INTRODUCING SOLUTIONS Ways forward to true prosperity

1. Arthur Dahl IEF/EBBF Annual Conference 20 September 2008 http://www.bcca.org/ief and http://www.ebbf.org INTRODUCINGSOLUTIONSWays forward to true prosperity

2. There is a conflict between growth and sustainability.Where are we going?

3. Future business climate(we don't like to hear bad news)The Cooper-Rogoff Debate on US current account deficit, Davos, January 2006WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007 • Larry Summers: Global imbalances are one of the most important threats to global prosperity • Richard Cooper: US current account deficit ($660b in 2004) is natural and sustainable because US is attractive to investment • Ken Rogoff: US deficit mirrors government borrowing = beginning of the end. US eating up 70% of global net savings. US housing slump could cause drop in overvalued US$ of up to 40% and loss of its role as global reserve currency, precipitating a financial market crisis with serious impact on inflexible economies of Europe and Japan The economy is irrational

4. “On current trends, ...humanity will need twice as much energy as it uses today within 35 years.... Produce too little energy, say the economists, and there will be price hikes and a financial crash unlike any the world has ever known, with possible resource wars, depression and famine. Produce the wrong sort of energy, say the climate scientists, and we will have more droughts, floods, rising seas and worldwide economic disaster with runaway global warming. John Vidal in The Guardian Weekly, 9-15 February 2007, Energy supplement, p. 3 We shall probably do both at the same tine A press view of what is ahead

5. Scenariosplausible futures • Business as usual in a materialistic society ignoring the future • Retreating to a fortress world of old values • Making a transition to sustainability

6. Scenarios from World 3(Meadows et al. (1992) Beyond the Limits)‏ Business as usual Transition 1995 Transition 2015

7. COLLAPSE OF CIVILIZATION?‏

8. Denial, Depression or Action?Do we have a choice? Can we go and hide on a remote island?

9. End of the growth paradigm • What is more realistic? • Exponential growth? • The normal distribution, bell-shaped curve, or S curve of rate of change? • Economic growth has depended on population growth, energy growth, resource growth and technological innovation • The first three all end in this century • All that is left is our brains and heart

10. Welcome to the new sustainability paradigm • balance • optimal size • subsidiarity • efficiency • de-materialization • closed systems

11. Man's merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches. Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion. Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavours be spent in promoting your personal interest. Be generous in your days of plenty, and be patient in the hour of loss.... Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. Bahá'u'lláh Redefining Prosperity

12. ...although material civilization is one of the means for the progress of the world of mankind, yet until it becomes combined with Divine civilization, the desired result, which is the felicity of mankind, will not be attained.... Material civilization is like the body. No matter how infinitely graceful, elegant and beautiful it may be, it is dead. ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 227, pp. 303-304) Combining material and spiritual civilization

13. That purpose must be sought in spiritual dimensions of life and motivation that transcend a constantly changing economic landscape and an artificially imposed division of human societies into "developed" and "developing". (Bahá'í International Community, The Prosperity of Humankind)‏ Purpose of the development of society

14. the real purpose of development... is laying foundations for a new social order that can cultivate the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness. (Bahá'í International Community, The Prosperity of Humankind)‏ not no growth, but a new kind of growth The real purpose of development

15. Sustainabilityis a dynamic concept • Not a goal to be reached but a balance to be maintained in space and in time • Involving complex interactions in the whole system that maintains life on Earth (the environmental component)‏ • Including the human system (the social and economic components)‏ • That must respect planetary limits

16. To achieve sustainability, we must... • redefine our goal and purpose • understand the evolutionary processes pushing globalization, including population growth and scientific and technological development • identify the major driving forces behind unsustainable trends • define and implement the responses necessary to put us on sustainable trajectories

17. "All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization." (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh) Building a New World Order:the alternative scenario

18. Central principle: The unity of the human race Form: world commonwealth Characteristics: - all nations, races, creeds and classes closely and permanently united - autonomy of its state members safeguarded - personal freedom and initiative of the individuals safeguarded Design Criteria for World Order(based on Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah) 1

19. Structure: World legislature: - members will be trustees of the whole of mankind - control the entire resources of all the component nations - enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples World executive to safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth World tribunal to adjudicate all disputes Design Criteria for World Order 2

20. A mechanism of world intercommunication: - embracing the whole planet - freed from national hindrances and restrictions - functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity. Design Criteria for World Order 3

21. The economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 203-204)‏ Design Criteria for World Order 4

22. - causes of religious strife permanently removed - economic barriers and restrictions completely abolished - inordinate distinction between classes obliterated - destitution and gross accumulation of ownership will disappear. Design Criteria for World Order 5

23. The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be consecrated to: - extend the range of human inventions and technical development - increase the productivity of mankind - extend scientific research - exterminate disease - raise the standard of physical health - prolong human life Design Criteria for World Order 6

24. - sharpen and refine the human brain - exploit the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet - further any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the entire human race. Design Criteria for World Order 7

25. A world federal system ruling the whole earth - exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources - blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West - liberated from the curse of war and its miseries - bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet Design Criteria for World Order 8

26. - a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice - whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation such is the goal towards whichhumanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving. (based on Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 203-204)‏ Design Criteria for World Order 9

27. How do we get from here to there? • Not central planning (the ends justified the means, but...)‏ • Random evolution? (survival of the strongest rather than the fittest)‏ • Establishing the right ground rules and letting the system evolve in all its diversity

28. ENGINEERING PLANFOR ASUSTAINABLEGLOBAL SYSTEM

29. Sustainabilitymeans addressing theEthical Challengeegotism versus altruismme first versus all together

30. Sustainable development is at the interface of science and ethics • We need to redefine "development"(= growth for economists) within a more universal framework including society, culture, science and spirituality • What is our purpose as individuals and as a society? • What are some of the ethical principles that should guide society towards sustainable development?

31. What rules/values will enhance integration? • To evolve more efficient and balanced systems, we need to increase integration in diversity at multiple levels of organization • How do we do this? • The "technological fix" lies in "human engineering": education, investment in human capital, development of human potential, sustainability across generations • This requires ethics/values in balance with science

32. The importance of values • Ethics and values are what determine how humans relate to each other • They are the social equivalent of DNA, encoding the information through which society is structured • The most effective way to transform society is to change its values • What values can provide the ground rules for sustainability? (based on proposals by the Baha'i International Community)

33. THE ROLE OF SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE There are spiritual principles, or what some call human values, by which solutions can be found for every social problem.... Leaders of governments and all in authority would be well served in their efforts to solve problems if they would first seek to identify the principles involved and then be guided by them. (Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace)‏

34. HOW DOES NATURE DO IT?Sustainability in thecoral reef ecosystem: • Efficient solar energy and materials capture by generating large surface area • Efficient energy transfers within system, symbioses • Little waste, effective recycling • High complexity and integration • Maximizes total productivity, not just most productive

35. ENVIRONMENTAL • DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

36. Sustainability – an ethical concept- We are trustees or stewards of the planet's resources and biodiversity. We must:- ensure sustainability and equity of resource use into distant future- consider the environmental consequences of development activities- temper our actions with moderation and humility- value nature in more than economic terms- understand the natural world and its role in humanity's collective development both material and spiritual(based on Bahá'í International Community, Valuing Spirituality in Development. 1998)‏

37. Sustainabilitya fundamental responsibility • Sustainable environmental management is not a discretionary commitment we can weigh against other competing interests • It is a fundamental responsibility that must be shouldered, a pre-requisite for spiritual development as well as our physical survival.(based on Bahá'í International Community, Valuing Spirituality in Development. A concept paper written for the World Faiths and Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London, 18-19 February 1998)‏

38. For the sustainable economic and social development of all countries, agriculture and the preservation of the ecological balance of the world are fundamental. Preserving the Ecological Balance

39. The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.... The day is approaching when its flame will devour the cities... Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892) Moderation in Material Civilization

40. To maintain the planet's ecological balance, we must: - reduce human impacts to a level appropriate to the vulnerability and resilience of the systems - restore damaged systems to the level necessary to maintain natural and human ecosystem services - allow population growth and development only to the extent that system improvements extend the carrying capacity of the planetary system Living within environmental limitsis possible

41. To be sustainable long into the future, the economy must be based on renewable resources (agriculture, forests, fisheries, bio-industries), closed materials cycles and integrated product lifecycles The Promise of Renewable Resources

42. SOCIAL DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

43. In increasingly diverse communities, how do we go from prejudice and withdrawal to open integration and unity? For social sustainability

44. How do we create unity in diversity? What is the best size for a community? What does the information revolution mean for community life and organization? Community

45. - It is unjust to sacrifice the well-being of most people -- and even of the planet itself -- to the advantages which technological breakthroughs can make available to privileged minorities - Only development programmes that are perceived by the masses of humanity as meeting their needs and as being just and equitable in objective can hope to engage their commitment, upon which implementation depends (based on Baha'i International Community, Prosperity of Humankind) JUSTICE AND EQUITY

46. We should consider every human being as a trust of the whole. The goal of wealth creation should be to make everyone wealthy. Voluntary giving is more meaningful and effective than forced redistribution. Solidarity and Altruism

47. Cooperation and reciprocity are essential properties of all natural and human systems, increasing in more highly evolved and complex systems Cooperation and Reciprocity

48. Trust is the basis for all economic and social interaction Public opinion surveys show little trust in politicians and business Would you sign an agreement with someone you did not trust? Trustworthiness

49. ...be content with little, and be freed from all inordinate desire. (Bahá'u'lláh) What does this imply for the consumer society? Spiritual traditions have always taughtContentment – moderate lifestyles

50. ECONOMIC DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS