Social Technologies for Sustainable Development: Valuing Social Capital

Abstract

Noted economist Partha Dasgupta asserts that “intergenerational well-being increases over time if and only if a comprehensive measure of wealth per capita increases” (Dasgupta, 2010). Wealth here is not defined in the narrow sense of gross domestic product (GDP) but includes natural capital (e.g. ecosystems). This ideology contradicts prevalent human-centric ideology that ‘nature’ can be exploited to generate infinite growth. This approach suggests instead that unless natural capital increases alongside economic (GDP per capita) and social (Human Development Index – HDI) markers, growth will still be unsustainable. This concept is further reflected in renewed efforts to expand the HDI to include equity and sustainability measurements (see UNDP, 2011), with a marked move away from an over-reliance on GDP as an adequate measure of development. The 2011 Human Development Report in fact demonstrated in tangible ways how growth was weakened and diminished by both inequality and unsustainability. The ‘Beyond GDP’ approach continues to expand and was featured significantly at the March 2012 ‘Planet Under Pressure’ conference; the UNDP corporate side-event for Rio+20 is also anchored on this theme. Taking this approach allows us to better understand socially-inclusive sustainable development or a path towards that understanding. (…)