When neo-Malthusians were drawing a

When neo-Malthusians were drawing attention to limits, the Club of Rome (an informal international group concerned about the predicament of humanity) reported on a systems dynamics computer world model (Meadows et al., 1972 – The Limits to Growth). This model tried to determine future scenarios, using global forecasts of accelerating industrialisation; population growth; rates of malnutrition; depletion of nonrenewable resources; and a deteriorating environment. The report was designed to promote public interest, and concluded that ‘If present growth trends . . . continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached within the next hundred years’ (by 2072). Meadows and her colleagues concluded that effective environmental management could sustain a condition of adequate ‘ecological and economic stability’.