Transcript
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Study Guide for Environment: The Science Behind the Stories. These notes are for classroom use only.
Chapter 20 Sustainable Development.
Many people, aware of the impact humans have had on the environment, feel that the term "sustainable development" is an oxymoron. The question, "Can we develop in a sustainable way?" may be the most important question in the world today. Humans depend on an intact and functional environment, which becomes clear once one realizes that humans are part of the environment, not apart from it. Unfortunately, many people feel that environmental regulations infringe on their liberties, and protecting the environment hurts the economy by costing jobs. However, environ- mental protection does not necessarily lead to job loss, and it can enhance economic opportunities. Quality of life can be increased, without increasing the impact on the environment, by redefining progress and adopting sustainable practices. Sustainable development seeks progress in the human condition through means other than nonstop growth and consumption. Principles of sustainable development and sustainability can provide solutions to environmental problems. Broad principles of sustain ability include changing priorities, mimicking nature, employing long-term thinking, and promoting local self-sufficiency. Voting with our pocketbooks and ballots, and promoting research and education can also help reach sustain ability. However, because our impacts are increasing, the window of opportunity to solve environmental problems is getting short, and we must be realistic about the challenges that lie ahead. Decreasing the natural capital through extraction and degradation provides less maneuvering space to come up with solutions. The key question for the human species is whether we can make it safely through this bottleneck. Only by recognizing problems, and deciding to change our behavior and cultural institutions, can sustainability be achieved.
The World Summit in Johannesburg
In 2002, thousands of representatives from hundreds of countries, delegates from nongovernmental organizations. world leaders, and journalists met in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
South Africa well represents the need for sustainable development; it contains enormous poverty and wealth, urban metropolis and hunter-gatherers treasures of natural resources, and the AIDS crisis.
The Johannesburg meeting was the third international conference on human interactions with the environment. The first was in Stockholm, Sweden: in 1972, where nations broadly agreed (for the first time) that dramatic
steps needed to be taken to respond to the increasing environmental degradation..
In 1992, the UN Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rid de Janeiro, Brazil, where representatives from many countries solidified the notion that environmental protection should go hand in hand with economic development.
Nations agreed on a program called Agenda 21, which outlined how nations could improve people's lives and environmental conditions; unfortunately, few of these goals have been achieved.
At the Johannesburg meeting, participants reaffirmed their commitment to Agenda 21, forged new alliances, and committed millions of dollars toward new projects between governments and the private sector.
Some critics felt the meeting did not focus enough on action or sustainability, and that these goals must be met sooner rather than later.
Sustainable Development
The United Nations Bruntland Commission defines sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Many types of development, though they have improved the human condition, have severely degraded the environment.
Although sustainable development as a concept has broad appeal, it means many things to many people.
Most people believe that sustainable development is an oxymoron: How can humans continue to develop within the limits defined by the environment?
The question, "Can we develop in a sustainable way? may be the most important question in the world today.
Although some people have become more hopeful, they realize that thoughtful and purposeful action must be quickly taken.
What precisely do we want to sustain?
When defining "sustainability:' environmental scientists mean keeping humans, and the natural environment, its species, and its systems in a healthy state.
Human civilization depends on an intact and functional environment, and this dependence on the world becomes clear once one realizes that humans are part of the environment, not apart from it.
Humans are not separate from the environment
Some scientists think that the perceived dichotomy between humans and the environment (i.e., "people versus nature") is the root of all our environmental problems.
In today's world, many people feel completely disconnected from the environment; they have no idea where their food, clothing, and water come from.
To preserve a quality of life for humans, the environment that makes this I quality possible must be preserved, and humans must value the environment and feel connected to it.
Win-win situations are possible
The only way the human species can survive is to act in ways that sustain the processes and resources of the environment.
Humans can thrive in a healthy environment if they learn from science, think creatively, and are willing to act responsibly.
If humans do not take care of the environment, people can become extinct, but the environment can bounce back.
What accounts for the perceived economy-versus-environment divide?
The misconception that we cannot provide for humans while protecting the environment may come from our historical relationship with the environment, in which survival meant manipulating the environment and taking from the environment as much as one could.
With low human population and limited consumption, natural resources were abundant and humans felt little reason to adopt a conservation ethic.
During the 1960s and 1970s, citizens became outraged at the negative human impact on the environment, and politicians responded by passing environmental regulations.
However, people today feel that these regulations infringe on their liberties, and corporations and landowners complain about restrictions.
A common misconception is that protecting the environment hurts the economy by costing people jobs, but such arguments overlook many factors.
Environmental protection measures can enhance economic opportunity
The ‘jobs’ versus ‘environment’ debate overlooks the fact that, as some jobs are lost, others replace them.
People also want to live in an area that is unpolluted, and that has intact forests and parks; environmental protection increases an area's attractiveness. Environmental protection can actually lead to economic opportunities that greatly exceed the economic costs.
Growth Versus Progress
The trade-offs between environmental protection and economic development can be assessed by correlating economic expansion with measures taken to protect the environment.
Most economists see ecol1omic growth as a nation's goal; politicians see their major duty as nurturing that growth, resulting in increased consumption of goods and materials.
Consumption in the United States is so high that only 5% of the world's people consume 30% of the energy resources and 40% of the total resources.
Can consumption continue growing?
Because most resources are limited, consumption cannot continue growing forever.
Although critics scoff at the notion of limited resources, history shows that our present consumptive lifestyles are a brand-new phenomenon and may not last much longer.
Consuming less can be more satisfying
Consumption is not the only measure of a person's quality of life; people with more material wealth are not necessarily happier.
Material goods often fail to bring happiness to those able to afford them, a condition called ‘affluenza’.
Many people do not equate economic growth with progress, and use a different ethical standard to judge; progress, which consists of increased human happiness.
Quality of life; can be increased without increasing consumption by (1) improving technology to increase efficiency, (2) developing sustainable manufacturing systems that use fewer resources, and (3) modifying behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyles to minimize consumption.
Quality of life can be increase by redefining prosperity and progress and "adopting sustainable practices m our industry, government, and lives.
Population cannot keep growing
Although populations can grow for a time, eventually they reach limiting factors and level off at a carrying capacity.
It is not a question of whether human population will stop growing, it is merely a question of how: through war, plagues, and famine, or through voluntary means resulting from wealth and education.
If developed nations are willing to help developing nations undergo the demographic transition, humanity may stop population growth while creating prosperous and equitable societies.
Technology can help us toward sustainability
Technological advances in agriculture, industry, and medicine caused the human population to grow and increased our impacts on the environment. Industrial technologies have been exported to developing nations, increasing the human impact in these areas also.
Technology such as catalytic converters and renewable energy sources can also decrease our impact on the environment.
Scientific research to produce new technologies often depends on government funding.
Although citizens can pressure the government to invest in certain research, other powerful interests can pressure the government to fund inferior and unsustainable technologies.
Growth does not equal progress
Economic growth, as conventionally measured, cannot continue indefinitely, because it leads to degraded environments and depleted resources. Sustainable development seeks progress in the human condition through means other than nonstop growth.
Sustainable Solutions
There are as many sustainable solutions to environmental problems as there are problems; the challenges lie in thinking of the solutions and then being tenacious enough to overcome political or economic obstacles.
Principles of sustainable development and sustainability can provide solutions to problems in general, whether they are existing or future problems.
We can redefine our priorities regarding economic growth and quality of life
Ecological economists view human economies as entities that function within natural ecosystems, instead of outside of them.
The external costs of damage to the environment or human health must. be incorporated into the market price of goods and services.
People must understand that natural resources, or natural capital, are not free, and that use of resources involves costs to society.
If the full costs and benefits of any action or product are determined, then the free market can become a force for protecting the environment, the economy, and quality of life.
Unfortunately, environmentally destructive taxes and subsidies remain extremely widespread, and citizens are not taxed for overuse and waste of resources.
Implementing green taxes and phasing out harmful subsidies could hasten the shift to sustainability.
We can mimic natural systems and make human industrial systems circular and recycling oriented
Natural systems are sustainable and tend to operate in cycles (e.g., the hydrologic cycle) that are made up of feedback loops and circular flow of materials.
Industrial processes could be made sustainable if they are changed from their current, linear models (materials as input, waste as output) to circular ones, where waste is recycled and reused as raw materials.
Given the right technology, virtually all materials could be recycled, and involve closed loops, with no waste generated.
For example, one system used by breweries uses the waste products from beer brewing to make bread, grow mushrooms, feed pigs and fish, and form natural gas.
We can base our decisions on long-term thinking
Policymakers often act for short-term good, because such actions produce immediate, positive results that get them re-elected.
The short-term approach is a hurdle to sustain ability because environmental problems are cumulative, worsen gradually, and can be solved only over many years.
Regulations protecting the environment often involve short-term costs, whereas the benefits are evident only over the long term, giving politicians little incentive to support the regulations.
According to one UN Environment Programme's analysis, the only scenario that was predicted to result in the least negative impacts and the greatest positive impacts was the "sustainability first" model, which assumes that a new sustainable paradigm will be implemented.
We can promote local self-sufficiency and be aware of the effects of globalization
When people are tied to .the area where they live, they value that area more and try to protect it.
For example, restaurants can use locally grown, organic produce on their menus.
Focusing economic activity locally is contrasted by the phenomenon of globalization, which has two distinct meanings, depending on one's viewpoint. .
The positive viewpoint of globalization defines it as internationalization, the process whereby people increasingly communicate with each other and appreciate their diversity.
The negative viewpoint of globalization is defined by economist Herman Daly as “a process that results in homogenization of the world's cultures, languages, and traditional ways of life, so that diversity is lost”.
If globalization results in increasing the power of multinational corporations, which encourages a high-consumption lifestyle, there is less likelihood of protecting the environment.
We can vote with our wallets
In a capitalist, free-market system, consumers can wield a great deal of power through their choices of what to buy.
Manufacturers using sustainable methods can inform consumers of this through green labeling, so the consumer can choose to buy sustainably produced items.
We can vote with our ballots
Many changes for sustain ability involve political decisions.
Corporations and interest groups use lobbyists to influence politicians; citizens can influence politicians through their own interest groups and in the voting booth.
Today's major environmental laws resulted from citizens pressuring their governmental representatives to do something about environmental problems.
We can promote research and education
Sustainability will not be achieved without the active support of an informed public.
Individuals can inform and educate others about the need for sustainability, scientific research, and the results of environmental degradation.
Precious Time
The commotion in our daily lives can make it hard to pay attention to environmental problems we don't deal with daily, and that can seem over-whelming.
However, the impacts on natural systems are occurring quickly, and are becoming more severe, so that the opportunity to mitigate them is decreasing.
We need to reach again for the moon
On May 26, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy stated that within a decade man would land on the moon, the technology to achieve this feat did not yet exist.
The prospect of losing the "space race" to the Soviet Union during the Cold War provided a powerful incentive to set a national goal, follow through with funding, perform the science, and reach the goal.
Attaining sustainability is a larger problem than traveling to the moon, but if government, industry, and citizens cooperate, it can be achieved. Achieving sustainability is just a matter of using human ingenuity and rallying public resolve and involving governments, institutions, and entrepreneurs.
We must pass through the environmental bottleneck
Although human ingenuity can help us achieve sustainability, we must be realistic about the challenges that lie ahead.
Decreasing the natural capital through extraction and degradation provides less maneuvering space in which to come up with solutions.
The key question for the human species is whether we can make it safely through this bottleneck.
We must think of Earth as an island
Although an island can be paradise, it can also be destroyed if its resources are degraded and depleted.
As the environment becomes degraded, many people will call for action to protect it, while others will ignore those calls and continue destroying ecosystems.
Sustainability be achieved only by recognizing problems, and deciding to change our behavior and cultural institutions.
