Papers by Rigo Melgar-Melgar
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Sep 27, 2023
Energy return on investment (EROI) is a biophysical and ecological economics concept that is usef... more Energy return on investment (EROI) is a biophysical and ecological economics concept that is useful to think about how organisms, ecosystems and societies must obtain enough surplus energy returned from energy gathering activities to live, reproduce, and thrive. EROI can help us overcome the false dualism between nature and society. EROI is a useful metric for economics because it is based on immutable physical laws rather than sometimes arbitrary human preferences. It is essential for assessing useful power, energy trade-offs, efficiencies (and inefficiencies), resource depletion trends, resource quality, and surplus potentials of different fuels and technologies that power, or might power, our socio-economic systems. Apparent inconsistencies in the literature can generally be reduced or eliminated by paying careful attention and explicitly stating boundaries and definitions. We argue that proper use of EROI is critical to understand the interconnections among the environment, energy, and socio-economic development, and inform future energy transitions.
Ecosystem services, Jun 1, 2024
The Ecozoic is defined as an era characterized by the mutual flourishing of humans and the rest o... more The Ecozoic is defined as an era characterized by the mutual flourishing of humans and the rest of Nature. The field of Ecosystem Services should be dedicated to achieving this goal. However, ecosystem services (ES) are commonly defined as Nature’s benefits to people, an anthropocentric concept. Many schemes proposed to assess and value ES are market oriented, thus focused on the satisfaction of subjective individual preferences, an egocentric approach. Yet modern science accepts that all complex species, including humans, are an inseparable part of Nature, incapable of surviving without the ecosystem services Nature generates. Nature is the whole, the economy is the part; we must internalize the economy into nature, not vice versa. This article builds on evolutionary theory, anthropology and ecological economics to explain the necessity of an ecocentric approach to ecosystem services embodied in economic institutions prioritizing Nature. We must create new economic institutions focused on the health of the whole system to complement existing institutions focused on the individual (e.g. markets) and on society (e.g. the public sector and other collective institutions), with the recognition that system health also depends on the health of system components. We therefore propose redefining ecosystem services as Nature’s benefits to the biotic community of which humans are a part. The relationship of humanity to nature should be the same as that of a cell to the human body: prioritize the health of whole and take only the minimum necessary for secure sufficiency.
Ecosystem Services Journal, 2024
The Ecozoic is defined as an era characterized by the mutual flourishing of humans and the rest o... more The Ecozoic is defined as an era characterized by the mutual flourishing of humans and the rest of Nature. The field of Ecosystem Services should be dedicated to achieving this goal. However, ecosystem services (ES) are commonly defined as Nature’s benefits to people, an anthropocentric concept. Many schemes proposed to assess and value ES are market oriented, thus focused on the satisfaction of subjective individual preferences, an egocentric approach. Yet modern science accepts that all complex species, including humans, are an inseparable part of Nature, incapable of surviving without the ecosystem services Nature generates. Nature is the whole, the economy is the part; we must internalize the economy into nature, not vice versa. This article builds on evolutionary theory, anthropology and ecological economics to explain the necessity of an ecocentric approach to ecosystem services embodied in economic institutions prioritizing Nature. We must create new economic institutions focused on the health of the whole system to complement existing institutions focused on the individual (e.g. markets) and on society (e.g. the public sector and other collective institutions), with the recognition that system health also depends on the health of system components. We therefore propose redefining ecosystem services as Nature’s benefits to the biotic community of which humans are a part. The relationship of humanity to nature should be the same as that of a cell to the human body: prioritize the health of whole and take only the minimum necessary for secure sufficiency.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Frontiers in Sustainability
Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to achieve “energy for all” by improving energy secur... more Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to achieve “energy for all” by improving energy security for the world's poor while supporting a global transition toward low-carbon energy sources. The aim of this policy brief is to evaluate and propose energy sufficiency as a feasible policy response to negative interactions of SDG 7, for climate (SDG 13), the biophysical environment (SDG 14 and 15), and social equity (SDG 10), when linked to the pursuit of unending economic growth (SDG 8). Recommendations for SDG 7 target economy-wide absolute and per capita limits in overall energy use to precede adjustments in technology and behavior, thus shifting from energy excess for some to energy sufficiency for all.
Sustainability, 2019
Higher education in the global North, and exported elsewhere, is complicit in driving the planet’... more Higher education in the global North, and exported elsewhere, is complicit in driving the planet’s socio-ecological crises by teaching how to most effectively marginalize and plunder Earth and human communities. As students and activists within the academic system, we take a firm stand to arrest this cycle, and to redirect education toward teaching how to create conditions for all life to thrive. In this paper, we articulate a research and education agenda for co-constructing knowledge and wisdom, and propose shifts in the ‘ologies from the current, destructive modes to intended regenerative counterparts. We offer to shift from an ontology of separation to that of interconnectedness; from an epistemology of domination to that of egalitarian relationship; and from an axiology of development to that of plural values for world- and meaning-making. Such paradigm shifts reflect the foundational aspirations of the consilient transdiscipline of ecological economics. We analyze several intr...
Ecological Economics, 2020
Ecological economics was formally established in 1989 with the ambitious vision of developing a n... more Ecological economics was formally established in 1989 with the ambitious vision of developing a new economic paradigm embedding the social and economic systems in the biophysical world. Ecological economics had its roots in the biophysical understanding of economics that pioneers of the field Georgescu-Roegen (1971), Odum (1971), Daly (1977), Jansson (1984), Martinez-Alier (1987) and others developed while studying the thermodynamic bedrocks shared by natural and social systems. Subsequently, however, ecological economics has explicitly but controversially adopted a 'big umbrella' approach to methodological pluralism, focusing more on topics such as valuing nature and its functions rather than attempting to understand and quantify the biophysical roots of economic activities. Biophysical economics was established in response to these concerns, focusing more on developing analyses and models of the transformations of nature to generate wealth and approached mostly from an energy and material flows perspective. The present paper argues that to achieve its original vision ecological economics must return to its biophysical roots. Collaboration between the two fields will help the next generation of thinkers to address the socio-ecological challenges of the 21 st century requiring an energy transformation called for by aspirations such as the Green New Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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Papers by Rigo Melgar-Melgar