Political, economic and social balance

Sustainable development isn't just an economic and environmental concept. If this concept wants to become durable, a humane society must also strive for political and social balance, and restore trust between the North and the South.

Political balance: avoiding wars

In Europe, the current period represents the longest interval of peace in over 1,500 years. However, the consequences of war are numerous and still very present in our minds.

The human cost of conflict is huge. Although the atomic bombs of August 1945 killed 200,000 people in Japan, the napalm used in Vietnam had health consequences lasting several generations. The ecological consequences of war are tremendous. Vietnam lost 20% of its forests and one third of its mangrove swamp ⁽¹⁾. In 1991, the Gulf War caused one of the largest oil spill pollutions. Entire territories have been abandoned due to 65 million mines buried throughout the world ⁽²⁾.

Wars are not compatible with social and environmental balance. They leave their mark on territories and their populations for several generations. The political balance between states is therefore crucial for a new world order to be established.

Social balance: striving for the autonomy of the greatest number of people

In 1964, the "Trade, not aid" slogan appeared during a UN conference in Geneva. It singles out the limited effectiveness of policies designed to help poor countries and stresses the need for these states to achieve economic independence. It is in this context that the principle of fair trade developed, which contributes to the economic empowerment of producers in developing countries. Even though it accounts for only 0.01% of world trade today ⁽¹⁾, this method of trading helps approximately 50 million people around the world live ⁽²⁾ and it encourages producers to avoid "dirty" crops (poppies for the opium industry...). For over 30 years, microfinance has also been contributing to the economic independence of poor countries. It provides contractors and craftsmen with access to small loans so that they can create their own business. These microloans have already helped over 130 million people worldwide ⁽³⁾.

In order to achieve a sustainable global balance, fighting poverty and working towards the financial independence of the masses is essential. These points of passage are essential in order to guarantee peace and ensure long-term environmental management.

North - South Balance: restoring trust

Approximately 2.5 trillion dollars of debt has been accumulated by developing countries. The causes: dictatorships, uncontrolled industrialisation, the lending policies of certain lenders, corruption... This debt crushes the economy of many countries and hinders their development. Although this debt has been on the decline since the early 2000s, due to soaring commodity prices, it still remains a source of tension between Northern and Southern countries.

In recent years, the concept of the ecological footprint has emerged. It is the productive surface of soils, oceans and seas needed to both provide the resources consumed by a given population and to assimilate the waste discharges of that population. Furthermore, the word "biocapacity" is now used to describe the productive area available to each individual of a given territory. The footprint of rich countries is significantly higher than that of developing countries: a European has a footprint five times larger that of an African; a North American's is ten times greater ⁽⁴⁾. As for the biological capacity of their territories, South Americans and Africans are creditors, while North Americans and Europeans are clearly debtors. This is what one might call the ecological debt that Northern countries have with regards to those from Southern countries. According to the CADTM ⁽⁵⁾, this debt takes on four major forms: the carbon debt, due to the major impact of rich countries on climate change; bio-piracy by countries that have taken over age-old knowledge in order to make profits (medicinal plants...); environmental liabilities, accumulated through decades of natural resource extraction; and the export of hazardous waste produced in industrialised countries which is disposed of in poorer countries. Regarding this last point, we estimate that 10% of all maritime freight is the transport of hazardous waste prohibited from export ⁽⁴⁾.

Despite this principle of responsibility ("polluter - payer") on which sustainable development is based on, ecological debt has yet to be recognised. This creates delays in international agreements on climate: although they are still developing and are the major polluters of tomorrow, southern countries are not all ready to sign restrictive agreements aiming to resolve problems for which northern countries are the main culprits ⁽⁶⁾. Today, more than ever, fostering true solidarity between the North and the South is essential. Combining economic debt with ecological debt could be one of the solutions. Great progress can be made: first, the economic balance between countries can be overhauled; moreover, the raising of living standards in emerging countries, notably to avoid uncontrolled migration; lastly, the development of more virtuous emerging countries while sidestepping the mistakes that rich countries made. These would be the steps required to restore, once and for all, trust between countries, an essential condition for the creation of a new global balance.

Written by Florent Planas for "One year for the Planet" (translated by Anyword).

Find out more…

1. Michel Barnier, Atlas pour un monde durable (Acropole, 2007)
2. Fondation Nicolas Hulot, Ecologuide de A à Z (Le Cherche Midi, 2004)
3. The World Bank
4. Yves Cochet, Antimanuel d’écologie (Bréal, 2009)
5. Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt, Faire reconnaître la dette écologique des pays du Nord envers les pays du Sud (www.cadtm.org, 2004)
6. This problem influenced the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit, which was considered to be a disappointment by many organisations.
7. Chart Ecological Footprint / HDI from www.demographie-responsable.org