| Abstract |
The relationship of economic growth and environmental impact has spurred fierce debates between growth optimists referring to the phenomenon of the environmental Kuznets curve, and pessimists referring to the limits to growth. However, no operational set of simple criteria has been developed so far to assess the sustainability of a given growth pattern. This is all the more true for measures combining environmental and social criteria. The paper undertakes to sketch out such criteria, and to assess them by applying them to transdiciplinary sustainability scenarios and model simulations with PANTA RHEI, one of the most complex models of the German economy. Theoretical considerations, as well as the empirical work with the model, demonstrate that there are indeed trade offs between economic growth and environmental impacts, and a positive correlation of growth and employment. Nonetheless, it is still possible to develop carefully orchestrated strategies that combine economic competitiveness, low unemployment rates and an easing of the pressure on the environment. Social and technical innovation, reduced working time, a modernised social security system, green taxes and salary increases proportional to labour productivity growth are essential parts of any such strategy. The triple effectiveness of such strategies regarding environmental, social and economic sustainability is demonstrated by the model runs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. |
