Title: GEOG 4330 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PUAD 6806 POLICY DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
1GEOG 4330 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTPUAD
6806POLICY DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURES
- Michael D. Lee Ph.D.
- Dept. Geography Environmental Studies
2CLASS 1Introduction Sustainable Development
Oxymoron or attainable goal?
- Michael D. Lee Ph.D.
- Dept. Geography Environmental Studies
3Envisioning Sustainability
- A useful exercise in preparing oneself to address
the issue of sustainability and sustainable
development is to envision alternative ways of
meeting the same human needs and desires. - Conjuring images of good and bad ways of
carrying out our everyday lives provides food for
thought and allows for discussion to develop on
how and why we do the things we do. - The implications of our decisions become apparent
as we realize we have alternatives and can begin
to see their implications in terms of relative
resource use, environmental damage, costs to
others, and so forth.
4What to drive to work or school?
SUVs? (Ford Excursion)
EVs/Hybrids? (Ford Prodigy)
5If to drive to work or school?
Personal Passenger Vehicles?
Mass Transit?
6How to power the way we live?
Nonrenewable energy?
Renewable energy?
7What to do with the things weve used?
Landfills?
Recycling?
8How to feed ourselves each day?
Meat eaters?
Vegetarians?
9How to grow the food we eat?
Pesticides?
Biological Control?
10How to treat the air we breathe?
Or Amazed?
Will we be hazed?
11How to treat other species and their habitats?
Deforestation?
Preservation?
12Unsustainability a global concern
PERSONAL
CITIES
GLOBAL
- Fossil Fuels
- Demand for
- Wood
- Food Supply
- Atmospheric Pollution
- Traffic congestion
- Urban Sprawl
- Household Waste
- Debt
- Commuting
- High Stress
13Some global symptoms
Oil is running out are we prepared?
More trees are cut than are replanted each year.
Farmland is replaced by housing and degraded.
Pollution exceeds
safe assimilative levels.
14Unsustainability a community concern
PERSONAL
CITIES
GLOBAL
- Fossil Fuels
- Demand for
- Wood
- Food Supply
- Atmospheric Pollution
- Traffic congestion
- Urban Sprawl
- Household Waste
- Debt
- Commuting
- High Stress
15Some community symptoms
Traffic congestion makes average speeds on
freeways 10-20 mph in rush hours.
Sprawl brings dislocation, lost productivity,
stress, wasted resources, etc.
High waste production closes landfills and wastes
valuable resources.
16Unsustainability a personal issue
PERSONAL
CITIES
GLOBAL
- Fossil Fuels
- Demand for
- Wood
- Food Supply
- Atmospheric Pollution
- Housing Shortages
- Urban Sprawl
- Household Waste
- Debt
- Commuting
- High Stress
17Some personal symptoms
We waste hours stuck in traffic
We live out our dreams on credit
Is it a surprise that we suffer so much stress?
18The Brundtland report
- There are thresholds which cannot be crossed
without endangering the basic integrity of the
system. Today we are close to many of these
thresholds we must be ever mindful of
endangering the survival of life on earth (WCED
1987, p32-3).
19The World Resources Institute
- The world is not now headed toward a sustainable
future, but rather toward a variety of potential
human and environmental disasters (WRI 1992, 2).
20The Worldwatch Institute
- 'If we fail to convert our self-destructing
economy into one that is environmentally
sustainable, future generations will be
overwhelmed by environmental degradation and
social disintegration' (Brown et al. 1993, 21).
21Oxymoron or obtainable objective?
- A figure of speech in which opposed terms are
combined illogically and incorrectly. - Sustainable - able to be continued, kept up,
prolonged - from sustain "to cause to continue
(as in existence or a certain state, or in force
or intensity) to keep up, especially without
interruption to prolong." - Development - the act of developing or the state
of being developed - from develop "to bring out
the capabilities or possibilities of, to bring to
a more advanced or effective state."
22Literal Interpretations
- Oxymoron? - Being able to continually, and
without interruption, keep up or prolong the
progress of the development of human society to
increasingly higher or more complex levels. - Achievable Goal? - Being able to continually, and
without interruption or diminution, maintain or
prolong the state of being developed.
23Population change and consumption
24Defining Sustainable Development
- There are literally hundreds of different
definitions but all usually have something to do
with - Living within limits
- Understanding the interconnections among economy,
society, and environment - Equitable distribution of resources and
opportunities
25Interrelationships
Traditional Perspective
Integrative or Triple-Bottom Line Perspective
Envirocentric Perspective
26The Most Quoted Definition
- "Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs." Brundtland Report, 1987. - Key concepts - meeting everyones needs,
remaining within natural resource limits,
inter-generational equity.
27Some Key SD Milestones
- Silent Spring (Rachel Carson, 1962)
- Club of Rome - Limits to Growth Report (Meadows
et al 1972) - UN Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm
1972 - Stockholm Principles - World Commission on Environment and Development -
Brundtland Report (Our Common Future, 1987) - UN Conference on Environment and Development -
Agenda 21 (The Rio Earth Summit, 1992) - International Conference on Population and
Development, Cairo (1994) - UN Earth Summit 5 General Assembly (1997)
- Kyoto Conference on Global Climate Change (1997)
- UN Millenium Summit, New York (2000)
- UN Sustainable Development Summit (Rio10), South
Africa (2002)
28Achieving Sustainable Development
- Set goals of things to be sustained, i.e.
establish benchmark objectives. - Define indicators which relate to the achievement
or maintenance of those goals and which can be
measured to show how we are progressing. - Use those indicators to maintain or change
actions in an iterative fashion to correct any
losses of sustainability vis-a-vis the goals or
to upwardly or downwardly adjust the goals if
they appear inappropriate.
29Indicators variables v parameters
- In summary, a basic tool in sustainability
assessment, particularly when it comes to
environmental or natural resource issues,
requires comparing a sustainability
variable/indicator (e.g. global annual fish
catch) with a sustainability parameter (e.g.
maximum sustainable global fish yield). - If the variable is currently under the selected
parameter, things are still sustainable (Ps). - If the variable is increasing, the rate at which
unsustainability approaches is a function of the
difference between the variable and parameter
divided by the rate of increase. - If the trend in the variable is to decrease or
remain constant, then by definition, the future
situation (Fs) is one of sustainability (1 2). - If the variable is (PU) or will be in excess of
the parameter (Fu), efforts must be made to
reduce the variable to bring us back to a
sustainable situation (3 4).
30Sustainability Scenarios
Source of welfare (e.g. CA rock fish catch)
Fu
Pu
3
Parameter
Ps
4
Fs
1
2
Past
Present
Future
Time
31Results of Unsustainability
Source of welfare (e.g. CA rock fish catch)
Fu
Lag in policy response
Parameter (e.g. max sustainable yield per year)
Fs
Ps
Decline in productivity
Policy response (e.g. strict quotas)
Decline in welfare
Past
Present
Future
Time
32Indicator Characteristics (OECD)
- Must be relevant to policy/taking actions
- must be easy to interpret
- must show trends over time
- must be responsive to changes in driving forces
- must have threshold or reference values against
which progress can be measured. - Must be analytically sound i.e. clearly
articulate the goal of sustainable development. - Must be measurable (at reasonable cost)
33Literature referenced in presentation
- WCED 1987. Our Common Future. Oxford University
Press, New York. - WRI 1992. World Resources 1991-92. Oxford
University Press. - Brown L. et al 1993. State of the World. World
Watch Institute. - Atkinson G. et al 1997. Measuring Sustainable
Development. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.