Abstract
The Age of Sustainable Development is a seminal piece of work by Jeffrey D. Sachs, a renowned scholar and authority on the subject. The book is extraordinarily comprehensive in terms of dealing with various aspects of the much used but lesser comprehended phrase, ‘sustainable development’. The biggest strength of the book is its amazingly simple form of writing, which makes an otherwise scientifically obscure set of ideas that cut across multitude of disciplines, fairly receptive for a casual reader. The use of vivid graphs, charts and photographs along with a structured style of writing and simple language, effectively communicates the ideas discussed in the book in a convincing manner, even for a lay audience. Due to its simplicity and comprehensiveness, it becomes a good contender of a textbook on the subject. However, the same characteristics might turn off a few readers at times, who are already well-versed with most of the basic concepts, oversimplified and discussed in the book.
The book starts with a broad overview of the concept of sustainable development as well as the associated ideas such as economic growth, human development index, income inequality, natural capital, etc. It defines these concepts and discusses their importance in the context of sustainable development. With a foundational introduction, the book deep dives into each of these topics, covering them in length and breadth. On the economic side, the discussion spans from inequalities in the world, which are manifested in ways more than merely income, to the history and pathways of economic development to discussing the ways of curbing extreme poverty. On the environmental front, Sachs uses the concept of planetary boundaries as a hinge pin to discuss the challenges of resource constraints in a growing population world and the stresses, which it imposes due to our traditional approaches of economic development. Moving on to the social inclusion aspects, a substantial portion of the book deals with the existing discriminations and inequities in the current world, ways to reduce the same, with a particular focus on universal education, health care, food security and resilient cities. Towards the end, the book discusses or rather revisits the science of climate change, elaborates on the biodiversity and the ecosystems services and culminates with a discussion on the now-adopted UN’s ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDG). Professor Sachs has been instrumental in shaping up previously the Millennium Development Goals and now the SDGs, as the special advisor to The United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals.
Sachs discusses the concept of sustainable development, both as an analytical as well as ethical framework. He advocates that sustainable development is a way to define the objectives of a well-functioning society, delivering well-being to its population today and for future generations. Interestingly, in addition to the traditional pillars of sustainable development, economic, social and environmental, Sachs also includes governance as an integral part of the ethical framework of sustainable development. He argues, from a normative point of view, that a good society is one which is economically prosperous, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and well governed.
As an analytical framework, Sachs discusses sustainable development as a science of complex system, where the whole is more than the sum of its complex individual, but interacting and interconnected components. It deals with global economy, the social interactions of the world, the Earth system and the governance. Essentially, both as an ethical or as an analytical framework, the four key components remain the same. Sachs emphasises that the action towards sustainable development is guided by the science, but limited by the politics. Hence, inclusion of politics and governance becomes even more important in the framework of sustainable development.
Sachs uses a lucid writing almost as a storytelling to discuss and elaborate the historical and recent economic development and its consequential fallouts on social and environmental spheres. Starting from the invention of steam engine, which the author regards as the most defining discovery of the nineteenth century, to the current wave of intelligent technologies, Sachs build a compelling narrative.
Coming to the present-day world, Sachs lays out the three biggest challenges to sustainable development: (i) growing income inequality and social exclusion; (ii) continued rapid population growth; and (iii) growing environmental crises. We can see that these are global tensions, but are equally manifested even in the context of India. With these challenges as our reality, Sachs also tries to answer what could be the ways or rather necessary steps which humanity as a whole, collectively needs to take in order to change our pathways for better.
Sachs argues that in the context of climate change, our energy systems need to fundamentally re-shape towards a low-carbon generation and highly efficient end-use. If we want to achieve the 2°C target, we should never be extracting almost 80 per cent of coal, about half of the oil and about a third of the gas reserves globally. Second major area, where we need to pay attention, is of resilient and sustainable agriculture. This is important to ensure nutritiously balanced and sufficient food for a growing population in a climate-changing world, where existing agricultural crops are more likely to fail. Next, the major focus needs to be on effective and efficient education and health care systems, which cater to one and all. It is of utmost importance to invest in building the capacity of a healthy population for any nation to best leverage its human and natural capital. The fourth focus area needs to be smart urban development, where best practices of environmentally sustainable development and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) could be leveraged to provide economically efficient ecosystem for growing urban population. Fifth, perhaps the most difficult one to achieve politically and institutionally, is to re-construct governance structures which are participatory in nature, where decision-making is far more decentralised, but is highly deliberative, by leveraging the extensive data, information and technology. The final and the most important and cross-cutting issue is of the seminal role of policy, particularly technology policy, in directing these changes. Sachs argue that most of the critical innovations of the last century are a result of initial state patronage, in the form of funding for research and innovation in specific areas, which are furthered and championed by private players in the years to follow. Funding and prioritising appropriate research are just one of the ways through which policy can play a critical role in directing the change. Sachs, categorically, argues that we cannot and should not rely on independent and endogenous market forces to ensure best outcomes for the planet and humanity as a whole.
As we see, Sachs does not only lay out the challenges we face as a global community but also offers realistic solutions for them. In the world, where we see growing scepticism about the possibility to avoid catastrophic damage to our planet and humanity, this book provides a realistic hope; shows possible pathways to achieve the common sustainable future for everyone. At the same time, it provides a clear sense about the radical changes that we collectively need to make in our current pathways, to ensure such an outcome. In that sense, the book is refreshing and leaves readers with a hope and a sense of pragmatism around the concept of sustainable development.
I, as a researcher working on various thematic areas of sustainable development, did not find any, new radical ideas or novel concepts in the book, but still found it a good read to comprehensively get a sense of where the world is heading and how to change the direction for the better. The core content and messages in the book are extremely important for anyone who hopes that further generations of humans also live on planet Earth. The challenges of making our lives sustainable are immense, but they are challenges we need to take on. It is certainly difficult, but not impossible. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in sustainable development. It effectively collates the key issues together and offers policy-focused insights and solutions. With the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals already being accepted globally, this book is a timely and powerful read.
I would end with something which particularly captured my attention, while I was reading the book. Discussing the impact of human activities at the planetary scale, Sachs uses the term ‘Anthropocene’ which was originally coined by Paul Crutzen, the Nobel Laureate, who was one of the three scientists discovering the depletion of ozone layer. Anthropocene is the combination of two Greek words, Anthropos meaning mankind and cene meaning the period of Earth history. With our actions, particularly over last the two centuries, we have adversely impacted the system to an extent that scientist now call the current age of Earth as Anthropocene. In this light, the book is nothing but a call for action to reshape our present and future from ‘Anthropocene’ to ‘The Age of Sustainable Development’.