Glasgow Centre For Population Health Podcast

It seems we are in trouble. Two recent reports – the Stern Report on the economic impact of climate change for the UK Treasury and that of International Panel on Climate Change – suggest that human activity has serious environmental consequences, such as global warming. The almost insatiable demands on natural resources by giant emerging economies like China and India are new as is that in East Europe. Yet more than two billion people still live in abject poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Their basic needs and demands must be fulfilled. Can all of this be sustained in the context of inexorable GDP growth being the exclusive measure of material fulfillment and happiness? How can we find an ethical economic response when demands are increasing, resources are declining and damage to the fabric of the ecosphere on which we all depend upon for life is becoming obvious? One way forward is suggested by the traditional Indian thought of humans being a part of nature and therefore helping to