From the Limits to Growth to Sustainable Development: to the 50th Anniversary of the Report to the Club of Rome “Limits to Growth”

Half a century has passed since the report to the Club of Rome “Limits to Growth” shocked the whole world, making it realize that we live on the finite planet in terms of its resource capabilities. The work is directly related to such concepts as “resource and environmental constraints to economic growth”, “limits to growth” and “sustainable development”. The Club of Rome is often credited with the idea of “zero population and industrial growth” as supposedly sufficient conditions for stabilizing the system. However, the organization’s reports emphasize that a strategy of zero industrial and population growth alone can only briefly delay the onset of a crisis, but not prevent it. Not all economists accept the ideas of the Club of Rome, this being only one of the theories of the development of society. At the same time, it is impossible not to mention the contribution that the theory of the Club of Rome made to the development of modern concepts of development, taking into account the task of preserving the environment, the planet as a whole. It is necessary to mention the concept of “sustainable development”, which became especially popular after the UN International Conference on Environment and Development (1992). The concept was adopted as a guide to action by many developed and developing countries, and first of all by China. It is noted that China is a world leader in the implementation of the concept of “sustainable development” in practice and has achieved significant success in this area. The predicted crisis at this stage was overcome due to the fact that in the last few decades there has been a noticeable turn to the green economic development in the world. In this process, the author sees the undoubted merit of the Club of Rome. The purpose of the article is to show its role in these processes. According to UN experts, China's population growth in the next thirty years will stop, and after 2050 it will be replaced by a reduction. China's rapidly growing economy in many indicators of sustainable development (resource and energy conservation, as well as servicization) has reached Western standards, in many respects surpassing them.

1. Bobylev S. N. (1993). Ecologization of Economic Development. Moscow: МSU Publishing, 78 pp. (in Russian).

2. Borisov E. F. (1997). Anthology on Economic Theory. Moscow: Publishing Group “Jurist”, 533 pp. (in Russian).

3. China’s Agenda 21 (1994). White paper on China’s population, environment, and development in the 21st century. China Population Today. Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 5-8. Chumakov A. N. (1994). Philosophy of Global Problems. Moscow: Znaniye, 159 pp.

4. Ekologiya i ekonomika prirodopol’zovaniya (1998). Girusov E. V., Bobylev S. N., Novoselov A. L., Chepurnykh N. V. Ecology and Economics of Nature Management. Moscow: UNITI, 456 pp. (in Russian).

5. King A., Schneider B. (1997). The First Global Revolution. In: Gvishiani D. M. (ed.) The Club of Rome: history of creation, selected reports, official materials. Moscow: URSS, pp. 197‒253 (in Russian).

6. Limits and Beyond (2022). Bardi U., Pereira C. A. (eds.). 50 years on from The Limits to Growth, what did we learn and what’s next? Exapt Press, 304 pp.

7. Man Chin Sum, Hills P. (1998). Interpreting Sustainable Development. Journal of Environmental Sciences. Vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 129-143.

8. Mirovaya ekonomika (1999). Bulatov A. S. (ed.). World Economy. Moscow: Publishing Group “Jurist”, 734 pp. (in Russian).

9. Moiseev N. N. (1988). Ecology of mankind by the eyes of mathematics. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 251 pp. (in Russian).

10. Nashe obscheye buduscheye… (1989). Our Common Future. Report of the International Commission on Environment and Development. Moscow: Progress, 371 pp. (in Russian).

11. Pestel E. (1997). Beyond the limits to growth. In: Gvishiani D. M. (ed.) The Club of Rome: history of creation, selected reports, official materials. Moscow: URSS, pp. 149‒193 (in Russian).

12. Petushkova V. V. (2022). China’s Experience and Prospects for Sustainable Development. Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 207-215. DOI: 10.1134/S1019331622020095.

13. Petushkova V. V. (2022). China’s Experience and Prospects for Sustainable Development. Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Vol. 92, no. 4, pp. 384-393 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31857/S0869587322040065.

14. Predeli rosta (1991). Meadows D. H., Meadows D. L., Renders J., Behrens W. W. Limits to Growth. Moscow: МSU Publishing, 205 pp. (in Russian).

15. Rimskiy klub: ideya… (2017). The Club of Rome: idea of sustainable development. Courier of Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL). No. 2, pp. 213-225 (in Russian).

16. Rimskiy klub: istoriya… (1997). Gvishiani D. M. (ed.) The Club of Rome: history of creation, selected reports, official materials. Moscow: URSS, 388 pp. (in Russian).

17. Roach S. (2019). China is leading the world in sustainable development. World Economic Forum, September 24. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/china-leading-sustainable-development/, accessed 15.11.2021.

18. Samuelson P. (1997). Economics. Volume 2. Moscow: NPO Algon, 413 pp. (in Russian). The Great Tech Rivalry… (2021): Allison G. et. al.

19. The Great Tech Rivalry: China vs the U. S. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Available at: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/GreatTechRivalry_ChinavsUS_211207.pdf, accessed 15.11.2021.

20. The Club of Rome Shifting from The Limits to Growth to Global Equity for a Healthy Planet (2022). How do we ensure transformational governance? The Club of Rome Annual Conference 2022, Costa Rica, 4-5 December. Available at: https://www.clubofrome.org/featured-news/conference-22/, accessed 13.12.2022.

21. World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights (2019). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. New York: United Nations, 2019. 39 pp. Available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/, accessed 16.11.2020.