Optimization for Sustainability of Integrated Ecological-Economic Model System of Planet

Abstract

In order to successfully understand and attempt to increase the sustainability of a system, the dynamic relationship between the many dimensions of sustainability need to be understood. Through the use of mathematical models, future scenarios can be studied which can be used to possibly develop policy guidelines. The model used in this article is an integrated ecological-economic model which incorporates a simplified ecological food web, a macro-economic framework, and a rudimentary legal system. By altering certain constraints within the model, the scenarios of a population explosion and an increase in per capita consumption can be evaluated. Dynamic optimization, specifically discretized non-linear programming, is then used to develop regulatory policies using Fisher Information as a measure of sustainability.