Sustainable Development PDF

Nested approach griggs Sustainability: 1. Weak: nature and human made capital can substitute each other 2. Strong: natural capital is irreplaceable, requires big societal change Brundtland Report: 3. Introduced the idea of sustainable development 4....

Nested approach griggs Sustainability: 1. Weak: nature and human made capital can substitute each other 2. Strong: natural capital is irreplaceable, requires big societal change Brundtland Report: 3. Introduced the idea of sustainable development 4. Connected environmental protection with economic growth 5. Global equity, rich and poor countries 6. Highlighted that the planet has limits 7. Intergenerational equity Approaches to SD: 8. Pollution Control: don’t pollute cuz bad for humanity 9. Weak Approach: use resources sustainably, cuz humanity 10. Strong Approach: we should set limits based on what the environment can handle 11. Ideal Approach: nature has inherent value, don’t interfere with it Conventional Development: 12. How much can we control our environment (domination) 13. Priority is economic growth 14. Looks at the individual level 15. Doesn’t see reduction in resources as a destabilising agent (wars) 16. Doesn’t take into account that recourses are often stolen from poor countries 17. Not possible for all countries to do this 18. Does not acknowledge planetary boundaries Sand County Almanac: 19. Land ethic, responsible relationship between humans and nature 20. Humans should be caretakers not conquerors 21. Looks at the individual level 22. Interdependence of ecosystems Silent Spring: 23. Dangers of widespread pesticide use, particularly DDT 24. E ects on wildlife, ecosystems, and human health 25. Book was widespread so very impactful 26. Unintended consequences of chemical pollutants on nature 27. Made people link environmental changes and hazards to their own health Gaia-Hypothesis: 28. Earth functions as a self-regulating, living organism, a self-sustaining system 29. Interconnectedness of Earth's systems 30. Looks at the individual level 31. Humans as part of the system Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: 32. Systematically documented the state of the world's ecosystems ff  33. Showed how ecosystem degradation a ects human well-being 34. Showed that human activities were unsustainably depleting ecosystem services Ecosystem Services: 35. Provisioning services (e.g., food, water, raw materials) 36. Regulating services (e.g., climate regulation, ood control) 37. Cultural services (e.g., recreation, aesthetic experiences) 38. Supporting services (e.g., primary production, nutrient cycling) underpins all others Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity: 39. Temperature rise that is expected to result from a doubling of the atmospheric CO 2 40. Prediction of the new global mean near-surface air temperature once the CO2 concentration has stopped increasing 41. Reaching an equilibrium temperature can take centuries or even millennia after CO2 has doubled 42. 2.5°C to 4°C Anthropocene: 43. Geological epoch meaning humans are the dominant forces shaping the planet, speci cally the geology and ecosystems Biogeochemical Cycles (reservoirs, uxes, residential time, sink, source): 44. The movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust 45. Reservoir is a place where an element is stored 46. Flux is movement of elements between reservoirs 47. Residence time is the average time an element stays in a reservoir before moving to another 48. Sink is reservoir that absorbs more of an element than it releases 49. Source is a process or reservoir that releases more of an element than it stores Photosynthesis and Role in the Carbon Cycle: 50. 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 51. The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water into glucose and oxygen 52. Removes CO₂ from the atmosphere 53. Carbon stored in plants becomes food for animals when they consume plants 54. Carbon in plants becomes part of long-term reservoirs 55. O sets carbon emissions by absorbing CO₂ Phosphorus Cycle: 56. Largest reservoir is rocks and sediment 57. Slow cycle 58. On land, in soils, plants and animals 59. In ocean, in water, plants and animals 60. Not gas ff fi fl ff fl  61. Fluxes are: weathering (from rock to soil), runo (to rivers and oceans), recycling (decomposition of plants and animals goes back into soil), sedimentation (settles on the ocean oor) 62. Humans altered this by mining for fertilisers and causing erosion, leading to eutrophication (algal blooms in water, which deplete oxygen and harm aquatic life) and soil degradation (reduce quality) Nitrogen Cycle: 63. Largest reservoir is the atmosphere 64. Fluxes are: xation (bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms), denitri cation: (bacteria convert nitrogen back to N₂ gas, releasing it into the atmosphere), decomposition (organic nitrogen in dead matter returns to the soil), anthropogenic ux (fertilisers and burning fossil fuels increase nitrogen in ecosystems) 65. Humans altered this by burning fossil fuels and using fertilisers, leading to water pollution and biodiversity loss Carbon Cycle: 66. Largest reservoir is rocks and sediment 67. Slow cycle 68. Very little is gas 69. Fluxes are: photosynthesis (plants take in CO₂ to create organic matter), respiration: (plants, animals, and microbes release CO₂ back into the atmosphere), decomposition (organic matter breaks down, releasing carbon), anthropogenic ux (fossil fuel burning and land-use change releases CO₂ into the atmosphere), ocean absorption (CO₂ dissolves in ocean water and circulates through deep and surface waters) 70. Humans altered this by burning fossil fuels and deforestation, leading to climate change and ocean acidi cation Radiative Forcing: 71. Change in energy balance of the atmosphere 72. Positive RF warms the Earth 73. Negative RF cools the Earth (Natural) Greenhouse E ect: 74. Gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth 75. Keeps the earth from freezing Climate Feedbacks: 76. Processes that either amplify (positive feedback) or dampen (negative feedback) the e ects of climate change 77. Positive: water vapor feedback (higher temp means more water vapour) 78. Negative: ice-albedo feedback (melting ice reduces Earth's re ectivity) IPCC: 79. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 80. Assesses scienti c research on climate change to provide comprehensive reports to policymakers fl ff fi fi fl fl fi ff fi ff fl  Observed Changes in Climate System: 81. Warming: Increase in temperatures 82. Sea level rise: driven by melting glaciers and ice sheets 83. Precipitation patterns: increased variability, droughts and storms 84. Melting Arctic ice and glaciers: reduction in arctic sea ice 85. Ocean acidi cation: absorption of excess CO₂ by oceans, lowering their pH Econ Terms: 86. Economic Optimum: marginal revenue = marginal cost, basically adding any more e ort would result in a loss in net bene ts 87. Open Access Equilibrium: total cost = total revenue, basically theres so many people that the net revenue is at 0 88. Social Optimum: Market equilibrium when accounting for externalities 89. Market equilibrium: demand = supply External Costs/Bene ts: 90. External costs (negative externalities) are costs to third parties during production or consumption (farmer has dead plants because of nearby steel factory) 91. External bene ts (positive externalities) are bene ts received by third parties a transaction (land preservation, vaccines) 92. Internalisation of externalities means incorporating external costs or bene ts into market prices, internalising negative externalities would mean including the cost of the negative e ect, while positive would be providing incentives to encourage it. 93. Market failure is when this is not internalised in market prices (cars make pollution but you don’t pay extra to o set the pollution) 94. To deal with externalities, you can use a Pigovian tax (directly targets cost of externality), Cap-and-Trade (Limited number of permits allocated to producers, each valid for a certain amount of pollution, companies can trade), Direct Regulation (government sets legal limits to the amount of pollution, done through environmental standards or quotas), Subsidies for clean tech (gives incentives from companies to switch to clean energy), Coase theorem (private negotiation) Coase Theorem: 95. Parties can negotiate without government intervention if property rights are well de nes Optimal Pollution: 96. The level of pollution where the marginal social bene t of production equals the marginal social cost, including the external costs of pollution 97. Acknowledges that achieving zero pollution would require ceasing all production 98. However if demand increases so does optimal pollution Tragedy of the Commons: 99. A dilemma where several people, independently and rationally acting in their own self interest will inevitably deplete shared limited resources even when its clearly not in anyones longterm interest for this to happen (over shing) 100. Common good is a common resource, something open to everyone (like the ocean or the atmosphere) fi ff fi fi fi ff ff fi fi fi fi fi  101. No-one owns but everyone can enjoy and use 102. Is subtractable (meaning each person is capable of subtracting from the welfare of others) 103. Explains unsustainable development 104. Can be seen as externalities shared by everyone 105. Solutions are privatisation (give the responsibility to someone), government regulation (laws against), community management (local communities manage it together) Feeny: 106. Argues that di erent management options for TOC are often not successful 107. Says that no private management, state management, or communal management consistently avoids resource degradation 108. Says it depends heavily on the characteristics of the resource itself such as excludability (how easily others can be prevented from using it) and subtractability (whether use by one person reduces availability to others), the socio-economic and institutional context, as well as the ability to enforce access restrictions and regulate usage e ectively Ostrom: 109. Believes that communities can often manage common resources e ectively on their own 110. She discusses self-governance, successful management principles (communities that succeed often have clear boundaries, fair rules, monitoring, and systems to handle con ict and violations), no one-size- ts-all (di erent situations require di erent management approaches), challenges with larger resources (global or large-scale resources (like oceans) is harder and needs cooperation at multiple levels) Hardin vs Ostrom: 111. Inevitability vs. Possibility of Collective Action: (Hardin thinks its impossible to mitigate TOC unless privatisation or government intervention/Ostrom thinks communities can self organise) 112. Solutions for Managing Resources: (Hardin proposes top down solutions/ Ostrom proposes bottom up solutions, community focus with exibility on governance approaches) 113. Human Behaviour Assumptions: (Hardin assumes people will act purely out of self interest/Ostrom thinks people can cooperate to create norms and establish trust) 114. Flexibility of Solutions: (Hardin thinks there are only two solutions—privatisation or government regulation/Ostrom thinks multiple governance structures can work depending on the resource and community) 115. Hardin saw the tragedy as unavoidable without external control, while Ostrom provided evidence that communities can successfully manage common resources through cooperation and locally tailored solutions Limits to Growth: 116. Malthus: population grows exponentially, while food supply grows linearly, eventually leading to scarcity, famine, and other natural checks ff ff fl ff fi fl ff ff  117. Boulding: ‘spaceman economy’ assumes limited resources. Need a change from linear, exploitative economic models to circular systems that sustain both the environment and society 118. Ehrlich: overpopulation's impact on resource consumption and environmental degradation. I = P × A × T where I is environmental impact, P is population, A is a uence, and T is technology. Expands on Malthus by addressing not just population growth but also the role of a uence (assumes the wealthier you are the more recourses you consume) and technology in environmental degradation 119. ‘Limits to growth’ report: used computer models to predict the consequences of continued population and economic growth. Introduced the concept of "overshoot," where humanity’s resource consumption surpasses the Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources. Population, industrial output, and pollution cannot continue inde nitely Daly’s Empty-World and Full-World Economics: 120. Empty-World Economics: time when the economy was relatively small compared to the Earth's ecosystems. Resources appeared abundant and the environmental impact of economic activity was minimal 121. Full-World Economics: global economy has grown so large that it now heavily impacts the environment. Economic activity strains the planet’s nite resources 122. Argues that we must shift to a "full-world" perspective, recognising ecological limits and focusing on sustainability rather than endless growth Ecological Economics: 123. Transdisciplinary eld that seeks to understand the relationship between ecological systems and economic systems 124. While conventional economics assumes in nite growth, ecological economics stresses that the economy is embedded within the environment and must operate within its ecological limits Daly’s Optimal Macroeconomic Scale and Uneconomic Growth 125. Optimal Macroeconomic Scale: The point where the economic system operates at a sustainable level within the Earth's nite ecosystem. Where the bene ts of growth (such as increased goods and services) are balanced by the environmental and social costs. 126. Uneconomic Growth: The stage beyond the optimal scale, where further economic expansion leads to more harm than good. The costs of growth—such as resource depletion, environmental degradation, and social costs like inequality—outweigh the bene ts 127. Once we surpass the optimal scale, continued economic growth leads to "bads" (negative impacts) faster than "goods," which makes us poorer rather than richer. Raworth’s Doughnut Economics: 128. A framework for sustainable development that balances human well-being with the planet’s ecological limits with two clear boundaries: ffl fi fi fi fi ffl fi fi fi  129. The Social Foundation (inner boundary): minimum standards of living required for human well-being, including access to food, water, health care, education, housing, and energy. Falling below this boundary results in social shortfalls like hunger, poverty, and inequality 130. The Ecological Ceiling (outer boundary): limits of Earth's life-supporting systems, such as climate stability, biodiversity, and clean air. Going beyond this boundary results in ecological overshoot, causing environmental degradation like climate change, ocean acidi cation, and biodiversity loss GPI vs GDP: 131. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced in a country, doesn’t subtract the costs of pollution, deforestation, or resource depletion, ignores well-being, inequality, or unpaid work, focuses only on economic growth, even if it harms the environment and social health 132. Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is an alternative that o ers a better picture of well-being, it adds helpful things like volunteer work, household labor, and access to education. And subtracts harmful things like pollution, crime, and income inequality. GPI re ects the need to preserve natural resources, unlike GDP, which rewards resource exploitation, it measures well-being by including happiness, health, and equality, showing quality of life, not just money made, By accounting for environmental damage, GPI pushes for sustainable policies, like clean energy and conservation, GPI adjusts for inequality, showing if economic gains bene t everyone, not just the rich fi fl fi ff