Towards an Ecologically Sustainable Growth Society

This book combines three disciplines - economics, physics and international business policy - in an attempt to answer the important questions whether sustainable development is possible and how it might be achieved. On the one hand, the concept of sustainability is subject to physical laws, on the other, it implies economic efficiency which is ecologically sustainable - the authors speak of "ecoefficiency". Most importantly, the main economic actors in the field of cost efficient allocation must work together. Hence, international business policy operating on a global level must keep open the channels within which the physical abundance of resources and energy can be brought to the benefit of all mankind, in particular those living in poverty. A world population levelling off at say 10 billion people must not necessarily attain the present income level of the average US citizen; it might be sufficient if even about half this level could be reached. The authors show that this gigantic but most humanitarian target can be achieved and maintained.