Reflections About the Food–Energy–Water Nexus in a World …
3
circular economy [91], providing a cornerstone of new economic growth models
[20, 91]. In 1983, the Brundtland Commission was established, and proposed in its
report that “environmental challenges arise both from the lack of development and
from the unintended consequences of some forms of economic growth” [94]. And at
the Bonn2011 Conference “The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus”, the UN
and further international organizations discuss the nexus approach “that integrates
management and governance across sectors and scales [34].” It is argued that the
FEW nexus concept is a central element in the transition towards a green economy
representing thereby the key sectors of sustainable development [27].
Based on this preliminary work, the UN in 2015 further asserted in their resolution
A/RES/70/1 “Transforming our World: The 2020 Agenda for Sustainable Development [83]” that the world community must create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth [83]. Whereas the UN did not see a fundamental
contradiction between economic growth and sustainability, and thus adopted Goal 8
(Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all) as one of its Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) [83], the organizers and participants of the Post-Growth Conference in Brussels instead propose in the Post-Growth Open Letter to EU institutions the end of the
growth dependency of Europe [60].
Addressing this controversial debate, the objective of our model is to contribute
to the discussion about the characteristics of a post-growth economy. The remainder
of this paper is structured as follows: First, we will briefly reflect on the history
of economic growth, addressing also the economic growth effect of the current
Corona pandemic (Sect. 2). In Sect. 3, the economic foundation of the neoclassical
growth models will be presented. In Sect. 4, the FEW nexus economic sectors will
be explained as well as its relationship to the main economic indicators. In Sect. 5,
the different economic growth scenarios inspired by the works of Jackson [37, 38],
the Club of Rome [50, 62], Victor [85, 86], Weitzman [89] and Trainer [77] will be
discussed. In Sect. 6, the consequences of our results will be discussed.
2 Economic Growth in History
The analysis is started based on Porter’s considerations [59] with a short summary
of the history of economic growth and recent economic developments caused by the
Corona pandemic.
2.1 Historical Deliberations
Reverting to the question as to whether the striving for low or zero economic growth
is actually something new, Porter claims it is “hard to imagine now, but humanity
made do with little or no economic growth for thousands of years” [59], as the data
3
circular economy [91], providing a cornerstone of new economic growth models
[20, 91]. In 1983, the Brundtland Commission was established, and proposed in its
report that “environmental challenges arise both from the lack of development and
from the unintended consequences of some forms of economic growth” [94]. And at
the Bonn2011 Conference “The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus”, the UN
and further international organizations discuss the nexus approach “that integrates
management and governance across sectors and scales [34].” It is argued that the
FEW nexus concept is a central element in the transition towards a green economy
representing thereby the key sectors of sustainable development [27].
Based on this preliminary work, the UN in 2015 further asserted in their resolution
A/RES/70/1 “Transforming our World: The 2020 Agenda for Sustainable Development [83]” that the world community must create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth [83]. Whereas the UN did not see a fundamental
contradiction between economic growth and sustainability, and thus adopted Goal 8
(Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all) as one of its Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) [83], the organizers and participants of the Post-Growth Conference in Brussels instead propose in the Post-Growth Open Letter to EU institutions the end of the
growth dependency of Europe [60].
Addressing this controversial debate, the objective of our model is to contribute
to the discussion about the characteristics of a post-growth economy. The remainder
of this paper is structured as follows: First, we will briefly reflect on the history
of economic growth, addressing also the economic growth effect of the current
Corona pandemic (Sect. 2). In Sect. 3, the economic foundation of the neoclassical
growth models will be presented. In Sect. 4, the FEW nexus economic sectors will
be explained as well as its relationship to the main economic indicators. In Sect. 5,
the different economic growth scenarios inspired by the works of Jackson [37, 38],
the Club of Rome [50, 62], Victor [85, 86], Weitzman [89] and Trainer [77] will be
discussed. In Sect. 6, the consequences of our results will be discussed.
2 Economic Growth in History
The analysis is started based on Porter’s considerations [59] with a short summary
of the history of economic growth and recent economic developments caused by the
Corona pandemic.
2.1 Historical Deliberations
Reverting to the question as to whether the striving for low or zero economic growth
is actually something new, Porter claims it is “hard to imagine now, but humanity
made do with little or no economic growth for thousands of years” [59], as the data