The Doughnut is a Double Circle:
Solutions for People and Nature
It
is now very clear that we are certain to go into a 1.5-degree-plus world
within this decade with likelihood to have a 2-degree-plus world by
2100, and that too only if we act now, because beyond that, human
civilisation as we know it would have irretrievably changed.
Action now will require the immediate
capping of global emissions despite the need to enhance energy and
material consumption in the global south. Major drivers of the rising
emissions in Asia and Africa are buildings and infrastructure. Soaring
demand and rapid urbanisation of these regions have a multiple whammy on
people and nature. Large-scale negative impacts on ecosystem services
due to massive extraction of ores, sands, stone-aggregates and soils for
building material are compounded by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from
the production and manufacture of materials for buildings, roads,
bridges etc., and the livelihood losses for communities impacted by the
mining and ecosystem loss.
Just transitions to greener and more
inclusive economies in our regions, therefore, need a similar
multi-pronged approach, one that not only addresses the demands for more
material resources in a climate-constrained world, but does so in a
manner that generates decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods. The
resource crises and the climate crises in countries such as India are
intimately related and have close ties with the strategies for
delivering equitable prosperity. Circular Economy, a concept that
emerged from the resource security and economic efficiency concerns of
industries, now needs to be seen through the context of local economy
benefits of integrated and closed-loop production systems within and
across sectors. This challenges the conventional ‘economies of scale’
and the convenient ‘central command and control’ systems of production
of buildings and delivery of infrastructure services in cities. In
rapidly transforming regions such as India, the circular economy can,
therefore, be visualised as the double-circle doughnut1, which has the
added layer of a distributive and regenerative economy in addition to
material and energy circularity.
Value Retention and Value Enhancement as
products and services pass through the different stages of raw material
extraction, product manufacture, use and next life conception are
essential parameters of a circular economy model. It would be useful to
note that while ‘resource value’ in the product lifecycle must be
measured through the physical metrics of material mass/volume, energy
and water; the ‘economic value’ needs to be measured with respect to
where and to whom it is accrued within the society and the community.
This is central to the concept of a distributive economy and has
implications on who is producing what and where.
Secondly, the circular economy principle of
‘ensuring what can be returned back to nature is done so in the same
form as when it was taken from nature’, is also a guidance to move to a
regenerative bioeconomy, one that does not consume but also contributes
to regenerate materials, energy and water. Grow your materials where you
can and ensure that these are broken down into the biological components
through composting and other means when their useful life is over. This
puts a spotlight on nature-based solutions for buildings and
infrastructure - bamboo and other grasses, secondary timber, agro-waste
and other such materials for construction with additional benefits of
locking away carbon, and green and blue infrastructure for water and
waste management, temperature regulation and energy storage in cities.
Technology and business models designed,
developed and promoted by the DA Group in the last forty years have been
upholding the principles of circularity and the doughnut economy long
before it was called so. With Gandhi as our inspiration, we leverage the
strengths of local green businesses that manufacture resource efficient,
recyclable building materials, deliver green energy, water and waste
management services and create jobs and drive local economy growth. The
fly-ash blocks, C&D waste pavers, pinewood roofing shingles and
wastewater recycling systems that we have developed or adapted and are
promoting tick all the boxes for a sustainable future – a future of
business that thrives on scaling down, scaling out and aggregating MSMEs,
rather than scaling up. The DA Group brings small and localised
production and plug-and-play infrastructure options to leapfrog from
traditional technology and economy handicaps to greener, more equitable
and resilient economies for India and the global south.■
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Endnote:
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1The Doughnut Economy, conceptualised by
English economist Kate Raworth, provides a perspective for the economy
of the 21st century, one that not only internalises the environmental
externalities of economic action but also reaffirms the primary
objective of an economic system to ensure prosperity and well-being to
all. More on practical application at the level of cities and human
settlements provides can be found at the Doughnut Economic Action Lab:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/
Zeenat Niazi
zniazi@devalt.org
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