INTRODUCTION: THE TERRITORY

We have covered a great deal of ground in this book, but given the breadth of sustainability, even if the perspective is biological, this was inevitable. Figure 7.1 sets out the territory we have surveyed and mapped. I have grouped related topics together under broad themes, but it is important to recognise that everything listed in Figure 7.1 is related to everything else and a two-dimensional diagram does not do full justice to all of the linkages. After all, in the book there is a separation of production and consumption as themes for chapters. This has logic, as consumption drives further demand for goods and services and in turn this feeds into production, but the two are also inversely related, as demand can also be created through clever marketing and this will in turn drive consumption and production. As a result of this inexorable relationship, production and consumption appear in all of the chapters, even if the emphasis might happen to be on one or the other. Also, while the left-hand side of Figure 7.1 is perhaps more ‘biological’ than topics to the right-hand side, biology pervades it all. Similarly, while policy appears at the bottom of Figure 7.1 it has to be noted that much of what is in the diagram was developed with the motive of operationalising a concept of sustainability. Hence, MSY, green accounting, GPI, ecological footprint, food miles and so on were all intended to have an influence on policy and/or behaviour.