102
Pathways
to
Sustainability:
Assessing
Our
Progress
is defined as being capable of being measured,
Ontario Hydro commissioned
but even that model is fraying at the edges. If
on changes in the Ontario environment.
we are ever going to convince people to shift from their given value sets and persuade them
found that most areas in the province were degrading and that degradation was most
that they need to care about other species, it will have to be on the basis of enlightened
severe in southern Ontario. Degradation varied according to the density of human
self-interest. Perhaps we can achieve that shift if we show them that their survival depends on it. In any event, there is no evidence that this value shift is under way. There is a fundamental dysfunction between how we view
settlement and activity. The response was, “So what are you telling us? That economic
the ecosystem and how we act toward it. Yet there are certain fundamentals that have to be observed. For instance, if we are building an aircraft, we need to pay attention to gravity and to friction. Whatever politics or ethics are operating, there are similar fundamentals that have to be observed. Not every country can run a deficit with regard to ecological inputs. In reality, however, everyone is on the global
In building an indicator system, we need to include something for people who are motivated by emotion. Eventually, we could think of a weak sustainability criterion as an interim means on the way to a major
development path and so everyone is engaged in the same rapacious behaviour. The current demands of countries already are unsustainable. That is the fundamental reality that we have to deal with. Another participant suggested that
The kaleidoscope is a useful metaphor because it speaks to diversity, not only in the ecology but in public attitudes and practices. It also speaks to the likelihood that no single approach will be sufficient. How do we make
the airplane metaphor misses the point: we are not talking about ignoring gravity;
this colloquium and the people at large? Do we really need to capture the imagination of people? Must we accept the proposition
we are talking about asking what gravity is. Information alone does not necessarily affect behaviour. It may affect attitude, but attitude does not necessarily alter behaviour. For instance, we can have a proper attitude but our behaviour can remain unchanged, and that can be for many reasons, one of which is income. If we want to change behaviour, we have to address behaviour. There must be a fundamental restructuring that will minimize the use of energy and matter. There is also a need to address a deindustrialized future, which will bring much more inequity if there is not, yet again, a fundamental restructuring.
a study It
activity is bad?� Regardless of the answer to that question, the reality that we have to deal with is the degradation.
value change. However, these things do not happen in linear progression. What we need is a diversity of indicators in order to address different publics.
the connection
between what is going on in
that all we can do is change behaviour now and value change will come later? What are values? An exposition of values is not the same as a coherent philosophy. Mr. Hodge speaks of Prof. Rawls and overlapping consensus; can we marry ecological imperatives to that? what about freedom from arbitrary arrest? Or rights and freedoms? Are they as basic, or less basic, or more basic, than preservation of planetary systems? The problem facing us is that we cannot wait for a major value change. If we had waited for such a change in relation to acid rain we never would have got anything done.