Beyond the Environmentalist%26apos;s Paradox and the Debate on Weak versus Strong Sustainability

作者：Ang Frederic^*; Van Passel Steven

来源：BioScience, 2012, 62(3): 251-259.

DOI：10.1525/bio.2012.62.3.6

• ecology
• natural resources
• assessments
• sustainability

Environmentalists generally argue that ecological damage will (eventually) lead to declines in human well-being. From this perspective, the recent introduction of the %26quot;environmentalist%26apos;s paradox%26quot; in BioScience by Raudsepp-Hearne and colleagues (2010) is particularly significant. In essence, Raudsepp-Hearne and colleagues (2010) claimed that although ecosystem services have been degraded, human well-being-paradoxically-has increased. In this article, we show that this debate is in fact rooted in a broader discussion on weak sustainability versus strong sustainability (the substitutability of human-made capital for natural capital). We warn against the reductive nature of focusing only on a stock flow framework in which a natural-capital stock produces ecosystem services. Concretely, we recommend a holistic approach in which the complexity, irreversibility, uncertainty, and ethical predicaments intrinsic to the natural environment and its connections to humanity are also considered.

• 出版日期2012-3