe. The discussion in the chapter focuses on the way forward regarding policy formulation and implementation to guide housing development, and the introduction of technology in such. Case studies are provided, showing the best practices that have been adopted in different contexts, including the funding mechanism applied in Mexico to spur housing delivery and support low-income households. Next, the case of Ethiopia is presented, outlining the need for housing development and technological innovations to integrate cultural dimensions with the view to ensuring sustainable housing development. The chapter also discusses how traditional knowledge systems have been central in Tajikistan’s housing development, and the role of innovative technologies.KeywordsHousing policySustainable housingTechnologyCulture
The world we live in is ever-changing, and if housingHousing is to remain relevant in providing for the needs of consumers, it is essential that the housingHousing sector remains adaptable. Adequately adapting to and adopting technological advancements is the best way to ensure that housingHousing remains relevant. New technologies need to be explored in every spectrum of the housingHousing sector to ensure constant renewal. Numerous technologiesTechnology can be applied to housingHousing; as such, it is crucial that they are explored in isolation? To decrease redundancy while increasing the efficiency of the technologiesTechnology and the sustainability of the housingHousing sector. As we explore the different typologies of housingHousingtechnologyHousing technology, it is essential to recognise the golden thread of alignment within the various technologiesTechnology, as they ought to function seamlessly within the same sector.
The concept of a circular (or circular/closed cycle) economy is quite new for the Russian scientific literature on economics and management. Having originated initially in countries experiencing serious resource constraints and (or) acute environmental problems, a few months ago it seemed to be a curious idea for Russia, allowing in the long term to achieve simultaneous preservation and even an increase in economic growth rates without the concomitant increase in the expenditure of natural resources and the inevitably associated increase in the burden on the environment. However, the dramatically changed economic situation due to unprecedented sanctions pressure, the freezing of the country's financial resources and the destruction of a huge number of production chains forces us to take a fresh look at the concept of a circular economy and shift the focus of research on its possible practical applications from environmental aspects to such topical economic aspects as creating new jobs, products and services, preserving the quality of life of the population while decrease in purchasing power, etc. A feature of the monograph is the focus on new opportunities for economic growth that the circular economy provides, even in conditions of severe resource (including financial) constraints. It is intended for students, masters, postgraduates, researchers, as well as practitioners from the field of management with modern circular business models and methods of organizing production and consumption processes according to the circular type.
Purpose: the authors explore the Role of Employee Ownership in the context of the Great Reset of Capitalism.Methods: in contrast to the theory of stakeholder capitalism, this article discusses an alternative point of view on the reset of capitalism – through the Broad-based Employee Ownership of companies in the world and Russian economy. The article criticizes G. Dow's methodological approaches and the underestimation on the contribution of Labour-managed firms to the world economy. The criterion of "45 founders or more" is applied to the mass ownership of employees, with a minimum number of founders of a cooperative of 5 persons.Results: the article presets results of two empirical studies. The first is to verify the current assessment of the head of the National Center for Worker Ownership (NCEO) on the significant role of Employee Ownership. Since neither the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) nor its analogues are implemented in Russia, the second empirical study was conducted on an array of 15,086 agricultural cooperatives representing small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation.Сonclusions and Relevance: it is concluded that the NCEO assessment was fully confirmed, and accordingly, G. Dow's assessment was refuted. The share of medium-sized enterprises-agricultural cooperatives with mass ownership of workers (45 founders or more) in the general database of enterprises-agricultural cooperatives is estimated to be an order of magnitude higher than the share of medium-sized enterprises in the total number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To improve the mechanism of state financial support in the long term, new directions havebeen identified: the organizational and legal the form of a small and medium-sized business entity, the ownership and Broad-based employee ownership (founders /co-owners) of companies.
Kernproblem der linearen Ökonomie ist, dass die monodirektionale Nutzung endlicher Ressourcen die globalen Lebensgrundlagen verschlechtert und irreversible Auswirkungen auf Umwelt, Mensch und Tier hat. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt die Kreislaufwirtschaft ein alternatives Wirtschaftsmodell dar, das durch die Schaffung geschlossener Kreisläufe den Material- und Energieeinsatz minimiert und somit eine Entkopplung zwischen Ressourcenverbrauch und Wirtschaftswachstum verspricht. Angetrieben durch politische Agenden, begrenzte Verfügbarkeit von Ressourcen und die sich ändernden Bedürfnisse und Anforderungen der Anspruchsgruppen, eröffnen sich für Unternehmen zunehmend Perspektiven in Richtung Kreislaufwirtschaft.
In light of the social, economic, and environmental turmoil present in today’s world, capitalism is at the heart of fiery debates across many disciplines, including business, politics, and international development. While its proponents advocate for it as the mechanism that underlies the growth and sophistication of modern society, its detractors renounce it as a root cause of the growing inequality and environmental degradation in the world. Thus, the legitimacy of capitalism as an economic model capable of responding to the twenty-first century’s most pressing challenges is in serious question. The concept of conscious capitalism aims to legitimize capitalism by emphasizing its virtues that have the potential of fostering inclusive, equitable and sustainable social and economic development. While conscious capitalism continues to capture the attention of both academics and practitioners, we believe that it can be further legitimized, particularly in the Islamic context, by exploring its moral underpinnings from an Islamic perspective. To do so, we explore the compatibility of Islamic values with conscious capitalism. We conclude our chapter by suggesting that Islam and conscious capitalism offer complementary perspectives on business.KeywordsConscious capitalismIslamCapitalismReligionBusiness ethics
Analysing the intersection between plastics, environmentally-conscious design, and consumption through a focussed study of plastic chairs, this dissertation casts new light on best practice for sustainable furniture design. Plastic chairs are ubiquitous but remain objects of constant innovation and experimentation by designers. With reference to historical and contemporary developments, I examine the shifting cultural attitudes to plastics. Product designers and furniture manufacturers are responding to mounting environmental concerns by experimenting with renewable carbon plastics (recycled plastic and bioplastics). My interviews with international contemporary designers and representatives from industry are critically evaluated, alongside case studies of recent plastic chairs made using renewable carbon plastics. Findings from that research led me to develop a quantitative eco-audit tool to enable a comparison of these designs and demonstrate that the best outcomes for sustainable design incorporate existing materials (recycled plastics) and traditional moulding technologies. This tool is presented in this dissertation as both a structural part of the research methodology, and as an output for the instrumentalisation of the study’s findings. Much research has been undertaken on sustainable design and there have been many calls for design-led societal change. But few studies have focused on how such change actually manifests, or identified the areas of research required to bring about transformation. In other words, what does it really take to shift design and manufacturing practices, at scale, across complex supply chains? The multi-level perspective (MLP) transition framework is used to identify strategies to scale-up the use of renewable carbon plastics in design. Providing a methodology for designers to embrace a more sustainable approach to the design of plastic products, this dissertation is also a call to arms for urgent action to mitigate the most devastating impacts of the environmental emergency.
Climate change is the most important issue now facing humanity. As global temperatures increase, floods, fires and storms are becoming both more intense and frequent. People are suffering. And yet, emissions continue to rise. This book unpacks the activities of the key actors which have organised past and present climate responses – specifically, corporations, governments, and civil society organisations. Analysing three elements of climate change – mitigation, adaptation and suffering – the authors show how exponential growth of the capitalist system has allowed the fossil fuel industry to maintain its dominance. However, this hegemonic position is now coming under threat as new and innovative social movements have emerged, including the fossil fuel divestment movement, Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and others. In exposing the inadequacies of current climate policies and pointing to the possibilities of new social and economic systems, this book highlights how the worst impacts of climate change can be avoided.
Although academic departments often prepare students through education on the scientific foundations of climate change from the perspectives of such fields as conservation biology, environmental geoscience, or environmental geology, our college aims to provide a broader perspective on the climate change issue. To do so, we engage students in a more targeted manner, based on their disciplinary and program focus. For some students, this involves application of geotechnology and modeling applications so they are more informed on the technology necessary for monitoring greenhouse gases and their related impacts. For others, we focus more on promoting dialogue on the educational and societal implications of climate change by integrating perspectives from environmental economics, entrepreneurship, art, and social foundations of education through active learning activities. In this chapter, we present an interdisciplinary perspective on sustainability rooted in the concept of climate debt.
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