『生存の条件』シンポジウム / Symposium Conditions for Survival

The Ecological Approach
Towards Restoring Lifeon our Only One Earth
エミル・サリム博士
Dr. Emil Salim

REVITALIZING THE WEB OF LIFETHE ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TOWARDSRESTORING LIFE ON OUR ONLY ONE EARTH
BY EMIL SALIM
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 7/7/2011

GOD, NATURE AND SOCIETY
Simple life style before the fifties: Agriculture - man in harmony with nature; Communal society – man in harmony with society; The web of life – God’s creation of the environment;

Amplified by ethical values:“Hablum minallah, hablum minannas” (Islam: harmonious
relationship between man with God, nature and society);“Tri Hita Karana” (Bali: Three purpose of life: harmony
man with God, nature and society);“Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana” (Yogjakarta, Java):
harmony man with God, nature and society);

THE WEB OF LIFE
 “Everything is connected to everything” in an

intricate web of life, which gave rise to“ecology”;
 Communal society prevails in rural society with“natural will” determining interpersonalrelations; The interlink between man with communal
society and man with natural environmentproduces a life style that for centuries makes
man, society and nature living sustainably inGod’s creation of the web of life;

“IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!”
 Since 18th century Industrial revolution changes

agrarian economy into Industrial economy in Europe
based on non-renewable resources and energy;
 Application of science and technology increases theuse of natural resources & mass production of goods;
 Classical & Neo-Classical Economics ignores theInterconnection between economy and environment; Man’s confidence to master nature was heightened;
The dominating force of economy has ruptured theweb life and disharmonize relationship of man withGod, communal society and natural environment;

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN SOCIETY”
 Basic unit: individual rather than community; Mechanization of labor as factor of production;
 Dominated by rationality, science and technology;
 Emerging new bourgeoisie and creators of urbansociety; The rise of money in a market economy;

With as its price: Destruction of natural environment due to market

failure that ignores environmental costs & benefits; Dismantling of “communal society” replaced by“associational society” guided by “rational will”;

TOWARDS ASIA 2050
 By 2050 Asian GDP per capita (PPP) can potentiallyreach US$ 38,600 compared to global GDP 36,600;
 Asian population will grow from 3.9 billion persons(2010) to 4.8 billion (2050), only population of Japan andRepublic of Korea will decline;

CHALLENGES OF ASIAN GROWTH

Young & aging population; jobs, poverty and in-equity,food & energy security; fresh water; rural-urban, rich-poor
dichotomy, low and high development imbalances
between and within region, climate change, erosion ofbiodiversity, governance, empowering civil society; global
financial-trading-developmental governance;

A NEW ROAD-MAP OF ASIAN GROWTH 1Revitalizing the new Web of Life through Nature: Spatial planning to locate natural resource development within the threshold of bio-capacity; Raising value added of natural resources throughthe implementation of bio-mimicry;
 Develop all sources of renewable energy;
 Maintaining the role of land as people’s valued capital by enabling it to become “shares” in projects;
 Correction of market failures by Internalizingenvironmental costs-benefits into developmental
process through government’s policies;

A NEW ROAD-MAP OF ASIAN GROWTH 2Revitalizing the new Web of Life through Society: Inclusive growth to reduce inequalities rich-poor.
rural-urban, educated-uneducated, within andbetween regions, along ethnic & religious lines; From “Associational Society” to “Social CohesiveSociety” through deliberate efforts of cooperation
between Government – Business – Civil Society; From “Catch-up” to “Frontier Entrepreneurship andInnovative Society” through education and HRD;
 From “GDP-ism” to broader “social well-being,societal satisfaction to be in harmony with nature”;

THE WAY FORWARD
1. Organize and empower global society in manageable

Groupings along age groups, profession, business, civil
Society, groups of nations, focused programs;
2. Develop a workable program with means of incentives & disincentives, rewards and punishment, moral
persuasion, social pressures;

IMPORTANT IS TO EMPOWER FORCESTOWARDS A COMMON FOCUS OFREVITALIZING A NEW WEB OF LIFE
FOR A VIABLE SUSTAINBLE DEVELOPMENTREFERENCES
1. Michael Common and Sigrid Stagl, Ecological

Economics, Cambridge University Press, 2005;
2. Asian Development Bank, Asia 2050, Realizing theAsian Century, Asian Development Bank 2011;
3. Special Round Table Conference on Global
Environmental Problems, Conditions for Survival,The Asahi Glass Foundation, April 2010;
4. Lectures by the Winners of the Blue Planet Prize(2002-2006), A Better Future for the Planet Earthvol.III, The Asahi Glass Foundation, December 2007