Sustainability Transition and Sustainable Peace: Scientific and Policy Context, Scientific Concepts and Dimensions
This Handbook links together four social science research programmes peace studies, security studies, development studies and environmental studies which have had only limited exchanges on sustainable development, human security and sustainable peace. The Handbook connects these three concepts within the research paradigm of 'sustainability transition' This research paradigm focuses on a large scale and long term transformative change of the dominant carbon intensive development path by addressing the causes of global environmental and climate change. There has been an exponential increase in GHG emissions since the 1950s and a rapid destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These texts can be used in graduate seminars in different scientific disciplines and research programmes and in new transdisciplinary degree programmes. The texts foster longer term proactive strategies and policies and specific measures to realize two policy goals, 'sustainable development' alongside and contributing to a 'sustainable peace' as the possible result of a large scale transition of the systems of production, consumption, and governance. Among the key questions in this Handbook are a) whether business as usual policies and the growing number of climate induced natural hazards that threaten the survival of millions of people pose threats to international peace and security; b) whether anticipative learning and a forward looking discourse on long term transformative changes may contribute to sustainable development and address new dangers to international peace and security in a preventive manner; and c) what lessons may be drawn from the violent consequences of the industrial revolution and used to promote a long term transformative change towards sustainable development with sustainable peace. This chapter consists of eight parts. After a brief sketch of opposing scientific and political visions (1.1. the purpose and objectives of the Handbook are highlighted (1.2. and a survey (1.3) reviews the challenges posed by global environmental change: population growth, the impacts of climate change, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and desertification, water scarcity and stress, food scarcity and hunger, and gender implications. It addresses the impacts of different economic development paths (1.4) through integrating the results of global research programmes, of their linkages and their assessment by the IPCC, and through the nexus debates between the fields of water, food and energy security (1.5) The three key concepts of sustainable development, sustainability transition and sustainable peace are introduced (1.6) the evolution of different approaches to sustainability transition is reviewed, the debates on ecosystem restoration, green growth and decarbonization are noted, and six dimensions of the research on 'sustainability transition' are outlined (1.7) The last section introduces the ten parts of this Handbook and offers an overview of its 40 peer reviewed contributions (1.8)