10 Questions
What is required to achieve absolute decoupling with the current trends of growing population and GDP?
20x improvement in environmental efficiency
What is the consequence of the rebound effect?
Reduced costs, encouraging more consumption
Why might improving technology not be enough to solve environmental problems?
Because of the rebound effect
What is an example of the rebound effect?
Driving a car that consumes less gasoline
What is the Jevons-paradox?
When efficient technologies lead to increased consumption
Why might technology not be enough to achieve sustainability?
Because it does not address consumption
What is the main issue with relying solely on technology for sustainability?
It does not address consumption patterns
What is the difference between 'efficiency' and 'sufficiency'?
Efficiency is about improving technology, sufficiency is about changing lifestyle
What is the consequence of the rebound effect at the economy level?
Savings from improved efficiency are spent on something else
Why might the rebound effect vary in size for different products?
Because of differences in consumer behavior
Study Notes
IPAT Equation
- I (Global Environmental Impact) = P (Population) * A (Affluence: GDP/population) * T (Technology: Environmental Impact/GDP)
Population Growth
- UN estimates: 9.7 billion people by 2050
- Fertility rates: 3.2 in 1990, 2.3 in 2023 (near global average replacement rate)
Affluence
- Average consumption of each person in the equation
- Proxy: GDP per capita, increasing by ~2% per year
- Increased consumption significantly increases direct and indirect human environmental impacts
Technology
- Environmental efficiency
- Measures the environmental impact involved in producing 1 unit of GDP
- Technology improvement reduces environmental impact (e.g., CO2 emissions/1000 USD)
Sustainability Challenges
- Dr. Anna Széchy, Institute for Sustainable Development
- Course contents:
- Basic insight into sustainability issues (environmental focus)
- 3 perspectives: policymakers, companies, individuals
- Topics: sustainability concepts, environmental policy, key environmental issues, corporate sustainability, sustainable consumption and lifestyles
Outline of the Lecture
- Global environmental crisis: symptoms, causes
- History of environmental protection
- Sustainable development: different interpretations and approaches
- Sustainability and economic growth
Current Environmental Problems
- Climate change
- Air pollution
- Biodiversity loss
- (Plastic) waste
Drivers and Points of Intervention
- Population growth: increasing need for land and resources, pollution
- Industrial revolution and fossil fuel use
- Globalization: negative effects on the environment, some positive effects
History of Environmental Protection
- XIX century: nature protection (1st national parks, nature reserves)
- Modern environmental movement: 1960-70s
- Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" (1962)
- Founding of environmental NGOs, institutional framework (1970s)
- 1st UN conference on the Environment: Stockholm, 1972
- 1980s: concept of sustainable development
Sustainable Development
- Brundtland Report (1987): "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
- Operationalizing sustainable development:
- Welfare (utility) should not decline over time
- Capital should not decline over time
- Types of capital: man-made, human, natural
Weak and Strong Sustainability
- Weak sustainability: total capital (KM+KN+KH) should not decline, with substitution between different types of capital allowed
- Strong sustainability: total capital (KM+KN+KH) should not decline, with natural capital (KN) not declining
Criteria for Strong Sustainability (Herman Daly)
- Sustainable development = continuous increase in social welfare without growing beyond the carrying capacity
- Conditions:
- Renewable resources: rate of use must not exceed rate of renewal
- Exhaustable resources: reasonable use depending on substitution possibilities and technological development
- Waste materials: emissions must not exceed the capacity of the environment to assimilate them
Explore the IPAT equation, which calculates human impact on the environment, and learn about population growth projections and fertility rates.
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