Ecological Footprints of Nations
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Geoengineering in the Anthropocene Through Regenerative Urbanism
geosciences Review Geoengineering in the Anthropocene through Regenerative Urbanism Giles Thomson * and Peter Newman Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, WA, Australia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-8-9266-9030 Academic Editors: Carlos Alves and Jesus Martinez-Frias Received: 26 June 2016; Accepted: 13 October 2016; Published: 25 October 2016 Abstract: Human consumption patterns exceed planetary boundaries and stress on the biosphere can be expected to worsen. The recent “Paris Agreement” (COP21) represents a major international attempt to address risk associated with climate change through rapid decarbonisation. The mechanisms for implementation are yet to be determined and, while various large-scale geoengineering projects have been proposed, we argue a better solution may lie in cities. Large-scale green urbanism in cities and their bioregions would offer benefits commensurate to alternative geoengineering proposals, but this integrated approach carries less risk and has additional, multiple, social and economic benefits in addition to a reduction of urban ecological footprint. However, the key to success will require policy writers and city makers to deliver at scale and to high urban sustainability performance benchmarks. To better define urban sustainability performance, we describe three horizons of green urbanism: green design, that seeks to improve upon conventional development; sustainable development, that is the first step toward a net zero impact; and the emerging concept of regenerative urbanism, that enables biosphere repair. Examples of green urbanism exist that utilize technology and design to optimize urban metabolism and deliver net positive sustainability performance. If mainstreamed, regenerative approaches can make urban development a major urban geoengineering force, while simultaneously introducing life-affirming co-benefits to burgeoning cities. -
Lecture 3 the Modern Environmental Movement Lecture 3
Lecture 3 The Modern Environmental Movement Lecture 3: Outline I. Species of the day II. Beginnings of the Conservation Movement III.The Green Decade IV. The Endangered Species Act (1973) V. The 1980’s and the Post 9/11 World VI. The Rise of New Conservation Strategies (Ecosystem Management) VII.The Conservation Movement Today (Our Next President?) 1 Species of the Day Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) Threats: Conservation Status: • Habitat loss Endangered, USFWS, 1998 • Habitat fragmentation • Increased predation • Exposure to disease • Increased competition for resources Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Ecosystem Management Preservationist Ethic Muir Resource Conservation Ethic - Pinchot 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004 Anthropocentrism Romantic-Transcendentalism Thoreau 1985 Emerson Society of Evolutionary- Conservation ecological land ethic Biology Leopold Forest Reserve Act (1891) 2 Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Late 19th Century • Industrial Revolution • Loss of the Western Frontier • Over consumption of natural resources • Rise of the Romantic Transcendental Conservation Ethic Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Romantic Transcendentalism (early to mid-1800’s) Viewed the natura l world as a source not simp ly of material goods, but also of aesthetic satisfaction, philosophical insight, and spiritual solace. Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau “A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ~ Thoreau 3 Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Ecosystem Management Preservationist Ethic Muir Resource Conservation Ethic - Pinchot 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2004 Anthropocentrism Romantic-Transcendentalism Thoreau 1985 Emerson Society of Evolutionary- Conservation ecological land ethic Biology Leopold Forest Reserve Act (1891) Beginnings of the Conservation Movement Preservationist Ethic • Intrinsic value of nature and typified in the romantic- tdtltranscendental movement. -
I a Thesis Submitted to the Department of Environmental Sciences
A thesis submitted to the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of Central European University in part fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Science ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN AGRICULTURE IN MIAMI Jacob POLICZER CEU eTD Collection May 2013 Budapest I Erasmus Mundus Masters Course in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management MESPOM This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of the Master of Science degree awarded as a result of successful completion of the Erasmus Mundus Masters course in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (MESPOM) jointly operated by the University of the Aegean (Greece), Central European University (Hungary), Lund University (Sweden) and the University of Manchester (United Kingdom). Supported by the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Programme CEU eTD Collection II Notes on copyright and the ownership of intellectual property rights: (1) Copyright in text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European University Library. Details may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the Author. (2) The ownership of any intellectual property rights which may be described in this thesis is vested in the Central European University, subject to any prior agreement to the contrary, and may not be made available for use by third parties without the written permission of the University, which will prescribe the terms and conditions of any such agreement. -
The Challenges of Creating Social Justice in Niches of the Environmental Movement
Intentional Unity: The Challenges of Creating Social Justice in Niches of the Environmental Movement A Division III e-Booklet By Colin Eldridge Read original online version here Original logo designed by and property of Colin Eldridge This project is dedicated to my late father John Charles Eldridge, and my amazing mother JoAnn Ellsworth, without whom I would not be where I am today. 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction Section 1: Environment What are Niches in the Environmental Movement? The Problem: Niches in the Environmental Movement are Socially Unjust Histories and Realities of Environmental Movement Niches Work Cited Section 2: Community Excerpts from Interviews Conducted in Intentional Communities A Critique of Diversity Initiatives My Idealist Model for an Anti-Oppressive Intentional Community Section 3: Economy Understanding the Permaculture Ethics The “Sweet Spot” of Fair Share, People Care, and Earth Care Regenerative Economics Section 4: Anti-Oppressive Education The Ladder of Inference Social Permaculture The Systems Thinking Approach The Iceberg Model The Iceberg of Oppression On Paralysis and White Guilt Section 5: Moving Forward More Resources for the Reader What now? Conclusion Glossary 2 Introduction Objectives of this Booklet 1) To point out the inherent flaws within the environmental movement which perpetuate systems of oppression. 2) To reflect on diversity within the niche of intentional communities, and offer excerpts of interviews from an independent field study. 3) To provide a commentary on the “sweet spot” of social, environmental and economic justice. 4) To offer an anti-oppressive educational framework specifically for niches within the environmental movement. About the Author This booklet touches on many subjects of power and privilege. -
Ecological Turnaround” Udo E
Simonis Asian Journal of German and European Studies (2016) 1:5 Asian Journal of German DOI 10.1186/s40856-016-0007-9 and European Studies ORIGINAL ARTICLE Open Access Reflections on the call for a global “ecological turnaround” Udo E. Simonis Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract Social Science Centre Berlin, Reichpietschufer 50, D- 24116 Kiel, This paper is about excessive overuse of resources and about serious environmental Berlin, Germany impacts, and the need for a global ecological turnaround. Ideas about a social contract for sustainability are being discussed, and examples given of resource decoupling and impact decoupling. Global environmental governance is seen as being insufficient and in need of vigorous reform. It seems that only through improved planetary cooperation can a collapse of the global ecosystems be prevented and global sustainability be secured. Abstrakt Die Konferenz der Vereinten Nationen 1992 in Rio de Janeiro markierte einen Meilenstein in der globalen Umweltpolitik. Der German Advisory Council on Global Change (WGBU) begründet in seinem jüngsten Hauptgutachten die Notwendigkeit einer großen globalen Transformation, wozu ein neuer Gesellschaftsvertrag zu schließen sei. Die “Große Transformation”, das Konzept des Ökonomen Karl Polanyi für die Analyse der ersten Industriellen Revolution, wird vom WBGU normativ umgedeutet: Ein radikaler Umbau der nationalen Ökonomien und der Weltwirtschaft innerhalb spezifischer “planetarischer Leitplanken” soll die Überforderung und den Zusammenbruch der globalen Ökosysteme -
The U.S. Environmental Movement Robert J. Brulle Drexel University
The U.S. Environmental Movement Robert J. Brulle Drexel University Abstract The U.S. environmental movement is perhaps the largest, most long lived, and complex social movement in the U.S. To understand this movement from a sociological viewpoint requires an analysis of the different belief systems or “discursive frames” that define the different communities that make up this movement. This paper starts with a description of these discursive frames. Using this perspective, it then describes the historical development of the different communities, and their relative levels of economic resource mobilization. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The U.S. environmental movement is perhaps the single largest social movement in the United States. With over 6,500 national and 20,000 local environmental organizations, along with an estimated 20-30 million members, this movement dwarfs other modern social movements such as the civil rights or peace movements. It is also the longest running social movement. The first local environmental organizations were founded before the Civil War and several still existing national environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, and American Forests, were founded in the late 19th century. The question facing social scientists is how can we understand and examine this enormously complex social movement? There are three commonly used approaches. First, sociologists examine the belief systems that define the various components of this social movement, which is termed Discourse Analysis. Secondly, the development of the social movement over time is examined using Historical Analysis. Finally, the techniques used to garner financial resources for the organization is examined through the perspective of Resource Mobilization Analysis. -
Deep Ecology
456 Deep Ecology Taylor, Bron. “Resacralizing Earth: Pagan Environmental- pocentrism (human-centeredness), which values nature ism and the Restoration of Turtle Island.” In American exclusively in terms of its usefulness to humans. Anthro- Sacred Space. David Chidester and Edward. T. pocentrism, in turn, is viewed as grounded in Western Linenthal, eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, religion and philosophy, which many deep ecologists 1995, 97–151. believe must be rejected (or a deep ecological transform- See also: Abbey, Edward; Black Mesa; Church of ation of consciousness within them must occur) if humans Euthanasia; Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front; are to learn to live sustainably on the Earth. Green Death Movement; Jeffers, John Robinson; Radical Thus, many deep ecologists believe that only by Environmentalism. “resacralizing” our perceptions of the natural world can we put ecosystems above narrow human interests and learn to live harmoniously with the natural world, thereby Deep Ecology averting ecological catastrophe. It is a common perception within the deep ecology movement that the religions of Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess (b. 1912) coined the indigenous cultures, the world’s remnant and newly term “Deep Ecology” in 1972 to express the idea that revitalized or invented pagan religions, and religions nature has intrinsic value, namely, value apart from its originating in Asia (especially Daoism, Buddhism, and usefulness to human beings, and that all life forms should Hinduism) provide superior grounds for ecological ethics, be allowed to flourish and fulfill their evolutionary des- and greater ecological wisdom, than do Occidental tinies. Naess invented the rubric to contrast such views religions. -
Revisiting Rebound Effects from Material Resource Use. Indications for Germany Considering Social Heterogeneity
Resources 2014, 3, 106-122; doi:10.3390/resources3010106 OPEN ACCESS resources ISSN 2079-9276 www.mdpi.com/journal/resources Article Revisiting Rebound Effects from Material Resource Use. Indications for Germany Considering Social Heterogeneity Johannes Buhl Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Doeppersberg 19, Wuppertal D-42103, Germany; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +49-202-2492-156; Fax: +49-202-2492-108 Received: 7 November 2013; in revised form: 7 January 2014 / Accepted: 20 January 2014 / Published: 10 February 2014 Abstract: In contrast to the original investigation by William Stanley Jevons, compensations of energy savings due to improved energy efficiency are mostly analyzed by providing energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions. In support of a sustainable resource management, this paper analyzes so-called rebound effects based on resource use. Material flows and associated expenditures by households allow for calculating resource intensities and marginal propensities to consume. Marginal propensities to consume are estimated from data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in order to account for indirect rebound effects for food, housing and mobility. Resource intensities are estimated in terms of total material requirements per household final consumption expenditures along the Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose (COICOP). Eventually, rebound effects are indicated on the basis of published saving scenarios in resource and energy demand for Germany. In sum, compensations due to rebound effects are lowest for food while the highest compensations are induced for mobility. This is foremost the result of a relatively high resource intensity of food and a relatively low resource intensity in mobility. -
Analysing Resource Efficiency Transitions in Asia and the Pacific United Nations Publication Copyright © United Nations 2017
Analysing Resource Efficiency Transitions in Asia and the Pacific United Nations publication Copyright © United Nations 2017 ST/ESCAP/2807 Disclaimer The designations employed and the presentation of the materials in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Analysing Resource Efficiency Transitions in Asia and the Pacific follows the United Nations practice in references to countries. Where there are space constraints, some country names have been abbreviated. Mention of a commercial company or product in this publication does not imply endorsement by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products for publicity or advertising is not permitted. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this publication for education or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holders, provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for sale or other commercial purposes, including publicity and advertising, is prohibited without permission of the copyright holders. Application for such permission with a statement of purpose and extent of the reproduction, as well as questions and comments should be addressed to: Director, Environment and Development Division United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Building Rajadamnern Nok Avenue Bangkok 10200 Thailand United Nations publication Copyright © United Nations 2017 All rights reserved Printed in Bangkok ST/ESCAP/2807 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided that the source is acknowledged. -
The Need for a Total Strategy for Environmental Protection
Copyright © 2018 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120. COMMENT A New Environmentalism: The Need for a Total Strategy for Environmental Protection by Scott Fulton and David Rejeski Scott Fulton is President of the Environmental Law Institute and a former senior official at U.S. EPA, including General Counsel. David Rejeski directs the Technology, Innovation, and Environment Program at the Environmental Law Institute and is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. I. Introduction We were once, of course, without any strategy at all. On the first Earth Day, we were feeling the consequences. On the first Earth Day in 1970, Sen. Edmund Muskie The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969 (for the (D-Me.) called for “a total strategy to protect the total 13th time since 1868), and air quality in many metropoli- environment.”1 More than 50 years later, the parameters of tan areas was orders of magnitude worse than today’s stan- a “total strategy” are at last coming into view. Environmen- dards. Laws were passed to fill the void, and the rule of law tal quality has no doubt improved, but the pace of change emerged as our primary strategy. is leaving in the dust the linear strategies of the past. As Laws passed in the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum succinctly like the Clean Air Act (CAA),5 Clean Water Act (CWA),6 put it: “We are moving from a world in which the big eat Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA),7 and Resource the small to a world in which the fast eat the slow.”2 Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA),8 provided a legal What constituted a strategy 15 or even 10 years ago— basis for actions based on a clear bifurcation of actors— analyze, plan, execute—no longer works in operating envi- industry and government. -
Degrowth: Necessary, Urgent and Good for You Kallis, G
real-world economics review, issue no. 93 subscribe for free BOOK REVIEW: Degrowth: necessary, urgent and good for you Kallis, G. Paulson, S. D’Alisa G. and Demaria, F. (2020) The Case for Degrowth. Cambridge: Polity Press, 151pp. (ppk) ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3563-7. $12.95. 1 Jamie Morgan [Leeds Beckett University Business School, UK] Copyright: Jamie Morgan, 2020 You may post comments on this paper at https://rwer.wordpress.com/comments-on-rwer-issue-no-93/ Introduction Some introductory context is required for the general reader to make sense of Kallis et al.’s important new book, The Case for Degrowth (Kallis et al., 2020). It is now widely recognized that we have entered a period of climate and ecological “emergency” leading to the existential possibility of “ecocide” (e.g. Ripple et al,. 2020; Lenton et al., 2020; Hansen et al., 2017; Steffen et al., 2018, 2015). Complacency and delay have been endemic (see Lamb et al., 2020; Oreskes and Conway, 2010). But it is also recognized that fundamental change is required in order to avert disaster (Spash, 2020a; Newall and Taylor, 2020; Fullbrook and Morgan, 2019; Gills and Morgan, 2020a). What we mean by “change”, however, has remained in dispute. If we dispense with nuance for the moment, there are broadly three positions, each of which blends into the next based on relative emphasis and matters of degree, albeit with some greater disjuncture for the third position with which this essay is chiefly concerned. First, there is the historically dominant position that has informed the majority of state discourses, COP negotiation and UNEP “line of least resistance” policy discussion over the past 30 years. -
Transforming Consumption: from Decoupling, to Behavior Change, to System Changes for Sustainable Consumption
UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Transforming Consumption: From Decoupling, to Behavior Change, to System Changes for Sustainable Consumption Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7qn670bv Journal Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 40(1) ISSN 1543-5938 Authors O'Rourke, D Lollo, N Publication Date 2015 DOI 10.1146/annurev-environ-102014-021224 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California EG40CH09-ORourke ARI 11 October 2015 12:38 ANNUAL REVIEWS Further Click here to view this article's online features: • Download figures as PPT slides • Navigate linked references • Download citations Transforming Consumption: • Explore related articles • Search keywords From Decoupling, to Behavior Change, to System Changes for Sustainable Consumption Dara O’Rourke1 and Niklas Lollo2 1Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 2Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720; email: [email protected] Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2015. 40:233–59 Keywords First published online as a Review in Advance on sustainable consumption, efficiency, decoupling, behavior change, September 11, 2015 sustainability transition, postgrowth economics The Annual Review of Environment and Resources is online at environ.annualreviews.org Abstract This article’s doi: Consumption, although often considered an individual choice, is deeply in- 10.1146/annurev-environ-102014-021224 grained in behaviors, cultures, and institutions, and is driven and supported Copyright c 2015 by Annual Reviews. by corporate and government practices. Consumption is also at the heart All rights reserved of many of our most critical ecological, health, and social problems. What is referred to broadly as sustainable consumption has primarily focused on making consumption more efficient and gradually decoupling it from energy and resource use.