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Naturenomics™ Way Ranjit Barthakur, Naturefirst 2.0 Developing the NaturenomicsTM Model 2008 2.0 2009 Editorial Swati Arunprasad Alex Burton Komal Parekh Darshini Parikh Contributing Organisations & Publications Redefining Progress, California University of Vermont Content University, Washington DC Sanctuary Magazine NaturenomicsTM Knowledge Foundation Support Team Aditya Kitroo, Alex Burton, Ankush Jadhav, Anshuman Hazarika, Anshuman Ranjan, Chetan Hejmady, Dalip Pande, Desiree Mendes, Dhritiman Hazarika, Dipak Kripalani, Gautam Narang, Jaspreet Arora, Kalpesh Kadam, Kalpesh Popat, Kashmira Popat, Komal Parekh, Prabir Banerjea, Prabir Chetia, Preeti Gandhi, Rati Bhattacharya, Sachin Salian, Samir Menon, Santosh Ubdi, Som Ganguly, Sonal Alvares, Sourabh Joshi, Sonali Bhatia,Surya Ganguly, Swati Arunprasad, Swati Gupta, Toral Brahmabhatt, Vijay Patil To know more about the contributors email: [email protected] Design Darshini Parikh Printing Sel Print India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India September 2009 English www.naturefirst.in Not For Sale 2.0 Supported by NaturenomicsTM knowledge Foundation Contents Page no. Introduction 1. Moving towards a healthy planet..................................................................................................1 RANJIT BARTHAKUR, NatureFirst Achieving Progress 2.Design for a Sustainable Economics………..……………………………..……………………….............….4 ROBERT GILMAN 3.Where is the wealth of the Nation?............................................................................................15 WORLD BANK PUBLICATION 4.The Genuine progress indicator 2006: A tool for sustainable development.........................21 JOHN TALBERTH, CLIFFORD COBB, NOAH SLATTERY Land 5.World food security………………………………………………………………………………………….............27 RANJIT BARTHAKuR & DIPAK KRIPALANI 6.Could food shortages bring down civilisation?....................................……………………............35 LESTER R. BROWN 7.Considerations of sustainable design and planning of Urban areas..........……………............42 ALEX BURTON Energy 8.Low-carbon energy - A roadmap, world watch institute report 178...……………………............55 CHRISTOPHER FLAVIN 9.New energy economy emerging in the United States .........................……………………............63 LESTER R. BROWN 10.Renewable energy options - A synopsis................................................……………………............66 PROFESSOR JOHN TIDWELL Water 11. Achieving Water Security through Innovative Solutions………................………………............75 SWATI ARUN PRASAD & SAURABH JOSHI 12.Water Eutrophication: Sources and drivers of nutrient pollution..........………………............84 MINDY SELMEN & SUZIE GREENHALGH Waste 13. Rethinking Waste Management in India, the Integrated Approach……................….............92 RATI BHATTACHARYA 14. Secured Landfills: The bucket at the end of the solid waste management chain..............108 VANDANA BHATNAGAR & SUNJAY GUPTA Air 15.Urban air quality managemen: Co-ordinating transport, environment and energy policies in developing countries.................................................................................................................114 MASAMI KOJIMA & MOGDA LOVEI 16. Indoor air pollution in India: A major environmental and health concern.............…...........126 AN ICMR BULLETIEN, VOL-31, NO.5 Carbon 17.Forest, Carbon and Climate Change - “Evaluating the true carbon value of ourforests”.................................................................................................................................134 RANJIT BARTHAKUR, SWATI ARUNPRASAD AND SAMIR MENON 18.Green job: towards sustainable work in a low carbon economy...........................................146 MICHAEL RENNER, SEAN SWEENEY & JILL KUBIT 19. Towards Copenhagen and beyond...........................................................................................158 A WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INITIATIVE, SUPPORTED BY NATUREFIRST-GEMS INTRODUCTION Towards a Healthy Planet – The Naturenomics™ Way Ranjit Barthakur, NatureFirst The existence of a sustainability gap is now irrefutable. We have undisputable scientific evidence with studies by the IPCC and the Stern Review, and pragmatic confirmations from changing weather patterns, including an increasing number of natural calamities and rising global temperatures. All this has a devastating impact on the health of our planet and it is this fact that is, more and more, becoming a matter of huge global concern. Our planet today is in an unhealthy state due to: • The unprecedented growth in the global economy over the past five decades, driven by new levels of international trade and investment. • Significant global population growth exerting ever increasing demands on the earth's limited resources. • Harmful human activity, predicted to increase the global air temperature by 1.8 degrees C to 4 degrees C. • Global environmental degradation, We are now caught in a vicious cycle, as we try to sustain our economies and support our growing populations. There is a stressed relationship between ecology and the environment, pushing the demand on local eco systems beyond their sustainable yield, resulting in diminishing natural capital that will in turn limit future economies. On our current path of development and growth we are setting off a series of adverse impacts resulting in significant, and in places irreversible, ecological imbalance. Our consumption levels are depleting vital natural assets, degrading our planet, causing significant biodiversity loss and leaving us, the population of the planet, with an impounding energy and water crisis. We are also starting to witness environmental devastation from global climate change and warming. Closing the sustainability gap Before our current path of growth and consumption leads to further irreversible environmental change we need a fundamental shift in attitude and in the way we approach our economic activities. Towards building aneco-economy that will nurse our planet back to health and this need must be addressed quickly. The pioneering work of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore on evaluating the risk of climate change caused by human activity has played a major role in bringing to international attention the issue of climate change. Gore's documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' still stands to be one of the most popular presentations on the subject. This International change in attitude has spurred businesses to start exploring both the risks and opportunities of climate change. The number of environmental non governmental Towards a Healthy Planet – The Naturenomics™ Way 1 organisations in many countries, including India, has also increased substantially. At the core of what needs to be addressed by countries and businesses at large is greater effort to embrace and practice “sustainability” - enabling a system to maintain its processes and functions into the future. We at NatureFirst have taken cognisance of this fact, creating an alternative paradigm to economic development, a concept we have come to call Naturenomics™, a differentiated approach to economics promoting the essential interdependence between nature and economics. • • Energy Crisis Energy Positive • • Water Crisis Water Positive • • Biodiversity Loss Enhanced Biodiversity • • • Good Depleted Degraded • Restored Human health Natural Capital Human Health Natural Capital • • • Restored Stressed Degraded • Healthy Planet Planet Planet Planet • Climate Change • Stabilized Global • Global Warming Application of Climate NaturenomicsTM principles Degraded Planet Restored Planet Transition to a healthy planet Introducing Naturenomics™ Our first publication Naturenomics™, produced in 2007, introduced this differentiated and alternative approach to economic development for countries and organisations, highlighting the stressed relationship between the economy and ecology. The book contained articles about a Naturenomics™ based business pattern reversal by pricing the non-marketed services of environmental assets and calculating its value as a generator of future incomes and liabilities. It identified the need to adopt strategies which have inherently integrated environmental policies and standards. This first Naturenomics™ publication was a threshold publication for us and has provided a platform for our ongoing work and advocacies. Naturenomics™ 2.0 We are now excited to present to the world our second publication, “Naturenomics™ 2.0”. This compilation takes a step further in addressing the need for a changed economics for the modern world, promoting the need for ecological competitiveness. Naturenomics 2.0 reflects the progress we have made and the developments undertaken with the Naturenomics™ model, proposing a stronger link between ecological competitiveness and economic sustainability. In it we promote our inherent belief that to 'trust in ecology is to trust in the future'. To this end we have created the Naturenomics™ Ecological Sustainability Wheel (NESW), which illustrates our core value proposition, delivering economic solutions that are ecologically driven. It shows our 360 degree process, how we are able to identify and then deliver initiatives that promote ecological competitiveness, which in turn delivers economic sustainability. It is a robust process that can be applied to governments, philanthropic and commercial organisations alike. Towards a Healthy Planet – The Naturenomics™ Way 2 Statutory and voluntary Determine Baselines compliance and and Identify Feasible ecological information Initiatives management Compliance Diagnostics
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