Sustainable Humanity Sustainable Nature our Responsibility

Joint Workshop of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, 2-6 May 2014 – Are Humanity’s dealings with Nature sustainable? What is the status of the Human Person in a world where science predominates? How should we perceive Nature and what is a good relationship between Humanity and Nature? Should one expect the global economic growth that has been experienced over the past six decades to continue for the foreseeable future? Should we be confident that knowledge and skills will increase in such ways as to lessen Humanity’s reliance on Nature despite our increasing economic activity and growing numbers? Is the growing gap between the world’s rich and world’s poor in their reliance on natural resources a consequence of those growths?

es41

Proceedings of the Joint Workshop
2-6 May 2014
Extra Series 41
Vatican City, 2015
ISBN 978-88-7761-108-6

Preview

Opening Address (PDF)
Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB

Word of Welcome (PDF)
Werner Arber, PAS President

Word of Welcome (PDF)
Margaret Archer, PASS President

I. THE BROADER CONTEXT

Human-Nature Co-Evolution (PDF)
Werner Arber

The Emergence of Humans: Brains (Bodies and Hands), Mind and Soul
(PDF)
Yves Coppens

THE NEW ERA OF HUMAN-NATURE INTERACTIONS
II. FUNDAMENTAL DRIVERS OF FOOD, HEALTH, AND ENERGY NEEDS

Impediments to Sustainable Development: Externalities in Human-Nature Exchanges
(PDF)
Partha S. Dasgupta

Population et Nature: Antagonisme ou Concordance? People and Nature: Antagonism or Concordance?
(PDF)
Gérard-François Dumont

Food Demand, Natural Resources, and Nature
(PDF)
Joachim von Braun

Sustainable Development Goals for a New Era
(PDF)
Jeffrey D. Sachs

III. ANTHROPOCENE: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

Food Production in the Anthropocene
Paul J. Crutzen

Climate-System Tipping Points and Extreme Weather Events (PDF)
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber and Maria Martin

An Oceanographic Perspective (PDF)
Walter H. Munk

IV. COMPETING DEMANDS ON NATURE AS A SOURCE

Can We “Save” the Ocean? (PDF)
Nancy Knowlton

Tropical Forests, For Richer and For Poorer (PDF)
Jeffrey R. Vincent

The Promise of Mega-Cities: Moving from Despair to Hope (PDF)
Janice E. Perlman

V. COMPETING DEMANDS ON THE CRYOSPHERE

Glaciers as Source of Water: The Himalaya
(PDF)
Anil V. Kulkarni

The Polar Regions (PDF)
Peter Wadhams

VI. COMPETING DEMANDS ON THE BIOSPHERE

Green Fields: Feeding the Hungry, Raising the Poor and Protecting Nature in Africa
(PDF)
Robert E. Scholes

Stability of Coastal Zones (PDF)
Marcia K. McNutt

VII. SOCIETY’S RESPONSE TO CURRENT UNSUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Why Have Climate Negotiations Proved So Disappointing?
(PDF)
Scott Barrett

Towards an Inclusive “Green Economy”: Rethinking Ethics and Economy in the Age of the Anthropocene (PDF)
Achim Steiner

The Two Worlds Approach for Mitigating Air Pollution and Climate Change (PDF)
Veerabhadran Ramanathan

Mainstreaming the Values of Nature for People into Decision-Making (PDF)
Gretchen Daily

Energy for Sustainable and Equitable Development (PDF)
Daniel M. Kammen

Global Knowledge Action Network (PDF)
Charles F. Kennel

Valuing Nature: Getting the Trade-offs Right
Karl-Goran Maler and Charles Perrings

Sustainable Transformation of Human Society in Asia (PDF)
Yuan Tseh Lee

VIII. SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers our Future (PDF)
Joseph E. Stiglitz

Humanity’s Responsibility Toward Creation – An Ethical and Anthropological Challenge (PDF)
H.E. Msgr. Roland Minnerath

Nature and the Law: The Global Commons and the Common Concern of Humankind (PDF)
Edith Brown Weiss

IX. SOCIAL INCLUSION

Towards a Social Balance of the Current Globalization (PDF)
Juan José Llach

Sustainable Education: Uruguay’s Plan Ceibal (PDF)
Antonio M. Battro

Being Trafficked to Work: How Can Human Trafficking Be Made Unsustainable? (PDF)
Margaret S. Archer

Labour Precarity, Social Exclusion and People’s Economy (PDF)
Juan Grabois

The Influence of Virtuous Human Life in Sustaining Nature (PDF)
Stefano Zamagni

Social Inclusion in Governance and Peace-Building in Asia (PDF)
Wilfrido V. Villacorta

Intergenerational Solidarity: Old and New Scenarios, Challenges and Prospects (PDF)
Pierpaolo Donati

X. CLOSING SESSION: MOTIVATING SOCIETIES

What Role for Scientists?
(PDF)
Naomi Oreskes

Existential Risks (PDF)
Martin J. Rees

Humanity’s Responsibility Toward Nature (PDF)
Enrico Berti

SPECIAL SESSION FOR THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

The History of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
(PDF)
Herbert Schambeck