Summary Of Paul Hawken's Ecology Of Commerce

In the Ecology of Commerce, Paul Hawken describes the death of birth; this refers to the pessimistic view on the world’s rapidly draining resources. Simply put the death of birth is the loss of all resources and thus, ability to develop. Although most governments and societies have acknowledged the realities of our global environmental situation, the actions currently underway to prevent and repair environmental damage are insufficient when compared to the rate of environmental deterioration we are facing. Due to the overwhelmingly broad topic of the environment, the following argument is centered on the viability of future sustainable development with respect to the most immediate global threats; these include loss of necessary resources including

A popular argument of economists is that people will always find solutions through niche creation. Many articles have been published suggesting that the current global trajectory is nothing new. Supposedly the world faces a continuous cycle where the environment can no longer provide sufficient resources and so, presumably after millions die from starvation or cold, people will create a new way to attain resources and balance will be restored. The concept of niche construction may have worked in past scenarios, however the problem of sustainability is an entirely different beast. Due to the factors affecting our resource crisis, like time and money, it is very unlikely that a technological advancement can overcome the limitations of the earth’s resources if the problem is not dealt with immediately. An example of how niche construction is not a sufficient response can be drawn from a classic example of niche creation, farming. The world of agriculture is a niche creation that came about when the resources of the land were not enough to provide for the expanding population, thus farming was invented and people no longer relied on nature for sustenance (Armezzani, 2014). Today we face the problem of loss of fertile land. Loss of

In terms of current progress towards sustainable development, the most prevalent examples are alternative energy sources; this includes wind, solar, nuclear, and hydropower. Even cars and some individual homes have adopted sustainable energy. There is clearly an undeniable trend in the direction of sustainable development; however, despite having applicable technologies to resolve sustainable energy issues, there is still a very long way to go. The amount of alternative energy sources replacing current harmful and wasteful methods, pale in comparison to the volume of pollution and consumption we face today. As of 2013, use of renewable energy reached around 22% and is on the rise (IEA, 2013); this is a very good start, unfortunately it is not enough. Alternative energy sources are far too expensive, especially for developing countries, to replace all fossil fuels (Lund, 2007). In the area of renewable energy alone, there needs to be an increase in energy output to keep up with fossil fuels, as well as a decrease in cost. There are also other areas, like agriculture or clean water, that need to be further developed. It is not enough to have current technologies in place, there needs to be a significant transition towards these technologies and an