Featured Video, 21 January 2013

MEDIA

Session 6: New Concepts in Science Supporting Development
Moderator: Johan Rockström, Professor, Water Systems and Global Sustainability; Director, Stockholm Resilience Centre and Stockholm University

Rapid economic growth in many regions makes it imperative to rethink conventional concepts of development. Strategies of "grow now, clean up later" are clearly unfeasible, as evidenced by the overutilization and degradation of essential ecosystem services (such as the regulation of the global carbon cycle, provision of freshwater, or maintenance of biodiversity). Following on from the "sustainable development" paradigm of the 1990s, "green growth" which respects planetary boundaries, has now been embraced as the next opportunity for achieving environmentally sound development. However, progress toward the desired goals is yet to be realized. The green growth paradigm requires a change in the way we think about global, national and personal development: development that must now be based on the concept of a fully integrated, holistic approach.