Global sustainability; Lecture notes
Lecture 1
Introduction
Thomas Malthus
An essay on the principle of population (17898)
- Population grows geometrically (Pt+1 = aPt)
- Food production grows arithmetically (Ft+1 = Tt + β)
Malthusian catastrophe
Two solutions;
- Less births (abstinence)
- More (or earlier) deaths
Neo Malthusianism;
- Modern re-interpretation, emphasizing birth control
William Jevons
The coal questions; an inquiry concerning the progress of the nation, and the probable exhaustion of our
coal mines.
Jevons paradox;
- More efficient reuse use does not lead to less but to more use.
- Extreme case of the rebound effect;
- Part of the efficiency improvement is lost.
Rachel Carson
Silent spring (1962); pesticides have a detrimental effect on the environment.
- Highly influential, a.o a ban on DDT - strongly contested by chemical industry
Kenneth Boulding
The economics of the coming spaceship earth (1966)
- The earth is a closed system, like a spaceship, we are restricted by what is on board.
Contrast;
- The cowboy economy (symbolic of the illimitable plains and also associated with reckless,
explosive, romantic, and violent behavior, which is characteristic of open societies).
- The spaceman economy (earth has become a single spaceship without unlimited reservoirs of
anything, either for extraction or for pollution, and in which. Therefore, man must find his place
in a cyclical ecological system which is capable of continuous reproduction of material form even
though it cannot escape having inputs of energy).
,Garrett Hardin
The tragedy of the commons (1968)
- Open access to unregulated resources tends to be overexploited.
- E.g.;
- Common lands (meadows)
- Forests
- Reivers
- Wildlife
- Clean air
The Club of Rome
The limits to growth (1972)
- The malthusian theme;
- Exponential growth of population
- Finite supply of resources
- But also;
- Exponential growth of welfare
Nicolas Georgecu-Roegen
The entropy law and the economic process (1971)
- Natural resources are irreversibly degraded when used for economic activity
- Entropy;
- A scientific measure of disorder
- In a closed system, entropy increases
- Second law of thermodynamics
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Clz8DQvIk
The earth's biosphere
Solar energy => (natural resources) energy, materials -> The economic system -> (waste assimilation)
degraded energy, degraded materials^ (recycled materials) => grade thermal energy.
Robert Ayres
The economy and the environment. A materials balance approach (1970)
Materials balance;
- in=out (in the long run)
- For every activity
- but also economy wide
The Brundtland report
Our common future (1987)
- The UN world commission on environment and development
chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland
- Sustainable development;
, - Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
- Economic development within environmental constraints.
United nations environment programme (1972)
- UNEPs mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without
comprising that of future generations.
- Important activities include;
- Millennium development goals (8) (2000-15)
- Sustainable development goals (17) (2015-2030)
John Elkington
Cannibals with forks (1994)
- Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?
- Companies can adopt sustainable capitalism
- Triple bottom line;
- Profit (financial)
- People (social)
- Planet (ecological)
Joan Rockstrom et al.
Planetary boundaries (2009)
- A safe operating space for humanity
9 earth system processes;
- Climate change
- Biodiversity loss
- Nitrogen cycle/phosphorus
- Ocean acidification
- Land use
- Fresh water
- Ozone depletion
- Atmospheric aerosols
- Chemical pollution
Kate Raworth
Doughnut economics (2017)
- Combining planetary and socio-economic boundaries.
- The ecological ceiling
- The social foundation
Trends;
- Increased economic growth in all continents
- Increased population
- Increased carbon dioxide and temperature
, - Increased energy use
- Increased container shipping
Environmental problems
Casual chains;
- One way to organize the interactions between society and the environment.
- Generally accepted
- Based on PSR by the OECD (organization for economic cooperation and development)
- Modified and adopted by the EEA (European environment Agency)
- DPSIR
- Driving forces (e.g. transportation)
- Pressures (emissions)
- States (air quality)
- Impacts (illness)
- Responses (regulation
Climate change
- Referred to as global warming/ enhanced greenhouse effect
- Consequences;
- Constant inflow of solar energy
- Decreased outflow of heat
- Resulting increased temperature
Climate change consequences;
- Heat waves/high temps
- Melting of ice caps and glaciers
- Rise of sea level
- Change of vegetation patterns
- Loss of habitat
- Change of gulf stream
- Forest fires
- Wider spread of malaria and other diseases
Positive consequences;
- Increased agricultural production
- Agriculture in Siberia
- Arctic sea navigable
The economics of climate change - the stern review 2006
Main conclusions;
- Climate change is the biggest market failure ever
- Strong early action is much cheaper than doing nothing
- Tremendous opportunities for business
Ocean acidification;
Lecture 1
Introduction
Thomas Malthus
An essay on the principle of population (17898)
- Population grows geometrically (Pt+1 = aPt)
- Food production grows arithmetically (Ft+1 = Tt + β)
Malthusian catastrophe
Two solutions;
- Less births (abstinence)
- More (or earlier) deaths
Neo Malthusianism;
- Modern re-interpretation, emphasizing birth control
William Jevons
The coal questions; an inquiry concerning the progress of the nation, and the probable exhaustion of our
coal mines.
Jevons paradox;
- More efficient reuse use does not lead to less but to more use.
- Extreme case of the rebound effect;
- Part of the efficiency improvement is lost.
Rachel Carson
Silent spring (1962); pesticides have a detrimental effect on the environment.
- Highly influential, a.o a ban on DDT - strongly contested by chemical industry
Kenneth Boulding
The economics of the coming spaceship earth (1966)
- The earth is a closed system, like a spaceship, we are restricted by what is on board.
Contrast;
- The cowboy economy (symbolic of the illimitable plains and also associated with reckless,
explosive, romantic, and violent behavior, which is characteristic of open societies).
- The spaceman economy (earth has become a single spaceship without unlimited reservoirs of
anything, either for extraction or for pollution, and in which. Therefore, man must find his place
in a cyclical ecological system which is capable of continuous reproduction of material form even
though it cannot escape having inputs of energy).
,Garrett Hardin
The tragedy of the commons (1968)
- Open access to unregulated resources tends to be overexploited.
- E.g.;
- Common lands (meadows)
- Forests
- Reivers
- Wildlife
- Clean air
The Club of Rome
The limits to growth (1972)
- The malthusian theme;
- Exponential growth of population
- Finite supply of resources
- But also;
- Exponential growth of welfare
Nicolas Georgecu-Roegen
The entropy law and the economic process (1971)
- Natural resources are irreversibly degraded when used for economic activity
- Entropy;
- A scientific measure of disorder
- In a closed system, entropy increases
- Second law of thermodynamics
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Clz8DQvIk
The earth's biosphere
Solar energy => (natural resources) energy, materials -> The economic system -> (waste assimilation)
degraded energy, degraded materials^ (recycled materials) => grade thermal energy.
Robert Ayres
The economy and the environment. A materials balance approach (1970)
Materials balance;
- in=out (in the long run)
- For every activity
- but also economy wide
The Brundtland report
Our common future (1987)
- The UN world commission on environment and development
chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland
- Sustainable development;
, - Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
- Economic development within environmental constraints.
United nations environment programme (1972)
- UNEPs mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without
comprising that of future generations.
- Important activities include;
- Millennium development goals (8) (2000-15)
- Sustainable development goals (17) (2015-2030)
John Elkington
Cannibals with forks (1994)
- Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?
- Companies can adopt sustainable capitalism
- Triple bottom line;
- Profit (financial)
- People (social)
- Planet (ecological)
Joan Rockstrom et al.
Planetary boundaries (2009)
- A safe operating space for humanity
9 earth system processes;
- Climate change
- Biodiversity loss
- Nitrogen cycle/phosphorus
- Ocean acidification
- Land use
- Fresh water
- Ozone depletion
- Atmospheric aerosols
- Chemical pollution
Kate Raworth
Doughnut economics (2017)
- Combining planetary and socio-economic boundaries.
- The ecological ceiling
- The social foundation
Trends;
- Increased economic growth in all continents
- Increased population
- Increased carbon dioxide and temperature
, - Increased energy use
- Increased container shipping
Environmental problems
Casual chains;
- One way to organize the interactions between society and the environment.
- Generally accepted
- Based on PSR by the OECD (organization for economic cooperation and development)
- Modified and adopted by the EEA (European environment Agency)
- DPSIR
- Driving forces (e.g. transportation)
- Pressures (emissions)
- States (air quality)
- Impacts (illness)
- Responses (regulation
Climate change
- Referred to as global warming/ enhanced greenhouse effect
- Consequences;
- Constant inflow of solar energy
- Decreased outflow of heat
- Resulting increased temperature
Climate change consequences;
- Heat waves/high temps
- Melting of ice caps and glaciers
- Rise of sea level
- Change of vegetation patterns
- Loss of habitat
- Change of gulf stream
- Forest fires
- Wider spread of malaria and other diseases
Positive consequences;
- Increased agricultural production
- Agriculture in Siberia
- Arctic sea navigable
The economics of climate change - the stern review 2006
Main conclusions;
- Climate change is the biggest market failure ever
- Strong early action is much cheaper than doing nothing
- Tremendous opportunities for business
Ocean acidification;
