Change, Conflict

and Crisis

4

environment & developmentE U A 6 0 1 a n d 6 2 0 C o n t e m p o r a r y W o r l d A r e n a

Change, conflict and crisis

Can the environment on which humans depend, survive the human demand for

‘development’

Is sustainable development

sustainable

Definitions1

Change and the 70s2

Crisis now3 ?

Definitions1

What are wetalking about?

T h eE n v i r o n m e n t

The sum of all external conditions affecting the life, development and survival of any form of animal or plant,

covering

all life on earth

complex web of interrelationships between abiotic (non-living-air, water, soil) and biotic (living organisms-animal and plants) components which sustain all life on the earth, including social and health aspects of human beings

“

d e v e l o p m e n t

positive change for human beings and their surroundings

“

measured with metrics

GDP, GNP, PCI

Or…

HDIHuman Development Index

Change and the 70s2

Little recognition of relationships between development and environment until 1970s

Rise of Green Movement

capitalist development

damaging environment

Acid rain confirmed in Europe

Moved up agenda as transnational nature recognized

But defining moments and workable

solutions rare

brundtland Report

1987

d e v e l o p m e n ts u s t a i n a b l e

meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

encompassMu

st

use of natural

resources

Activities related to

population

economic and social activities

impacts on the environment

Resources considered

infinite

pollution and environmental degradation inevitable

consequences of

industrial development

state systemG r e a t e r t h a n

Engages…

large corporations

transnational networks

Global institutions

environment added to

security agenda

Crisis now3 ?

The Limits to Growth

population and industrial growth

cease before 2100“

Homer-Dixon(1999)

Relationship between population growth, rising energy consumption, global warming, ozone layer depletion, cropland scarcity, deforestation, rising scarcity of free water, declining fish stocks and loss of biodiversity

“

Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change

(IPCC)

prolonged droughts, expanded desertification

increased severity of storms with heavy flooding and erosion

longer and more severe heat waves

Water shortages

decreased grain yields

climate-induced spreading ranges of pests and disease

lost and contaminated groundwater

deteriorated freshwater lakes, coastal fisheries, mangroves, coral reefs

coastal flooding

Crises and tensions4

Crisis of

participants

Crisis of the

global

system

Crisis in the

global

system

Growing awareness of complexity and interconnectedness of global planetary system

Recognition of dependency of development upon environment

Concern that ‘development’ may be damaging environment

Environment may be damaging to people

Conflict amongst various epistemic communities like academia/research bodies

uncertainty about fate of planet as a source of conflict

time

values

threat

awareness

Combination of long-term and often ‘invisible’ problems with short-term and highly visible disasters

time

Difficulty of clarifying and confirming : disagreement in ‘epistemic communities’

threat

Which are real?

awareness

tensions between values (ideology) of states, industries, ‘experts’, activists and planetary population

values

coming together

over crises

People

IGOs NGOs

BINGOsINGOs

Still leaves tensions and conflicts

Anthropogenic or not ?

If so…

whose crisis is it anyway?

Affluent or poor to blame?

North or South?

Solutions

technical or

political

wind farms and recycling?

?

imagining of technical solutions like

c o l d f u s i o n

or challenging/rejecting mass

consumption

d e v e l o p ments u s t a i n a b l e

?

is the solution part of theproblem?

Perpetuates exploitation of natural resources for wealth accumulation

Sustainable development too

anthropocentric

Privileges humans at the expense of other animals

Neglects dependency of humans on entire ecosystem

Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops, which supply about 90 percent of the world's nutrition, are pollinated by bees

Greenpeace

http://www.vanishingbees.com/

fundamental conflict between rising demand and

shrinking resources... Sustainable development

is… yoking together two ideas that may be

irreconcilable: our established notions of

development and our emergent awareness of

sustainability

KC Bell, 2013 “

We need to develop sustainability, not sustainable development“

KC Bell, 2013

persistent prioritization of national

gains/losses condemns us

to extinction?

Int. institutions

and rules but prioritizing

market incentives

creates inherent

contradiction?

Problems stem from

exploitation and

dependency – anything

new or useful to

say?

Emphasises battle of

ideas as key issue, and

role of epistemic

dominance

Real. Lib. Marx. Constr.