1. Sustainable Development Flashcards
What are the SDGS? Define them
SDGs are 17 qualitative Sustainable Development Goals set out by the UN. They aim at ensuring prosperity and sustainability. The UN set these out through a consultation process, and they elaborated the goals through different targets. The SDGs are the successors of the MDGs.
How do the SDGs differ from past global governance efforts? (Name two)
- All countries are seen as developing countries
- Specifically global, not just on developing countries such as the MDGs
- They are not legally binding in treaties, while MDGs were
What are the main governance characteristics of the SDGs?
- Not legally binding, have no ‘teeth’ cannot ‘bite’
- National/country specific interpretations and indicators are needed
- Global inclusive goal setting
What are three pros of the SDGs?
- Awareness raising
- Reflect concrete problems back to us
- Inclusive: SDGs make no difference about development level
- Bottom-up approach
What are three cons of the SDGs?
- Legally non-binding
- Vague
- Weak institutional arrangements
- Ignores power relations
- Impossibility to maximise all the goals
- Stakeholder oriented and leeway for national choice and preferences
- Quantitative: hard to monitor progress
- No mention of climate justice or environmental justice
What is needed for the SDGs in order to succeed? Name three things.
- An increasing formalization of commitments
- All countries need to stick to the SDGs
- Agreement on the meaning of “sustainable development”
- Need a way to measure genuine progress through indicators
When was the term “development” first coined in an international context and by whom?
- The first use of the word “development” in an international context was by US president Truman during inaugural speech.
- In his rhetoric about ramping up industrial production in order to kick off globalization, critically viewed, he equated “development” with “capitalism”.
- Thus, in the US, development had an economic incentive.
What are the two historical development eras after WW2 in the west?
- 1944 - 1978: Keynesianism: Capitalism but with a strong role for government and state. This was the paradigm in the west and ended with the Cold War.
- 1978 - now: Neoliberalism: Was kicked off by Reagan in the US and Thatcher in the UK. It let private actors free and reduced taxing to let the economic activity run its course.
Name three characteristics of MSD
- It does not challenge the dominant capitalist industrialized model.
- It does not get to the root of climate change, which are CO2 emissions.
- The focus is on the market to achieve sustainability.
- MSD rejects the idea that there are environmental limits to growth.
- It puts on emphasis on technology and innovation, which needs to save us.
- There is an assumption that poverty can avoid environmental destruction.
- Presents the market as a solution rather than the problem
Name five countertendencies of MSD
- Ecosocialism
- Ecoanarchism
- Deep ecology
- Eco-feminism
- Political ecology
- Decoloniality
- Degrowth
Name three characteristics of ecosocialism
- It is based on Marxist thought
- Ecosocialism holds the strong notion that in capitalism, those in control profit at the expense of others.
- Ecosocialism sees environmental racism as a by-product of capitalism
- In his work, Marx does mention the instrumental values of nature. There is more Marx in environmental though than might at first appear. Marx suggests that in various ways, the capitalist system is unsustainable.
What does eco-feminism seek to highlight?
- Eco-feminism highlights the double subjugation of women and nature by the patriarchy.
- The coercive relations between humans and non-human nature are the result of a gendered process of exploitation.
- The structured oppression of women by men is reflected in imperialism and capitalism.
When was the term Sustainable Development first coined?
The term SD was first coined in 1980 by the IUCN and then in 1987 in the Brundtland Report. (Adams, 2009)
What was the reason that Imperial Britian in the 1900s embraced ecological science?
The idea was that science could be used to serve the imperial commerce. Science had strong links with agriculture, fisheries, disease, population, anthropology, and so on. (Adams, 2009)
What is the main point made by Adams (2009) in chapter 2: sustainable development?
Adams argues that environmental thinking as been happening in the west for a long time, and from the 1900s, people, organizations and governments became increasingly aware of the environmental limits of the world. In order to control these limits, sustainable development became a policy agenda. (Adams, 2009)
