
Commissioned in 2019 by the British government and published in February 2021, The Dasgupta Review has been likened to the 2006 Stern Review. Where the latter brought to widespread attention the many failings of the world economy in the face of global warming, the former makes similar points as regards biodiversity – and identifies the unique challenges faced by women.
As a leading expert on the intersections between human welfare, population ethics, development, and the environment, Partha Dasgupta – the University of Cambridge Professor Emeritus of Economics and the author of many acclaimed publications for the academic and the general reader alike – was a natural fit for the task of revisiting the way we conceive of the relationship between the economy and the ecosystem. With the benefit of fifteen years’ worth of researching – and living through – the decline in the habitability of the planet since the Stern Review came out, The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review (“the Review”) makes an even more urgent case for changing the way we measure economic success in order to improve humanity’s prospects in the face of the escalating biodiversity crisis, and indeed of climate change as well.
I do not attempt to summarise all or even most of the key points raised by the Review. Among its many insights and recommendations, the Review highlights the circumstances and contributions of women, and it is this more targeted focus that is the scope of this article.
Early on in the Preface, Dasgupta refers to his reader with feminine pronouns: “the person reading the Review is doing so because she wants to understand our place in Nature as a citizen.… Depending on the context, I call her the ‘social evaluator’, or the ‘citizen investor’” (Dasgupta 2021: 4; all subsequent quotations refer to this work). Throughout the Review, the challenges faced by women and girls in the Global South are repeatedly noted and emphasised, bringing to the fore what is often kept in the far background of discussions and decision-making processes.
In the world’s poorest rural regions, necessary daily activities such as collecting water, gathering firewood, picking fruit, berries, and herbs, and food preparation, take many hours, with much of this work performed by women. For instance, rural women in Bangladesh “have been found to spend 50-55% of their day cooking” (37). These circumstances tend to be exacerbated if the local environment has deteriorated, thus reducing availability of many resources, or prolonging the time needed to acquire them. It has been shown that healthy forest ecosystems provide important hydrological services, including water purification as well as flood and drought mitigation, thus contributing to human well-being. For example, upstream forests improve baseflow, thus reducing “the time needed by women and children to collect drinking water” (67). Minority and economically disadvantaged communities are disproportionately exposed to low environmental quality and high environmental hazard from pollution that “degrade[s] natural ecosystems and directly harm[s] human health” (374).
Gender and income inequality can undermine sustainability; conversely, including women in decision-making, as is the case with forest management in India and Nepal, leads to “better resource governance and conservation outcomes” (375). In Jordan, Dasgupta notes, participation of indigenous and underrepresented communities in managing local ecosystems has led to positive results: “the sites have improved environmentally and socially: tribal conflicts over natural resources have reduced, grazing is better managed, and biodiversity has revived” (451).
Despite reluctance in some quarters to engage with the fraught problem of (over)population, the Review states plainly that “[e]xpanding human numbers have had significant implications on our global footprint” (491). A crucial issue is that of fertility decisions. In certain cultures these decisions are routinely taken at the level of the household (variously defined), with the woman’s perspective subsumed within the group she belongs to. Societal mores determine the value placed on fertility, with reproductive success often seen as a way of acquiring social status, despite the strains it can place on available resources. Conformity to social preferences may lead to a community engaging in a self-sustaining mode of behaviour that results in high fertility and low living standards, even if there is another self-sustaining mode “characterised by low fertility and rising living standards which is preferred by all” (241). Conformist preferences on both the individual and the social level can evolve for several reasons, not least through access to information from the outside world that challenges traditional practices. Where these practices now run counter to modern-day interests but may have had a sound rationale in the past, they may still be maintained despite circumstances having changed, resulting in communities that can “remain stuck” in modes of behaviour that are not in fact desired by nor are in the best interest of those who engage in them (243).
A universally recognised way of bringing fertility rates down is better educational opportunities. Education “makes a break with tradition” by delaying marriage, leading to better birth spacing and improving economic prospects (243). However, despite being seen as the “surest route to woman’s empowerment” by all governments, full benefits of education have so far failed to materialise: in low income countries as much as 30% of girls and young women are illiterate. The Review therefore recommends complementing education with a faster and more affordable solution to high fertility rates, that is, family planning programmes. Regrettably, these tend to “remain low on the development agenda” (244), despite their achievements. In the 1960s and 1980s subsidised contraceptives have successfully accelerated fertility declines in Asia and Latin America. Their potential for averting deaths in developing countries has been estimated at 30% for maternal deaths and nearly 10% for childhood deaths, while satisfying unmet needs for modern contraception in developing countries might lead to a 68% decline in unwanted pregnancies. The track record of family planning is positive all-round: in addition to better birth-spacing and lower child mortality, it leads to better educated children, larger household assets, and greater use of healthcare. The Review states in no uncertain terms: “investment in community-based family planning programmes should now be regarded as essential” (244). If this recommendation is heeded, in Africa alone the population would be “some 1 billion smaller in 2100 than is currently projected” (247).
These lessons are not irrelevant to the 1.2 billion people in high-income countries. It is there, in societies with the heaviest environmental demands of all, that individual decisions regarding fertility have the largest impact – and come at (relatively) little personal cost. The Review emphasises that given the social nature of humans, reconfiguring the values that currently govern our perception of living at the intersection of population, consumption, and environment may be easier than thought and “the cost of necessary social change is probably much less than is feared” (247). The contemporary economic paradigm beholden to relentless extractivism and rampant consumptionism that governs modern societies is hardly inevitable: transforming the values we live by to ensure human thriving within the richness of planet’s biodiversity is not only possible, but imperative. Foregrounding the role and contribution of women is one of the key components of that transformation.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to recognising that change can happen either while the humanity can still be at least partly in charge of it, thus ensuring as much fairness as possible – or it can be enforced by circumstances, when it’s already too late to meaningfully adjust the course of events.
Przypisy:
References:
Dasgupta, Partha. (2021) The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review. London: HM Treasury.

Dawid Juraszek Expert on global environmental issues. Author of the book 'Anthropocene for Beginners. Climate, Environment, Pandemics in the Age of Man'. PhD student at Maastricht University (cognitive ecocriticism), graduate in English philology, educational leadership, environmental management and international relations. He has written for, among others, Dwutygodnik, Liberté!, Krytyka Polityczna, Gazeta Wyborcza, Polityka, Newsweek, Ha!art, Lampa, Focus Historia, Travel and Poznaj Świat, as well as for numerous publications in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. He has worked in Chinese higher education for several years.
czytaj więcej
Meeting with Dr. Uki Maroshek-Klarman
It’s a great pleasure for the Boym Institute to organize an open meeting with dr Uki Maroshek who founded the betzavta method. Betzavta is taught across the globe at the Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace in Jerusalem as well as in other institutions in Europe and the Middle East.
Lessons for China and Taiwan from the war in Ukraine
The situation of Taiwan and Ukraine is often compared. The logic is simple: a democracy is threatened by a repressive, authoritarian regime making territorial claims and denying it the right to exist.
Paweł BehrendtHow China uses its narratives on the Russo-Ukrainian war to court the Global South
Three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is entirely clear that this conflict has irrevocably changed the geopolitical landscape both in Europe and beyond and its repercussions will be felt far beyond the battlefield for years to come.
Konrad SzattersFrom ‘strategic engagement’ to ‘competition’. Interview with William Yu
Ewelina Horoszkiewicz in conversation with Professor William Yu (UCLA) on USA, China and Europe. Professor William Yu is an economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast and specializes in the economies of Los Angeles and China.
Ewelina HoroszkiewiczUzbekistan, under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has embarked on a path of reform. Almost daily, the media there report on new initiatives and projects. It is no coincidence that in December 2019 The Economist awarded Uzbekistan the country of the year title.
Magdalena Sobańska-CwalinaOnline Course: “Conflict Resolution and Democracy”
The course will be taught via interactive workshops, employing the Adam Institute’s signature “Betzavta – the Adam Institute’s Facilitation Method“, taught by its creator, Dr. Uki Maroshek-Klarman. The award-winning “Betzavta” method is rooted in an empirical approach to civic education, interpersonal communication and conflict resolution.
Guidance for Workplaces on Preparing for Coronavirus Spread
Due to the spread of coronavirus, the following workplace recommendations have been issued by the Ministry of Development, in cooperation with the Chief Sanitary Inspector. We also invite you to read article about general information and recommendations for entrepreneurs.
Workshop – Liberalism vs authoritarianism: political ideas in Singapore and China
We cordially invite you to a workshop session “Liberalism vs authoritarianism: political ideas in Singapore and China”. The workshop is organized by Patrycja Pendrakowska and Maria Kądzielska at the Department of Philosophy, University of Warsaw on ZOOM.
Interview with Uki Maroshek-Klarman on “Betzavta” method
Interview with Uki Maroshek-Klarman - Academic Director of the Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace in Israel. Founder of "Betzavta" method, which was created with intention of streghtening people's participation in society and making conflicts easier to solve.
Patrycja PendrakowskaBook review: “Europe – North Korea. Between Humanitarianism And Business?”
Book review of "Europe – North Korea. Between Humanitarianism And Business?", written by Myung-Kyu Park, Bernhard Seliger, Sung-Jo Park (Eds.) and published by Lit Verlag in 2010.
Nicolas LeviCentral Asia. The winding road to regional integration
The aim of the paper is to present the current stage of integration among the Central Asian republics and to analyze directions and dynamics of this process in the nearest future. This study also attempts to identify factors which can either slow down or strengthen the process of integration as well as its causes and consequences.
Jerzy OlędzkiThe Boym Institute message to Chinese policymakers and analysts
The EU-China relations require common perspective on Russia’s invasion on Ukraine
Short summary of events at the Boym Institute
We want the Boym Institute to become a valuable platform of exchanging views, making valuable acquaintances and, above all, deepening knowledge. Therefore, we undertake the organization of many events: debates, lectures, and conferences.
Online Course: “Conflict Resolution and Democracy”
The course will be taught via interactive workshops, employing the Adam Institute’s signature “Betzavta – the Adam Institute’s Facilitation Method“, taught by its creator, Dr. Uki Maroshek-Klarman. The award-winning “Betzavta” method is rooted in an empirical approach to civic education, interpersonal communication and conflict resolution.
To free oneself from the Chinese embrace. On Indo-Russian relations with Nandan Unnikrishnan
Interview with Nandan Unnikrishnan, who has served for many years as a correspondent for Indian media in Russia. Currently he is a research fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi. The interview was conducted during the Raisina Dialogue 2019 in Delhi.
Krzysztof ZalewskiPatrycja Pendrakowska and Paweł Behrendt on navigating Sino-Polish relations
We are proud to annouce, that Patrycja Pendrakowska and Paweł Behrendt made a contribution to the latest project of the Baltic Security Foundation, The Jamestown Foundation and the Baltic-American Freedom Foundation.
Transcultural Winter School 2021 (8th of November — 12th of November)
This year’s research project TSRG 2021 as a collaborative initiative between Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin and the Boym Institute continued with a Transcultural Winter School in Zeppelin University, in Friedrichshafen.
Are Polish Universities Really Victims of a Chinese Influence Campaign?
The Chinese Influence Campaign can allegedly play a dangerous role at certain Central European universities, as stated in the article ‘Countering China’s Influence Campaigns at European Universities’, (...) However, the text does ignore Poland, the country with the largest number of universities and students in the region. And we argue, the situation is much more complex.
Patrycja PendrakowskaWe would like to inform, that Observer Research Foundation has published article of Krzysztof Zalewski - the Boym Institute Analyst, Chairman of the Board and Editor of the “Tydzień w Azji” weekly.
Krzysztof ZalewskiSan Zhong Zhanfa or Three Warfares. Chinese Hybrid Warfare
Cognitive operations are becoming an increasingly significant and common element of non-kinetic military operations. States and other political players deliberately manipulate the way their actions, those of their allies and those of their adversaries are perceived by the governments and societies of other international players.
Paweł BehrendtWomen in Public Debate – A Guide to Organising Inclusive and Meaningful Discussions
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we warmly invite you to read our guide to good practices: "Women in Public Debate – A Guide to Organising Inclusive and Meaningful Discussions."
Ada DyndoIndia, China and the Shades of Grey
"We are at an inflection point in this century. Many of our traditional arrangements are failing. To achieve stability in this century we need to discover new solutions" - Interview with Samir Saran - Senior Fellow and Vice President at the Observer Research Foundation
Krzysztof ZalewskiAiluna Shamurzaeva – Research Fellow at the Boym Institute
Her research focuses on political economy, migration studies, and international trade. Ailuna, we are more than happy to welcome you to the team!
Roman Catholic cemetery in Harbin (1903-1958)
First burials of Catholics, mostly Poles but also other Non-Orthodox believers took place in future Harbin in the so called small „old” or later Pokrovskoe Orthodox cemetery in the future European New Town quarter and small graveyards at the military and civilian hospitals of Chinese Eastern Railway at the turn of XIX and XX century.
Jerzy Czajewski