Blackboard Reading: Economics In A Full World

Economics In A Full World

• a. growth is thought to be the solution to everything
• b. wealth “will” trickle down
• c. don’t try to “redistribute” wealth
• d. lower interest rates > new jobs
• e. rely on the Kuznets curve, pollution will decrease

Finite Biosphere

• a. the economy is a subsystem of a finite biosphere
• b. natural capital: fish, minerals, fossil fuels
• c. man made capital: roads, factories, appliances
• d. “uneconomic growth”: negative externalities are produced faster than goods
• e. humankind must make the transition to sustainable economy
• f. there are inherent biophysical limits of the global ecosystem
• g. an ecological catastrophe would sharply lower living standards
• h. mainstream/neoclassical economists consider sustainability to be a fad
• i. the biosphere is finite, non-growing, and a closed system
• j. subsystems such as an the economy

Lifetime

• a. in 67 years, the human population 3x
• b. total energy used has increased per person
• c. microeconomics: costs & benefits to different behaviors
• d. an ever-growing economy is unsustainable
• e. 1) GDP, 2) utility, 3) throughput, 4) natural capital, 5) total capital: natural + man-made capital
• f. GDP: development + growth
• g. well-being/satisfaction of wants isn’t measured by GDP
• h. low-entropy resources are taken from nature & made into high-entropy wastes
• i. man-made capital isn’t superior to natural capital
• j. strong sustainability: more boats won’t create more fish
• k. cap & trade: regulate the ability
• l. free markets is incompatible with sustainability
• m. higher taxes needed for Social Security
• n. need more durable products
• o. products need to be recycled @ the end of their lifespan
• p. the wealthy spend most of their $ on houses, cars, trips
• q. investment in a sustainable economy, for replacement & qualitative improvement, not speculation
• r. trade has to be regulated
• s. high incomes & luxuries should be taxed
• t. labor intensive industry, higher employment
• u. wealthy countries: more consumption is not increasing happiness
• v. need to think in terms of physical resources
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Blackboard Reading: The Future Of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment And Development In The Twenty-First Century,The World Conservation Union

The Future Of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment & Development In The Twenty-First Century,The World Conservation Union

a. the issue of sustainability in the 21st century
b. meeting the challenge of sustainability 
c. rethinking the “sustainability process”
d. the concept of sustainability became popular in 1969
e. it is possible to industrialize & have economic growth while minimizing environmental damage
f. sustainable development: meets the needs of the present while preserving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
g. combat 1) environmental degradation that comes with economic growth, 2) create growth to eliminate poverty
h. 1) environmental, 2) social, 3) economic sustainability
i. preservation of the environment > 1) for personal well-being, 2) for the common good
j. the “greening” of business must occur
k. paradox: 1) 21st century is said to be sustainable because a) business, b) government and c) civil society cooperate 
l. evidence that enterprise is 1) less sustainable
m. trade offs can be made: environmental, social, and economic goals
n. strong sustainability: few trade offs, weak sustainability: many tradeoffs
o. economy is emphasized over sustainability
p. the economy is a product of society
q. the environment creates society
r. the biosphere has a limited capacity to absorb pollutants & provide resources & services
s. capacity is close to limits in many places
t. development as usual is often said to be “sustainable.”
u. sustainability is an ethical concept
v. 1970, Club of Rome’s “Limits to Growth,”
w. 1) ecological processes, 2) life support systems, 3) genetic diversity, 4) sustainable utilization of species & ecosystems
1. consumption of living resources as raw material & sinks for waste is high & growing
2. level of poverty is high & inequality is growing
3. degradation of ecosystem services > hurts poor people
4. half of urban pop. in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean have diseases associated with inadequate water & sanitation
5. per capita fish consumption declined between ’85 and ’97
6. desertification > affects the livelihoods of millions of people
7. human claim on nature has increased
8. development: 1) economic growth, 2) urbanization, 3) global industrialization
9. the 30 year model of conventional development is unsustainable
10. China: massive increase in consumption of 1) grain, 2) meat, 3) steel, 4) oil, 5) timber
11. the earth is @ a tipping point
12. the model is applauded by the global media as desirable 
13. we can’t consume without limits
14. demand for 1) low fuel prices, 2) high material & energy consumption, 3) ignorance of the social & environmental conditions under which global products are created
15. environmentalist challenges to business are outside of the mainstream 
16. economies are highly integrated now
17. fears of 1) security, 2) cultural change, 3) political threat
18. climate change > sea change & extreme events
19. difficulty of poverty 
20. technology: 1) social, 2) environmental, 3) economic, 4) health consequences. 
21. nuclear fission can change governance 
22. critical natural capital takes a long time to replace
23. numerous hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, flooding, and famine in 2005 and 2006
24. the problem of peak oil
25. “The idea that there is always somewhere to absorb externalities is flawed, and it is a myth of progress that living systems always recover from human demands”
26. biodiversity needs to be preserved
27. pollution of lakes > extinction of species
28. the biosphere is not infinite
29. human wellbeing is not necessarily measured in material goods extracted from nature
30. there is a link between human wellbeing & security
31. a) human health, b) security, c) solidarity must be protected
32. have to meet human needs now & in the future

A New Economy
a. a market is a human institution
b. markets can change the environment
c. markets can exist out of regulatory powers
d. markets can preserve environmental services
e. markets can preserve biological diversity
f. need to transition to a low-carbon economy
g. economy must reflect 1) industrial, 2) economic, 3) and social processes
h. an economy of services instead of objects
i. need less value based on waste
j. engage the 1) imagination, 2) vision, 3) passion, and 4) emotion
k. happiness, freedom, fulfilment, diversity of options vs. jobs, income, wealth, possessions, consumption, power
l. environmental limits, difficult to address politically
m. consumption: positive change or global degradation?
n. environmentalism promising “hell to come” is not the right vision
o. fossil fuel, automobile throw away > 1) reuse, 2) recycle, 3) new energy
p. 1) non-media mass communication, 2) search engines can formulate/disseminate new paradigms
q. 1) businesses, 2) governments, 3) environmental development organizations, 4) civil society groups, 5) religious groups must act
r. taxation of businesses
s. social enterprise can be a vehicle for positive change
t. businesses need 1) governmental regulation, 2) financial incentives
u. citizens: decisions as consumers
v. challenges demand vision & boldness

Blackboard Reading, The Conundrum Of Urban Sustainability, William E. Rees

The Conundrum Of Urban Sustainability, William E. Rees
a. the majority of mankind will be living in cities
b. most of the human environment will be “built environment.”
c. human beings are dependent on the environment
d. cities are major drivers of global ecological change
e. sustainable cities > required for sustainable rural communities
f. cities are the problem & key to “global sustainability”
g. transition to a higher plane of civilization?
h. rural: inferior peasant culture?
i. city: 1) engine of economic growth, 2) seat of government, 3) center of culture, 4) wellspring of new knowledge, 5) repository of cumulative learning
j. urbanization > human ecological transformation > 1) dramatic in spatial relationship of human populations to the land, 2) humans are materially dependent on the land & biophysical services of the land
k. paradox: 1) distance humans physically/psychologically from the ecosystems that support them, 2) low incentive to conserve local ecological resources, 3) agricultural land near sprawling cities is lost to food production, 4) dependence on imports > low awareness of ecological & social consequences of the production process, 5) social pressures & high income increases the propensity & capacity of urbanites to consume, 6) urbanization can speed up the loss of local & global carrying capacity
m. conundrum: 1) urbanites lose direct connection to nature, 2) cities require more food, more material commodities, more energy, 3) processing & consumption of resources returns a lot of degraded/toxic waste back to the environment with a high cost on local ecosystems and global ecosystems, 5) modern cities draw on global resources and dump their garbage globally 

 Upping The Urban Ante
a. world is 50% urban
b. world’s population increased 200M to 2B
c. 1.1% of the 1950 level was added each year
d. 1990s: rate of urbanization increased
e. world’s urban pop. grew 50%
f. 2025: 5.1B will live in cities, up 70% from beginning of 1st quarter of the century
g. there are more cities
h. cities are getting bigger
i. By 2015, 23 of 27 cities will be 10M or more
j. 1990s: 25% of urban dwellers didn’t have proper water, 50% didn’t have proper sewage
k. millions of dwelling units, stores, offices, schools, hospitals, water treatment, waste treatment, roads, parking facilities, transportation, communications, urban infrastructure is required

Cities & Sustainability
a. can we become sustainable the way cities are growing?
b. the economies of scale & agglomeration economies of the city might enhance the future of humanity 
c. human use already exceeds global carrying capacity
d. more prosperous nations have been ignored on the sustainability hook
e. 80% of populations in high income countries live in cities
f. high income cities: heavy burdens on nature
g. the wealthiest 25% of humans consume 80% of the world’s economic output
h. 64% of world’s production/consumption/pollution is associated with rich countries

Blackboard Reading, Green & Brown Agenda Briefing Paper Series On Urban Environmental Improvement & Poverty Reduction

Green & Brown Agenda Briefing Paper Series On Urban Environmental Improvement & Poverty Reduction 

a. there are often conflicts between advocates of the “Green Agenda” and the “Brown Agenda”
b. Green Agenda: 1) reduce the impact of urban based production, 2) decrease consumption and waste generation 
c. Brown agenda: 1) need to reduce the environmental threats to health that arise from poor sanitary conditions, crowding, inadequate water provision, hazardous air & water pollution & local accumulation of solid waste

The Two Agendas:
a. Brown: 1) sanitary agenda of the 1800s, 2) short term environmental effects, 3) more local & immediate issues, 4) associated with poverty
b. Green: 1) sustainability revolution, 2) desire to reach a better balance with nature, concerned with, 3) long term environmental effects, 4) more dispersed/delayed issued, 5) issues will effect future generations, 6) associated with affluence

Conflicting agendas: helping the poor vs. protecting the future
a. problem: water shortage, short term solution: use far-off water supply
b. local air pollution, short term: higher stacks, more distant oil/coal power stations
c. local solid waste problem, short term: dumping waste outside urban area
d. problem land shortage, short term: promote urban sprawl
e. problem: sanitation, short term: use vast quantities of water
f. people have the right to have their basic needs met!

Complementary agendas: helping the poor & protecting the future
a. concern with complex & unintended side effects of human activity
b. Brown: immediate
c. Green: delayed
d. prevention is the best cure
e. concern with equity
f. need to make water affordable, subsidize it, have systems that don’t leak
g. the poor are deprived of environmental resources

Brown v. Green
a. human health vs. ecosystem health
b. immediate vs. delayed
c. local vs. regional and global
d. low income groups vs. future generations
e. manipulate nature to serve human needs vs. protect & work with nature
f. work with people vs. educate people
g. provide more environmental services vs. use less environmental services
h. inadequate access & poor quality of water vs. overuse of water, need to protect water sources
i. high human exposure to hazardous pollutants in air vs. acid precipitation & greenhouse gas emissions
j. inadequate provision for collection & removal of solid waste vs. excessive generation, need for recycling 
k. inadequate access of land for low income groups vs. loss of natural habitats and agricultural land to urban development
l. inadequate provision for safely removing poop and waste water from living environment vs. loss of nutrients in sewage & damage to water bodies from sewage released into waterways
m. urbanist vs. environmentalist

1. more careful & equitable use of environmental resources > 1) better environmental services, 2) less ecological damage
2. recycling of waste > 1) remove waste from urban neighborhoods (B) while reducing damage to natural resources (G)
3. preservation of urban wetlands (G) can improve sanitation (B)
4. the Northern Green agenda may not be appropriate for Southern cities

The importance of assisting locally-driven initiatives
a. cities that can address their own local environmental problems efficiently and fairly are more likely to respond to the G & B agenda
b. local environmental issues have to be given prominence
c. Leicester’s environmental city initiative
d. Stockholm: city with good environmental management history
e. far more justification for tackling local environmental issues in the South

Conclusion 
a. it is a major challenge to finance initiatives for the B & G agenda
b. priority: locally driven environmental initiatives in poor communities
c. governance is important