The debate on intergenerational equity has been on for more than a century now. Whereas every individual is responsible for their own life and that of the current generation, we have a responsibility for the future generation. One of the dimensions of the debate is the issue of sustainability. For instance, Robert Solow, in his concept of weak sustainability, argues that natural capital and physical capital are interchangeable. As such, the current generation requires adequate capital for any of the recourses (Neumayer & Cheltenham, 2013) . However, I can't entirely agree with the argument because the creation of physical capital depends on natural capital. Also, the two capitals have a qualitative difference, and increased demand for natural capital should not encourage its depletion. Physical capital is not an equal substitute for natural capital. Firstly, the creation of physical capital relies on natural capital. For instance, the making of roads and products need raw materials that are present in natural capital. Secondly, natural and physical capital, have a qualitative difference. A case in point is the ability to reproduce most of the physical capital after destruction, whereas one cannot reproduce natural capital after destruction (Neumayer & Cheltenham, 2013) . Finally, an increase in the demand for natural capital as humans seek to meet the needs of the ever-increasing population is not a substitute for depleting it. As Huang, (2018) observes, the increased production has effects such as environmental pollution that threatens the well-being of humans irrespective of the physical capital’s adequacy. Therefore, there is a need for the current generation to emphasize intergenerational equity by not adhering to Robert Solow's argument on weak sustainability. As discussed above, the production of physical capital depends on natural capital. Further, the two capitals have qualitative differences. Finally, increased demand for natural capital should not encourage its depletion. Thus, we owe the future generation a responsibility to preserve natural capital by using it sparingly because of its unique characteristics that cannot be substituted by physical capital.
References
Huang, L. (2018). Exploring the Strengths and Limits of Strong and Weak Sustainability Indicators: A Case Study of the Assessment of China’s Megacities with EF and GPI. Sustainability , 10 (2), 349. DOI: 10.3390/su10020349
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Neumayer, E., & Cheltenham, E. (2013). Weak Versus Strong Sustainability – Exploring the Limits of Two Opposing Paradigms. International Journal Of Sustainability In Higher Education , 14 (4). DOI: 10.1108/ijshe.2013.24914daa.009
