Pezzey, John. 1992. "Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary Guide." Environmental Values 1: 321-62.

Thesis:

Pezzey states "...a definition of sustainability as maintaining 'utility' (average human wellbeing) over the very long term future is used to build ideas from physics, ecology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, history, philosophy, economics and psychology, into a coherent, interdisciplinary analysis of the potential for sustaining industrial civilisation" (Abstract, p. 321).

Summary:

Pezzey's working definition of sustainability is as follows: "non-declining utility of a representative member of society for millennia into the future" (p. 323). Utility functions describe human wellbeing (utility) in terms of consumption of marketed goods and services. Production functions describe alternative transformations of natural and manmade resource inputs into given outputs of useful goods and services and (often) harmful wastes. Applying this definition then, he notes that in sustainable development utility may at times increase.

Physical and ecological perspectives on sustainability (see p. 324-5):

all life forms depend on food chains which start from plants and use solar energy, water, carbon dioxide and nutrients to photosynthesize food

unlike many purely physical processes of decline, the decline of any living system eventually crosses a threshold when some catastrophic decline suddenly happens or starts to happen irreversibly

simple and novel ecosystems tend to be more unstable than complex ones

The natural history of sustainability (see p. 324-33): Pezzey lists eight psychological motivations which have some genetic basis; for example, to acquire food and artifacts up to some level of satiation (see p. 326).

History: Pezzey discusses modern humans in terms of hunter-gatherer societies, agriculture and industrialization. Two ways in which industrialism has altered evolutionary pressures are noted: the vast expansion of intercontinental trade and the dramatically faster pace of change which is still accelerating.

Challenges to environmental sustainability: Humans now dominate the nearly half the world's land ecosystems. Pezzey lists seven effects of this domination; for one, the rapid depletion of renewable natural resources.

Justifying sustainability as a moral goal: Pezzey names non-declining utility, physical survival and constant utility as three reasons for supporting sustainability. He then works through a question-answer series and concludes by stating that the evolution of a sustainability ethic will depend on how new information affects people's perceptions of the threat to their local or global environment. He stresses the importance of obtaining and communicating good information.

The remainder of the paper is divided into the following sections:

An economic analysis of sustainability, including the structure of the economy and questions to be asked (see p. 334-350).

The psychological and social perspectives on sustainability, including a discussion of the evidence of adaptation, comparison and loss aversion effects (see p.351-354).

Summary and conclusions (see p. 354-357).

Keywords: economics, environment, evolution, history, natural resources, policy, population, psychology, sustainability, technology