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Economic Systems and Ecosystems: Interlinkages, Co-evolution or Disparate Movement?

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Ecosystem Functions and Management

Abstract

This chapter examines the interlinkages between economic systems and ecosystems. It maintains that the functioning of economic systems has not reflected adequately the role of nature’s categories, ecosystems. While both natural and socio-economic systems can be viewed as complex adaptive systems, there is an urgent need to manage better the disparate movement between them. Two approaches are postulated for doing this. In the first, independently generated scientific knowledge is used in the framework of risk analysis and management to set limits on the domain of economic systems. In the second, economic decision-making is strengthened by attempting to put a value on hitherto unvalued ecosystem services provided to humans. We argue that the two approaches can be used in different contexts and also complement each other in some. However, underlying both is an ethical concern with services and well-being in the future, both of the human and non-human species. Whichever approach we adopt, a stable co-evolution between economic and ecosystems will take place only when such a concern is reached in the form of accepted social norms reflected in policy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Millennium Assessment (MEA 2005) identified nine major ecosystem types among them forests, fresh water, marine, agricultural and drylands.

  2. 2.

    See Maler (1999).

  3. 3.

    One recent exposition of this is to be found in Rockstorm et al. (2009).

  4. 4.

    See Martinez-Alier (1991).

  5. 5.

    See for example, Gale and M’Gonigle (2000).

  6. 6.

    See Arrow et al. in Barrett et al. edited (2014).

  7. 7.

    See, among others, Haque et al. (2011).

  8. 8.

    See, for instance the discussion in Lele and Srinivasan (2013).

  9. 9.

    Wilson (2001) defines biodiversity as “The variety of organisms considered at all levels, from genetic variants belonging to the same species through arrays of species, to arrays of genera, families, and still higher taxonomic levels; includes the variety of ecosystems, which comprise both the communities of organisms with particular habitats and the physical conditions under which they live” (p. 377).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Formerly Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi Enclave, Delhi, India

    Kanchan Chopra & Purnamita Dasgupta

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  1. Kanchan Chopra
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  2. Purnamita Dasgupta
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Correspondence to Purnamita Dasgupta .

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  1. School of the Environment, Flinders University, South Australia School of the Environment, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Harpinder Sandhu

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Chopra, K., Dasgupta, P. (2017). Economic Systems and Ecosystems: Interlinkages, Co-evolution or Disparate Movement?. In: Sandhu, H. (eds) Ecosystem Functions and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53967-6_2

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