Change,
Conflict
and Crisis
4
environment & development
E 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
Definitions
1
Change and the 70s
2
Crisis now
3
Definitions
1
What are we
talking about?
T h e
E 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
“
GDP, GNP, PCI
Or…
HDIHuman Development Index
Change and the 70s
2
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 r
a
r
e
brundtland Report
1987
d e v e l o p m e n t
s 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
encompass
Must
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 system
G r e a t e r t h a n
Engages…
large corporations
transnational networks
Global institutions
environment
added
to
security
agenda
Crisis now
3
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 tensions
4
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
technicalor
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 ment
s 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.

Lecture 20 change conflict crisis 4 environment and development