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Le sujet de la présente thèse est La soutenabilité de l’accumulation du capital et de ses régimes : une approche macroéconomique en termes de soutenabilité forte. Elle s’articule en deux parties. Deux chapitres composent la première : le chapitre 1 s’inscrit dans le débat sur la possibilité d’un capitalisme stationnaire. Il analyse l’absence des rapports sociaux spécifiques du capitalisme dans les travaux de certains économistes écologiques au moyen d’exemples historiques de crise écologique et des théories éco-marxistes. Le chapitre 2 discute les analyses monétaires de certains économistes écologiques selon lesquelles un état stationnaire est incompatible avec un système dans lequel la monnaie est créée comme une dette portant intérêt en adoptant un point de vue post-keynésien. La deuxième partie est plus empirique et se compose de trois chapitres. Le chapitre 3 examine la relation sociale à l’énergie au sein du régime d’accumulation fordiste et du capitalisme financiarisé et mondialisé. L’approche en termes d’exergie est intégrée à un cadre théorique régulationniste informé par l’approche en termes de démocratie carbone. L’objectif est d’identifier des ruptures dans les modalités d’usage de l’énergie qui accompagnent les transformations observées dans d’autres domaines. Le chapitre 4 prolonge le précédent au moyen d’une analyse économétrique de la relation PIB-CO2 pour la France de 1950 à 2013 en tenant compte de la rupture dans les régularités de l’accumulation du capital entre le régime d’accumulation fordiste et le régime d’accumulation néolibéral ainsi que des possibles asymétries. Le chapitre 5 analyse les ambitions nationales en matière de réduction de gaz à effet de serre, dénommées volontarisme carbone, replacées dans le contexte du capitalisme globalisé et financiarisé contemporain. The subject of my PhD is The sustainability of capital accumulation and its regimes: a strong sustainability macroeconomic approach. It is composed of two parts. The first one is composed of two chapters that review the literature on two aspects: The first chapter tackles the debate on stationary capitalism. It reviews the way capitalism is taken into account by ecological economists and analyzes it in light of historical examples of ecological crises and of insights from eco-marxist theories. Chapter 2 tackles the debate about the so-called monetary growth imperative analysed from a post-Keynesian point of view. The second part is a more empirical one and is composed of three chapters. Chapter 3 attempts at framing the exergy-useful work approach into a régulationnist theoretical framework informed with insights from the Carbon democracy approach. It investigates the social relationship to energy in the Fordist and Neoliberal accumulation regimes. The fourth chapter attempts at furthering the third chapter by investigating the CO2 - GDP relationship through econometric means taking into account structural breaks between accumulation regimes and possible asymmetries. Chapter 5 investigates the commitment of countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions within the context of globalized finance-led capitalism.

The perspective of strong/weak sustainability has a great impact on sustainability assessment. In this study, two most widely used indices, Ecological Footprint (EF) and Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for strong and weak sustainability assessment, were employed to evaluate the sustainability of China’s ten megacities between 1978 and 2015. The results showed that the ecological footprint had been enlarged in the past twenty years; while the genuine economic welfare started to increase since 2005. The cities of Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai met the threshold of below 2.5 global hectares for EF/capita, and over 3000 dollars/capita (in 2010 US$) for GPI/capita. By analyzing and comparing the characteristics, the processes and results, and the complementary features of evaluation methods of EF and GPI, the research suggested that: (1) Strong and weak sustainability indicators, with their own pros/cons in sustainability assessment, should be used carefully; (2) Weak sustainability indicators could be analyzed from the perspective of strong sustainability; (3) Strong sustainability indicators need to be developed urgently. The results in this study could guide the selection of sustainability indicators, and help interpret the results of sustainability assessment.

As we are experiencing a major biological crisis, institutional actors and NGOs are calling onbusinesses to engage efforts aiming at halting biodiversity loss. The objective of the thesis is toanalyze and evaluate the potential contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) tobiodiversity conservation.Based on a critical analysis of two types of instruments used by companies – biodiversity evaluationtools and CSR normative frameworks, three barriers to the qualification of corporateresponsibilities towards biodiversity are identified: entitlement of individual responsibilities,management of extended pressures and legitimacy of business responses. Subsequently, aframework is developed to analyze to which extent a company takes in charge its ecologicalresponsibilities. After characterizing CSR initiatives based on the case study of businesscommitments to contribute to the French National Biodiversity Strategy, a method is proposed totest whether business activities exert unsustainable pressures on ecosystems. It is assumed thatcompatibility with ecosystems’ carrying capacities is a prerequisite for effective biodiversityconservation. This method, adapted from the “absolute environmental sustainability assessment”(AESA) approach, is applied in the context of research-intervention projects to the food portfolio ofthe mass-market retailer Groupe Casino and to the life cycle of two facilities of SARP Industriespecialized in the disposal and storage of hazardous waste. The comparison of the company’senvironmental footprints with the ecological constraints is used to draw a comprehensive strategybased on the mitigation hierarchy. As our results highlight the opportunity to strengthen themanagement of extended pressures through CSR, possible implications for sectors and publicpolicies are discussed.; Alors que nous faisons face à une crise biologique majeure, acteurs institutionnel et ONGsexhortent les entreprises à s’engager pour enrayer cette érosion écologique. L’objectif de la thèseest d’analyser, évaluer et faire évoluer la contribution potentielle des entreprises à la conservationde la biodiversité dans le cadre de leur responsabilité sociétale (RSE).L’analyse critique de deux types d’instrument mobilisés par les acteurs économiques – les outilsd’évaluation de la biodiversité et les cadres normatifs de la RSE – permet d’identifier plusieursobstacles pour qualifier les responsabilités écologiques d’une entreprise : l’imputabilité de sesresponsabilités individuelles, la gestion des pressions étendues et la légitimité des réponsesapportées. En réponse, un cadre d’analyse trans-sectoriel est développé pour évaluer la prise encharge par une entreprise de ses responsabilités écologiques en termes de moyens – les initiativesRSE a priori favorables à la biodiversité mises en œuvre – et de résultats – la compatibilité desactivités de l’entreprise avec la conservation de la biodiversité. Après avoir caractérisé lesinitiatives RSE à partir de l’étude de cas des engagements d’entreprises endossés commecontributions à la Stratégie nationale pour la biodiversité, une méthode est proposée pour tester siles activités d’une entreprise sont écologiquement non-durables. Le postulat est que le respect descapacités de charge des écosystèmes est un prérequis à la conservation effective de la biodiversité.Cette méthode, adaptée de l’évaluation environnementale absolue de la durabilité (EEAD), estappliquée, dans le cadre de deux projets de recherche-intervention, au portfolio alimentaire duGroupe Casino et au cycle de vie de deux installations de stockage de déchets dangereux de SARPIndustries. Cette objectivation des performances au regard des contraintes écologiques sert d’appuipour proposer des orientations stratégiques dans la logique de la séquence éviter-réduirecompenser.Soulignant l’importance de renforcer la prise en charge des pressions étendues, cettethèse ouvre plus largement des perspectives pour les secteurs d’activité et les politiques publiques.

As we are experiencing a major biological crisis, institutional actors and NGOs are calling on businesses to engage efforts aiming at halting biodiversity loss. The objective of the thesis is to analyze and evaluate the potential contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to biodiversity conservation.A framework is developed to analyze to which extent a company takes in charge its ecological responsibilities. After characterizing CSR initiatives based on the case study of business commitments to contribute to the French National Biodiversity Strategy, a method is proposed to test whether business activities exert unsustainable pressures on ecosystems. It is assumed that compatibility with ecosystems’ carrying capacities is a prerequisite for effective biodiversity conservation. This method, adapted from the “absolute environmental sustainability assessment” (AESA) approach, is applied in the context of research-intervention projects to the food portfolio of the mass-market retailer Groupe Casino and to the life cycle of two facilities of SARP Industrie specialized in the disposal and storage of hazardous waste. The comparison of the company’s environmental footprints with the ecological constraints is used to draw a comprehensive strategy based on the mitigation hierarchy. As our results highlight the opportunity to strengthen the management of extended pressures through CSR, possible implications for sectors and public policies are discussed.; Alors que nous faisons face à une crise biologique majeure, acteurs institutionnel et ONGs exhortent les entreprises à s’engager pour enrayer cette érosion écologique. L’objectif de la thèse est d’analyser, évaluer et faire évoluer la contribution potentielle des entreprises à la conservation de la biodiversité dans le cadre de leur responsabilité sociétale (RSE).Un cadre d’analyse est développé pour évaluer la prise en charge par une entreprise de ses responsabilités écologiques en termes de moyens – les initiatives RSE a priori favorables à la biodiversité mises en œuvre – et de résultats – la compatibilité des activités de l’entreprise avec la conservation de la biodiversité. Après avoir caractérisé les initiatives RSE à partir de l’étude d’engagements d’entreprises endossés comme contributions à la Stratégie nationale pour la biodiversité, une méthode est proposée pour détecter si les activités d’une entreprise sont écologiquement non-durables. Le postulat est que le respect des capacités de charge des écosystèmes est un prérequis à la conservation effective de la biodiversité. Cette méthode, adaptée de l’évaluation environnementale absolue de la durabilité, est appliquée, dans le cadre de deux projets de recherche-intervention, au portfolio alimentaire du Groupe Casino et au cycle de vie de deux installations de stockage de déchets dangereux de SARP Industries. Des orientations stratégiques visant à éviter-réduire-compenser les pressions non durables sont proposées. Soulignant l’importance de renforcer la prise en charge des pressions étendues, cette thèse ouvre plus largement des perspectives pour les secteurs d’activité et les politiques publiques.

Earth systems science maintains that there are nine “planetary boundaries” that demarcate a sustainable, safe operating space for humankind for essential global sinks and resources. Respecting these planetary boundaries represents the “strong sustainability” perspective in economics, which argues that some natural capital may not be substituted and are inviolate. In addition, the safe operating space defined by these boundaries can be considered a depletable stock. We show that standard tools of natural resource economics for an exhaustible resource can thus be applied, which has implications for optimal use, price paths, technological innovation, and stock externalities. These consequences in turn affect the choice of policies that may be adopted to manage and allocate the safe operating space available for humankind.

The subject of my PhD is The sustainability of capital accumulation and its regimes : a strong sustainability macroeconomic approach. It is composed of two parts. The first one is composed of two chapters that review the literature on two aspects : The first chapter tackles the debate on stationary capitalism. It reviews the way capitalism is taken into account by ecological economists and analyzes it in light of historical examples of ecological crises and of insights from eco-marxist theories. Chapter 2 tackles the debate about the so-called monetary growth imperative analysed from a post-Keynesian point of view. The second part is a more empirical one and is composed of three chapters. Chapter 3 attempts at framing the exergy-useful work approach into a régulationnist theoretical framework informed with insights from the Carbon democracy approach. It investigates the social relationship to energy in the Fordist and Neoliberal accumulation regimes. The fourth chapter attempts at furthering the third chapter by investigating the CO2 - GDP relationship through econometric means taking into account structural breaks between accumulation regimes and possible asymmetries. Chapter 5 investigates the commitment of countries to reduce their greenhousegas emissions within the context of globalized finance-led capitalism.; Le sujet de la présente thèse est La soutenabilité de l’accumulation du capital et de ses régimes : une approche macroéconomique en termes de soutenabilité forte. Elle s’articule en deux parties. Deux chapitres composent la première : le chapitre 1 s’inscrit dans le débat sur la possibilité d’un capitalisme stationnaire. Il analyse l’absence des rapports sociaux spécifiques du capitalisme dans les travaux de certains économistes écologiques au moyen d’exemples historiques de crise écologique et des théories éco-marxistes. Le chapitre 2 discute les analyses monétaires de certains économistes écologiques selon lesquelles un état stationnaire est incompatible avec un système dans lequel la monnaie est créée comme une dette portant intérêt en adoptant un point de vue post-keynésien. La deuxième partie est plus empirique et se compose de trois chapitres. Le chapitre 3 examine la relation sociale à l’exergie au sein du régime d’accumulation fordiste et du capitalisme financiarisé et mondialisé. L’approche en termes d’énergie est intégrée à un cadre théorique régulationniste informé par l’approche en termes de démocratie carbone. L’objectif est d’identifier des ruptures dans les modalités d’usage de l’énergie qui accompagnent les transformations observées dans d’autres domaines. Le chapitre 4 prolonge le précédent au moyen d’une analyse économétrique de la relation PIB-CO2 pour la France de 1950 à 2013 en tenant compte de la rupture dans les régularités de l’accumulation du capital entre le régime d’accumulation fordiste et le régime d’accumulation néolibéral ainsi que des possibles asymétries. Le chapitre 5 analyse les ambitions nationales en matière de réduction de gaz à effet de serre, dénommées volontarisme carbone, replacées dans le contexte du capitalisme globalisé et financiarisé contemporain.

This paper examines whether the expanded meaning of the term sustainability and its broader use in society, policy and economics will actually bring about the benefits experts anticipate for the forest-based sector. It begins by defining sustainability as a travelling concept, then presents and analyzes two current lines of discourse in Germany on sustainability, both with high relevance for the forest-based sector: strong sustainability and sustainable building. The analysis shows that each discourse has developed and established a diametrically opposed meaning of sustainability. As a result, it could be argued that the two meanings pose a threat to the German forest-based sector by reducing the raw material base and ultimately minimizing market opportunities. This reasoning reveals a paradox: as the term sustainability, originally coined by the forestry sector, becomes mainstream, it could end up limiting the sector’s future growth.

In the context of the Rio Earth Summit numerous international regimes, national policies and organizational guidelines have appeared that help translate the normative demands of sustainable development into political reality. The implementation of these instruments, however, often runs into difficulties or fails entirely. An example is the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), a progressive approach for the conservation of freshwater that is very unlikely to be implemented by 2015, the target year. We examine in this paper how a recent variation of Gandhian non-violent communication within social entrepreneurship suggests one way to deal with this challenge. Non-violent communication, rooted in Gandhian social action, has long been part of environmental politics. It has undergone a new variation as a mode of communication in the hands of social entrepreneurship initiatives that address urgent social and environmental issues with new, practical ideas. In the conceptual part of this paper, we outline our approach to sustainability, non-violent communication and social entrepreneurship. In a further part, we present data from a trans-disciplinary experiment to illustrate and critically discuss social entrepreneurship as a mode of sustainability communication. The experiment looked at, which is based on French social entrepreneur Roberto Epple’s idea of a Big Jump, is a collaborative campaign that invites young people to take action for water conservation in the context of the WFD.

En el presente artículo se analiza la introducción de la noción de desarrollo sostenible en el ordenamiento jurídico y político chileno, particularmente en el ámbito de la planificación territorial de los espacios verdes urbanos. This article analyzes the introduction of the notion of sustainable development in the chilean legaland political order, in the field of territorial planning of urban green spaces. Cet article analyse l'introduction de la notion de développement durable dans l'ordre juridique et politique chilien, en particulier dans le domaine de l'aménagement du territoire des espaces verts urbains.

This paper develops a theoretical framework to assess the feasibility of global environmental sustainability solutions based on one or more value changes. The framework represents four sustainability paradigms (weak sustainability WS, a-growth AG, de-growth DG, strong sustainability SS) and five value changes (i.e. a sense of responsibility for nature, future generations, or the current generation in developing countries; aversion to inequality for the current generation or future generations). It defines solutions in terms of consumption, environment use, and welfare for representative individuals in both developed (OECD) and developing (non-OECD) countries. Solutions are characterised by efficiency (i.e. Pareto and Kaldor–Hicks) with respect to welfare and by intra- and inter-generational equality for consumption, environment use, and welfare, by confirming internal consistency and consistency with alternative equity approaches for utilitarianism (i.e. Harsanyi), egalitarianism (i.e. Arneson for welfare; Dworkin for consumption or environment use; Sen for consumption and environment use), and contractarianism (i.e. Rawls). Theoretical and operational insights are described for alternative sustainability paradigms and equity approaches. In terms of feasibility based on improved technology, decreased population, and modified consumption, the ordering is responsibility for future generations > responsibility for the current generation in developing countries > aversion to inequality for the current generation > aversion to inequality for future generations and AG > SS > DG > WS: responsibility for nature is unfeasible. In terms of internal consistency, responsibility for future generations > responsibility for the current generation in developing countries = aversion to inequality for the current generation = aversion to inequality for future generations and SS > AG > DG; WS is internally inconsistent. In terms of consistency with an equity approach, responsibility for future generations > responsibility for the current generation in developing countries = aversion to inequality for future generations > aversion to inequality for the current generation and SS > AG > DG > WS.

Strong sustainability requires enhanced knowledge and understanding of complex social-ecological interactions, but it also implies a ‘novel’ conceptualization of the relationship between humans and nature, one in which individuals perceive themselves as embedded members of the Biosphere. The aim of this Licentiate thesis is to investigate the validity of a strategy that is centered on designing the urban green infrastructure to nurture such human-nature relationship in children’s attitudes. The research is framed by spatial cognition, conservation psychology, and social-ecological sustainability and it focuses on the validity of this strategy. Hence, the Licentiate analyzes how reoccurring experiences of nature that are situated in the everyday habitat (i.e. nature routines) affect personal human-nature attitudes and how these can be implemented as leverage points to change social-ecological systems using sustainable urbanism. Paper 1 tests the assumed link between the nature routines in Stockholm and preschool children’s development of cognitive and emotional affinity to nature. The results show that nature-rich routines over a period of four years are significantly correlated with the strength of preschooler’s affinity with nature. Paper 2 uses a mixed methods approach to evaluate changes in Connection To Nature (CTN) in 10 years olds who partake in a project of nature conservation. The results of Paper 2 show that there is an evaluative gap between theory and practice in connecting children with nature that impedes the evaluation of how children’s CTN changes over short periods of time and that impedes the creation of an evaluative framework for nature experiences. Paper 3 considers these empirical results in theorizing an approach to sustainable urban design based on social-ecological sustainability that includes CTN. In order to overcome existing limitations Paper 3 presents the concept of cognitive affordances as a theoretical tool to embed cognitive and emotional attitudes towards nature into the design of urban spaces. All combined these papers provide valid evidence that nature routines in cities, especially for children, can be a significant leverage point to enable future sustainable civilizations.

In this article I argue that notions such as ecosystem services and strong sustainability can be best understood and developed within the theoretical framework advanced by the classical political economists, in which a circular conception of the economy is provided. I also argue that the development of notions such as ecosystem services and strong sustainability has been constrained by the dominance of neoclassical economics, which provides a linear conception of the economy and leads to an emphasis on weak sustainability, which in turn springs from an emphasis on substitutability and aggregate capital. When assessing the relevance of classical political economy for studying ecosystem services and strong sustainability I consider not only the contributions of the classical political economists, but also more recent contributions which draw upon the classical perspective, such as Piero Sraffa's and Amartya Sen's.

We reassess Ricardo's conjecture of a secular increase in rent in an endogenous growth model with an essential renewable material resource and rising product quality. The model is consistent with the concept of strong sustainability and thus assumes that the resource productivity is bounded. Hence, only qualitative growth (i.e., a secular increase in the quality of final productions) may persist in the long run. We analyse how the scarcity of the resource affects the rent level and the distribution of national income (between resource, capital and labour) in the short and long runs. In the long run, resource scarcity induces a distributive conflict opposing labour to capital and resource, a lower resource stock implying generally a lower labour share and higher capital and rent shares. The transitory dynamics of the economy is analyzed numerically, starting from initial conditions characterized by a low capital stock and a large potential technical progress. Even if initially the rent share may evolve non-monotonically, simulations tend to confirm that Ricardo's conjecture emerges sooner or later during the transitory dynamics: except in the case of a very high dematerialization potential of final output, the rent share will rise as quantitative growth slows down. JEL: E25, D9, 044, Q0, Q56. / KEY WORDS: Growth, Strong Sustainability, Rent, Functional Distribution of Income, Renewable Resource, Dematerialisation.

In this paper, I develop an operational methodology to consistently compare alternative sustainability paradigms (weak sustainability [WS], strong sustainability [SS], a-growth [AG], and de-growth [DG]) and different assessment approaches (life-cycle assessment [LCA], cost-benefit analysis [CBA], and multi-criteria analysis [MCA]) within alternative relationship frameworks (economic general equilibrium [EGE] and ecosystem services [ESS]). The goal is to suggest different environmental interventions (e.g., projects vs. policies) for nature management and guide decisions to achieve nature conservation, defined here as reducing environmental pressures to preserve the future environment and its functioning over time. I then apply the methodology to 30 interdependent industries in Italy for three pollutants (greenhouse-effect gases, polluted rain, and air pollution) and four resources (water, minerals, fossil fuels, biomass) during two periods (from 1990 to 2007 and from 1990 to 2012). The industries were prioritised in terms of interventions to be taken to diminish pollution damage and resource depletion (e.g., fishing and non-energy mining for any sustainability paradigm), whereas sustainability paradigms are compared in terms of their likelihood (i.e., WS > AG = DG > SS), robustness (i.e., AG > SS > DG > WS), effectiveness (i.e., SS > AG > DG > WS), and feasibility (i.e., SS > DG > WS > AG). Proper assessment approaches for projects are finally identified for situations when policies are infeasible (e.g., LCA in WS and SS, MCA in DG and SS within ESS, CBA in WS and AG within EGE), by suggesting MCA in WS within ESS once ecological services are linked to sustainability criteria.

International audience; In this presentation, we firstly give a critical analysis of Natural Capital (NC), in order to clarify the differences between its economic and ecological approaches. Secondly, we connect this debate with the concept of capital in accounting. We argue that accounting theory provides a relevant framework to structure the debate on NC and to implement its ecological conceptualisation.Thus, in the first part, we question the notion of “capital” itself and assert that “capital” is not prima facie money or a mean of production but is a type of power (Nitzan & Bichler, 2009). Indeed, this concept is consubstantial of Modernity, characterized by the Subject/Object dichotomy (Latour, 2004), and of capitalism – a particular modality of the Modern cosmology –, defined as a societal institution based on the unlimited expansion of the rational mastery of Subjects over Objects (Castoriadis, 1998): Capital is the operationalization of this rational mastery. Therefore, by definition, NC is not another type of capital: NC is the natural part of Capital, i.e. the recognition that the Capital partially stems from environmental Objects and so that, these Objects, in the same time, are means under the control of Subjects and contribute to the growth of the power and welfare of these last ones. Now, in economics, Capital has two fundamental forms that we will detail: the fundist one and the materialist one (Hicks, 1974). Their application to NC can clarify the concepts of weak and strong sustainability: in particular, strong sustainability is a specific materialist conceptualisation of NC and so remains based on a capitalist approach. In these conditions, the utilization of the notion of NC by ecologists gives raise to confusion, because it does not rely on capitalism. Ecological NC (ENC) is not “welfare-based” but “stuff-based” (Norton, 2005), i.e. ENC is really another type of capital, whose role is to focus on the preservation of environmental entities. So we will explain what a capital is in this context. In the second part, we firstly claim that double-entry bookkeeping accounting is relevant to reformulate the different viewpoints about NC. Indeed, for capitalism, firms are automated tools which manage some assets in order to develop the Capital of shareholders, the “real” Subjects. Thus, at the corporate level, the economic notion of Capital is not a liability, whose specific conservation implies accountability issues, but is an asset. Therefore the capitalist NC is also an asset, a mere mean. Now, for traditional accounting, capital is a liability. The standard accounting capital is money: its maintenance is the cornerstone of accounting and led to the creation of powerful instruments, like the planned depreciation. So we argue that ENC must also be seen as a liability: therefore, at the corporate level, the difference between a capitalist and an ecological NC relies on the difference between assets and liabilities. In these conditions, we finally suggest that the development of an ecological conceptualisation of NC naturally rests on the extension of the traditional accounting maintenance instruments to this new capital (cf. (Rambaud & Richard, 2013). ReferencesCastoriadis, C. (1998). The Imaginary Institution of Society. (K. Blamey, Trans.) (p. 426). MIT Press.Hicks, J. R. (1974). Capital Controversies: Ancient and Modern. American Economic Review, 64(2), 307–316.Latour, B. (2004). Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy (p. 307). Harvard University Press.Nitzan, J., & Bichler, S. (2009). Capital as Power. A Study of Order and Creorder (p. 463). Routledge.Norton, B. G. (2005). Sustainability (p. 607). The University of Chicago Press.Rambaud, A., & Richard, J. (2013). The Triple Depreciation Line ( TDL ) against the Triple Bottom Line ( TBL ): Towards a genuine integrated reporting (p. 40).

We reassess Ricardo’s conjecture of a secular increase in rent in an endogenous growth model with an essential renewable material resouce and rising product quality. The model is consistent with the concept of strong sustainability and thus assumes that the resource productivity is bounded. Hence, only qualitative growth (i.e. a secular increase in the quality of final productions) may persist in the long run. We analyse how the scarcity of the resource affects the rent level and the distribution of national income (between resource, capital and labour) in the short and long runs. In the long run, resource scarcity induces a distributive conflict opposing labour to capital and resource, a lower resource stock implying generally a lower labour share and higher capital and rent shares. The transitory dynamics of the economy is analyzed numerically, starting from initial conditions characterized by a low capital stock and a large potential of technical progress. Even if initially the rent (share) may evolve non monotonically, simulations tend to confirm that Ricardo’s conjecture emerges sooner or later during the transitory dynamics : except in the case of a very high dematerialization potential of final output, the rent share will raise as quantitative growth slows down.

When assessing the sustainability of a particular technology, a number of environmental, economic, and social indicators need to be taken into account. The aim of this paper is to analyze the underlying rationales for the prioritization of all these indicators i.e. the rationale for an integrated sustainability assessment. For this purpose, different alternative paradigms of sustainability are briefly discussed, with the focus on the concepts of weak and strong sustainability, which define a spectrum of views on the possibility to replace environmental capital with human-made capital. We conclude that there is a sound case for the strong sustainability paradigm and we argue that this conclusion has deep implications for the decision-making processes. Firstly, because it implies that a set of thresholds for a number of environmental indicators would need to be agreed upon. Secondly, because it implies that environmental impacts would no longer be ‘tradable’ for socio-economic benefits, when they are expected to go beyond the agreed threshold. We suggest that non-compensatory decision-making tools will need to be considered at some point in the process in order to account for the non-substitutability of critical environmental services. Using the concept of ‘planetary boundaries’ proposed by Rockstrom et al. we discuss how such information could be put into practice in decision-making. We suggest that the concept of planetary boundaries can provide both a preliminary basis for the prioritization of environmental impacts and a preliminary supporting argument for the definition of environmental thresholds that enable the use of non-compensatory decision-making approaches. Further work in this area is urgently required.

Hållbarhet är ett begrepp som har skiftande innebörd, både inom vetenskap och populärvetenskap. Forskning kring hållbarhet har ett särskilt fokus på kartläggning av orsakssamband och enbart ett fåtal studier fokuserar på att kartlägga och utforska hur begreppet hållbarhet konstrueras genom företags kommunikation. Inom redovisning efterfrågas ofta ett mer principbaserat och konceptuellt angreppssätt, och då detta enligt vår litteraturöversikt ges begränsat utrymme inom forskning kring hållbarhet, finns det möjligheter till att bidra med förståelse på området. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska hur begreppet hållbarhet kommuniceras och därmed konstrueras av företag med affärskonceptet fast fashion. Det finns en distinktion mellan handling och kommunikation och den här studien behandlar enbart kommunikationsaspekten. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av hållbarhetsredovisningar för företag med affärskonceptet fast fashion. Studien har en tvärsnittsdesign med ett teoretiskt urval och top of mind-associationer. Totalt inkluderades tre företag i studien och deras respektive hållbarhetsredovisningar för rapporteringsåret 2013. I analysen har vi arbetat utifrån en abduktiv ansats inspirerat av ett foucauldianskt perspektiv. Den teoretiska modellen utvecklades med hjälp av tidigare litteratur om hållbarhetsdefinitioner och användes som en utgångspunkt för att kategorisera de textavsnitt som identifierades i respektive analys. Vår utforskning av företagens kommunikation av hållbarhet leder till slutsatsen att begreppet snarare konstrueras som produktiv aktivitet än handlingsklokhet i och med företagens tydliga fokus på stegvis anpassning och efterlevnad av såväl koder som specifika regler. Weak sustainability är mer framträdande än strong sustainability i företagens hållbarhetsrapportering, men det finns även en glidande skala mellan dessa. Till skillnad från övriga studier kring konstruktion av hållbarhetsbegreppet riktar denna studie in sig på företag med ett visst koncept (i.e. fast fashion) i utforskningen av hur hållbarhetsbegreppet kommuniceras och konstrueras. Studiens bidrag är utvecklandet av den teoretiska modellen i form av en glidande skala samt ökad konceptuell förståelse för konstruktion av hållbarhet. Vi argumenterar således för en glidande skala mellan de teoretiskt definierade hållbarhetskategorierna, medan andra studier enbart presenterar sina resultat enligt dikotomier. Considering both science and popular science, sustainability is a concept of diverse meanings. Scientific research concerning sustainability has a particular focus on plotting causal links. Only a few studies focus on plotting and exploring the concept of sustainability as it is being conveyed by businesses via communication in corporate sustainability reports. Within the accounting field, there is a common demand for a principles-based and conceptual approach. Thus, while our literature review shows scientific research on sustainability has given limited attention to this approach, there are vast opportunities to contribute to this field by enhancing the comprehension of this issue. Consequently, the aim of this study is to explore the way in which the concept of sustainability is communicated and hence constructed by fast fashion businesses. As there is a distinction between practice and communication, this study merely focuses on the communication aspect.We have conducted a qualitative content analysis based on corporate sustainability reports issued by fast fashion corporations. The study applies a cross-sectional design and a theoretical sampling technique coupled with top-of-mind associations. In total, three corporations were included in this study, resulting in a sample of three corporate sustainability reports from the reporting year of 2013. During the analysis, an abductive approach inspired by a foucauldian perspective was applied. The theoretical model was elaborated on the basis of previous research and academic literature on the definition of sustainability and it served as an initial structure for categorization of the empirical observations.Our findings indicate that companies portray a clear focus on gradual adjustment and conformity to various codes as well as regulations, which leads to the conclusion that companies included in this study construct sustainability in terms of skills rather than wisdom. Furthermore, our findings point to the conclusion that elements of weak sustainability are more prominent than elements of strong sustainability in corporate sustainability reports. However, a notable finding is the existence of a sliding scale between these paradigms. As opposed to other studies regarding the construction of sustainability, this study focuses on a certain business concept (i.e. fast fashion) exploring the communication and construction of the concept sustainability. The contribution of our study is an evolution of the model in terms of a sliding scale and increased conceptual understanding of the term sustainability. We argue a sliding scale between weak and strong sustainability should be taken into account, while previous studies have presented their findings solely as dichotomies.This paper is written in Swedish.

International audience; The purpose of this paper is to address three major shortcomings of Sen's capability approach with regard to sustainability: (i) First, the weakness of the ecological dimension of the capability framework. This can be overcome by devising a place where it is possible to relate the intrinsic and instrumental values of Nature; (ii) Second, the issue of responsibility, which is only considered from a consequentialist viewpoint by Sen (i.e. ex-post responsibility). Such a restrictive view can be extended by adding the ex-ante dimension of responsibility; (iii) Third, the relationship between the individual and collective levels. This can be overcome by introducing the idea of collective agency. Overcoming these limitations makes it possible to fully integrate the ecological dimension into an extended vision of the capability approach which makes it consistent with strong sustainability, and which leads to a new definition of the agent as a responsible person acting so as to generate sustainable human development.

In the environmental context banks face direct, indirect and reputational risks from their internal operations and their external business activities. The current specific focus on the protection of the environment makes it essential for banks and their directors to be aware and stay on top of potential risks and liabilities. This is especially so because banks’ directors can be criminally prosecuted for environmental crimes. The application and effect of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (POCA) on persons convicted of an environmental crime or crimes has been identified as a possible new or added risk for banks and their directors. Banks in addition to their normal environmental risk and liabilities also need to contend with the possibility of lender liability. Existing legislation pertinent to lender liability does not expressly or specifically deal with lender liability. Absence of judgements on lender liability further exacerbates the risks and the uncertainty for banks in South Africa. Therefore, banks remain subject to legal uncertainty and associated risks. The issue of lender liability specifically with regard to the implication of “the person in control” requires clarification. Hence, it is recommended that legislation relevant to lender liability (National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998; National Water Act 36 of 1998 and the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008) be revised to specifically accommodate and protect lenders (lending banks) in certain distinct circumstances. The role of banks is that of an intermediary between borrowers and lenders of money. Therefore, it influences the direction and pace of economic development and by default steers and promotes either sustainable or non-sustainable development. Currently, mainstream banks are in effect financing a brown economy and hence subscribe to a weak form of sustainability. It would seem that mainstream banks are more concerned with managing the impact that environmental risk may have on bank lending than the impact of bank lending on the environment. The evolving nature of sustainability (from weak to strong and from a brown to green economy) demands a fundamental policy change for banks. It is expected that mainstream banks will be put under even greater pressure than before to make the transition from weak to strong sustainability. Hence, banks’ current environmental risk management systems will not be sufficient to cater for new environmental risks and liabilities that the move to stronger sustainability (in the form of the green economy) will present. Banks should adopt the stronger version of sustainability; formulate environmental principles that the bank will adhere to; incorporate these environmental principles into all aspects of its lending cycle, develop an environmental risk management system that should include as a minimum the identification of all the applicable legislation pertaining to the specific financing or lending of capital, risk identification, assessment of the specific risk, implementation of risk control measures, mitigation of the risk, risk monitoring and auditing. LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

As long as the energy future of Turkey is concerned there is a consensus among all parties involved in the subject that a strong sustainability based on diverse range of renewable and variety of sources with efficient and fair use of energy is a must. The main criterion in this approach is to use energy with the least possible greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions. A shift in focus to meeting the needs of energy service sector will be immediately felt in the sustainable energy future in Turkey. Another important aspect of the sustainable energy future of Turkey is that all energy users, as more knowledgeable and active participants will be more involved in various stages of the process. However, Turkey has a long way to reach this vision, because of growing greenhouse emissions related to energy production and utilization of alternative energy is slow. Besides, the intensity of energy of the Turkish economy is decreasing slower than many other OECD countries. In addition, energy consumption per person in Turkey is far above the service needs, even for modern lifestyles. There are substantial obstacles on the way to a sustainable energy future of Turkey, such as various aspects of economic structure, a misdirected energy market process, and a lack of vision among the decision makers. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Resumen:Con el objetivo de conocer el bienestar de los habitantes de Medellín y dar una primera mirada en el uso de indicadores integrales de desarrollo sostenible a nivel de ciudad en Colombia, se ha diseñado y calculado para la ciudad de Medellín, el Índice de Progreso Genuino –IPG- que mide el bienestar teniendo en cuenta variables ambientales, económicas y sociales, olvidadas por el PIB, medición económica que calcula el valor agregado de los bienes y servicios de una economía, la cual tiene gran acogida mundial. Se midieron un total de diecisiete variables, consolidadas en cuatro grandes grupos, variables base, económicas, sociales y ambientales, en los que se reconoce limitaciones en la generación y acceso a la información, los resultados parciales arrojando resultados positivos en cuanto al bienestar de los individuos, ya que el PIB es sólo un poco menos del 1% del IPG, panorama que puede ser modificado, si se contará con la información necesaria para medir este índice de una manera más completa Abstract: In order to know the welfare of the inhabitants of Medellín and give a first look at the comprehensive use of sustainable development indicators as a level of city in Colombia, it has designed and calculated for the metropolis, the Genuine Progress Index, GPI- measuring the welfare variables considering environmental, economic and social, forgotten by GDP, economic measurement that calculates the value added of goods and services in an economy, which has a great reception in the world. It measured a total of seventeen variables, consolidated into four major groups based variables, economic, social and environmental issues, producing positive results for the welfare of individuals,since GDP is only slightly less than 1% of the IPG, panorama that can be modified, if you have the necessary information to measure this index more fully Maestría

In the past decades, in all the world schools and faculties of economics, it was taught that the main objective of economic policy is to ensure continuous economic growth. However, for reasons of limited absorption capacity of the environment and increasing reduction of the original ecosystems, models of economic growth are in opposition to the basic ecological principles. This is primarily the consequence of learning and applying the conventional economic paradigm which disregards the relationship between economy and environment. Therefore, the authors of this paper, proceeding from the correlation between economy and environment from the aspect of fundamental natural laws, analysed the basic determinants of the strong sustainability paradigm which implies that natural capital resources should be maintained in the constant flow of time. The research also includes analysis of the correlation between specific economic and ecological challenges of sustainable development in global regions. The authors concluded that sustainable economy may exist only in the sustainable symbiosis with the natural system. Taking into account the complex relationship between nature, society, technology and economy, the authors concluded the paper with the proposition of concrete guidelines for a reform of economic education, in accordance with the concept of strong sustainability. Key words: economy, education, environment, strong sustainability, weak sustainability.

Este artículo muestra la relación entre las políticas económicas que han promovido al sector cañicultor y su impacto sobre el uso del agua en Colombia, haciendo énfasis en el Valle del Cauca, tanto en su función abastecedora como en la asimiladora. Además, examina la capacidad de soporte del territorio en el valle del río Cauca, asociado a la dinámica futura del cultivo de caña como resultado de las nuevas políticas de apoyo a los agrocombustibles.This work shows the relationship amongst economic policies that have promoted the sugar cane sector and its impact on the water resources supply and assimilatory functions in Colombia, with emphasis on the Valle del Cauca. Furthermore, it examines the land support capacity in the Cauca river valley related to the future dynamics of sugar cane crops as a result of the new policies supporting biofuels production.

International audience; Sen's Capability Approach has radically re-oriented the vision of development, from the obsession of an aggregate, ill-defined level of wealth towards a rigorously defined notion of freedom that builds on the ideals of social justice and human dignity. His recent book on the Idea of Justice (2009) opens new insight on how to integrate environmental concern in the Capability Approach, going further than his previous writings and speeches (Sen 2000). However, it still suffers from several weaknesses related to the definition of sustainability. This paper is a proposal to fill this gap and build a clear concern regarding the integration of the ecological dimension within the Capability Approach

Existe-t-il un consensus scientifique sur les conditions de la durabilité ?Est-il possible de construire un indicateur unique de soutenabilité faible ?Quelles sont les composantes objectives et subjectives des indicateurs ?Peut-on envisager des indicateurs objectifs de soutenabilité ?Quelles voies de recherche sont-elles nécessaires pour développer des indicateurs de développement durable ?Telles sont les questions auxquelles cet ouvrage tente de répondre. La comparaison des courants de la soutenabilité faible et de la soutenabilité forte nous sert de fil conducteur pour évaluer la part normative et la part objective du choix des paramètres et de leur méthode d'agrégation. L'agrégation arithmétique implique des hypothèses de substituabilité entre les facteurs, ce qui relève de la soutenabilité faible. La pondération, toujours normative, peut être explicite ou se traduire par le choix d'une unité ou dimension unique. Nous redéfinissons la soutenabilité faible comme étant la réduction de la complexité à une dimension unique. Il y a dès lors autant d'indicateurs de soutenabilité faible que de choix possibles de cette dimension unique. En particulier, l'empreinte écologique par habitant relève d'une forme "écologique" de soutenabilité faible. Le prix de marché est l'unité fondamentale de mesure de sa forme "économique". Nous montrons que les acteurs ne savent pas bien identifier leur intérêt et qu'ils ne sont pas parfaitement égoïstes, ce qui introduit un biais non systématique remarquable dans toute mesure en unité monétaire. La soutenabilité forte se caractérise par la multiplicité de dimensions ou "capitaux critiques" dont le dépassement d'un seul suffit à déterminer la non soutenabilité. Les différentes formes de soutenabilités faibles peuvent représenter des capitaux critiques parmi d'autres. Nous présentons une typologie des acteurs et du partage des responsabilités, également susceptible d'introduire des grandes divergences dans les résultats publiés. Quelques études de cas illustrent ces différents éléments dans des contextes contrastés. L'empreinte écologique de consommation se limite en particulier à une responsabilisation du seul consommateur, alors que les comptes nationaux permettent d'envisager la coresponsabilité de l'ensemble des acteurs. L'indicateur de "dématérialisation de l'économie" appliqué à un village indien montre la pertinence de mesurer l'utilisation absolue de matière sans pondération monétaire. Il est par ailleurs possible de minimiser le coût de dépollution sans toucher à la limite absolue d'émissions globales de centrales thermiques. Les deux dimensions, coûts sociaux et bénéfices environnementaux, peuvent donc être traitées séparément. En conclusion, il est possible d'identifier, dans chaque calcul d'indicateur de développement durable, une composante relativement objective de soutenabilité "forte" et une composante "faible", négociable, de partage des droits et responsabilités. / We study how different world views may influence how to develop sustainable development indicators. The comparison of weak sustainability and strong sustainability serves as a guide to estimate the share of objective versus normative choice of parameters and their method of aggregation. We then present a typology of actors and shared responsibilities, which may also introduce large discrepancies in the results published. Some case studies illustrate these different elements in contrasting contexts. It appears that it is possible to identify in each calculation of sustainable development indicator, a relatively objective component of sustainability and a negotiable component of shared rights and responsibilities., Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Existe-t-il un consensus scientifique sur les conditions de la durabilité ?Est-il possible de construire un indicateur unique de soutenabilité faible ?Quelles sont les composantes objectives et subjectives des indicateurs ?Peut-on envisager des indicateurs objectifs de soutenabilité ?Quelles voies de recherche sont-elles nécessaires pour développer des indicateurs de développement durable ?Telles sont les questions auxquelles cet ouvrage tente de répondre.La comparaison des courants de la soutenabilité faible et de la soutenabilité forte nous sert de fil conducteur pour évaluer la part normative et la part objective du choix des paramètres et de leur méthode d'agrégation. L'agrégation arithmétique implique des hypothèses de substituabilité entre les facteurs, ce qui relève de la soutenabilité faible. La pondération, toujours normative, peut être explicite ou se traduire par le choix d'une unité ou dimension unique. Nous redéfinissons la soutenabilité faible comme étant la réduction de la complexité à une dimension unique. Il y a dès lors autant d'indicateurs de soutenabilité faible que de choix possibles de cette dimension unique. En particulier, l'empreinte écologique par habitant relève d'une forme "écologique" de soutenabilité faible. Le prix de marché est l'unité fondamentale de mesure de sa forme "économique". Nous montrons que les acteurs ne savent pas bien identifier leur intérêt et qu'ils ne sont pas parfaitement égoïstes, ce qui introduit un biais non systématique remarquable dans toute mesure en unité monétaire. La soutenabilité forte se caractérise par la multiplicité de dimensions ou "capitaux critiques" dont le dépassement d'un seul suffit à déterminer la non soutenabilité. Les différentes formes de soutenabilités faibles peuvent représenter des capitaux critiques parmi d'autres.Nous présentons une typologie des acteurs et du partage des responsabilités, également susceptible d'introduire des grandes divergences dans les résultats publiés. Quelques études de cas illustrent ces différents éléments dans des contextes contrastés. L'empreinte écologique de consommation se limite en particulier à une responsabilisation du seul consommateur, alors que les comptes nationaux permettent d'envisager la coresponsabilité de l'ensemble des acteurs. L'indicateur de "dématérialisation de l'économie" appliqué à un village indien montre la pertinence de mesurer l'utilisation absolue de matière sans pondération monétaire. Il est par ailleurs possible de minimiser le coût de dépollution sans toucher à la limite absolue d'émissions globales de centrales thermiques. Les deux dimensions, coûts sociaux et bénéfices environnementaux, peuvent donc être traitées séparément.En conclusion, il est possible d'identifier, dans chaque calcul d'indicateur de développement durable, une composante relativement objective de soutenabilité "forte" et une composante "faible", négociable, de partage des droits et responsabilités./ We study how different world views may influence how to develop sustainable development indicators. The comparison of weak sustainability and strong sustainability serves as a guide to estimate the share of objective versus normative choice of parameters and their method of aggregation. We then present a typology of actors and shared responsibilities, which may also introduce large discrepancies in the results published. Some case studies illustrate these different elements in contrasting contexts. It appears that it is possible to identify in each calculation of sustainable development indicator, a relatively objective component of sustainability and a negotiable component of shared rights and responsibilities., Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The paper explores the consequences of limited substitutability in welfare between environmental and produced goods for long-term evaluation. I show how the magnitude and time development of optimal social discount rates depend on the substitutability between the different classes of goods. The notions of weak and strong sustainability are translated into the degree of substitutability. I show that a strong notion of sustainability results in lower weights given to long-run service and consumption streams compared to a weak notion of sustainability.

The paper explores the consequences of limited substitutability in welfare between environmental and produced goods for long-term evaluation. I show how the magnitude and time development of optimal social discount rates depend on the substitutability between the different classes of goods. The notions of weak and strong sustainability are translated into the degree of substitutability. I show that a strong notion of sustainability results in lower weights given to long-run service and consumption streams compared to a weak notion of sustainability.