In my opinion fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies is important, to achieve this it must catalyse investment and innovation which will underpin sustained growth and give rise to new economic opportunities.

An interesting question, Dariusz Prokopowicz. It is similar to one I am asking in some of my own writing, with a focus on utopia/utopian studies for insight.

To give a flavour of my own thoughts/inquiry, I reflect that, over time, we humans have collectively acted with ‘significant geological and morphological force’. Here, citing exemplars of our forceful, even violent expansion and exploitation of Earth’s resources, I note Paul Crutzen’s conclusion that: ‘To develop a world-wide accepted strategy leading to sustainability of ecosystems against human induced stresses will be one of [our] greatest tasks’.

Citing a little from a draft chapter I have written, I see that Crutzen’s hope is that, beyond our human plundering of global resources and our generation of harmful waste products, the Anthropocene will turn to be an era of technology and management for the good of the environment. I also note the hope of Johan Rockström and others that this is an era where we begin to control our growth and work to restore our Earth environment—an environment ‘governed by biophysical non-negotiable processes that must be respected’.

However, I write that: "...against all this (almost utopian) hope I argue that to develop such a world-wide response requires a world-wide conception of our identity as humankind, one beyond the collective ‘weal-publics’, and our and their rulers. For without a common identity—if all we consist of is divisions and inequalities—how can we, as humankind, govern ourselves and flourish on Earth? How can we, as humankind, justly govern and prosperously flourish, if the haves and the have nots amongst us continually vie to cast our and their ‘others’ to the bottomless pit, in the search of some vain Eutopia? How can we, as humankind, justly govern and prosperously flourish if we can only deploy/employ technology deus ex machina to feel ‘good’ about ourselves?"

In part, I believe we must turn to address, additional questions of: identity—international, national, regional, local, group and individual; power; and the use of technology. Such questions matter.

P.J. Crutzen, ‘The “Anthropocene”’, in Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems, ed. by Eckart Ehlers and

Thomas Krafft (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2006), pp. 13–18

Johan Rockström and others, ‘Earth ’ s Future The World ’ s Biggest Gamble Earth ’ s Future’, Earth’s Future, 4 (2016), 465–70 (p. 466)

The development of cooperation between local government units and locally or regionally active economic entities of the SME sector can be crucial for promoting green entrepreneurship and eco-innovation. Some possible strategies to activate such cooperation could include:

Overall, the development of cooperation between local government units and locally or regionally active economic entities of the SME sector is an important step towards promoting sustainable development and a green economy. By working together, governments and businesses can develop new solutions, overcome challenges and achieve greater impact in their efforts to protect the environment and support economic growth.

Local government may be particularly motivated to build connections with commercial enterprise and advance sustainability where national-level governments and business organisations fail to do so. For example, in Australia, many local governments are now at the forefront of progressing environmental thinking because the Australian government has been captured by what can be very loosely called reactionary pro-corporation right-wing thinking (although I know that description does a disservice to respectable conservative thought.)

In Australia, the Business Council of Australia and other national and State-level peak business bodies have actively mobilised against environmental thinking and have stalled climate action for example for a couple of decades. This doesn't give much room for corporations to cooperate with local governments, and indeed these national bodies have propagated their worldview widely through the corporate sector. This worldview includes shifting the burden of taxation from corporations to wage earners, avoiding or rolling back environmental and planning regulation, and weakening organised labour. In these circumstances, it is difficult for companies with a national or state-level business to actively cooperate with local governments in sustainability, which more and more are electing socially conscious and environmentally conscious councillors. However, local governments can take the environmental agenda a fair way with locally-based enterprises.

As an aside, I comment that in much of the West at least, since Milton Friedman's notorious and entirely misguided 1970 essay proclaiming that businesses discharge their public interest obligations simply by making a profit, corporations in Australia have come to regard themselves as the driver of economic prosperity and hence governments owe them a favour. In fact, of course, economic prosperity rests upon public institutions as has been shown by several scholars, including Acemoglu and Landes.

See my essay on regional development.

Dear Researchers, Scientists, Friends,

In the New Year 2024, I wish the development of good scientific cooperation, but also good cooperation of various local government institutions, local government, public institutions with business entities, science institutions, universities and colleges, scientific institutes and other science institutions to increase the effectiveness of the development of green entrepreneurship of citizens, companies and enterprises, so that the scale of green transformation of the economy will accelerate, so that the climate, biosphere and biodiversity of the natural ecosystems of the planet will be saved as much as possible for future generations of people.

wishes

Dariusz Prokopowicz