Environment

The Ma'at research project focuses on the question of "What economic structure is appropriate if we want to listen to those who are poor, to those who have not enough food, to those who cannot afford an education, to those who have no access to medical care?" So the focus is on reaching a reasonable wealth for everyone. The main focus is "What are the characteristics of an economy that is fair and universal?" Economic structures and environmental issues are deeply intertwined.

Organizations are the basic building blocks of a society. In whatever society you are, you will find all kind of organizations. In capitalistic countries you find organizations, in communist countries you find organizations, in socialistic countries you find organizations, everywhere you find organizations as the basic blocks for people who want to work together.

Neglecting science

Let's take a look at an organization that faced environmental threats. The fishermen in the little city of Arnemuiden in the Netherlands. were warned by biologists that they should stop fishing some kind of fish. I do not remember what type of fish it was, but let's call it stingray. The fishermen of Arnemuiden were hesitating to stop fishing, but in the end they were forced to, because there were no stingray's anymore. A fishermen admitted: "The biologists were right. They could apparently see that the fish would disappear, but we had a business to run." Lessons to learn:

Real scientists always get it right in the end.
Those responsible for running a business are typically not inclined to make changes in response to unexpected obstacles.
People who lose their jobs must be given a new way of living.

No prospects

Another example: The protests of farmers in the Netherlands in the years 2023 and 2024. In the Netherlands the number of insects decreased drastically . Numerous bird species were unable to survive. Nitrogen production by farmers was excessive. The farmers have been urged to decrease their nitrogen production and insecticide use. So the farmers were asked to stop their businesses, reduce their production, or make enormous investments. Their ability to continue their business was uncertain. The farmers were obligated to maintain all types of administration in order to determine who was responsible for the largest amount of pollution. They complained about the increased administrative burden. The farmers' protest was enormous, and politicians were unable to compete with it. Politicians had to take into account not only the farmers, but also the forthcoming elections, groups of environmental activists and international conventions. The environmental danger had to be addressed after years of warnings. During those years, there were no elected politicians who were capable or willing to take timely measures. Lessons to learn:

Responsible environmental policy requires accurate administration of hazardous substances and waste streams.
Before an entrepreneur initiates a production process, it is necessary to check how hazardous substances are handled during the process and what happens to the waste afterwards. Ex-ante control safeguards the entrepreneur against polluting consequences of production processes and investments that need to be reversed.
Universities have the responsibility of determining which substances are dangerous and how waste should be processed.
The government has the responsibility of setting limits for the commencement of production processes.

Justify what is wrong

Let's look at some other industries. What is the reason for farmers being required to take environmental measures but not aviation or steel or tabacco industry? These industries are highly capable of influencing political processes. Lobbying is what we call it. It is carried out secretly behind closed doors. Lessons to learn:

Everything discussed behind closed doors must be made publicly available.
It is mandatory for all financial transactions associated with lobbying activities to be made public.

Governments confused

Numerous problems prevent governments from creating a structurally coordinated plan that enables companies to transition to a more sustainable society.

In many cases the authorities failed to understand the seriousness of the situation by ignoring warnings for years (applicable to environmental concerns and biodiversity).
Governments frequently fail to maintain their own integrity. The surcharges scandal (toeslagenaffaire) in the Netherlands is a horrific example. Procedures that were designed with care are not being followed. Final reports of investigations are lost in a drawer. Corruption is a constant threat.
Impartial analysis and mature judgment are hindered by the continuous repetition of certain ideas. Propaganda leads to unrealistic and unethical thinking.
It is impossible to predict economic developments.
- Financial crises can result from questionable business practices. (Think of the financial crisis in 2008.)
- Unexpected wars can disrupt supply lines. (Think of the war in Gaza in 2024.)

Lesson to learn:

Organizations are concerned about their survival, because governments do not help in critical situations. Survival of enterprises cannot be guaranteed by governments.

Considerations

Large organizations

Large organizations with a lot of power may shock you. The development of large organizations seems to be a direct result of technical progress. The market in Western countries has been dominated by large companies for a long time. Small retailers have long been pushed out of the market in Western countries by large companies. Technical, economic, and legal expertise is concentrated in multinational companies. The world appears to be gravitating towards global organizations.
The main problem is: Coordinated control is still absent. Large organizations have their own objectives. And in the current situation these are almost always financial objectives: making a lot of profit, acquire a substantial market share, create a positive impression. They pay no attention to other interests. The environmental consequences are often neglected. The consequences of their activities for the health of the population are ignored.
Suggestion:

Managers have too little prespective to see the consequences of their decisions. Grassroots organizations must be involved in decision making. Industrial policy must be guided by good education, proper information, referendums and fair elections. Control must come from below.

Analyze production processes

Scheduling requires knowledge about production processes and resource availability. Knowledge of production processes is available from organizations. Organizations play a crucial role in determining who will do what. Organizations are and will always be the fundamental building blocks of any economic structure. It is important to ensure that organizations avoid using polluting production processes
Suggestion focused on protecting the environment:

The government establishes an institution that requires all organizations to evaluate their production processes.
This evaluation shows which hazardous or harmful substances enter the organization, how they are processed and in what form they leave the organization.
These evaluations are used by the government to force organizations to modify production processes, in case
- hazardous substances are incorrectly processed or transported,
- the location of hazardous substances after processing is unclear
- hazardous or harmful substances end up in the waste
- products break down too early; artificial aging is not acceptable due to waste of raw materials and energy and loss of time due to unnecessary repairs
organizations do not or may not always disclose their production processes. Legal and practical measures must be taken to ensure confidentiality during the assessment of production processes.

Improving predictability of the economy

In the previous section we came to an unpleasant conclusion: In the present circumstances it is impossible to predict economic developments. That also means that it is difficult to steer an economy. Without knowing what's going to happen, it's impossible to effectively respond to changes. It's important to know

an estimate of what people will need in the near future in order to meet demand,
at which locations production can take place,
which raw materials you need to meet this demand,
which stocks you can use for this,
whether there are enough people who can manage the production processes,
and who has the authority to initiate production processes.

These issues are the focus of the Ma'at project.

Production processes

Pollution is caused by misguided production processes. These production processes were designed with wrong or inappropriate motives or ideals. A production process can be described as a sequence of steps.

Often some of the steps can be performed simultaneously.

The particular aspect is that every step itself can also be considered as a production process.

To execute a step in a production process there must be a location and a time slot where the raw materials are available together with people who have the skills and tools needed. Apart from the intended products there will be by-products that can be input to another step or process, and waste products.

The next illustration shows a production process consisting of three steps. Each step produces some waste. Each type of waste requires its own type of waste processing. In the next illustration the waste of steps 1 and 2 can be processed in the same process. The waste of step3 requires its own type of waste processing.

The diagram below shows a company releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.

This is air pollution. The laws of nature demand: If you interrupt a natural cycle with technical means, then you have to restore the natural cycle by other technical means.

I saw a documentary about two women who wanted to sell sustainably produced sweaters. For each sweater they wanted to be able to tell from which farm the wool came from, from which weaving mill the wool was spun, etc. This proved to be very challenging. They were not able to guarantee that their products were produced in a sustainable way. This brings me to the next suggestion:

Organizations are obligated to document their production processes to demonstrate how all waste is processed.
The documentation must match the actual processes that are carried out.
The current documentation must be accessible for consultation by anyone.
Governmental organizations must assess the process descriptions for sustainability and correct treatment of waste flows.

Analyzing environmental effects requires following the course of substances through the production processes. To analyze the environmental consequences of a step, you have to identify all hazardous substances that are either inputs or outputs of the step. It's important to consider substances that are created in the step but get out of sight. Here I think of exhaust gases from cars and airplanes. You can als o think of agricultural toxins. These do pose a great risk to the environment. It is very important to consider what hazardous ingredients can be replaced by non-hazardous substances. The capitalistic economic structure we have now has caused us to engage in wasteful activities, such as artificial aging, overconsumption, products that cannot be fixed, throwing away useful items, and huge piles of junk. We have hardly an idea of what we produce, what the input was for the production process, what we use and where the waste goes. We lack a comprehensive understanding of what we produce, what we consume, and where our waste is disposed of.