Sustainability Lecture Handouts PDF

Sustainability https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis Textbook: LIVING IN THE ENVIR...

Sustainability https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis Textbook: LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT Tyler Miller, G. & Spoolman, S. E. Sustainable-lifestyle 16th Edition, 2017 Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. https://www.cbs.de/en/blog/sustainable-living-tips-for-a-more-sustainable-lifestyle/  Key Questions and Concepts* CONCEPT 1-1A Our lives and economies CONCEPT 1-1B Living depend on energy from sustainably means living What is an the sun ( solar capital ) off the earth’s natural environmentally and on natural resources income without depleting sustainable society? and natural services ( or degrading the natural natural capital ) provided capital that supplies it. by the earth. CONCEPT 1-2 Societies can become more environmentally 1-2 How can sustainable through 1-3 How are our environmentally economic development ecological footprints sustainable societies dedicated to improving affecting the earth? grow economically? the quality of life for everyone without degrading the earth’s life support systems. CONCEPT 1-3 As our CONCEPT 1-4 Preventing ecological footprints grow, 1-4 What is pollution, pollution is more effective we are depleting and and what can we do and less costly than degrading more of the about it? cleaning up pollution. earth’s natural capital.  CONCEPT 1-5A Major causes of environmental problems are population growth, wasteful and CONCEPT 1-5B People with different unsustainable resource use, poverty, environmental world views often 1-5 Why do we have environmental exclusion of environmental costs of disagree about the seriousness of problems? resource use from the market prices environmental problems and what of goods and services, and attempts we should do about them. to manage nature with insufficient knowledge. CONCEPT 1-6 Nature has sustained 1-6 What are four scientific itself for billions of years by using principles of sustainability? solar energy, biodiversity, population control, and nutrient cycling—lessons from nature that we can apply to our lifestyles and economies. What is Sustainability? Sustainability refers to the ability of an activity or process to be supplied and supported continuously over an indefinite period or at least a long time. It is the study of how natural systems function; remain diverse and produce everything it needs for the ecology to remain in balance. It is concerned with environmental health, economic vitality, and social benefits. Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Three Dimensions of Sustainability Although sustainability is linked to the environmental movement, the notion that it is only focused on the environment is a misconception. Sustainability is based on three dimensions: Environmental sustainability occurs when humanity’s rate of consumption does not exceed nature’s rate of replenishment and when humanity’s rate of generating pollution and emitting greenhouse gases does not exceed nature’s rate of restoration. Social sustainability is the ability of a society to uphold universal human rights and meet people's basic needs, such as healthcare, education, and transportation. Healthy communities ensure personal, labour and cultural rights are respected and all people are protected from discrimination. Economic sustainability is the ability of human communities around the world to maintain their independence and have access to the resources required to meet their needs, meaning that secure sources of livelihood are available to everyone.  1-1 What Is an Environmentally Sustainable Society? CONCEPT 1-1A Our lives and economies depend on energy from the sun ( solar capital ) and on natural resources and natural services ( natural capital ) provided by the earth. CONCEPT 1-1B Living sustainably means living off the earth’s natural income without depleting or degrading the natural capital that supplies it. Sustainability is the ability of the earth’s various natural systems and human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely. Environmental Science Is a Study of Connections in Nature The environment is everything around us. It includes all of the living and the nonliving things with which we interact. And it includes a complex web of relationships that connect us with one another and with the world we live in. Environmental science is an interdisciplinary study of connections between the earth’s life support system and human activities. Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are used to support life and meet people's needs. Any natural substance that humans use can be considered a natural resource. Oil, coal, natural gas, metals, stone and sand are natural resources. https://www.tarumahiman.in/2020/06/natural-resources-introduction-and.html Key natural resources (blue) and natural services (orange) that support and sustain the earth’s life and economies  Economic growth is an increase in a nation’s output of goods and services. It is usually measured by the percentage of change in a country’s gross domestic product (GDP): the annual market value of all goods and services produced by all firms and organizations, foreign and domestic, operating Is there a Wide Economic within a country. Changes in a country’s economic growth per person are measured by per Gap between Rich and capita GDP: the GDP divided by the total population at midyear. Poor Countries? About 97% of the projected increase in the world’s population between 2008 and 2050 is expected to take place in developing countries, which are least equipped to handle such large population increases Reading: Chapter 1, Page 10-11.  ▪ Some Resources Are Renewable ▪ We Can Overexploit Commonly Shared Renewable Resources: The Tragedy of the Commons ▪ Some Resources Are Not Renewable ▪ Our Ecological Footprints ▪ Are Growing ▪ Cultural Changes Have Increased ▪ Our Ecological Footprints Degradation of normally renewable natural resources and services in parts of the world, mostly as a result of rising population and resource use per Reading: Chapter 1, Page 12-16. person. ▪ Pollution Comes from a Number of Sources ▪ We Can Clean Up Pollution or Prevent It ▪ Experts Have Identified Five Basic Causes of Environmental Problems ▪ Poverty Has Harmful Environmental and Health Effects ▪ Affluence Has Harmful and Beneficial Environmental Effects ▪ Prices Do Not Include the Value of Natural Capital ▪ People Have Different Views about Environmental Problems and Their Solutions ▪ Learn to Make Informed Environmental Decisions ▪ Work Together to Solve Environmental Problems Figure 1-15 Steps involved in making an environmental decision.  Biodiversity (short for biological diversity): the astounding variety of different organisms, the genes they contain, the ecosystems in which they exist, and the natural services they provide have yielded countless ways for life to adapt to changing environmental conditions throughout the earth’s history. Population Control: competition for limited resources among different species places a limit on how much their populations can grow. Nutrient Cycling: natural processes recycle chemicals that plants and animals need to stay alive and reproduce (Figure 1-4). There is little or no waste in natural systems. Exponential Growth and Sustainability We face an array of serious environmental problems. Exponential growth is a double-edged sword. It can cause environmental harm. But we can also use it positively to amplify beneficial changes in our lifestyles and economies by applying the four scientific principles of sustainability. Through our individual and collective actions or inactions, we choose which side of that sword to use. We are rapidly altering the planet that is our only home. If we make the right choices during this century, we can create an extraordinary and sustainable future on our planetary home. If we get it wrong, we face irreversible ecological disruption that could set humanity back for centuries and wipe out as many as half of the world’s species. You have the good fortune to be a member of the 21st century transition generation, which will decide what path humanity takes. What a challenging and exciting time to be alive! Facts about the nature crisis https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis  What do we need to do to halt and reverse nature loss? We only have until the end of the decade to bend the curve on nature and biodiversity loss. Transformational change is possible if we start now at every level from local to global. Actions that should be taken include: The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal later this year must culminate in a clearly defined, ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework that is matched by finances and accountability mechanisms to achieve the framework’s targets. Read more about COP 15. https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis Investments in nature-based solutions will need to at least triple by 2030 if the world is to meet its climate change, biodiversity and land degradation targets. Explore UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature report and watch the video. Preventing the large-scale collapse of nature will require effective conservation of more of our land, inland waters and oceans, as well as the world delivering on its current commitment to restore at least one billion hectares of degraded land in the next decade. Learn about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Agriculture has altered the face of the planet more than any other human activity. We need to transform our food systems to become more sustainable and resilient in order to reverse environmental degradation, restore ecosystems and ensure food and nutritional security. Read about food system impacts on nature and biodiversity. Governments must assign a financial value on the services that nature provides to people so that environmental action can be prioritized in policy and investment decisions. Read the IPBES new report for how assigning values to nature can help address biodiversity loss. Tax structures and subsidies should be reformed to incentivize sustainable production and ensure that environmental degradation no longer pays. This joint FAO-UNDP-UNEP report calls for governments to rethink the way agriculture is subsidized and supported. Corporations should put sustainability at the heart of decision making and focus on new sustainable business models to meet society’s needs in ways less impactful on the environment. UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook for Business briefs provide roadmaps that business can follow to address our environmental challenges. All financial players should align their business strategies with global and national sustainability goals including the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and the upcoming Biodiversity Framework. Read more about how to catalyze action across the financial system.  Invasive Alien Species Report The Invasive Alien Species 1 million Invasive Alien Species Report It comes with more than 1 Humans have introduced more than Report, produced by experts from 49 1 million million plants, animals and other living 37,000 invasive species, many harmful, countries, says these intruders have things facing the threat of extinction. into biomes around the world, been a major factor in 60 per cent of The publication arrives as countries threatening a range of plants and all extinctions and that they cost the are working to speed up the animals, finds a new study from the global economy more than US$423 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework implementation of the Kunming- Intergovernmental Science-Policy billion annually. The report called Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Montreal Global Biodiversity Platform on Biodiversity and invasive alien species a threat to Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Framework, a landmark agreement to Ecosystem Services (IPBES). sustainable development and human halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. wellbeing. Here’s a closer look at invasive alien Invasive alien species are one of the species as well as the other top causes five major drivers of biodiversity loss identified by IPBES of nature loss identified by IPBES, an and the framework aims to “eliminate independent body that aims to help (or) reduce” their impact on the states sustainably manage environment. biodiversity. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/five-drivers-nature-crisis Climate change Invasive species Changes in land and sea use Pollution Direct exploitation of natural resources Pollution, including from chemicals and waste, is a major driver of biodiversity and ecosystem change with especially devastating direct effects on freshwater and marine habitats. Plant and insect populations are dwindling as a result of the persistent usage of highly dangerous, non-selective insecticides. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/five-drivers-nature-crisis  Some Guidelines Leave the earth as good or better than we found it. Take no more than we need. Working Try not to harm life, air, water, soil. Protect biodiversity. Toward Help maintain Earth's capacity for self repair. Don't use potentially renewable resources faster than Sustainability they are replenished. Don't waste resources. : A message Don't release pollutants faster than Earth's natural processes can dilute or degrade them. Slow the rate of population growth. Reduce poverty