?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Sustainability+and+Uncertainty%3A+Bottom-Up+and+Top-Down+Approaches&rft.creator=Jensen%2C+Karsten+Klint&rft.subject=Consumer+issues&rft.description=The+widely+used+concept+of+sustainability+is+seldom+precisely+defined%2C+and+its+clarification+involves+making+up+one%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s+mind+about+a+range+of+difficult+questions.+One+line+of+research+(Bottom-Up)+takes+sustaining+a+system+over+time+as+its+starting+point+and+then+infers+prescriptions+from+this+requirement.+Another+line+(Top-Down)+takes+as+its+starting+point+an+economical+interpretation+of+the+Brundtland+Commission%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s+suggestion+that+the+present+generation%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s+need-satisfaction+should+not+compromise+the+need-satisfaction+of+future+generations.+It+then+measures+sustainability+at+the+level+of+society+and+infers+prescriptions+from+this+requirement.%0D%0A%0D%0AThese+two+approaches+may+conflict%2C+and+in+this+conflict+the+Top-Down+Approach+has+the+upper+hand%2C+ethically+speaking.+However%2C+the+implicit+goal+in+the+Top-Down+Approach+of+justice+between+generations+needs+to+be+refined+in+several+dimensions.+But+even+given+a+clarified+ethical+goal%2C+disagreements+can+arise.+At+present+we+do+not+know+what+substitutions+will+be+possible+in+the+future.+This+uncertainty+clearly+affects+the+prescriptions+that+follow+from+the+measure+of+sustainability.+Consequently%2C+decisions+about+how+to+make+future+agriculture+sustainable+are+decisions+under+uncertainty.+There+might+be+different+judgments+on+likelihoods%3B+but+even+given+some+set+of+probabilities%2C+there+might+be+disagreement+on+the+right+level+of+precaution+in+face+of+the+uncertainty.%0D%0A%0D%0A&rft.date=2007-09&rft.type=Journal+paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=source&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Forgprints.org%2F11343%2F1%2F11343.doc&rft.identifier=Jensen%2C+Karsten+Klint+(2007)+Sustainability+and+Uncertainty%3A+Bottom-Up+and+Top-Down+Approaches.+Italian+Journal+of+Animal+Science%2C+6+(Supplement+1)%2C+pp.+853-855.+*&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Forgprints.org%2F11343%2F