Stephen Boyden

The role of individuals
The role of governments

From the information presented in Part 1 of Biosensitive Futures, it is evident that the well-being of humankind in the future will be dependent on the attainment of ecological sustainability, and this in turn will not be possible without major changes in patterns of human activity.

Appreciating this reality, many environmentalists today are calling for people to voluntarily adopt more sustainable life styles. For example, they recommend the use of bicycles rather than cars, solar panels on the roof, more energy-efficient homes, recycling waste material, reducing material consumption and the use of grey water in the garden. 

Worthy as they are, these personal efforts alone will not be sufficient to overcome the current threats to sustainability. The transition will not come about without strong and decisive action on the part of government.

One of the reasons for this is that there will always be sections of the population that ignore these recommendations. Even in times of warfare, when the perceived threat is blindingly obvious, governments find it necessary to introduce legislation for petrol rationing. They cannot rely on voluntary restraint by concerned citizens.

Furthermore, the shift to ecological sustainability will necessitate big changes in societal arrangements, including major modifications in the economic system and in the structure of the workforce, and these will not be possible without governmental intervention.

I am therefore convinced that enlightened government action is an absolutely essential requirement for the transition to a sustainable and biosensitive society.  But such enlightened government action is highly unlikely to materialise unless and until there is overwhelming support for such action from an informed and concerned electorate.

The role of individuals

The fact that an effective transition to a biosensitive society will depend on decisive action by governments does not mean that individuals and community groups have no role in the transitional process. On the contrary, members of the public who appreciate the necessity for change, and who are enthusiastic about the opportunities that the situation presents for improving social conditions in general, have a crucial part to play in the whole process. Without their efforts governments will not act, and the changes will not take place.

Concerned individuals can contribute to the transition to biosensitivity in four ways:

• They can take steps to improve their own understanding of the processes of life, the human place in the living world and the major ecological and health issues of the present day, and then communicate what they have learned to others. In other words, they can play a key role in promoting widespread appreciation across the community of the urgent need for social change
• They can put pressure on government – through the electoral process, lobbying and writing letters to the press – to introduce policies of reform aimed at the attainment of ecological sustainability
• They can demonstrate in their own behaviour, as far as the social system permits, appropriate activities relevant to the transition. They might do this, for example, by putting more emphasis in their own lives on low-consumption psychosocial sources of enjoyment, by not making unnecessary purchases of material goods, by avoiding unnecessary travel by energy-costly means, by increasing the energy-efficiency of their homes and by making direct use of renewable energy sources
• They can join and participate in the activities of NGOs committed to the ideal of ecological sustainability.

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The role of governments

It is high time that we all become involved in active discussion and debate about the actions that governments should take in order to bring about the necessary transformation in our society.  Here is a tentative contribution to this process. 
In my view, governments should:

• Introduce new policies to ensure that a high level of employment is not dependent on increasing use of material resources and energy, including:
  • Steps to bring about a greater degree of sharing of the nation’s work load, by reducing the hours of full time work in all occupational groups (rather than attempting to create unnecessary new jobs, and so increasing the intensity of resource and energy use and waste production). This may require a slight drop, perhaps a few per cent, in the income of some of those at present employed, but the end result would be that there would be work for everyone who wants it – without increasing ecological pressure on the biosphere
  • Developing strategies for providing alternative work for the members of the work force affected in cases where certain occupations are recognised as being inconsistent with the goal of ecological health and sustainability (e.g. coal mining, some forestry)

• Introduce procedures to ensure that all policy options are assessed in terms of the health needs both of all sections of the community and of the living systems of the natural environment
• Introduce incentives to ensure that the activities in the business sector and the stock market are always in the best interests of all sections of the human population and of the natural environment
• Arrange for the analysis of inflows, internal uses and outputs of materials and energy of townships, cities and bio-regions as an essential tool in the assessment of the ecological sustainability of current practices and in developing policies for the future
• Introduce new regulations and other incentives to encourage:
  1. the use of clean sources of energy 
  2. improvements in packaging practices
  3. the recycling of material resources
  4. the recycling of nutrients in agricultural ecosystems
  5. water conservation
  6. the protection of biodiversity
• Introduce effective measures to reduce the wide disparities in conditions of life and material wealth that at present exist between different sections of the human population
• Introduce active measures designed to:
  
  1. ensure a systematic, integrative approach in government departments and in institutions of learning to counter the current excessive specialisation, fragmentation and compartmentalisation
  2. overcome the disinclination of decision-makers and politicians to give serious attention to long-term planning.
• Take incremental steps to encourage the autonomy and self-reliance of local communities with respect to many aspects of societal arrangements and human activities, including food production, nutrient recycling, biodiversity protection, soil protection and water conservation

• Introduce methods for the assessment of societal progress that take full account both of the health and quality of life of all sections of the population and of the health of the natural environment.

Perhaps the day will come when governments, in seeking re-election, will proclaim their achievements in terms of their success in improving human health – at the same time as reducing industrial production, reducing the rate of extraction of non-renewable resources and reducing the inequalities in the human population.  Let us hope so.