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Activity Quote by Stuart L. Hart

“Although population and consumption are societal issues, technology is the business of business. If economic activity must increase tenfold over what it is today to support a population nearly double its current size, then technology will have to reduce its impact twenty-fold merely to keep the…” quote by Stuart L. Hart
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“Although population and consumption are societal issues, technology is the business of business. If economic activity must increase tenfold over what it is today to support a population nearly double its current size, then technology will have to reduce its impact twenty-fold merely to keep the planet at its current levels of environmental impact. For example, to stabilize the climate we may have to reduce real carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent, while simultaneously growing the world economy by an order of magnitude.”

Stuart L. Hart

About This Quote

Source Article: “The Role of Technology in Sustainable Development”, 2005

Technology must dramatically cut environmental impact while supporting massive economic growth and population increase.

In simple terms: Tech must shrink impact while economy grows.

Key Takeaway

Innovate for massive efficiency gains.

Themes

sustainability technology economics

Mood

concerned optimistic

Type

analytical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • industrial scaling
  • global policy
  • energy production
  • urban planning

Key Concepts

systems thinking innovation resource efficiency

Questions to Reflect On

  • Can we decouple growth from consumption?
  • What policies could drive such tech?
A Different Perspective

Achieving such reductions may be technologically and politically infeasible.

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