6. Indirect and direct drivers (IPAT)

Question 1

What is the IPAT equation?

Answer 1

Environmental impact = Population x Affluence * Technology

Question 2

Name two shortcomings of IPAT

Answer 2

• Environmental impact is too vague
• Ignores issues of equity
• Doesn’t account for feedback loops that accelerate feedback
• Too simplistic for a complex problem
• Interlinkages between P, A, T call for other equation -> I =f(P,A,T)
• Ignores governance context of countries
• Incomplete: no Behavior

Question 3

Describe the Malthus versus Boserup debate

Answer 3

• Malthusian Theory: classical and pessimistic thinker: “If food increases, population increases and will overshoot food supply, we have more people than we can feed, and people will die. This will result in war, famine and starvation.”
• Boserupian Theory: “Whenever there is a scarcity ahead, society will respond with new innovation.”

Question 4

Describe the different stages of the demographic transition model

Answer 4

• Stage I: traditional agrarian society (both birth & death rates are high; slow population growth)
• Stage II: early industrialization (death rate falls due to improved health care; population growth accelerates)
• Stage III: industrialized society (birth rate falls to more closely parallel death rates; population growth slows)
• Stage IIII: service society (death rates coincide or exceed birth rates; population growth stagnates or turns negative)

Question 5

What is Milanovic’s elephant curve?

Answer 5

It shows that the extremely rich are getting richer.

Question 6

What is a perfect equitable Gini and what is perfectly inequitable?

Answer 6

Perfect equitable Gini = 0; perfectly inequatable = 100

Question 7

Why is the role of T hard to predict?

Answer 7

• Technologies may be not affordable
• Access to technology differs
• Adoption is not always imminent