Recasting Economics As If the Climate and Global Ecology Really Mattered

The current paradigm of global economics with exponential and continuous economic growth is unsustainable as far as Earth system ecology is concerned. To support the Earth system and boost sustainable development, a functional and operational linkage between global ecology and economics should be established – which we term ‘carbonomics’. The simple basis of ‘carbonomics’ is that the more fossil and non-fossil carbon one has as stocks, and not flows, of carbon, the richer one is. This opinion piece makes some suggestions about how we might establish such a balanced relationship. Author Notes: John R Porter is an internationally known agricultural scientist with an expertise in agronomy, crop ecology and physiology, simulation modelling and food systems. From 2011 to 2014 he led the writing of the critically important chapter for the IPCC 5th Assessment in Working Group 2 on food production systems and food security. He has served or continues to serve on many national, regional and international public and private bodies concerned with agricultural research, education and development such as CGIAR committees; IPCC; International Crop Science Society; European Society for Agronomy; European Joint Research Programme on Food Security, Agriculture and Climate; Institut de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France; US AgMIP and EU MACSUR joint program on agricultural and economic modelling and, most recently, The Barilla Foundation for Food and Nutrition.