CommentaryA note on sustainability economics and the capability approach
Research Highlights
► Sustainability economics is an attempt to unite the criteria of efficiency with social justice in an environmental context. ► This article primarily focuses on the major role that freedom brings as a normative basis for well-being. ► This article sheds new light on the human-environment relationship through the study of conditions affecting the individual.
Introduction
In a well-known paper entitled “What is sustainability economics?”, Baumgärtner and Quaas (2010, p.447) discuss the concept of sustainability economics and the avenues of research derived from it. “(…) Sustainability economics is ethically founded on the idea of efficiency, that is non-wastefulness, in the use of scarce resources for achieving the two normative goals of (i) the satisfaction of individuals' needs and wants, and (ii) justice, including justice between humans of present and future generations, and justice toward Nature, within the setting of human-nature relationships over the long-term and inherently uncertain future”. The three avenues of research suggested by these authors are the normative dimension of sustainability economics, the need to elucidate human-environment dynamics, and discussions of institutions, policy instruments and governance.
This article highlights the fact that the Capability Approach, as developed by Sen (1992) and others, could provide an exciting approach to sustainability economics. However, it does have some limitations, and here we discuss the major advantages and drawbacks of using the Capability Approach with reference to the three avenues of research of Baumgärtner and Quaas.
Section snippets
The Capability Approach as a Foundation for Sustainability Economics
The first avenue of research is a discussion of the normative corpus that forms the basis of sustainability economics. Baumgärtner and Quaas point out that they were proposing a normative vision of what sustainability economics should be, rather than a survey of what it was at the time. In their opinion, sustainability economics is intended to reconcile the criteria of efficiency and of social justice. As they indicate, both sets of criteria demand further discussion. On the one hand, the
Analysing the Human–Environment Interaction by Means of the Capabilities Framework
Baumgärtner and Quaas' second avenue of research involves the description and analysis of various human/environment multi-level systems in the long term and under conditions of uncertainty. Despite its anthropocentric focus, the Capability Approach allows us to widen our analysis to include interactions between the economic, social and ecological aspects inherent in human/environment relationships.
From this point of view, it looks as though the concept of “capability structure” (Ballet et al.,
Sustainability Economics and the Role of Responsibility
Baumgärtner and Quaas' third avenue of research involves institutions, policy instruments and governance. This introduces us to the responsibilities of the various players.
One of the key tenets of the Capability Approach is the importance that it gives to an individual's freedom of choice. Indeed, from a normative point of view, this freedom can be considered to be a key component of an individual's well-being, and the analysis of how this freedom is used reflects the opportunities and
Conclusion
Sustainability economics sets out to reconcile efficiency and justice within an environmental context. In this short article, our intention was simply to assert that we must acknowledge freedom as a third “party” in this process of reconciliation. From this standpoint, the Capability Approach offers an interesting approach, because it considers justice as equity consisting of real freedom. It invites us to perceive relationships with the environment as choices within the different types of
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2018, Energy for Sustainable DevelopmentCitation Excerpt :The analysis and discussions while post facto nevertheless demonstrate that adopting a capability approach will have value when developing and implementing a programme involving electrification or the introduction of a technology. Adopting a capability perspective necessitates a process from the start that identifies people's priorities in terms of valued functionings, which capabilities they may choose to access and the factors that might impede conversion of resources (such as access to electricity) into a real opportunity (Ballet, Bazin, Dubois, & Mahieu, 2011; Fernández-Baldor et al., 2013; Hatakka & De', 2011; Urmee & Anisuzzaman, 2016). The identification of “negative” conversion factors, such as the inability of poorer households to access capabilities to the same extent as better off households, is important as it enables development practitioners or agencies to implement measures to mitigate the impact of inequality.
Capabilities, Identity, Aspirations and Ecosystem Services: An Integrated Framework
2018, Ecological EconomicsThe Classical Circular Economy, Sraffian Ecological Economics and the Capabilities Approach
2018, Ecological EconomicsEcosystems, strong sustainability and the classical circular economy
2016, Ecological Economics
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