Why the UN Sustainable Development Goals Aren't Working Anymore
Towards a Regenerative Future:
In the process of becoming aware of the various challenges and existential threats humanity faces, one can’t help but believe something needs to change in the way we live, organize and relate to each other and to nature, in order to find resolutions. Sustainable development falls short of guiding the way out of our increasingly degenerated world. Regenerative development and its foundational philosophies, however, might just be the alternative we are all desirous for.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: AN OUTDATED APPROACH
First described in the 1987 Brundtland Report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, the idea of ‘sustainable development’ is widely recognized as having been one of modernity’s most catalyzing theoretical frameworks and organizing principles. Since the report’s publication by the United Nations in 1987, this notion has played a remarkably important role in raising global awareness about climate change and the problems caused by industrial human activity.
However, there is a growing wave of researchers, thinkers and activists who argue that this paradigm no longer serves us. While Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are considered to have been an important and positive first step in the effort to protect the Earth’s resources and addressing modern social inequalities, they do not seem to question the root causes of the threats we face, instead focusing solely on tackling their symptoms.
For example, SDG #1 of “No Poverty,” fails to recognize the issue of extreme wealth, while SDG #2 of “Zero Hunger” does not refer to the importance of food sovereignty as basis and means to eradicating the problem at hand. This, as expressed by Laura Montemayor on her article, “gives a free pass to corporations delivering high-sugar food to young children and disguising this as ending hunger.” Another example of the contradictory nature of the SDGs can be found in SDG #8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth.” While the right to decent work is incontestable, it fails to mention the importance that re-gaining self-sufficiency has in ensuring our integrity and resilience. Furthermore, the insistence on “economic growth” comes to show that the UN’s vision of sustainability is one that is still based on the logic of increased consumption of natural and social resources; the result of which is inherently incompatible with sustainability, since it keeps framing natural systems as a means to sustain affluent human societies in the present, with little concern for future generations.
The narratives employed within this framework envision the environment and its health in instrumental terms, therefore not recognizing ecosystem health as an end in itself. It legitimizes the commodification and capitalization of natural resources in ways that still potentially compromise the health of future generations and other more-than-human beings. Accordingly, the idea of sustainability is argued to not be an adequate goal since what it is trying to sustain is our degenerative, extractive systems of ideological, social and economic organization, which assume the right to take without giving anything in return. This is, the systems that got us into the mess we’re in, in the first place.
IN THE SCRAMBLE FOR ANSWERS: TURN TO REGENERATION
Thankfully, we are also seeing a rise in alternative mobilizations toward systemic change and ideological paradigm shifts. The ‘Regenerative’ movement is one of these initiatives.
Regenerative development originated from the ideas of “radical ecology” which call for profound and radical changes to the fabric of society – including the dominant worldview – in order to restore and sustain human, ecosystem and planetary health in the face of its increasing degradation. It adopts an eco-centric approach, endemic to various indigenous cultures, which recognizes a fundamental relatedness, connection and equality of all beings, challenging the Western Cartesian ideological standard which sees humans as separate to nature. It views ecosystems as having intrinsic value, thereby not existing solely as available resources for humans to exploit. It’s a movement that seeks to promote global cultural transformation through the decommodification of our relationship to nature and each other, as to turn these into harmonious partnerships based on reciprocity and interdependency. At its root, regenerative development begins with the premise that human beings have the potential to serve as true stewards of nature, whose activities can help nourish and support the various ecological processes we are a part of.
THE PHILOSOPHIES FUELING THE REGENERATIVE MOVEMENT
Regenerative development thinkers, researchers and designers use systems thinking, applied permaculture design principles and community development as key guiding tools to design social, cultural, economic and political environments that can facilitate regenerative lifestyles, as well as practices that can enhance the desired goal of ecological and community resilience.
SYSTEMS THINKING
In opposition to the logic of linearity that fuels the ‘sustainable development’ growth-based paradigm, regeneration is circular, aiming to function in ways that mimic natural systems. This approach is based on the philosophy of Systems Thinking which sees the world as a series of interconnected webs that are in continuous interaction with each other.
Systems Thinking developed as an alternative to the dominant reductionist approach to scientific investigation, which understands systems as mere sums of their parts. The reductionist method breaks down and isolates the constituents that make up a system, hence systematically and inherently demoting the relationships that exist between its components. While this kind of analysis works well in circumstances where there is a low level of interconnectivity and interdependencies within the system that is being modelled, the reality is that most of the systems we have interest in understanding have a high level of interconnectivity and interdependency. This is the case with our ecosystems as well as our systems of social relations and the intersecting inequalities that exist within them. Accordingly, Systems Thinking recognizes how these systems are primarily defined by the relationships that occur within them and not the static properties of their elements. It’s a process of reasoning that describes an entity through the context of its relations as well as its functioning within the whole system that it is a part of – an approach that can otherwise be described as ‘holistic.’ Informed by this methodology, the regenerative movement is especially concerned with the way the functioning of ecosystems can be influenced by human interventions, and vice versa. Taking this into account, the structure and purpose of regenerative development depends on the particularities of the system or entity that is being regenerated. A truly adapted and regenerative system is, thus, one that is well engaged with its environment.
PERMACULTURE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
From permaculture, regenerative development adopts the acknowledgement that in order to address the various crises we face as a collective and as a species, a cultural change is needed in the way we manage land as well as in the way we manage our relations to each other. To truly achieve regeneration, we must re-invent our lifestyles. Permaculture design principles help guide us in this direction through their focus on creating a wider culture based on an ethics of earth care, people care and fair share. The first ethic, earth care, considers that without a thriving planet ultimately, we have nothing, and so the soil, water and air must be viewed in its sacredness, as to motivate its instinctual protection. This means caring and supporting the various life forms that permeate the planet, for recognition of their intrinsic value and respect for the functions each perform to preserve ecosystems’ balance. The second ethic, people care, embraces an integrated philosophy of living, which centres on emotional and physical well-being both at individual, as at community level. People Care asks for the creation of healthy social relationships, through a compassionate approach to everyone’s needs. Finally, the third ethic, fair share, emphasises that each of us should take no more than what we need. It reinforces the idea that greedy and unnecessary consumption of the planet’s natural resources have led to extreme environmental degradation, which makes clear the impossibility of continuous growth and need for changed approaches to living on the planet.
“We must transform the art and science of problem solving into building capacity. We need to see “problems” not as something that needs to be “solved,” but as a symptom of something larger—the need to enlarge the capacity of a system.” - Medard Gabel
Primal Gathering Reforestation Day, November 9th 2019
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The UN defines ‘community development’ as “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.” Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people with the skills they need to effect change within their communities. These skills are often created through the formation of social groups working for a common agenda. Its key purpose is to build communities based on justice, equality and mutual respect. According to Community Development Exchange, that “involves changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of power, so that everyone can take part in the issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.” To build community, is to build individual and, by extension, collective capacity to deal with the conditions (be they social, economic, ecological, political, cultural, spiritual and so on) that give rise to the problem, instead of treating only the symptoms. The goal mutates from sustainable development’s idea of “growth” to one of true “development,” in the sense of transformation. As Russell Ackoff cleverly puts it, “Growth is an increase in size or number. Development is an increase in competence, the ability to satisfy ones needs and desires and those of others. Growth is a matter of earning; development is a matter of learning.” The idea is that if we aim to develop healthy, thriving communities who want to regenerate their cultural and natural environments, these become powerful and socially-resilient agents of change. However, the idea of community development is one that deserves a whole article of its own, so for now, we leave it at this little sneak-peak.
Whereas the highest aim of sustainable development is to satisfy human needs and human development goals, the goal of regenerative development is to cultivate restorative systems whose dynamic and emergent natures can revitalize whole human communities and societies, as well as natural systems and resources. To do this, it uses a myriad of tools and practices, a lot of which we, here at Primal, want to introduce, inform and bring you access to. At this point, we know what devastating challenges and threats we face. Our mission is to nourish active hope through highlighting some of their solutions.
Article by Helena Leonardo
Helena is a freelance educator and writer, trained in the fields of sociology and cultural studies. Her current mission is to take part in the advancement of the regenerative development paradigm through theoretical, empirical and active investigation and participation on the transformational potential of intersectional ecofeminism, community-building and the ecovillage movement.
Primal Gathering is an environmentally, socially, and psychologically regenerative gathering empowering people with skills to be self-sustainable in their day-to-day lives. Our mission is to restore people, forests, and ecosystems all over the world. Leaving both people and places better than how we find them. Join us at the next Reforestation Gathering here or sign up and receive more content like this in a monthly newsletter here