[font face=Serif][font size=5]Press release: Single-track sustainability ‘solutions’ threaten people and planet[/font]

Posted on 14 June 2012 by Julia Day

[font size=4]Fostering grassroots innovations and empowering the creativity of marginalized groups can boost sustainability[/font]

[font size=3]The targets, indicators and approaches being used to pursue progress towards sustainable development at Rio+20 are counter-productive, say scientists in a new paper.

Goals focussing on one-track scientific solutions to the most urgent sustainability problems fail to respond to the uncertainty and shifting dynamics of today’s world. These one-direction approaches risk breaching the already weakened planetary boundaries which define a safe operating space for humanity, while undoing past progress on global poverty reduction.

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“Science, technology and innovation can help avert catastrophic developmental and environmental damage. But only if we move beyond outdated notions of whose innovation counts, to empower the vital contributions of poorer people’s own creativity in building green and fair economies and contributing to resilient socio-techno-ecological systems,” said Professor Melissa Leach, director of the STEPS Centre.

“Until the connection is made between global and grassroots innovation, the chances of steering away from potential earth system thresholds and keeping global societies within a safe operating space is limited,” said Professor Johan Rockström, executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

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