Defining a safe and just operating space for the Norwegian economy

Abstract

The Safe and Just operating Space (SJS) sustainability framework represents an alternative development tool to abate social inequality and environmental degradation by applying the concepts of environmental limits and social boundaries for a “good life”. Downscaling such limits to sub-global levels increase their policy-relevance, but remains a challenge as natural limits vary across spatiotemporal scales, and the lived human experience differs across cultures. Using Norway as an example, this paper examines how regulatory environmental and social limits can be established through a bottom-up approach. It develops an analytical framework that explores the compatibility between top-down vs. bottom-up approaches, and relative vs. absolute human needs assessments in the SJS sustainability framework. Our results show that the Norwegian economy is close to meeting citizens needs and rights, but with significant disparity across demographic groups, and to a high ecological cost, transgressing all the assessed planetary boundaries. Further methodological development is suggested to increase the relevance of the SJS sustainability framework at national scale.