Why alternatives to cost-benefit analysis in sustainability assessments are necessary
2011
Hirsch Hadorn, G. | Allenspach, U. | Brun, G., ETH Zuerich, Zuerich (Switzerland). Institut fuer Umweltentscheidungen (IED)
Policies for sustainable forest management aim at maintaining forest ecosystems for sustainable development. Sustainable development as a societal mission comprises a diversity of factors that are neither hierarchically ordered nor freely compensable. Policies must therefore be assessed by a multidimensional criterion. Cost-benefit analysis provides a clear recommendation for a rational choice of policy. However, from a sustainability perspective, cost-benefit analysis has disadvantages, due to its methodological basis. Monetization and aggregation of preferences leave the reasons for measured preferences intransparent; trade-offs can occur arbitrarily; and it is not registered, whether and how critical limits of life support systems are affected. Avoiding these problems calls for assessment methods without aggregation or synthesising across heterogeneous standards. Dynamic decision theory provides ideas on how rational decisions can be taken based on a plurality of standards. The crucial ideas are prevention, precommitment, and a memory of past decisions. These can already be found in practice.
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