STWR - Share The World's Resources

At the centre of modern economics is an abstract system of imperatives that is driving humanity to destroy the ecosystems upon which life depends. It is time for a new economics which restores our relationship with the Earth and its natural limits, writes Cliff Mason.

In order to reach the decisions necessary to tackle climate change, political leaders must follow three basic tenets: 1. Base your policies on sound scientific knowledge; 2. Seek global cooperation; and 3. Work for national and global redistribution. By Gro Harlem Brundtland.

The current economic system, driven by dirty fossil fuels and reckless exploitation of natural resources, is unsustainable and unjust. Investing just two percent of global GDP could kick-start a transition towards a green economy as well as fighting poverty worldwide, says a report by UNEP.

To say that the environment belongs to us all in equal measure does not mean that we have inherited a free gift to be exploited at will. Our common heritage carries with it a responsibility to share its benefits fairly and to protect it for generations to follow, says James Boyce.

With the failure of governments to adequately address climate change and the much deeper problem that humanity is no longer living within the ecological capacity of the planet, might it be time for nature to have its own legal advocates? By Cormac Cullinan.

Four decades of rapid growth in wealth – and emissions – has not converted into a proportional increase in happiness. To envision a low-carbon society where human well-being flourishes, we need only look to our own collective past, writes George Marshall.

In order to reach a global agreement to address the climate crisis, negotiations must be driven by both environmental and social justice imperatives. This requires a framework that ensures the equitable sharing of atmospheric and development space, says a paper by Marin Khor.