Contraction and Convergence News

Dear Aubrey

Yes I am very well aware of C&C and have followed the proposal since its early days.

I would be very happy for you to add my name as an endorsee of C&C.

Best wishes,

Prue

Prue Taylor,
Deputy Director
New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law
University of Auckland
New Zealand.

Weak sustainability is sometimes called the "business as usual" approach because it leaves unchallenged the fundamental notion that the public good is best achieved through continued limitless economic growth rather than the alternative view that the public good will be best served by finding new forms of economic actidty that are conducted within, and in concert with, the healthy functioning of ecological systems. Conversely, 'strong ' sustainability aims to move human society beyond prioritizing 'either" economic well-being 'or' environmental protection. It argues that both human well-being and environmental protection are possible, if the ecological limits of Earth are respected by all.

Eric Neumeyer, Weak versus Strong Sustainability: Exploring the Limits of Two Opposing Paradigms 3rd Edition (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010). Timothy O'Riordan and Jill Jager The Politics of Climate Change: A European Perspective (London and New York: Routledge, 1991). Generational and Social Justice aspects are also critical and integral aspects of strong sustainability, however they are not the specific focus of this book. The primary emphasis is on humanity managing activities so that they occur within the constraints of the biosphere.

Concepts helpful to understanding this objective and the linkages with generation and social justice include the Ecological Footprint Model (accessed July 25, 2010) and the Strategy of Contraction and Convergence for Responding to Chmate Change (accessed July 25 2010). See also Franz Josef Radermacher Global Marshall Plan - A Plalnetary Contract (Hamburg: Global Marshall Plan Foundation 2004 and Franz Josef Radermacher Balance or Destruction Ecosocial Market Economy as the Key to Global Sustainable Management (Vienna: Ockosoziales Forum Europa 2004) In the New Zealand context, see Sustainable Aotearoa NZ Inc Strong Sustainability for NZ Principles and Scenarios (Wellington: Nekedize Pub Ltd, 2009).