1.1 Rescuing the Social Pillar of Sustainable Development
3
address it need to be well understood. Lack of attention to these dimensions can
easily lead to strategies that overlook or even aggravate social problems, such as
inequitable approaches to biodiversity conservation or climate change adaptation
that end up excluding weaker stakeholders, deepening poverty, and creating further
injustice (Fairhead et al. 2012).
1
Social equity is an imperative not only within societies but also on the global level.
In recent decades, half of all income systematically went to the wealthiest 10% of the
world population, leaving the poorest 10% to live on 0.7% of it (Milanovic 2006).
By the start of the 2020s, the richest 1% together possessed twice as much combined
wealth as 6.9 billion people (Coffey et al. 2020). Notably, the World Bank observes
that as much as 70% of income disparity can be attributed to international (intercountry) inequalities, rather than variation within each country (Milanovic 2006).
Domestic imbalances have been pressing in some countries. Still, no single country
is more unequal than the world (Milanovic 2016), which is recognizable given that
nearly all those who still lack access to food, water, or electricity live in Africa,
Asia, or Latin America. Therefore, bridging the North-South divide that separates
developed and developing countries is a significant step not to be overlooked in
addressing poverty and inequality on a global scale. That thus remains an essential
dimension of sustainable development.
This book examines such social dimensions of sustainability from a political
perspective. It focuses on bioeconomy governance, a novel, promising, and arguably
necessary emerging sector where attention to equity is vital, for bioeconomy development may either become a way to redress injustices and eradicate poverty or
perpetuate—possibly aggravate—existing problems. An assessment of what has been
done with biofuels before and now under the bioeconomy umbrella is timely. It can
unravel the sort of strategies and pathways being promoted, and which may either be
adjusted or gain even more traction in the future. The next section describes the rise
of the bioeconomy and some critical questions of environmental politics it poses.
This introductory chapter then turns to the approach, boundaries, and scope of the
research behind this book, before presenting its structure.
1.2 Environmental Crises and the Rise of the Bioeconomy
The United Nations has regarded climate change as the defining challenge of the
twenty-first century (Ki-Moon 2007). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) reports have consistently suggested that it has been human-induced
and has already affected temperatures, rain patterns, and marine and terrestrial
ecosystems worldwide. Climate change impacts human societies both directly (e.g.,
heat waves) and indirectly, due to damage to natural systems. That includes water
1 See the special issue of Global Environmental Change on “Adding Insult to Injury: Climate Change,
Social Stratification, and the Inequities of Intervention”, edited by Marino and Ribot (2012).
3
address it need to be well understood. Lack of attention to these dimensions can
easily lead to strategies that overlook or even aggravate social problems, such as
inequitable approaches to biodiversity conservation or climate change adaptation
that end up excluding weaker stakeholders, deepening poverty, and creating further
injustice (Fairhead et al. 2012).
1
Social equity is an imperative not only within societies but also on the global level.
In recent decades, half of all income systematically went to the wealthiest 10% of the
world population, leaving the poorest 10% to live on 0.7% of it (Milanovic 2006).
By the start of the 2020s, the richest 1% together possessed twice as much combined
wealth as 6.9 billion people (Coffey et al. 2020). Notably, the World Bank observes
that as much as 70% of income disparity can be attributed to international (intercountry) inequalities, rather than variation within each country (Milanovic 2006).
Domestic imbalances have been pressing in some countries. Still, no single country
is more unequal than the world (Milanovic 2016), which is recognizable given that
nearly all those who still lack access to food, water, or electricity live in Africa,
Asia, or Latin America. Therefore, bridging the North-South divide that separates
developed and developing countries is a significant step not to be overlooked in
addressing poverty and inequality on a global scale. That thus remains an essential
dimension of sustainable development.
This book examines such social dimensions of sustainability from a political
perspective. It focuses on bioeconomy governance, a novel, promising, and arguably
necessary emerging sector where attention to equity is vital, for bioeconomy development may either become a way to redress injustices and eradicate poverty or
perpetuate—possibly aggravate—existing problems. An assessment of what has been
done with biofuels before and now under the bioeconomy umbrella is timely. It can
unravel the sort of strategies and pathways being promoted, and which may either be
adjusted or gain even more traction in the future. The next section describes the rise
of the bioeconomy and some critical questions of environmental politics it poses.
This introductory chapter then turns to the approach, boundaries, and scope of the
research behind this book, before presenting its structure.
1.2 Environmental Crises and the Rise of the Bioeconomy
The United Nations has regarded climate change as the defining challenge of the
twenty-first century (Ki-Moon 2007). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) reports have consistently suggested that it has been human-induced
and has already affected temperatures, rain patterns, and marine and terrestrial
ecosystems worldwide. Climate change impacts human societies both directly (e.g.,
heat waves) and indirectly, due to damage to natural systems. That includes water
1 See the special issue of Global Environmental Change on “Adding Insult to Injury: Climate Change,
Social Stratification, and the Inequities of Intervention”, edited by Marino and Ribot (2012).