Upload
siran
View
37
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Key concepts in political ecology. Media, Politics and the Environment (CCGL 9012) Week 3, February 20, 2013. Structure of the presentation. Sustainable development The ecological footprint The tragedy of commons. 1. Sustainable development - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
1
Key concepts in political ecology
Media, Politics and the Environment (CCGL 9012)
Week 3, February 20, 2013
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Structure of the presentation
1. Sustainable development
2. The ecological footprint
3. The tragedy of commons
2
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
3
1. Sustainable development
• SD: Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable -- to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without comprimising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (1987:8).
• Origins: Report by Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)
• UN report to concile environmental and development issues (environmental damage, population, peace and security, social justice both within and across generations) that had been competitive or antagonistic
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
4
In essence, SD is a process of change in which exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development, and industrial change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations” (1987:46).
Deeper history: resource management concept in maximum sustainable yield (fishery, forest, game animals that can be sustained indefinitely)
Intelligent operation of natural systems and human systems in combination
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
5
What are the needs of future generations? Problems with the concept of SD
Elasticity of concept: different meanings and interpretations
Environmentalists: intrinsic notions of nature are missing Developing countries: stress on global redistribution Western countries: developing countries cannot follow
same path of industrialization Business: sustained economic growth + ”green-painting” Contestation over essence of SD
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
6
Sustainability: summary Central concept in environmental discourses +
bandwagon effect
Actors: many agents at many levels, international (IGO + global civil society) and subnational (NGO)
SD never an accomplished fact, except in small hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies with low level of economic and technological development
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
7
Discourse: no limits to growth, capitalist economy (competition de-emphasized though), anthropocentric, ”think globally, act locally”, self-conscious improvement, open-ended learning of humankind (like lifetime learning), progress in the environmental era
Real life results? Small compared to liberalization of global trade and capital
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
2. Ecological footprint: the concept EF measures human demand on the Earth's ecosystems Compares human demand with the Earth’s ecological
capacity to regenerate Calculates the amount of biologically productive land and
sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes, and to absorb waste and make it harmless
EF make possible to estimate how much of the Earth (or how many Earths) it would take to support humanity with a given consumption rate
8
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
For 2006, humanity's total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.4 planet Earths (lag due to availability of statistics)
This means that humanity uses ecological services 1.4 times as fast as Earth can renew them
EF calculated regularly Methods of measurement differ Calculation standards are emerging to make results
more comparable and consistent
9
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Ecological footprint: origins
Originator of academic concept of EF William Rees (environmental policy/sustainability expert, University of British Columbia, Canada), 1992
Co-developer of EF concept and calculation method Mathis Wackernagel (currently President of Global Footprint Network)
Rees first formulation: "appropriated carrying capacity" Rees: term EF "inspired by a computer technician who
praised his new computer's small footprint on the desk” Wackernagel and Rees book Our Ecological Footprint:
Reducing Human Impact on the Earth.1996
10
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
EF compares human demand on nature with the biosphere's ability to regenerate resources and provide services
New EF: the methods are converging Footprint 2.0 (2003 by a team of researchers) Footprint 2.0 theoretical and methodological improvements to the
standard EF approach Include the entire surface of the Earth in biocapacity estimates,
allocate space for other (non-human) species, change the basis of equivalence factors from agricultural land to net primary productivity (NPP), and change the carbon component of the footprint, based on global carbon models
Well received by teachers, researchers, and advocacy organizations
11
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Ecological footprint: methods EF assesses biologically productive land and marine area
required to produce the resources a population consumes, and absorb the corresponding waste, using present technology
Biological capacity or biocapacity: capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to absorb waste materials generated by humans, using current technologies. Biocapacity is usually expressed in units of global hectares
Global hectare: the average productivity of biologically productive land and water in a given year
A global hectare of cropland, would occupy a smaller physical area than the much less productive marshland
12
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Biologically productive land and water: the land and water (both marine and inland waters) area that supports photosynthetic activity and biomass accumulation used by humans. Non-productive areas not included. Biomass not of use to humans is also not included.
The total biologically productive area on land and water was approximately 13.4 billion hectares in 2005 on the planet
Biological capacity available per person: Dividing by the number of people alive in that year, 6.5 billion, gives 2.1 global hectares per person . This assumes no land is set aside for other species that consume the same biological material as humans.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/glossary/ - biologicallyproductivelandandwater
13
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Ecological footprint: uses Per capita EF is a means of comparing consumption and
lifestyles Checking this against nature's ability to provide for this
consumption Goal: altering personal behavior EF informs the public and policy makers by examining to
what extent a nation uses more or less than is available within its territory
14
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
To what extent the nation's lifestyle could be replicable worldwide?
EF can educate people about carrying capacity and over-consumption
Can also be applied to an activity such as manufacturing a product or driving of a car
EF in Hong Kong, China, US? EF within HKU?
15
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Global inequalities vs. environmental justice
EF: current lifestyles are not sustainable Global comparison: inequalities of resource use on the
planet In 2006, average biologically productive area per person
worldwide cca. 1.8 global hectares (gha) per capita. US footprint per capita was 9.0 gha Switzerland 5.6 gha per person China 1.8 gha per person WWF claims EF has exceeded the biocapacity (the
available supply of natural resources) of the planet by 20%.
16
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
EF measures and sustainability NGO websites allow estimation of one's EF EF widely used around the globe as an indicator of
environmental sustainability EF to explore the sustainability of individual lifestyles,
goods and services, organizations, industry sectors, neighborhoods, cities, regions and nations
Since 2006, EF standards exist that define details of calculation procedures
Ecological Footprint Standards 2009, Global Footprint Network www.footprintstandards.org
17
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
EF accounting method at the national level is described in the Living Planet Report (WWF and GFN)
Differences in the methodology used by various EF studies
Examples: how sea area should be counted, how to account for fossil fuels, how to account for nuclear power (many studies simply consider it to have the same ecological footprint as fossil fuels), which data sources used, how space for biodiversity should be included, and how imports/exports should be accounted for
18
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
EF criticisms and debates
Complete review commissioned by the Directorate-General for the Environment (European Commission) in June 2008 provides most updated independent assessment of the method
19
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Criticism 1: Parasitic cities? Calculating EF for densely populated areas, such as a
city or small country with a comparatively large population — e.g. New York and Singapore respectively —perception as "parasitic"
These communities have little intrinsic biocapacity Critics: dubious characterization since mechanized rural
farmers in developed nations may easily consume more resources than urban inhabitants, due to transportation
20
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Criticism 2: Trade issues
EF an argument for autarchy? EF denies the benefits of trade? EF can only be applied globally?
21
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Criticism 3: Pro-Monocultures?
Replacing woodlands or tropical forests with monoculture forests or plantations may improve EF
EF rewards the replacement of original ecosystems with high-productivity agricultural monocultures by assigning a higher biocapacity to such regions?
If organic farming yields lower than those with conventional methods larger EF
22
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Criticism 4: Nuclear power Nuclear power: pre-2008 treated same
manner as coal power Carbon dioxide per KW-Hr of produced
power differs Problems of nuclear vs. fossil fuel waste?
23
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
WHO: “3 million people are killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually from vehicles and industrial emissions, and 1.6 million indoors through using solid fuel." (BBC report 2004) Alex Kirby (13 December 2004,). "Pollution: A life and death issue". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4086809.stm.
Coal power plant releases 100 times as much radiation as a nuclear power plant of the same wattage. Alex Gabbard. "Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger". Oak Ridge National Laboratory. http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html.
Fossil fuel waste causes global warming, which leads to hurricanes, flooding, and other weather changes
24
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Counter-arguments Limits of EF Don’t use EF as only metric Complement with other indicators, e.g., on biodiversity Living Planet Report complements the biennial Footprint
calculations with the Living Planet Index of biodiversity Modified EF that takes biodiversity into account in
Australia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint - cite_note-26 (Manfred Lenzen and Shauna Murray)
25
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
EF calculators Personal calculators http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator (or the same here:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators) http://www.ecologicalfootprint.com http://www.myfootprint.org
Personal, school and event calculators http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/default.asp
Interactive site with global rankings and listings http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/?840
Calculator for kids http://www.zerofootprintkids.com/kids_home.aspx
26
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
Overuse of resources vs. "rights of future generations" http://www.cousteau.org/about-us/futuregen http://www.intergenerationaljustice.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Human_rights#Future_generations http://gadfly.igc.org/papers/orfg.htm http://www.sehn.org/pdf/
Model_Provisions_Mod1E7275.pdf
27
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
3. The Tragedy of Commons
Concept by Garrett Hardin article in 1968
Many rational individuals want to use available commons
This leads to overuse and tragedy of commons
In the long run, this is no one’s interest
Tension between individual self-interest and community interest
28
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
The Tragedy of Commons: examples Pastureland and herdsmen Herdsmen: raise as many animals as possible Rational individual calculation: personal gain
maximization ALL THINK THIS WAY: profit maximization Community loss: each animal degrades the common
land Result: less grass, no grass, erosion, weed domination National parks: overuse by visitors vs. limitation of entry
29
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong
The Tragedy of Commons: applications
Pollution of the commons: sewage, chemicals, radioactive, heat
Individual interests and rationality: let out pollutants as cleaning is expensive
Result: the common land, water, air is polluted In the long run, pollution is no one’s interest Solutions: regulation (law, positive and negative taxes)
30