Course Description: Sustainability, Development And Environmental Challenges

2011 Course Syllabus

Professor Melinda Kimble and Professor Stephanie Kinney

Global Sustainability and Public Policy A Primer

With world population reaching 7 billion this year -- and two thirds of these people in developing countries -- economic development is an urgent priority. Science, however, tells us we are approaching real limits on natural resources: arable land, freshwater, marine resources and clean air. How we manage the future of the “global commons” demands international cooperation on an unprecedented scale, as no state can address these sustainability challenges -- and sustain prosperity -- alone. This course offers an examination of the state of major ecosystems -- forests and species habitats; wetlands, oceans and rivers, and the atmosphere – and relevant legal frameworks and governance systems. We will examine key global issues in light of policy actions - existing and proposed – focused on conservation and mitigation strategies, biodiversity and species management, agriculture and food security, energy security and climate change. We will look at the UN’s role as the key institution(s) in supporting these processes.

Course requirements:

- Class Participation: (full attendance is required – if you miss one class, a makeup assignment will be due). You should come to class with required readings completed and a recent news article on a topic germaine to the issues the class is studying that day. We will discuss these articles in the last half hour of class. (20%) - In-class quizzes (10%) - One team exercise – assignments will be determined in week three (15%) - A one-page paper analyzing a relevant international treaty due Sept. 20 (15%) - Personal carbon footprint (10%) exercise due Nov. 8 - Two 5-10 page papers using research and the policy thinking tool to present and analyze a policy issue recommendation relevant to the class (topics will be provided after completion of the Overview Classes). The first paper is due Oct. 25 and the second due Dec.6 (15% each)

In addition to the weekly seminar sessions and discussion, we are planning to have an informal dinner with two to three people who will discuss sustainable development and environmental careers. We are tentatively planning this for November 15. (This event is coordinated with other classes meeting on the same day.)

COURSE TEXTS:

Note: The UN documents/weblinks and the books listed below serve as basic texts for the entire course. The UN documents are on the web and weblinks are also on the blackboard. We have copies of the Dumanoski book available for $10 and will provide selected readings from the other two texts. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human-Well Being, Synthesis, UN Environment Program and World Resources Institute, 2005 GEO 4: Global Environmental Outlook: Environment for Development, UN Environment Program (Summary for Journalists – a background document for more detailed information on global environmental trends), 2007 The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski, Crown, 2009 Green Planet Blues, 4th Ed., Ken Conca and Geoff D. Dabelko, Westview, 2010. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, Daniel C. Esty and Andrew Chapter 10, “Why Environmental Initiatives Fail,” Winston, Wiley, 2009. List of Selected Environmental Treaties, prepared from U.S. Department of State UN Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements, http://informea.org/treaties Sustainability Glossary

OTHER RELEVANT BOOKS OF INTEREST Plows, Plagues and Petroleum, William F. Ruddiman, Princeton University Press, 1st Princeton Science Library Edition (paperback) with “Afterward,” 2010 Lights Out--Ten Myths About (and real solutions to) America’s Energy Crisis, Spencer Abraham with William Tucker, St. Martin’s Press, 2010 Pandora’s Seed--The Unforeseen Cost of Civilization, Spencer Wells, Random House, 2010

I. Introduction and Overview: (Sept. 6 - 20)

This segment covers the first three class sessions, which will focus on personal introductions, course structure, assignments and expectations, and the following:  Vocabulary of sustainability  The crucial nexus of economics, energy, and environment  Role of the United Nations and its key agencies  Introduction to the international legal framework (treaties)  Origins of U.S. environmental policy, and other policy approaches  Concept of ecosystems that now shapes thinking on environmental issues,  Role of human population growth in changing ecosystems

Required Readings (class dates noted): Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human-Well Being, Synthesis, UN Environment Program and World Resources Institute, 2005, “Summary for Decision- Makers” (All classes) The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski, Chap.2, “The Planetary Era” (Sept. 6) Green Planet Blues, 4th Ed. Ken Conca and Geoffery D. Dabelko, Westview, 2010, “Introduction to Global Environmental Politics” and Chap. 2 (Paper by Joao Augusto de Araujo Castro) (Sept. 13) and Chap. 10, “Governance with Multilateral Environmental Agreements: A Healthy or Ill-Equipped Fragmentation”, Norichicka Kanie, and Chap. 11, “Moving Forward by Looking Back: Learning from UNEP’s History”, Maria Ivanova, (Sept. 13 and future classes)

“Complexity and Collapse: Empires on the Edge of Chaos” Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, March-April 2010 (Sept. 6)

“ The Death of Environmentalism,” Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, The Breakthrough Institute, 2004 (Sept. 13) “ The New Population Bomb: Four Megatrends That Will Shape the Future,” Jack Goldstone, Foreign Affairs, Jan.-Feb 2010 (Sept. 20) “Population at 7 Billion and How Your World Will Change,” National Geographic, Jan. 2011 (Sept. 20) “Has China Outgrown the One-Child Policy,” Science, Sept 17 2010, pp 1458-1461, (Sept. 20) “ Geopolitics of Energy: Security and Survival,” Carlos Pascual, Brookings, 2008, www.brookings.edu (Sept. 20) Special Guest, Professor Leonard Coburn, Maxwell School Energy Seminar

Also of interest: “ Metropolis Now,” Foreign Policy, September/October 2010, pp. 122-135 (great graphics and provocative insights in article by Parag Khanna, “Beyond City Limits--the age of nations is over. The new urban frontier has begun.” (Good for Sept. 20 and Oct. 11 classes)

II. Terrestrial Ecosystems: Will Ecology trump Economics? (Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and 11)

The next three classes will look at the growing importance of understanding ecosystems and their health. We will look at terrestrial ecosystems in the context of the key human activities that have most reshaped the natural system, with a special focus on agriculture and urbanization. Without cheap fossil energy, coal and oil, the last two centuries of development would have faced serious constraints. Cheap energy use has shaped our ability to expand production of food, feed and fiber, as well as industrial products, and it is the fundamental element in the consumer-led growth of the last century. This growth has not come without costs, however, and it is these “externalities” that we will explore.

Forests are increasingly recognized as an essential part of terrestrial ecology, and they remain under extreme pressure due to expanding human population. In the U.S. there is now more forested woodland than in the 19th century, but the reverse is true in countries like Indonesia and Brazil. Particularly vulnerable today are rainforests everywhere, which play a crucial role in sustaining and regulating the global water cycle, a fact giving urgency to the conservation and reforestation efforts we will examine. The role of forests in preventing and mitigating climate change has led the UN to launch an effort known as “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Land Degradation” or REDD. Climate negotiations are still considering expanding this work to agriculture, as deforestation and agriculture combined account for almost 30% of global emissions. In this context we examine key policy approaches and options. The evolution of agriculture transformed human society from hunter-gathers to settled communities identified with particular geographies (Egypt, Sumer, Persia, Greece, Rome). The ability to produce surplus food, store it, and organize farm labor in fallow seasons for other communal projects changed people and landscapes. The emergence of domesticated crops and animals was facilitated by the human communities that depended on them. Agriculture has continued to evolve to a modern industrial sector in most developed countries, which now offers many lessons--positive and negative--for other countries to consider. We will examine how agriculture’s impact has changed environments, what agricultural practices are sustainable, and how better agriculture practices might also limit agriculture’s impacts on limited land resources.

Productive agriculture systems with large surpluses were essential to the creation of cities and their much more complex societies and cultures. With these came ever-evolving governance systems. With the industrial state, cities became centers of commerce, knowledge and innovation. We will look at 20th and 21st century cities and explore why they have survived and what future trends will be for urban areas.

Required Readings and basic data (class dates noted):

Vital Forest Graphics, UN Environment Program, www.unep.org (Sept. 27) State of the World’s Forests 2009, (Summary), UN Food and Agriculture Organization, www.fao.org -- Also posted on the Blackboard (Sept. 27) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, Synthesis, UN Environment Program and World Resources Institute, “Summary for Decision- Makers” and “Desertification Synthesis” (2 separate files at www.unep.org ) The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski, Chap. 4 “The Return of Nature,” Crown, 2009 (Sept. 27) Plows, Plagues and Petroleum, William F. Ruddiman, Chap. 7 “Early Agriculture and Civilization,” Princeton University Press 2010 (Oct. 4) “ Agriculture as Energy? The Wisdom of Biofuels,” John Oake Ferris, Harvard International Review, Sept. 2009 (Oct. 4) “ The Right to Food -Fighting for Adequate Food in a Global Crisis”, Olivier De Schutter, Harvard International Review, Sept. 2009 (Oct. 4) Green Planet Blues,4th Ed. Ken Conca and Geoffery D. Dabelko, Chap. 3, “The Tragedy of the Commons”, Garret Hardin (Sept. 27) Chap. 7, “The Fight for Forests”, Chico Mendes with Tony Gross, Westview, 2010 (Oct. 11) “ The Mega-Eights: Urban Leviathans and International Instability” P.H. Liotta and James F. Miskel (excerpted from The Leviathan Returns: The Rise of the Megacity and Its Threat to Global Security) (Oct. 11) Special Guest (to be announced) on international forest issues Special Activity: Legoland Impact Scenario for Winter Haven, Fla. and Role Play (Oct. 11)

Optional Readings: Food Security, Farming, and Climate Change to 2050, International Food Policy Institute, 2010 (www.ifpri.org) (Oct. 4) “ Megapolis--the city of the 21st century,” World Policy Journal, Winter 2010/2011, especially “The New Urbanism” pp. 3-7, “Energetic Cities--energy, environment and strategic thinking” pp. 11-13, and “Urbanity, Revised--to imagine the future we must rethink the meaning of city” pp. 17-22 and “The Architect and the City--a conversation with Didi Pei” pp. 33-40 (Oct. 11)

III. Marine and Wetland Ecosystems: The Global Water Cycle: Rivers, Coastal Zones and Oceans (Oct. 18, 25 and Nov. 1)

All the freshwater that ever existed is already on earth – we have a finite supply that recycles itself through the atmosphere, plant photosynthesis, and the ebb and flow of rivers and ocean currents. Human dependence on freshwater has shaped civilization; when water availability is reduced, societies collapse.

In this section of the course, we will look at the global water cycle and the role of oceans, marine life, wetlands and the crucial health of fresh water river systems and their interaction with weather and precipitation. Recalling that in the U.S., river pollution was far more important than ocean issues as a trigger to clean up industrial pollution, we will focus on the impact of human activity and commerce on water quality, marine health and fish species preservation and their interaction with climate change. Referencing a number of legal regimes and international regulatory and institutional frameworks, we will assess the challenges and urgency of restoring chemical and biological balance in the oceans and consider the adequacy of U.S. policy in this regard.

Oceans are the largest network of ecosystems on earth – and they are the habitat for a vast array of known and unknown species. In the third part of this segment we will focus on coral reefs as one example of a unique, living structure that supports diversity of ocean life in many coastal areas. We will consider the impact of warming temperatures and chemical contaminants on reefs--the oceans’ rain forests-- and the crucial role of reefs to many marine species and human communities that harvest coral-dependent fish. Protecting this critical marine resource and assessing policy options requires understanding threats to its survival and the implications of its destructions.

Required Readings:

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, Synthesis, UN Environment Program, “Summary for Decision-Makers, Synthesis on Wetland and Water; Synthesis on Marine and Coastal Ecosystems”, 2005 (Oct. 18) “Charting Our Water Future”, International Finance Corporation and McKinsey Global Institute, 2009 www.ifc.org (Oct. 18) “Reefs at Risk-the world’s most fragile marine ecosystems are in decline” by Jonathan Shaw, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2011, pp. 33-35 (Nov. 1) The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski, “A Stormworthy Linage”Chap. 5 and “Playing Prospero: The Temptations of Technofix” Chap. 6, Crown, 2009 (Oct. 25 and Nov. 8) Green Planet Blues, 4th Ed. Ken Conca and Geoffery D. Dabelko, Chap.6, “Environment and Globalization: Five Propositions,” Adil Najam, David Runnals, and Mark Halle, Westview, 2010 (Oct. 25) Special Guest: David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Department of State

IV. The Atmospheric Ecosystem: Climate Change (Nov. 8, 15 and 29)

Addressing climate change requires environmental action at an unprecedented level because it impacts on every natural process – the global water cycle, maintenance of existing habitat and ground cover, disease prevalence, insect and bacteria growth, etc. It is also a direct consequence of how the global economy works – a growing demand for economic growth and our increasing dependence on the burning of fossil fuels to support modern life are the proximate causes. Although scientists have been sounding the warnings since the mid-20th century, public policy action has been slow. In an effort to understand the challenge and the policy complexities we face, we will calculate our personal carbon footprint – and the teams will establish representative footprints. Over two classes we will consider the science, the domestic and international politics and feasibility of the policy options. We will also examine the equity arguments, the national security arguments and the evolving negotiating process and probabilities.

REQUIRED READINGS:

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, Synthesis, UN Environment Program, “Summary for Decision-Makers,” 2005 (Nov. 8) Ozone Diplomacy, Richard Benedict, selected chapters, Harvard University Press, on Blackboard (Nov. 8) “The End of Magical Climate Thinking”, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, http://www.thebreakthrough.org/ or Foreign Policy, Jan. 13, 2010 (Nov. 8) Ploughs, Plagues and Petroleum, William F. Ruddiman, “Taking Control of Methane” Chap.8, 2010 (Nov. 8) The End of the Long Summer, Diane Dumanoski, “On Vulnerability and Survivability”Chap.7, Crown, 2008 (Nov. 15) “History of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol,” International Institute for Sustainable Development, (iisd.org), Earth Negotiations Bulletin issued Dec. 19, 2009, includes Copenhagen Accord, posted on the Blackboard (Nov. 29) UNFCCC text of Copenhagen Accord: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/cop15/eng/11a01.pdf (Nov. 29) “ Summary of the 4th Assessment,” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (www.ipcc.org ) Nov. 2007 (Nov. 29)

Optional Readings: (useful for wrap-up sessions) The Geo-engineerging Option, Victor, David, et al., Foreign Affairs, Mar/Apr 2009 “ The Big Green Lie Exposed” Walter Russell Mead, July 2010, The American Interest Online www.americaninterestonline.com “Time to Electrify” by Michael B. McElroy, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2011, pp. 36-39 (Probably available online)

V. WRAP-UP SESSIONS (Dec. 6 and 13) Required Readings: The End of the Long Summer, Chap. 8, “End of the Planetary Era”, and Chap. 9, “Honest Hope”, Crown, 2009 (Dec. 6 and 15) “ Governance and Environmental Change in the Arctic Ocean”, Pal Arthur Berkman and Oran R. Young, Science, Vol.324, April 2009 “A Changing Artic Ecosystem Raises Concerns about Sustainability” by Brian Vastag, The Washington Post, The Environment Section, Monday, March 7, 2011 (Dec. 6) “Reading Earth’s Future in Glacial Ice” by Justin Gillis, New York Times, November 11, 2010 (Dec. 6) “The Arctic Meltdown”, Scott A. Borgerson., Foreign Affairs, Mar/Apr 2008, (Dec. 6)