Os limites naturais do crescimento econômico à luz da economia ecológica: caminhos para uma solução neguentrópica

Abstract

This study aims to understand how economic growth impacts the environment within the framework of the economic system, both through the extraction of material and energy resources and the deposition of degraded matter and dissipated energy. The prevailing economic paradigm, with its scale of production, generates a range of environmental problems that threaten the sustainability of life on Earth, including ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. In this context, the research explores how economic theories have historically addressed the environmental consequences of growth and seeks to identify theoretical approaches that, in the current state of the literature, support an innovative framework—one that offers negentropic solutions to reconcile the tension between growth and environmental conservation. To address these questions, an extensive interdisciplinary literature review was conducted across Applied Economics, Environmental Economics, Physics, Ecology, and Political Ecology, with particular emphasis on Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s seminal work (1971) and the authors representing the paradigm he critiqued. By the end of the 20th century, divergent academic debates and global policy initiatives led to the emergence of two distinct fields examining the interaction between economic and ecological processes: Environmental Economics and Ecological Economics. These schools represent opposing poles—while Environmental Economics advocates for long-term sustainable growth through internalization of environmental costs and substitution of scarce resources, Ecological Economics emphasizes the biophysical limits to growth and calls for a fundamental rethinking of economics based on bioeconomic principles. In light of this impasse and the urgency of the climate crisis, this thesis proposes a conceptual and innovative model that integrates qualitative growth strategies within the biophysical boundaries of ecosystems. The goal is to reconcile the conflicting relationship between economic expansion and environmental preservation through a negentropic lens.