Mental Models = Sustainable Development

I really enjoyed our reading this week on Challenges for the 21^st Century.  It got me thinking about the connection of greenhouse gas emissions and developing nations.  Figure 15.4 in Macro Economics in Context shows the direct connection between GDP and CO2.

Expanding further on the overall environmental impact of each income class the authors then go on to suggest a course of action.

“Each group must approach environmental sustainability with different objectives.  For the lower-income group, the focus must be on improving material living standards and expanding options while taking advantage of environmentally friendly technologies.  The challenge for the middle-income group is to keep overall environmental impacts per capita relatively stable by pursuing a development path that avoids a reliance on fossil fuels, disposable products, and ever increasing levels of material consumption.  Finally, the high-income group must find a way to reduce environmental impacts per capita through technological improvements, intelligently designed policies and changes in lifestyle aspirations.”

Reading this I realize this is more of a “ . . . yes, and . . .” situation for the lower income groups (developing nations) meaning that really all of the above listed items in rank priority apply to them.  

The first objective of improving material living standards is directly tied to raising GDP in these countries.  In one of Norm’s posts titled “Week Demand in Europe and US is Slowing Growth in Developing Countries” he sites an article that links the declining economies of these developed countries to the GDP health of developing nations. 

Let me see if I understand this correctly:



Though there had been some thought that the current economic crisis might give way to the opportunity for emerging leaders to arise from the developing world – as of late this perspective has all but disappeared and become quite the opposite.  They are thought to be the “victims of the Western slowdown.”

The article goes on to say that, “The [GDP] results suggest trouble ahead for emerging economies, with banks in Asia and Latin America showing deeper caution, which can lead to weaker lending.”

Hum . . . so where might the leverage points be?  The thing that stand out to me is that Material and Financial Aspirations (though this is a mental model and mental models are the hardest to change) may actually be the best leverage point.  And possibly where all nations need to start.

What other variable might be injected into the system that would bring a greater state of wellbeing?  What if we where able to turn the GDP for Developing Nations apart from the impact Western economies are having on them?

This report announces a new initiative to boost sustainable business in developing countries with a 3.2 million Euro budget.  The Rio+20 report on "The Future We Want" outlines specific goals, measures and presents a plea for others to join in the effort.

 "We call on all countries to prioritize sustainable development in the allocation
of resources in accordance with national priorities and needs, and we recognize the
crucial importance of enhancing financial support from all sources for sustainable
development for all countries, in particular developing countries."

Though I would agree this report is encouraging to see the intent of collaborative effort to leverage change the thing that disturbs me a little is the intangible nature of what each of these countries on their own will be doing to effectually innovate sustainable systems with the resources they already have.

It is much easier to ask for a hand out than take full responsibility of the situation you find yourself in, to "be the board" if you will and consider why certain circumstances are presenting themselves and what adjustment might one make to leverage the power we each have to make decisions.  I'm not trying to be cold and heartless here but want to highlight the importance individual reasonability plays in the system.  How much, all the more, would nations and private investors from the North want to support sustainable development in a given nation if they see that nations going all out to "do for themselves."   And some countries are!

Overall however, to me this comes back to a international culture that has been created and that needs to be recreated with a new mindset -- yes, we are back to the mental model.  A culture that is growing but that needs to be further fostered by each of us.  A culture that closes the door on escapes such as blame, self pity and victimization,  and sits with the way things are . . . choosing to engage with the world, take responsibility, initiative and discover how we might redesign the systems we operate in, including our material and financial aspirations.