The theme “environmental economics” is inserted in a broader context. It is not possible to talk about it without understanding what it is and how the concept of sustainability has evolved over time.
This chapter is a brief introduction to the subject, considering that the audience for this book is quite diverse both in training and in professional practice. The objective is to be able to move forward with a common basis, which is necessary to enter the debates proposed in the next chapters.
The word sustainability is related to the term “sustain”, that is, “maintain”. This is the characteristic of any activity or organization that has practices that guarantee the continuity of its activities and its perpetuity.
1 “Our Common Future”, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, United Nations, 1987.
2 Elkington, J. (1998). Canibais com garfo e faca. São Paulo: Makron, 2011.
3 Rockström, J. et al., “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity”. Ecology and Society, vol. 14, no 2, art.32.
4 Rockström, J. et al. “Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity”, Science, vol. 345, 13/fev.2015.
5 Camargo, J. A.; Alonso, A. “Ecological and toxicological effects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems: A global assessment”. Environment International, vol. 32 (6), pp. 831–49, ago. 2006.
6 Daniel, T. C.; Sharpley, A. N.; Lemunyon, J. L. (1998). “Agricultural phosphorus and eutrophication: A symposium overview”. Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 27 (2), pp. 251–7, mar. 1998.
7 NASA: Climate Change and Global Warming. “Scientific Consensus: Earth’s Climate is Warming”. - climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
8 A íntegra do Tratado de Viena pode ser encontrada no site da ONU (United Nations Treaty Collection ). treaties.un.org
9 Disponível no site Earth Overshoot Day, . www.overshootday.org
10 Disponível no site Climate Watch. www.climatewatchdata.org
11 Piketty, T. O capital no século XXI. Rio de Janeiro: Intrínseca, 2014.
12 Ver, por exemplo: Summers, L. “The Inequality Puzzle”. Democracy Journal, Summer 2014, n. 33.
13 Conforme Homburg, S. “Critical remarks on Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-first Century”. Applied Economics, vol. 27, 2015.
14 Wolf, M. (2014), “‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’, by Thomas Piketty”. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/0c6e9302-c3e2-11e3-a8e0-00144feabdc0#axzz2yz1aCVku
15 Du Bois, W.E.B. (1898), “The Study of the Negro Problems”. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
16 Martineau, H. How to Observe Morals and Manners (1802). http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33944
17 Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser. Now it is possible to take stock – did the world achieve the Millennium Development Goals? https://ourworldindata.org/millennium-development-goals
18 Organização das Nações Unidas, Post-2015 Development Agenda: work streams. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015 .
19 Organização das Nações Unidas, Agenda 2030 para o desenvolvimento sustentável. https://nacoesunidas.org/pos2015/agenda2030/