3.3 Resource stewardship possibilities Flashcards
What is resource stewardship?
An approach to resource management which views humans as ‘caretakers’ of the natural world.
What is overpopulation?
-A state of imbalance where there are too many people relative to the resources a nation processes.
-The resulting unemployment and insecurity threaten everyone’s quality of life.
What is underpopulation?
A state of imbalance where there are too few people relative to the resources a nation processes to make effective use of them, lowering the quality of life for al as a result.
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum number of people an area of land can support with current levels of technology.
What is resource consumption and what factors affect it?
-The level of use a society makes of resources available to it.
-Economic development and changing lifestyles and aspirations usually result in accelerated consumption of resources.
Describe a balanced viewpoint on population - resource stewardship
-Population growth can be managed with sensible conservation strategies for natural resources.
-Good governance is essential for resource stewardship.
-For example -Carbon capture, improved solar power.
-Stewardship approach combines conservation & preservation strategies. It sees humans becoming the ‘caretaker’ of the natural world.
-Conservation – efficient & non-wasteful use of natural resources, so we do not deprive our descendants.
-Preservation – views nature & wilderness as something best left apart from human commerce – National Parks & ‘re-wilding’ strategies.
Give examples of resource stewardship
-Managing marine ecosystems
-Global actions – UN’s World Oceans Day, UN’s FAO designates (MPAs) Marine protected areas.
-Regional actions – EU Common Fisheries policy – catch limits and quotas to preserve the stock.
-Local actions – Community living on the Island of Arran lobbied the Scottish government to designate local waters around the island as ‘no-take zone’.
-Citizen – UK’s Fish Fight campaign – educate public about sustainability issues or Surfers Against Sewage…
Give examples of people/groups with pessimistic views about population and resource consumption trends
-Thomas Malthus
-The Club of Rome
Describe Thomas Malthus’ viewpoint about population and resource consumption (pessimistic viewpoint)
-Malthus first observed in the late 18th century that population growth (geometric growth, x2 every 25yrs) was outstripping food production growth (arithmetic growth).
-He envisaged pessimistic outcomes, once the ‘overshoot’ had occurred.
-One where either the world took extreme measures to control population growth ‘negative’ (preventative) checks e.g. reduce fertility (One Child Policy in China) or alternatively we would face what he termed ‘positive checks’, thing like famine, war or disease, which would bring the population back to sustainable levels.
Describe The Club of Rome’s viewpoint about population and resource consumption (pessimistic viewpoint)
The Club of Rome was composed of eminent researchers, who used computer modeling to suggest that we face Malthusian disasters in regard to our current rates of resource consumption and that population growth, with its resource consumption (caused by rising wealth) will outstrip the availability and supply of resources that in turn will lead eventually lead to environmental collapse and economic shocks.
Give examples of people/groups with optimistic views about population and resource consumption trends
-Esther Boserup
-Bjorn Lomborg
Describe Esther Boserup’s viewpoint about population and resource consumption (optimistic viewpoint)
-Boserup proved an alternative optimistic perspective, whereby world governments will find a way when forced to make changes due to environmental and resource pressures.
-This idea sees necessity as the trigger for technology innovation.
-Population growth results in a greater number of inventive human minds.
Describe Bjorn Lomborg’s viewpoint about population and resource consumption (optimistic viewpoint)
-Lomborg, who leads the think tank Environmental Assessment Group and is a climate change skeptic, advocates an approach in line with Boserup.
-He suggests that we invest in long-term research and solution to environmental problems.
-He sees, like Boserup, that technology advanced when needed will make a difference.
-These ideas are also supported by Julian Simon who suggests resource problems will be solved by price and investment in technology solutions.
What are the developing resources that support Boserup’s viewpoint?
-Improved technology through the use of mechanization to increase yields of food.
-Substitution (renewable energy)
-Desalination
-Vertical farming
-Circular economy
-Second green revolution/GM.
Graph showing carrying capacity and overshoot
What is environmental stewardship?
-This involves a combination of different conservation (efficient & non-wasteful use of natural resources) and preservation strategies (aside from human commerce).
-It is a philosophy that sees humans become ‘caretakers’ of the natural world.
-There is an overlap here with the concept of sustainable development; as stewards, we care for the physical environment so that it can be inherited by successive generations, thereby delivering inter-generational equity.
What is sustainable development?
Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
What are global commons?
-Areas of the world that lie out of reach of any nation-state.
-The United Nations Environmental Programme state four global commons: oceans, atmosphere, Antarctica & outer space.
What is a circular economy?
An approach to business management and product design that maximises the efficiency of resource use, and aims ultimately to phase out waste and pollution altogether.
What is a reuse economy?
-Marginally better than the regular linear economy.
-The problem with this economy is that the materials in the original product were not originally intended to be reused so it is not very efficient (but it does help).
-For example, waste glass must be collected, broken, and re-smelted to release the materials to be made into something else.
-This consumes a lot of energy.
Diagram of the linear economy
Describe the Buddhist economic model - resource stewardship (check section about Bhutan)
-Capitalist economists emphasize the importance of maximizing profits and individual gains.
-In contrast, the underlying principle of Buddhist economics is tominimize suffering (losses)for all living or non-living things.
-Studies conducted by Buddhist economists show that human beings, show greater sensitivity to loss than to gains, and concluded that people should concentrate more on reducing losses.
-Furthermore, Buddhist economists argue that apart from the basic necessities like food, shelter, clothing, and medicines, other materialistic needs should be minimized.
-They state that wanting less will benefit the person, the community they live in, and nature overall.
- In Bhutan, they recognizefour key pillarsas a measure of Gross National Happiness. These aresustainable and equitable socio-economic development,environmental conservation,preservation and promotion of culture, andgood governance.
Describe how indigenous economies work
-Indigenous economies are based on ancient knowledge that comes from three intertwined features, namely:
1) Interactionwith nature
2) Respect for the land and environment that maintains asuccessful balancebetween use,maintaining habitatfor animals,andenvironmental stewardship
3) Social and economicequity
-It places a fundamental emphasis onthe protection of the environment.
-The philosophy is that indigenous peoples take care of the environment because it provides for them.
-This economic model hasconservation of the environmentas one enveloping function.
-It sees people within an ecosystem not outside it and reflects an interaction ofmutualismwithin the ecosystem.
Diagram of the circular economy
Diagram of the circular economy for clothing production
Picture of the 17 SDG goals
Picture fo the SDG “wedding cake”
