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This study was presented during the conference “Production and Carbon Dynamics in Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Systems in Africa” held in September, 2010.
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Sustainable Development & Agriculture: Historical Underpinnings and Carbon’s Emergent Role
Melinda Sundell and Amy S. Willis, SIANI
ABSTRACT
Managing the natural environment in order to improve human well-being has been an ever-present task. Over time, the ideas of sustainable development and sustainable agriculturehave been molded and adapted to the changing needs of a growing, dynamic, andincreasingly industrializing society. Taking a close look at what has moved the discussionforward, and how climate change concerns have caused carbon to enter the sustainabledevelopment and agriculture discourse, provides a conceptual framework for howenvironmental policy is likely to implement sustainability-focused change in the comingdecades. As carbon sequestration is discussed more frequently, the myriad of benefitssurrounding carbon sequestration as a part of sustainable agriculture methodology isrevealed. In many respects, carbon sequestration simultaneously addresses climate change,food security, and natural resource concerns. In turn, already-existing sustainable agriculturetechniques can enhance carbon sequestration.If the positive outcomes from sustainable agriculture’s use of carbon sequestration areoutlined and if these pressing issues of climate change, hunger, and resource use are framedeffectively, policymakers and those in the environmental arena will have the impetus to takeaction more capably than ever.
The Sustainable Development Discourse
In essence, sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development; and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations
“
”
- Brundtland Report1987
Events in Sustainable Development300 BC: Aristotle Recognizes a tragedy of commons-type problem and the need to conserve resources
1700s: a reaction against mercantilism fuels activity within sustainable development discourse
1800s: concerns surrounding population growth begin to mount
1972: UN Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment
1987: Publication of the Brundtland Report by the World Commission on Environment & Development
1992: UN Conference on Environment & Development and Agenda 21
2000: Adoption of Millennium Development Goals
2001: Kyoto Protocol negotiations and signing
2002: Earth Summit in Johannesburg
Environmental Justice
Origins of the environmental
justice movement,
United States 1987
How has environmental justice changed
over time, global North South dichotomy
Framing current issues through environmental
justice
A History of Sustainable Agriculture
Research from thinkers such as Leibig,
Boussingault, Darwin and Mendel set foundation for
science in sustainable agriculture
20th Century industrialization spurs backlashes
of sustainable agriculture
research and movements
The Green Revolution, Silent
Spring, and the evolution of modern
sustainable agriculture
Events in Sustainable Agriculture
The Green Revolution
Norman Borlaug in Mexico: the “quiet” wheat revolution
Application of principles to rice crops in India
Expansion and success in China, Pakistan, and the Philippines
Since The Green Revolution
• 1970s: a number of events set the stage for the Alternative Agriculture movement
• Permaculture sustainability movement and philosophy
• 1980s: re-emergence of hunger issues and weaknesses of the Green Revolution
• 1990s: attempting to solve environmental problems with technology and quantitative models
Climate Change and Carbon:Global Threats Re-frame the
Discourse
Evo
lutio
n of
Clim
ate
Cha
nge
Ana
lysi
s
Human-caused micro-climate concerns for centuries
Svante Arrhenius
20th Century studies and entrance into international policy arena
Car
bon
Seq
uest
ratio
n
WMO pollutant monitoring project
IPCC Second Assessment Report
Kyoto Protocol
Car
bon
Mar
kets
Market environmentalism
North-South debate
Weaknesses of a climate change strategy based on carbon markets
Carbon, Climate Change, and Hunger
Looking through the Lens of Carbon:
Climate-Agriculture Interactions
Carbon Emissions from Farm Operations
On-Site Functions of the Soil Organic Carbon Pool
Off-Site Functions of the Soil Organic Carbon Pool
“Why…is a human-made phenomenon likeglobal warming – which may kill hundreds ofmillions of human beings over the next century– considered ‘environmental’? Why arepoverty and war not considered environmentalproblems while global warming is? What arethe implications of framing global warming asan environmental problem – and handing offthe responsibility for dealing with it to‘environmentalists’?”
- consultants Michael Shellenbergerand Ted Nordhaus
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