The concepts I am about to explain are based in the work done by an
organization known as The Natural Step (TNS). The Natural Step is an
association of scientists, researchers and businessmen dedicated to defining
what sustainability is, and then helping industries understand what
sustainability means to them in their particular industry. It is then left
up to each individual industry to decide what or how these principles of
sustainability can be implemented. Indeed, it is not up to TNS to declare
how a business should become sustainable, but simply to define the term in a
way that makes it possible to act upon the principles. TNS can also relate
how other similar businesses throughout the world have become more
sustainable and profitable following these principles.
TNS also can be instrumental in helping clarify what is happening to the
natural resources of the world and make projections about what will occur in
the future. If we have shortages today, what will happen in the future? If
it is costly to dispose of waste today, what will it be like in the future?
Thinking about these issues now will enable your business to react before
the issue becomes a problem.
There are many businesses around the world, US, and Wisconsin that have
embraced the ideals of TNS, because they recognize it is in their own best
interest to do so, that it will give them a competitive advantage in the
market place. Some of these include: Mcdonalds of Sveedon, Electrolux, and
here in Wisconsin, Placon Corporation.
These businesses recognize that the rate of consumption and pollution cannot
continue forever and have acted to make change. They are beginning to follow
the systems principles set up by TNS to become more sustainable and profitable.
The following article describes how TNS relates to sustainable agriculture.
Greg David
Subject: TNS - Swedish Agriculture Consensus Brief
Agricultural Consensus from a Scientific Perspective
[This "consensus document" on sustainable agricultural practices was
developed by a very diverse group of agricultural specialists brought
together by the Swedish Natural Step organization. This abridged
version of the draft translation by Henning Koch (October 1995) is
reprinted with permission of The Natural Step U.S.A.]
Introduction
Within the environmental debate, disagreement is often emphasized at
the expense of those issues on which there could be collective agree-
ment. Our aim in assembling a group of Swedish agricultural special-
ists to draft this consensus document was to contribute to the lay-out
of current thinking on agriculture and long-term survival. The initia-
tive was taken by The Swedish Natural Step organisation as part of an
overall strategy of producing consensus documents based on an
"ecocyclic" perspective. This ecocyclic perspective describes on a
scientific and economic basis the decisive conditions for achieving an
ecologically sustainable society. In the full-length Swedish document,
some general conclusions were agreed on the implications of applying
the ecocyclic perspective to agriculture. Unless otherwise specified,
we refer in this document to Swedish agriculture and Swedish society.
Today's Society is not Sustainable
Environmental damage is now threatening to snatch away the conditions
for continued human health and prosperity. In the slightly longer
term, all higher life on earth is threatened.
The 20th century has seen a drastically increasing linear flow of
materials, powered by fossil fuel sources (primarily oil and coal) and
lately also by nuclear power. End products from manufacturing and
consumption, discarded, incinerated, or passing through sewage treat-
ment works, do not simply disappear nothing can disappear. Continued
linear handling of resources is the root cause of global climate
change, the thinning ozone layer, rising levels of heavy metals in
soils, acidic pollution of land and water, toxins in seas, lakes and
ground water etc. In contrast, a functioning sustainable society
integrates all human activity into the cycles of the ecosystem, with
resources continually re-used either within society or nature. Over-
seeing such a change, of course, will demand an understanding of the
non-negotiable conditions for life on earth and especially the condi-
tions that nature specifies, if humanity is to survive in the long
term.
The Human Resource Base
Humanity is part of nature. It has evolved in relation to nature and
is entirely dependent on it. In the language of economics, humanity
needs nature for the "goods and services" it provides. By "goods" we
mean renewable and non-renewable resources. By "services" we mean
natural processes such as climate regulation, water purification, soil
creation.
If we use a resource faster than it can be restructured by nature, two
problems arise. One is the depletion of useful resources. The other is
dispersal into the biosphere of by-products from that use. Those
by-products which cannot be taken up by ecosystems cause an accumula-
tion of wastes as both "visible" and "molecular" pollution.
The Difficulty of Establishing Priorities
Our society must address ecological issues and draw up a time-frame
for the transition to a sustainable society, even though we cannot
always be certain about priorities. Medical science, with the help of
statistics on deceased patients, has been able to approximate toler-
ance limits for the human body. Tolerance limits for the biosphere,
however, cannot be estimated in the same way since cause and effect
are often separated by extended time-scales and distances. Complexity
in ecosystems also makes it impractical to foresee each causal chain
set in motion by a particular waste substance. Once there are visible
effects of long-term damage to the global system, stabilising mecha-
nisms have been exceeded and it may be too late for effective
counter-measures.
An Ecocyclic Perspective
An ecocyclic perspective considers how to achieve balance between the
processes of breaking down and re-building resources. Out of this
perspective, four system conditions can be derived:
System Condition 1: Substances from the Earth's crust
must not systematically increase in nature. This means that finite
resources (e.g., oil, coal, metal ores, phosphates and other minerals)
are not converted into dispersed wastes. A production system based on
finite sources is not sustainable, because of damage done by accumu-
lating waste products e.g., the greenhouse effect, heavy metal
poisoning, radioactivity, acid rain etc. Thus, fossil fuels and
nuclear power must be abandoned. Finite resources already extracted
should be utilised within maximally sealed cycles. Particularly
dangerous substances e.g., mercury, lead and cadmium should not be
integrated into society's cycles, but the entire volume in circulation
must be consigned to deposition.
System Condition II: Substances produced by society must not systemat-
ically increase in nature. This means that levels of persistent,
artificial substances are not allowed to increase in nature. Today,
such substances are systematically increasing in nature. The most
common of them are halogenated carbon compounds such as freons, PCB,
DDT, certain dioxins, chlorinated paraffins, etc. Those substances
whose effects have been studied are merely the tip of the iceberg.
System Condition III: The physical basis for the productivity and
diversity of nature must not be systematically diminished. This means
that ecosystems are treated in a way that benefits their physical
quality and capacity for converting solar energy and transforming
waste products into new resources. Biological diversity is vital if
long-term productive capacity in the ecosystems is to be ensured even
at times of environmental disruption. The physical quality and capaci-
ty of the ecosystems is systematically degraded by incursions such as
the physical expansion of society's infrastructure, or drought and
soil erosion caused by erroneous water and land use.
System Condition IV: Fair and efficient use of resources to meet human
needs. The turnover of renewable resources in society must not exceed
the level of waste products being returned into natural cycles. Even
when system conditions I, II an III are fulfilled, the upper limit for
the turnover of materials is determined by the capacity of the ecosys-
tems to re-circulate each waste product in its appropriate cycle. If
even one of the above conditions remains unfulfilled, society cannot
be sustainable. The symptoms will be a systematic accumulation of
waste and molecular pollution.
The Role of Agriculture in Society
Within a few decades we will have to survive without finite energy
sources. There will be intense competition for "solar catchment areas"
to provide a growing world population with food, energy raw materials,
and industrial raw materials (such as fibres, oils and starch). In a
sustainable society, agriculture and other soil-based activities
regain their role as the centre of the nervous system of society. But
agriculture has to be reformed so that it fulfils the four system
condition for a sustainable society.
Condition I. Finite resources.
In a sustainable society finite resources are not systematically
converted into dispersed pollution. Extraction of finite resources can
proceed only at the same pace as slow sedimentation processes which
over millions of years have created existing repositories of raw
materials. In contrast to this, every year as much oil is consumed as
it takes nature one million years to create. Agricultural production
is supported by non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels and
electricity from nuclear power used directly as fuels, and indirect-
ly for manufacture of chemical fertilisers and other agricultural
merchandise, as well as transportation of merchandise and produce.
Agricultural production has become dependent on a continuous supply of
phosphate from finite supplies of crude mineral phosphate. Of all the
phosphate extracted from mines around the world, about 80% is used in
agriculture. About 60% of this raw phosphate is used in the
industrialised world with its 35% of the planet's agricultural land
and 25% of its population. Phosphate is essential to all life, a
mineral which cannot be replaced by anything else. Within a few
decades a great part of the stocks will have been used up, and the
phosphate widely dispersed so it is less accessible and therefore less
valuable. The existing flows of waste phosphate are already environ-
mentally damaging, and leakage into lakes, rivers and seas causes
eutrofication.
Cadmium and arsenic which have lain embedded in phosphate deposits for
millions of years are now being dispersed in the biosphere along with
chemical phosphate fertilisers. If the accumulation of heavy metals is
allowed to continue, agricultural land will eventually become unsuit-
able for food production. Already, cadmium levels in food produce can
exceed human tolerance limits, which can lead to malfunctions in human
kidneys. Meanwhile, cadmium levels continue to increase in agricultur-
al soils by 0.3% per year.
In a sustainable society, organic waste from plants and animals is put
back into the soil, so that agriculture does not have to rely on
non-renewable supplies of phosphate, potassium, lime and trace ele-
ments. The extraction of minerals from geological deposits is less
than their very slow re-establishment in the earth's crust, and
agricultural machinery, tools, plastics etc. are recycled. Production
is based on renewable energy sources.
Condition II. Long-lived unnatural substances. In a sustainable
society, agriculture must not utilise unnatural substances which
ecosystems cannot break own into the building blocks of biological
production. Our present-day agriculture contributes to the dispersal
of unnatural substances. Many of these are broken down into harmless
constituents in nature. Others are persistent and should not be used
at all. Examples of these are pesticides such as DDT, aldrin, diel-
drin, atrazine and lindane.
Not all biodegradable substances are harmless. Certain pesticides are
broken down relatively quickly e.g. benomyl but their constituents
are long-lived and unnatural. Other biodegradable pesticides accumu-
late in the environment either when enormous quantities are used
seasonally, or in particular soil circumstances. Some modern
"low-dose" pesticides do not degrade rapidly and hence find their way
into rivers and ground water.
Our knowledge about pesticides and their effects on ecosystems is
insignificant, even though they are some of our most researched and
tested chemicals. We have no knowledge of either the combined effects
of different products, or their side-effects.
Ecosystems cannot withstand continuous accumulation of any single
substance. In practice it is impossible to predict how quickly sub-
stances will break down in various situations: by-products created
during this process, and the effects of those by-products, remain an
unknown quantity. Thus agriculture must develop toward non-reliance on
persistent, unnatural substances.
Condition III. The Physical Quality and Capacity of the Ecosystems. In
a sustainable society, agriculture is practiced in a way that pre-
serves the long-term productive capacity of ecosystems. This capacity
is dependent upon highly complex chemical, physical and biological
processes. Humanity is radically affecting the structure and function
of ecosystems on a global scale, and we can now begin to observe how
this results in a degraded long-term qualitative and quantitative
productive capacity in ecosystems. Our current behaviour is dangerous
in view of our incomplete knowledge about ecosystems and the extent of
their adaptive capabilities.
Condition III can be subdivided into three aspects:
i) Biologically Productive Surfaces. The global loss of productive
"solar catchment" areas is extensive the major causes are
desertification, salinization, soil erosion and the extending
technosphere (asphalting or other covering of landscape). Roads and
settlements used to be located in poor quality land, but since the
middle of this century, settlements, motorways, airports etc. have
increasingly been located on fertile agricultural land, irretrievably
damaging its potential. This contradicts increasing social pressure on
agricultural production for food, fibres, oils, energy raw materials,
etc., which without the assistance of finite resources, will require a
greater agricultural acreage in the future.
ii) Habitat for Biological Diversity.
When sweeping change affects ecosystems in the short term, it general-
ly leads to depletion. An example is 19th and 20th century drainage of
wetlands, leading to reduced water storage capacity in the landscape,
degraded quality in drinking water, reduced
purification of surface water, and thus loss of habitat and species.
Biological diversity within agricultural ecosystems is degraded
through disappearing habitats such as meadows and heathland. Chemical
pesticides, agricultural pollution and airborne pollution also threat-
en the flora and fauna of the farmed landscape.
iii) The Long-Term Productivity of Agricultural Land. Long-term
productivity of agricultural land is being damaged by systematic
reduction in humus levels. Soil becomes heavy, loses its capacity for
retaining humidity and nutrients, with fewer micro-organisms. The
reduction of humus levels in agricultural soils is caused by insuffi-
cient augmentation from by-products of the harvest, manure, or fallow
growth. This relates to post-war reductions in open grazing land,
increasing open cultivation, and specialisation between cultivation
and livestock rearing. In arable farms, there is neither open grazing
nor farm manure to compensate for organic matter continually lost with
harvests. Nutrients in food produce eventually end up as organic waste
and sewage which are not returned to agriculture Globally, wind and
water erosion as well as a sinking water table and salinization are
major causes of physical depletion in agricultural ecosystems.
Protecting "solar catchment" areas protects the potential of life for
coming generations. This demands that natural ecosystems are given
both enough space and are spared stress factors such as pollution and
climate change. It also demands that biological diversity, including
micro- organisms in the soil, is fostered in the agricultural land-
scape. The long-term productive capacity of agricultural land can be
maintained only if farming methods do not cause physical impoverish-
ment, as in soil compaction from heavy machinery, decreasing humus
levels, depletion of soil nutrients, changes in the water table and
soil erosion.
Condition IV. Efficiency and Intensity of Turnover of Materials.
For a sustainable high turnover of resources in society we need to
fulfil system conditions I, II and III. However, other limits, if
exceeded, can still result in the accumulation of visible and molecu-
lar pollution. Turnover cannot sustainably exceed what ecosystems can
re-process into new resources; nor can it bind waste products in a
form that renders them biologically inaccessible. This applies even to
renewable resources or natural substances that is, other waste prod-
ucts than those resulting from violations of system conditions I and
II.
Domestic and global transportation of agricultural merchandise,
produce and processed food has caused an increased materials turnover
in the form of fuel, vehicles, infrastructure, packaging and market-
ing. Urbanisation and long-distance trade make it a costly option to
close cycles by transporting waste products back to the same ecosystem
that delivered the resource. Accordingly, impoverishment occurs in one
place and accumulation in another.
Nitrogen is an example of a substance with a turnover that is incon-
sistent with the fourth System Condition. The total quantity supplied
by nature is so great that leakages, locally and regionally, cause
environmental disruption. To stay within the limits imposed by this
system condition it is necessary to create small, energy-efficient and
sealed cycles. Many of nature's own cycles are large, perfectly sealed
and energy-efficient. But small, sealed cycles are simpler to devise,
partly because they do not require the direction and control of such
large flows. Loss of nitrogen from unsealed societal cycles is also a
waste of energy, which has to be expended again to bind atmospheric
nitrogen, whether in the factory or the agricultural field. Measures
should be taken to minimise leakages from agricultural land, household
waste, sewage, and waste products from the food processing sector
especially where most damaging to the environment.
The flows of material into agriculture must be of the same size as
flows of produce out of agriculture. Added nutrients or nutrients
produced at source must not exceed what the crop and surrounding
ecosystem are capable of assimilating and turning into new biomass.
[Note: Other discussions in Sweden and the U.S.A. regarding Condition
IV have focused primarily on the instability created by unequal
distribution of goods and services, which leaves some people and
nations poor and hungry, and which can then exacerbate desertification
and other destructive trends. This document makes passing mention of
this concern below, under the sub-heading, "The Double Challenge," in
the third bullet under the sub-heading, "Rationalisation," and under
the sub-heading, "Structural Change in Society." DD]
What are the characteristics of our present-day agriculture?
Our present agricultural system brings a sharp break with thousands of
years of tradition. Farming methods have changed substantially through
history, but our present-day agriculture differs from its earlier
incarnations by its substantial energy usage and high degree of linear
resource handling. All earlier methods have been solar powered, with
varying proportions of direct solar or human labour and draught
animals fed on bio-energy. The prime energy source of our present-day
agriculture is fossil fuel.
Plant nutrients are now taken from non-renewable deposits (phosphate)
and chemical fertilisers are manufactured with the help of
non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels and nuclear power). For the
first time, field cultivation without livestock has become possible.
In older systems, plant nutrients were a scarce resource with which
one had to economise. With older cultivation methods there was a
substantial risk of crops failing on account of pests. Chemical
pesticides reduced this type of risk in the short term, but over a
longer period of time they created a more insidious risk, namely the
accumulation of unnatural substances in the biosphere with associated
health hazards. The practice of monoculture and increased nitrogen
inputs have also resulted in increased pressure from pests and dis-
ease, thus making agriculture more and more dependent on pesticides.
In older agricultural systems, cycles were usually concentrated within
a single farm or village. The resource base of agriculture now extends
right across the globe. This has contributed to the formation of
larger, imperfectly sealed cycles with a higher energy consumption and
for certain substances an entirely linear handling of resources.
[Diagram here]
The Double Challenge
Less than a third of the global population is responsible for more
than 80% of resource consumption. Within a decade there will be an
estimated 1 billion more people in the world and a reduction in arable
farm land of some 30 million hectares. Even now, when this consumption
relates to only a small part of the global population, we are serious-
ly contravening the framework for long-term sustainability.
The double challenge is to achieve global sustainability and reduce
global per capita consumption to levels where it can be sustained in
the long-term. The alternative is widespread lost economic potential
with the risk of inciting wars over resources and infringements of
human rights. Our agriculture therefore needs to be self-sufficient in
all basic foodstuffs. Meeting this double challenge will require both
a rationalisation in resource use and a change in lifestyles.
Rationalization
Until now, the measure of efficiency in Swedish agriculture has been
maximum yield per hectare, per hour of work, per unit of invested
capital. 'Rationalisation' according to this narrow perspective is
nothing but a substitution of [for?] green solar catchment areas
(fields, meadows, grazing land) for [by?]the utilisation of
non-renewable energy sources. Only in this way have we managed to
create so-called "excess capacity." To rationalise within the frame-
work of the four conditions requires development of knowledge, tech-
nology and cultivation methods.
Rationalisation also implies that the human resource base must be as
local as possible. There are several reasons for this: the consumption
of energy and associated flows of materials have to be weighed up
against alternative uses for these resources; small cycles are more
easily sealed; in long-distance trading systems, countries suffering
from chronic soil impoverishment produce animal feed for export to
industrialised nations; long-distance trade in staple products is in
many ways an insecure supply; local cycles stimulate our understanding
of cause and effect in production and consumption.
Changes in our Lifestyles
We clearly have to find alternatives to the established order of
things in the industrialised society which, worryingly, is being
marketed as a prototype for the developing world. But a change of
lifestyle has to occur according to acceptable social norms. It cannot
be dictated but must emanate from the respect people feel for each
other, for coming generations and the rest of nature.
People's physiological, social, intellectual, psychological and
spiritual needs are all important and cannot be substituted for one
another. For instance, a lack of community and sense of identity
cannot be compensated by increased material consumption. A change of
lifestyle does not necessarily mean making sacrifices in terms of
satisfying fewer needs. Rather, it may be experienced as a positive
development.
What needs to be Done?
Structural Change in Society
Everything speaks of the need for sweeping change in our mode of
living if the ecocyclic conditions are to be fulfilled. In the
industrialised world, excessive consumption and the 'throw- away'
philosophy must itself be discarded as soon as possible. A more
equitable distribution of the world's collective resources and produc-
tion would contribute to this.
Agriculture can adapt to an ecocyclic perspective, but measures are
also needed within the economy, legislative programmes and social
planning, in order to bring about necessary structural changes within
society as a whole. By "structural change" we refer to problems such
as: long distances between production and consumption, an extensive
chain of refining and processing, transportation, packaging, urban
growth, sewage handling and long-distance trade.
Changes in Agriculture
Even now, local improvements can be made in agricultural practice, but
many reforms will remain hypothetical as long as they have no economic
basis. Further economic and administrative measures are therefore
needed to encourage the following:
conversion to renewable fuels and lower use of mechanical energy
integration of livestock and plant production for the best
possible balance within each individual farm unit as well as on a
regional and national scale.
protection and recreation of important habitat for the fauna and
flora of the agricultural landscape.
ensuring that heavy metals do not accumulate in agricultural
soil.
The Need for Development of Methods and Technology
It is vital to put effort into the development of new methods and
technology to make progress within the framework of an ecocyclic
perspective. Some of the important aspects are:
developing cultivation systems that require less energy input in
the form of chemical fertilisers, chemical pesticides, fossil
fuels and electrical energy.
developing new crops, both annual and perennial, which contribute
to improved soil quality, economise on plant nutrients, and meet
demand for bio-fuels, lubrication oils, fibres, biodegradable
packaging, etc.
examining ways in which the landscape can be structured to
minimise the pressure of pests.
developing cultivation systems where a balance exists between the
breaking down and taking up of humus.
developing lighter machines which minimise compaction even in
deeper soil layers.
developing techniques to minimise the loss of nutrients during
handling of farm manure.
continuing to develop methods for using waste water and household
waste for biological production, without an accumulation of
toxic substances.
Farmers should play a part in the research and development
process, so that their experience, creativity and motivation can
be harnessed. A fresh, inter-disciplinary approach is necessary
for multi-faceted connections in the agricultural system. How
do we get there?
Directional change in political decisions are needed if individual
farmers, consumers, the business sector and the food retailing indus-
try are to begin large-scale adoption of an ecocyclic perspective.
Political decisions should make it economically possible for individu-
als to adapt to the ecocyclic principle, something which will benefit
the whole of society in the long run.
The following are vital steps in the creation of this necessary
opinion:
Far-reaching educational programmes in ecocyclic perspectives at all
levels in society.
Support from farmers' organisations for sustainable agriculture and
society.
Good examples to be created and emphasised so that people can envisage
alternatives to present production and consumption.
Eco-labeling and other consumer information.
Local retailing and farm shops, giving farmers the opportunity of
finding out more about consumer preference, and of further directing
public awareness towards the biological cycles.
****end*****
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail