Sustainability and policy - Climate Change: Biological and Human Aspects - page 515

Unlimited
wants

Finite
resources

The
fundamental
economic problem

Fig. 8.12 Thefundamentaleconomicproblem.

In humans such resource-control signals include being able to command resource
consumption so as to afford the big car or the latest fashions. It leads to what
economists call the fundamental economic problem (see Figure 8.12). Countering it
is possible by changing perceptions of what is desirable. Humans can do this, being
both a sentient and a social species, but just because it is possible does not necessarily
make it easy.
So how is it possible to get around the fundamental economic problem? In biology
and in the wild such displays have their limitations. Too large a set of display feathers,
or antlers, can impede flight from predators. There are balances. With humans such
checks and balances include limitations of access to resources (availability), which
is where sustainability comes in. Failure to curb resource consumption leads to
overconsumption and this applies to resources common to life on the planet. These
common resources are principally the main biogeochemical sources and sinks in the
biosphere and overconsumption leads to what is known by environmental scientists
as the tragedy of the commons (Hardin, 1968). Global commons include the oceans
and atmosphere. The overconsumption comes about through competition up to and
beyond the sustainability limit. A simple model of grazing sheep on common land
illustrates how this comes about. Each sheep herder is motivated to get the most grass
for the flock. That the common can become overgrazed is a secondary consideration,
for if a herder takes some sheep away from the common then sheep from other herders
can have that grass. The result is that herders keep their sheep on the common, which
then becomes overgrazed. The parallels between this and perturbing the fast carbon
cycle, hence atmospheric carbon concentrations, should be clear. What the tragedy
of the commons illustrates is the difficulty in modifying motivations so as to preserve
commons. This brings us back to employing other powerful biological drivers such
as the desire to nurture offspring (the next generation).

8.5.1 Theeaseanddiicultyofadaptingtofutureimpacts

It is now clear that at best we might marginally slow global warming in the 21st
century; it is most unlikely that it will be stopped, and virtually unrealistic to con-
sider the Earth's system returning to the climatic regimen of the early 20th century.
Consequently 21st-century policies addressing climate change, in addition to any
mitigation, are going to have to either include adaptation or pay for the consequential
costs of climate impacts.