Economic Growth and Sustainability: A Simple Framework

Abstract

The debate about the relationship between economic growth and the environment embraces many different strands, some emphasise the limits to the capacity of the earth to sustain economic activity, some focus on options at the local level, some suggest that growth and environment are complementary. This paper suggests a framework based on elementary concepts from economics that illustrates the essential characteristics of these diverse elements and the relationships between them. The framework identifies limits to technological options which may press against a sustainability constraint.