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Part One Living on Spaceship Earth
1 Part One Living on Spaceship Earth Energy for a Sustainable World: From the Oil Age to a Sun-Powered Future. Nicola Armaroli and Vincenzo Balzani © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN: 978-3-527-32540-5 3 1 The Energy Challenge “ Pay attention to the whispers, so you won ’ t have to listen to the screams. ” Cherokee Proverb 1.1 Our Spaceship Earth On Christmas Eve 1968, the astronauts of the Apollo 8 spacecraft, while in orbit around the Moon, had the astonishment to contemplate the Earthrise. William Anders, the crewmember who took what is considered one of the most infl uential photographs ever taken, commented: “ We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth ” [1] (Figure 1.1 ). The image taken by the Cassini Orbiter spacecraft on September 15, 2006, at a distance of 1.5 billion kilometers (930 million miles) shows the Earth as a pale blue dot in the cosmic dark (Figure 1.2 ). There is no evidence of being in a privi- leged position in the Universe, no sign of our imagined self - importance. There is no hint that we can receive help from somewhere, no suggestion about places to which our species could migrate. Like it or not, Earth is a spaceship. It ’ s the only home where we can live. Spaceship Earth moves at the speed of 29 km s − 1 , apparently without any destina- tion. It does not consume its own energy to travel, but it requires a huge amount of energy to make up for the needs of its 6.8 billion passengers who increase at a rate of 227 000 per day (the population of a medium - sized town), almost 83 million per year (the population of a large nation) [2] . -
Planetary Quotas and the Planetary Accounting Framework Comparing Human Activity to Global Environmental Limits
School of Design and Built Environment Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute Planetary Quotas and the Planetary Accounting Framework Comparing Human Activity to Global Environmental Limits Katherine Meyer This thesis is presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University November 2018 i DECLARATION To the best of my knowledge and belief this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. Signature: …………………………………………. Date: …21st November 2018…………... ii ABSTRACT Human activity is altering environmental processes to the extent that we are at risk of changing the state of the planet from one that is hospitable to humanity to one that is potentially hostile. The Planetary Boundaries are global environmental limits derived from Earth system Science that together define the “safe operating space”. Within the Planetary Boundaries, the risk of changing the state of the planet is low but already four of the Planetary Boundaries have been transgressed. There is an urgent need to manage human impacts on the global environment so that we can return to the safe operating space. Policy makers and scientists want to use the Planetary Boundaries to manage human impacts on the environment so that we can return to the safe operating space. However, the Planetary Boundaries were not designed to be scaled or compared to human activity. There is a need to translate the Planetary Boundaries into a framework that is accessible and actionable. -
Theoretical Approaches and Measurement Methods
2372-10 Joint ICTP-IAEA Workshop on Sustainable Energy Development: Pathways and Strategies after Rio+20 1 - 5 October 2012 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THEORETICAL APPROACHES AND MEASUREMENT METHODS Fabio Eboli Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Venice Italy LECTURE I SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THEORETICAL APPROACHES AND MEASUREMENT METHODS Fabio Eboli FEEM, CMCC ICTP Trieste, 2nd October 2012 OUTLINE Sustainable Development: Historical Background Definition and Main Issues Economy vs Environment Measuring Sustainability 1 Sustainable Development: Theoretical Approaches and Measurement Methods OUTLINE Sustainable Development: Historical Background Definition and Main Issues Economy vs Environment Measuring Sustainability 2 Sustainable Development: Theoretical Approaches and Measurement Methods HYSTORICAL BACKGROUND: THE ROOTS • 1972 = United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm (simultaneously => Limits to Growth) • 1983 = creation of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Mission: to formulate ‘A global agenda for change’ • 1987 = Our Common Future => global interdependence and strong relationship between social, economic, cultural and environmental issues and global solutions. “The environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions and needs, and therefore it should not be considered in isolation from human concerns“ 3 Sustainable Development: Theoretical Approaches and Measurement Methods RIO 1992: AGENDA 21 • 1992 = first UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) -
The Ecological Economics of Boulding's Spaceship Earth
Institut für Regional- und Umweltwirtschaft Institute for the Environment and Regional Development Clive L. Spash The Ecological Economics of Boulding's Spaceship Earth SRE-Discussion 2013/02 2013 The Ecological Economics of Boulding’s Spaceship Earth1 Clive L. Spash Abstract The work of Kenneth Boulding is sometimes cited as being foundational to the understanding of how the economy interacts with the environment and particularly of relevance to ecological economists. The main reference made in this regard is to his seminal essay using the metaphor of planet Earth as a spaceship. In this paper that essay and related work is placed both within historical context of the environmental movement and developments in the thought on environment-economy interactions. The writing by Boulding in this area is critically reviewed and discussed in relationship to the work of his contemporaries, also regarded as important for the ecological economics community, such as Georegescu-Roegen, Herman Daly and K. William Kapp. This brings out the facts that Boulding did not pursue his environmental concerns, wrote little on the subject, had a techno-optimist tendency, disagreed with his contemporaries and preferred to develop an evolutionary economics approach. Finally, a sketch is offered of how the ideas in the Spaceship Earth essay relate to current understanding within social ecological economics. The essay itself, while offering many thought provoking insights within the context of its time, also has flaws both of accuracy and omission. The issues of power, social justice, institutional and social relationships are ones absent, but also ones which Boulding, near the end of his life, finally recognised as key to addressing the growing environmental crises. -
Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability 25
Environmental Worldviews, Ethics, and Sustainability 25 Biosphere 2—A Lesson in Humility C O R E C A S E S TUDY In 1991, eight scientists (four men and four women) were sealed sphere’s 25 small animal species went extinct. Before the 2-year inside Biosphere 2, a $200 million glass and steel enclosure period was up, all plant-pollinating insects went extinct, thereby designed to be a self-sustaining life-support system (Figure 25-1) dooming to extinction most of the plant species. that would add to our understanding of Biosphere 1: the earth’s Despite many problems, the facility’s waste and wastewater life-support system. were recycled. With much hard work, the Biospherians were A sealed system of interconnected domes was built in the also able to produce 80% of their food supply, despite rampant desert near Tucson, Arizona (USA). It contained artificial ecosys- weed growths, spurred by higher CO2 levels, that crowded out tems including a tropical rain forest, savanna, and desert, as well food crops. However, they suffered from persistent hunger and as lakes, streams, freshwater and saltwater wetlands, and a mini- weight loss. ocean with a coral reef. In the end, an expenditure of $200 million failed to maintain Biosphere 2 was designed to mimic the earth’s natural chemi- this life-support system for eight people for 2 years. Since 2007, cal recycling systems. Water evaporated from its ocean and other the University of Arizona has been leasing the Biosphere 2 facility aquatic systems and then condensed to provide rainfall over the for biological research and to provide environmental education tropical rain forest. -
Jeremy Baskin, “Paradigm Dressed As Epoch: the Ideology of The
Paradigm Dressed as Epoch: The Ideology of the Anthropocene JEREMY BASKIN School of Social and Political Sciences University of Melbourne Victoria 3010, Australia Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The Anthropocene is a radical reconceptualisation of the relationship between humanity and nature. It posits that we have entered a new geological epoch in which the human species is now the dominant Earth-shaping force, and it is rapidly gaining traction in both the natural and social sciences. This article critically explores the scientific representation of the concept and argues that the Anthropocene is less a scientific concept than the ideational underpinning for a particular worldview. It is paradigm dressed as epoch. In particular, it normalises a certain portion of humanity as the ‘human’ of the Anthropocene, reinserting ‘man’ into nature only to re-elevate ‘him’ above it. This move pro- motes instrumental reason. It implies that humanity and its planet are in an exceptional state, explicitly invoking the idea of planetary management and legitimising major interventions into the workings of the earth, such as geoen- gineering. I conclude that the scientific origins of the term have diminished its radical potential, and ask whether the concept’s radical core can be retrieved. KEYWORDS Anthropocene, ideology, geoengineering, environmental politics, earth management INTRODUCTION ‘The Anthropocene’ is an emergent idea, which posits that the human spe- cies is now the dominant Earth-shaping force. Initially promoted by scholars from the physical and earth sciences, it argues that we have exited the current geological epoch, the 12,000-year-old Holocene, and entered a new epoch, Environmental Values 24 (2015): 9–29. -
Our Common Future
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future Table of Contents Acronyms and Note on Terminology Chairman's Foreword From One Earth to One World Part I. Common Concerns 1. A Threatened Future I. Symptoms and Causes II. New Approaches to Environment and Development 2. Towards Sustainable Development I. The Concept of Sustainable Development II. Equity and the Common Interest III. Strategic Imperatives IV. Conclusion 3. The Role of the International Economy I. The International Economy, the Environment, and Development II. Decline in the 1980s III. Enabling Sustainable Development IV. A Sustainable World Economy Part II. Common Challenges 4. Population and Human Resources I. The Links with Environment and Development II. The Population Perspective III. A Policy Framework 5. Food Security: Sustaining the Potential I. Achievements II. Signs of Crisis III. The Challenge IV. Strategies for Sustainable Food Security V. Food for the Future 6. Species and Ecosystems: Resources for Development I. The Problem: Character and Extent II. Extinction Patterns and Trends III. Some Causes of Extinction IV. Economic Values at Stake V. New Approach: Anticipate and Prevent VI. International Action for National Species VII. Scope for National Action VIII. The Need for Action 7. Energy: Choices for Environment and Development I. Energy, Economy, and Environment II. Fossil Fuels: The Continuing Dilemma III. Nuclear Energy: Unsolved Problems IV. Wood Fuels: The Vanishing Resource V. Renewable Energy: The Untapped Potential VI. Energy Efficiency: Maintaining the Momentum VII. Energy Conservation Measures VIII. Conclusion 8. Industry: Producing More With Less I. Industrial Growth and its Impact II. Sustainable Industrial Development in a Global Context III. -
Eolss Sample Chapters
JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION – Vol. II - Sustainability - Stephen Viederman SUSTAINABILITY Stephen Viederman Former President, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, New York, USA Keywords: Sustainability, sustainable development, equity, justice, environment, conventional economics, democracy, public participation, vision, social construct, ‘rules of the game’, multinational corporations, population, consumption. Contents 1. Introduction 2. What is Sustainability? 2.1 Sustainability is a Social Construct 2.2 Sustainability is a Vision of a Desired Future 2.3 Sustainability is a Process With a Beginning But No End 2.4 Sustainability is Qualified By Context and is Location Specific 2.5 Sustainability is About the Ecosystem and its Interrelationships With Other Subsystems 3. Sustainability: A Definition 4. Barriers to Sustainability 4.1 The Capacity to Envision the Future 4.2 The “Rules of the Game” 5. Issues 5.1 Sustainability and the Multinational Corporation 5.2 Dimensions of Sustainable Development 5.3 Population, Consumption, and Sustainability 6. Conclusion Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary Sustainability has become reified, as if one day society was unsustainable and the next day it becomes sustainable. In reality, sustainability is about a participatory process with a beginning and no end, a vision of the future, an ideal, a goal. It is a social construct that is UNESCOunattainable by definition, because – understanding EOLSS of the goal and definition of the vision will change with time. Much of the discussion of sustainability has been focused on environmental or ecological sustainability with little attention to the human dimension. WhileSAMPLE it is true that the environment CHAPTERS is the basis for all life and all production, in fact, in the absence of attention to issues of equity and justice, the environment cannot be sustained. -
3 Scenario 1: Earth Charter This Is a World in Which Humans Have A
Scenario 1: Earth Charter This is a world in which humans have a respect for all life. People understand themselves as part of an integrated biosphere and focus on finding balance and harmony with each other and nature and focus on nurturing a thriving and healthy world. With expanding equity and inclusion, a broadening of the definition of knowledge and science leads to extreme new insights and advancements in a highly interconnected and richly diverse world. There is a porous boundary between human focus and non-human focus as people honor all species’ labor and space. Conservancy in interconnected systems and infrastructure become so efficient that “waste” is no longer a common term in language. Data are collected, monitored, and analyzed to ensure interspecies equity. The result is species return to pre-human levels as the human population stabilizes. Technology and advancements combined with the inclusion of art and expression have led to the development of new approaches to learning and the delivery of knowledge that are increasingly adaptive, personalized and driven by the student. Institutional models of education are obsolete as education is no longer measured by degree but by knowing, adaptiveness, creativity, continuity of learning and freedom of thought and expression. Universal access to learning and education leads to broad societal agency and empowerment. The public has a great acceptance of science with an acknowledgement that science must integrate with other world views that ecumenically bridges all faith traditions. Current Drivers and Trends Signaling the Potential of this Scenario The progressive and global orientation and activism of youth combines with the growing climate justice movement to create an unprecedented and sustained societal shift toward a new understanding of humans as part of a complex and vulnerable living system and environment. -
Environment Roundtable Reviews
H-Environment Roundtable Reviews Volume 3, No. 3 (2013) Roundtable Review Editor: www.h-net.org/~environ/roundtables Jacob Darwin Hamblin Publication date: March 20, 2013 Thomas Robertson, The Malthusian Moment: Global Population Growth and the Birth of American Environmentalism (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2012). ISBN: 978-0-8135-5272-9. Paperback. 291 pp. Stable URL: http://www.h-net.org/~environ/roundtables/env-roundtable-3-3.pdf Contents Introduction by Jacob Darwin Hamblin, Oregon State University 2 Comments by Toshihiro Higuchi, University of Wisconsin-Madison 4 Comments by Amy L. Sayward, Middle Tennessee State University 7 Comments by Saul Halfon, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 11 Comments by Sabine Höhler, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm 16 Author’s Response by Thomas Robertson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute 22 About the Contributors 28 Copyright © 2012 H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, H-Environment, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. H-Environment Roundtable Reviews, Vol. 3, No. 3 (2013) 2 Introduction by Jacob Darwin Hamblin, Oregon State University t has been nearly half a century since the biologist Paul Ehrlich “dropped” The Population Bomb. Although it struck some readers as a refurbished version of II Thomas Malthus’s 1798 Essay on the Principle of Population, Ehrlich’s 1968 book raised new questions about a world of increasing numbers of people and limited resources. It served as a call to action, linking responsible reproductive practices to a range of issues from agriculture to pollution, and it quickly found a place in the canon of the rising environmental movement. -
Driving Spaceship Earth
editorial Driving spaceship Earth Designing policies to maintain human wellbeing within the limits of planet Earth is a daunting task, but scholars and policymakers should embrace the challenge now. his month, Nature Sustainability is achieved by maximizing throughput, crossing one or more boundaries. The celebrates its first anniversary. A whereas in the latter throughput should overarching message is simple, yet powerful Tyear since we launched, relentlessly be minimized. A few big thinkers at the — we do not need to look for new policy building our content and responding time cultivated similar views on humanity’s instruments, we need to use more wisely proactively to the needs of the community, handling of natural resources and the need and effectively the ones available. The we have a lot to be proud of. It has been for a fundamental shift in perspective when authors offer a number of suggestions an exciting journey, at times challenging it comes to securing human wellbeing over on how to best design such policies and and tiring, but definitely worthwhile. time. Buckminster Fuller3 imagined planet include examples of successful policies, but And we are keen to continue growing and Earth as a spaceship driven by humans as they warn readers about the role of politics exploring new avenues to give voice to the the astronauts — it was already apparent in policymaking. In order for a policy best sustainability scholarship and practice in 1968 how humans managed to derail it instrument, for example a carbon tax or a from across perspectives and geographies. from its natural course. And our driving renewable energy subsidy, to be successful, Over the 12 issues in 2018, we have covered abilities have not improved that much it needs to minimize political resistance. -
A Brief Guide to Planetary Management
A Brief Guide to Planetary Management Copyright © 2002 Joseph George Caldwell. All rights reserved. Posted at Internet website http://www.foundationwebsite.org . May be copied or reposted for noncommercial purposes, with attribution to author and website. 8 September 2002; updated 10 September 2002. Contents A Brief Guide to Planetary Management ............................... 1 Vision Statement ................................................................... 2 Mission Statement ................................................................. 3 Goals ..................................................................................... 4 Some Additional Background Discussion ........................... 10 Author’s note… ................................................................... 20 This document provides a high-level guide to planetary management for Earth. It provides a statement of vision, mission, and goals. It sets forth concepts, principles and policy, and outlines the general approach to planetary management (PM). This “Guide” includes background information on the rationale for its statements of principles and goals. (In doing so, it is a little “rambling” at places. A more succinct guide may be issued at a later time.) Since the form of planetary management proposed herein is based on a world thriving on the recurrent flux of solar energy – a solar civilization – the planetary management organization (PMO) embodying this planetary management system will be referred to as Solaria. Vision Statement The vision for Earth is a planet with a “minimal-regret” human population of ten million people – a single-nation technologically advanced city-state of five million people, and a low-technology (hunter-gatherer) population of five million people distributed over the planet. A “minimal-regret” population is one that keeps the likelihood of extinction of the human species and destruction of the biosphere as we know it at low levels, and keeps the likelihood of long-term survival (of the same) at high levels.