A virus a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand has shown how delicate life can be. It has exposed the weaknesses of our healthcare systems and the limits of a model that values wealth over well-being. It has brought into sharper focus the fragility of the planet we see every day through melting glaciers, burning forests, and now through global pandemics.
(Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission)
The Covid-19 pandemic has upset the world and the economies of all the countries affected, according to the report published in August 2020 by the Club of Rome “ Planetary Emergency 2.0 ” all of this, however, was expected.
As early as 1972, economic and scientific experts warned, in their report " The Limits to Growth ," of the dangers facing a society oriented toward continuous, unrestrained growth, unbounded in space and time, unequal, and achieved at the expense of protecting natural ecosystems and the use of available resources. The report envisioned the emergence not of a single crisis, but of a convergence of crises, just like what we are witnessing today. The pandemic demonstrates that the health of societies and the stability of economies are profoundly linked to the health of our ecosystem and the limits of a society heavily dependent on the concept of growth "at any cost," even in the face of limited natural and social resources.
The space of prosperity.
In 2009, a group of scientists led by Johan Rockström of the Stockholm Resilience Center identified nine planetary boundaries within which a safe space for action (growth) can be ensured without jeopardizing the stability of the planet. The Earth3 virtual model was created , capable of simulating the pressure exerted on planetary boundaries by economic and social activities. The figure below shows how four of these nine boundaries have currently been exceeded.
Similarly, the Donutshuts Economics theory , developed in 2012 by economist Kate Raworth, identifies twelve social boundaries beyond which people lack the basic goods considered essential to life . Within these boundaries, both planetary and social, it is possible to define a space of just and secure prosperity where socio-economic activities can be carried out without compromising the stability of the planet.
The European and national projects funded to promote post-pandemic economic and social rebirth – recovery plan – are called to act precisely within the area of prosperity by ensuring the sustainability goals set by the 2030 Agenda (17 sustainable development goals ) necessary to rebuild a resilient socio-economic system less vulnerable to future shocks.
Free downloadable documents for further reading:
Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals within 9 planetary boundaries
Club of Rome: Planetary Emergency 2.0
The Limits of Growth
Stockholm University; PicTet Asset Management. Planetary Boundaries: Measuring the Environmental Footprint of Economic Activity
Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Matthew Alloro
