News from 'The Renewable Way' for autumn 08

Sustainable development: the right idea for current economic problems

The economic climate this year seems to be as changeable as the weather, which is why I have chosen two pictures taken during our family travels this summer as an illustration. As can be seen from the photograph taken on 10^th August at Herne Bay in Kent, we were enjoying calm seas and a beautiful English summer day but two days later the North Sea was dramatically rough, as the picture on the front page shows. However, most of the time we were away was punctuated by bursts of heavy rain, as has been true of conditions across the country throughout the seasons so far and, once again, homes and businesses have been flooded. My friend, the economist Brian Eaton has once again produced the latest instalment of his Economic Intelligence Bulletin for North West England: Summer 2007-Summer 2008, which shows how the dramatic headlines are being translated into problems affecting people in their daily life and how they cope. So how should we react to these changing times especially as money for development has become difficult for individuals and companies alike to borrow because of the so called ‘credit-crunch’?

Although there is now considerable evidence of how human activity has contributed to it, the climate is always changing and we have to accommodate to it, as I explained when I delivered my latest presentation ‘What is sustainable development’ to a Rotary Club in the Staffordshire Moorlands recently. The greatest danger, to my mind, is that humanity forgets that it is part of a greater whole (the global system) and individuals, groups and countries think and act as if they can survive on their own economically and make things worse by putting even further pressure on resources that our past collective action have made scarce. The historical record shows that species do exhaust the resources they rely on for survival and become extinct even though life as a whole continues and we would be arrogant and foolish to believe that we are immune from this happening to our species. All actions start with an idea and humanity needs new ideas to avoid creating the conditions for our own demise.

Fortunately, there seems to me to be a growing awareness of the oneness of creation from individuals who are looking from both a spiritual and scientific perspective (for those interested in testing this hypothesis I would recommend starting on-line with Cygnus Books). This is no longer a matter of how we choose to believe the world is because it is now a reality that we can prove for ourselves, which should be no surprise as we are all part of it. Surely it is a wonder to acknowledge and celebrate that every part of creation is only apparently different but actually not ever separate from the greater whole. The concept of ‘sustainable development’ arises from this understanding even though this is translated into the more easily understood idea of humanity’s place in the global system and how this can be secured for this and future generations. It is an idea present just when we need it. So there is something to be hopeful about despite the economic gloom.

Paul Newman

October 2008