What is environmental and economic sustainability (EES)?
Environmental degradation is increasing at an alarming rate, and it is the poorest people in our world who are being most affected by it – those who have done the least to cause it. Harmful patterns of consumption and waste, driven by business, are fuelling the crisis, putting pressure on the world’s natural resources.
In 2015 Tearfund published The restorative economy setting out our vision for a sustainable global economy in which extreme poverty is ended, the balance in creation is restored and inequality between rich and poor is reduced. To implement this vision in our programmatic and advocacy work, Environmental and Economic Sustainability (EES) was adopted as one of three corporate priorities.
Tearfund recognises that climate change, the environment and people’s livelihoods are closely connected. We have seen how environmental degradation, conflict and climate-related shocks increase food insecurity and hunger, and threaten progress with development.
Our response is to promote environmental and economic sustainability (EES). EES is about working towards a world where extreme inequality is reduced and where everyone can meet their basic needs – and flourish – within their environmental limit.
EES has a wide range of elements. Some relate more to the environment, while others relate more to economic well-being (see figure 1 below). However, they are all closely intertwined and can affect each other positively or negatively. Poverty reduction must hold the environment and the economy in balance, recognising that a broken and harmful environment will have a negative impact on people’s health, livelihoods and productivity.
Tearfund’s approach to EES
Tearfund is committed to relief and development work that is both environmentally and economically sustainable and reduces exposure and vulnerability to risk. We believe that policies and practices must enable livelihood and wealth generation without compromising the environment.
We address EES through taking action at community, national and global levels, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable people. Working with our partner organisations we combine project, policy and advocacy work in order to achieve three end goals:
- Everyone can meet their basic needs
- The world lives within environmental limits
- Extreme inequality is no longer accepted
Tearfund’s approach to and vision for EES is illustrated in figure 2 (page 4). Figure 2 shows that it takes a combined effort of advocacy, policy, movement-building, livelihoods and agriculture work to tackle environmental and economic challenges at the same time.
Long-term outcomes
In this section we introduce five ‘long-term outcomes’ of EES. These are based on care of God’s creation along with holistic human development, and the three EES end goals that came out of Tearfund’s restorative economy research. They can be viewed as the long-term outcomes that a project, programme or strategy should be working towards in order to meet the three end goals of EES (see figure 2: EES Theory of Change). Some of the five outcomes relate more to the environment, while others relate more to the economy.
They are:
- Sustainable resource management: Economic systems protect or restore the environment, contributing to people’s well-being. Decision-making relating to short-term gain does not compromise the future of the environment.
- Socio-ecological balance: Sustainable and productive livelihoods are underpinned by a healthy environment. The environment is valued for its economic value as well as its cultural and ecological value.
- Equality and participation: People have equal access to public goods, services and infrastructure (such as transport, education, clean air and water). All of society, especially poor people, are able to improve their lives and living standards. People are able to participate fully in all aspects of the economy.
- Growth: The economy is working for the good of all (especially poor people), increasing work opportunities, incomes and general well-being. Economic output is not only measured by GDP, but also by other outcomes that capture overall well-being.
Stability: All of society is confident about the future and can invest in it. The economy is increasingly resilient to shocks and stresses. All of these five long-term outcomes should be used to inform project design, monitoring and evaluation.
