The Systems View of a Sustainability

1. Simple steady state system, don't take out any more than you put in.

systems diagram

2. Strong and weak definitions of sustainability (ref ***)

weak, permissive, any form of capital can substitute for any other

strong, more limiting, natural capital can't be substituted

3. Sustainable natural capital

systems diagram

4.. Impact of use and the degradation from use

example systems diagram

 

5. Effect of variation in conditions

example of diagram

effect of one bad year (only 50% output) and an underestimate of true maximum yield by only 5%

in 100 years you're down to less than 1/3 of your starting natural capital

this means you not only have to have increased production (or decreased harvest) in the good years

6. Summary of natural capital and sustainability

this systems view indicates that there are at least three ways to destroy sustainability of your natural capital

a. simple overharvest, but this may be because you didn't have good estimates for the maximum yield\

b. indirect effects from either harvest or use

c. risk of being too close to the maximum yield, one bad year and the resource declines

7. What is wealth

sustainability is maintaining capital for future generations to exploit

this is related to the concept of wealth

what does it mean to be wealthy

Is wealth the ability to spend resources or is it the amount of resources that you have under your control?