ABSTRACT
Disruptions of ecological systems are connected to the inadequacies of the predominant social systems that govern the developed world and to the international economic order that binds the developed to the developing world. Agricultural development, industrialization, public-health campaigns in the tropics, nutrition-aid programs, urbanization, and population policies are shown to be following a self-destructive and environmentally disruptive path. There is an enormous challenge in the redirection of development towards the ecosocietal approach, where the redistribution of resources and the improvement of environmental quality for the masses are the guiding principles. The concept of “inner limits” was used in the Cocoyoc Declaration to focus attention on the urgent, unmet needs of most of the world’s people. If a human ecosystem has surpassed its carrying capacity or if its ecological relationships have been imbalanced, with undesirable effects on its viability and long-term productivity, we shall say that its development has exceeded its “outer limits".
