我们如何确定经济价值？我们当前的经济思维方式是否与可持续世界兼容？

Is our current method of economic thinking How do we determine Is our current method of economic thinking Contents 1.Introduction2.Where are we heading? Our world in 21302.1Two futures: diverging paths toward 21302.2Can we reach the desired future with today’s economic thinking? 3.Development of our economic thinking 4.From classical to sustainable thinking4.1Shifting our economic thinking4.2Approaches to changing our economic system 5.Dilemmas 6.The path to the future Authors Jacqueline Duiker | Ivo Smeets Please contact Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), Copyright Utrecht, The NetherlandsDecember 2025 About this whitepaper VBDO is a recognised thought leader dedicated toadvancing sustainability by harnessing the powerof financial markets. Its members include financialinstitutions, NGOs, knowledge organisations andlabour unions. Operating primarily within a multi-stakeholder environment, VBDO’s core activitiesinclude responsible investment benchmarks for thefinancial sector, corporate benchmarks on business We thank our members for making this report possible by contributing to the VBDO InnovationFund. This year (2025) marks 30-years of VBDO working to make financial markets moresustainable. It has been a journey with ups and downs and one of paradoxes. Although thereis more global urgency, knowledge, data and attention on sustainability than ever before, the For VBDO, this is a moment to reflect and imagine how the future will look if the world continueswith ‘business as usual’ and how that contrasts with the future that people want. This whitepaperalso takes a look back in time, specifically at the history of society’s economic thinking. Ourclassical approach to economics is embedded in practically every aspect of society and has 1. introduction In this type of analysis, the more sustainable alternativeis often considered to be too expensive and therefore“not realistic”. Everyone who tries to fundamentallyembed sustainability in decision making faces thedilemma of short- versus long-term goals or self-interestversus public interest. The question arises of whether,now that we have decided to guide our decisions byshort-term aims and self-interest, it is at all feasibleto achieve a sustainable world? Thinking about thisquestion firstly requires an idea of what a sustainableworld looks like. Are we able to imagine this? What is it These are big and perhaps even philosophicalquestions. They refer to what it is we value and howthis is embedded in our decision making as consumers,producers, financial organisations and governments.This decision making is mainly guided by our concept do not change the way we do business. The causes ofthese risks to our society are generally known. Theylink back to our consumption and production patterns,which rely on the depletion of natural resources such asland, ocean and minerals, as well as emissions, pollution, In 2025, VBDO celebrated its 30th anniversary. Duringthese 30 years, attention for sustainability has grownsignificantly: the Paris Agreement (2015) and the Sustain-able Development Goals¹ (2015) are just two examples 30 years ago, you would not be taken seriously if youtalked about climate change, especially if you raised itas a shareholder of a company. Today, it is high on theagenda of almost every company and financial institu-tion. Over the last decade, sustainability has received To date, geopolitical developments and polarisationare displacing the sense of urgency for all these majorchallenges. We seem to be risking the stagnation ofsustainable transitions, even though we have moreknowledge than ever before and the solutions at our We seem to be risking the stagnationof sustainable transitions, even Despite important positive developments, the world hasnot become much more sustainable.² On the contrary,climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality 2.Where are we heading?Our world in 2130 Projecting the state of our world more than a centu-ry from now challenges us to envision the long-termconsequences of today’s economic choices. Imagine by2130, demographic growth, technological developmentand resource pressures will have reshaped societies inways we can already foresee. The scientific outlook isclear: the world is, in most cases, surpassing the plane-tary boundaries that define a safe operating space forhumanity. Biodiversity loss is accelerating faster thanat any time in human history, climate change is pushingecosystems toward tipping points and global inequalitycontinues to deepen, undermining social stability andtrust in institutions. Alongside these macro-level trends,today’s economic decisions are producing micro-level The tension we face is profound: can we realise a sus-tainable and equitable world if we continue to rely on our 2.1TWO FUTURES: DIVERGING PATHS To explore the previous question, let’s imagine two sce-narios for the year 2130. These are not predictions butthought exp