David Santillo and Paul Johnston consider capitalism

Capitalism as if the World Matters by Jonathon Porritt (ISBN 1-84407-192-8 Earthscan, 2005)

Is sustainability compatible with capitalism? 

How far must economic systems change for societies across the globe to approach a more sustainable future?  Can technology fill the gaps, ensuring that we can position ourselves, and remain, one step ahead?  Or is some much more fundamental rethink of our engagement with our planet and each other unavoidable?  Ultimately, can a more sustainable world also be a more desirable world, in which our lives on an increasingly crowded planet are nevertheless richer and more fulfilled?

These are some of the central questions addressed by Jonathon Porritt in his well researched exploration of options for sustainability against a backdrop of global capitalism.

Framing the debate
Though at first sight somewhat technical, the book is well structured and readable. In logical progression, it summarises the most unsustainable aspects of our current state of living, analyses what capital and capitalism are and how they influence us, and outlines critical pathways for change and some visions of a sustainable future.  It stops short of prescribing any radically new solutions, offering instead a collation of thinking from the last few decades.

Porritt contributes a timely synthesis of challenging (frequently conflicting) analyses in an accessible form, thereby framing a debate we so desperately need to have.

No option but capitalism
A central tenet is that, given that the collapse of capitalism is so improbable, and the threats to the biosphere so severe and immediate, we have no option but to find ways of living with capitalism and using it to achieve tangible progress towards sustainability. He explores the nature of capitalism, challenging views that market-based economics inevitably mean unbridled and destructive economic growth.  While a bitter pill to some, his analysis is useful, not least in dissecting a seemingly impenetrable monolith.

On natural capital, for example, he raises critical questions on environmental valuation. How can one assign monetary values to ecosystems and the services they provide?  And thereafter, how far can one substitute natural capital with manufactured or financial capital?  In turn this raises fundamental questions about whether preservation of ecosystem ‘function’ is sufficient and how far this can be engineered.  As Porritt stresses, ‘technology alone cannot get us out of a hole; we have to re-engineer our mindsets at the same time.’

Sustainability
Clearly there are no simple solutions. The visions and practical approaches explored in the book propose that governments, corporations and civil society accept more readily the urgency of problems we face, and diverse and effective programmes of action.  Attempts at being ‘less unsustainable’ must become real efforts at ‘genuine sustainability’.  Given the complexity of interactions this entails, we urgently need wider acceptance of meaningful sustainability indicators.  To this end, the book draws on principles first developed in the 1980s to develop a baseline against which we can judge the sustainability of human activities.

Criticisms
There are two possible criticisms to be levied.  First, we should challenge Porritt’s confidence that it is through pursuit of sustainable development that we will reach sustainability – especially as he himself says that ‘sustainable development’ can mean all things to all people. 
After so many years, we must question whether sustainable development can be reconstituted in any effective form or whether we would be better served by developing sustainability itself as a guiding approach, rather than just an end goal.

Second, for a book which is so positive about the possibilities of a genuinely sustainable future that is also profitable and fulfilling for all, it is rather negative about the contributions made to date by environmental NGOs.  Porritt’s analysis reflects again and again on the ‘demise’ of environmentalism, suggesting an unwillingness or inability to engage effectively on solutions.  From personal experience over two decades, this is far from the case.

That said, this was an enjoyable and informative read.  Porritt brings to the discussion a convincing blend of pragmatism and optimism which, with the right vision, will undoubtedly be vital in the decades to come.  To have any chance of success, he argues, sustainability must be compatible with capitalism.  Porritt feels this is possible.  We have to hope he is right.

Dr David Santillo and Dr Paul Johnston are at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories,
Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter