Addressing Contemporary Issues

Question 1

what have there been numerous attempts to do? but what is the problem?

Answer 1

there have been numerous attempts to cooperate globally to deal with breaches of human rights, end conflicts and reduce poverty, but cooperation and consensus still remain disappointingly elusive

the establishment of global environmental governance in the form of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has promoted a consensus on the existence of global warming and to some extent the scale of it

however, it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming

the various international conferences and the agreements reached at them highlight the obstacles in taking concerted action on climate change

Question 2

reasons why it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming

Answer 2

the divide between shallow and deep green ecologists

tragedy of the commons

competing interests of states

Question 3

reasons why it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming: DIVIDE BETWEEN SHALLOW AND DEEP GREEN ECOLOGISTS

Answer 3

one reason why it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming is that there is disagreement over whether to pursue gradual policies to discourage environmentally damaging behaviour or whether to take a more radical approach, which would risk lower levels of economic growth

shallow-green ecologists support sustainability (the capacity to endure) believing that sustainable development is possible and that economic growth is compatible with environmental protection

however, deep-green ecologists reject anthropocentrism (the prioritisation of human interests) in favour of an approach where nature takes priority

Question 4

reasons why it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming: TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

Answer 4

another reason is the ‘tragedy of the commons’

this is the idea that where resources are shared they will be misused or exhausted, making it near impossible to get states to agree to self-restraint in the exploitation of the Earth’s resources

Question 5

reasons why it has been difficult to reach agreement on how to mitigate global warming: COMPETING INTERESTS OF STATES

Answer 5

another reason is the competing interests of states, especially between the developed and developing worlds

some states may question why they should accept limitations on their emissions, which effectively limits their sovereignty, especially when the burden is not equally shared and others should take greater responsibility for the problem

however, there are problems with this in terms of deciding how the share of responsibility should be apportioned – should it be according to current development or consumption, or based on historical levels?

Question 6

COMPETING VIEWS ABOUT HOW TO TACKLE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES – shallow green ecology vs deep green ecology

what does shallow and deep green ecology refer to?

Answer 6

shallow-green (reformist) and deep-green (radical) ecology refer to two competing traditions in ecologism

ecologism is a political ideology that argues that nature is an interconnected whole, where humans, animals and plants share a self-regulating and mutually sustaining ecosystem

Question 7

what do shallow green ecologists aim to do? what do they recognise about environmental damage?

Answer 7

aim to reconcile the interests of humans with animals and plants, while still allowing for economic growth – within certain limits

they recognise that environmental damage will inevitably affect human prosperity, whether through the depletion of fossil-fuel reserves or through the effects of climate change, such as more frequent flooding or more severe storms

Question 8

how do shallow green ecologists suggest we should mitigate the damaging effects of over-consumption?

Answer 8

to mitigate these potentially damaging effects of over-consumption, humans can curtail activities that are damaging to the environment

this may involve some decline in living standards, or at least lower rates of economic growth

but shallow-greens believe that a balance can be struck between economic growth and environmental concerns – known as sustainable development

sustainable development meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 9

how do shallow green ecologists believe sustainable development can be achieved?

Answer 9

environmental costs can be factored into economic decisions, so that it is more costly and less profitable to engage in activities or practices that are damaging to the environment

examples are taxes on polluting practices or subsidies for the production of green energy

human ingenuity and innovation can be used to provide solutions to green problems, such as carbon capture and the development of drought-resistant crops

the development of international regimes, such as the UNFCC, and international regulatory bodies, such as the IPCC, to ensure all states play their part in protecting the environment

Question 10

what do deep green ecologists believe?

Answer 10

takes a more radical approach to the environment

reject the reformist shallow-green position of sustainable development, because they argue that economic growth has caused environmental damage

the capitalist desire for profit has not only led to the exploitation of workers, but also to the plundering of the environment

disagree with the shallow-greens’ anthropocentric approach, which puts human interests above animals and plants, instead arguing that nature is equal if not superior to human interests – an ecocentric approach

Question 11

how do deep green ecologists suggest we tackle climate change and environmental degradation?

Answer 11

their solutions to climate change and degradation involve a paradigm shift away from a capitalist economic system to a more sustainable, less materialistic economic system

they also advocate human population control as a way to minimise the human impact on the environment and promote wilderness and biodiversity

Question 12

key report concerning sustainable development

Answer 12

sustainable development gained currency through the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report, Our Common Future

this report aimed to show how economic growth and poverty reduction should be linked to environmental protection

Question 13

how did the Brundtland Commission Report define sustainable development?

Answer 13

defined sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’

Question 14

what did the Brundtland Commission Report recognise?

Answer 14

there is a recognition that current economic growth should be limited to ensure that resources would be available to future generations

it also recognised that there should be equity between the developed and developing world, ensuring that richer states would not plunder resources at the expense of poorer countries

Question 15

what is the significance of the Brundtland Commission Report?

Answer 15

sustainable development, as defined by the report, has exerted considerable influence on development theory and has been adopted by shallow-green ecologists to justify their reformist approach

the report, and the idea of sustainable development, paved the way for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit

Question 16

what is the tragedy of the commons?

Answer 16

a situation within a shared resource system where individual users acting independently and rationally according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting that resource

an economic theory about systems where resources are shared and not regulated

it explains that each individual will try to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource and as demand for the resource overwhelms the supply, every individual who consumes another unit will directly harm others who can no longer enjoy the same benefits

Question 17

what does the tragedy of the commons apply to?

Answer 17

today, this would apply to the seas and oceans, Antarctica, the atmosphere, the Moon and outer space

all of which do not fall under the sovereign jurisdiction of any state or authority, so are in danger of being exploited

Question 18

examples of tragedy of the commons

Answer 18

seas and oceans are warming and are being overfished

polar and glacial ice is melting

greenhouse gas levels have risen by almost 50% on pre-industrial levels

increasing amounts of satellite debris are orbiting the Earth

Question 19

what problem does the tragedy of the commons pose?

Answer 19

this poses a potentially insurmountable problem for policy-makers and environmentalists

there seems to be no incentive for individuals and states to modify their behaviour or accept restrictions on their freedom of action if they can gain all the benefits while others bear the cost

the world’s common resources – like its seas and atmosphere – cannot be privatised

Question 20

where did the concept of tragedy of the commons originate?

Answer 20

originated in the 1830s, when Victorian economist William Forster Lloyd looked at the example of common land, which tended to be overgrazed

individual herders wanted to increase the number of their livestock grazing on the land, even though that led to the number of livestock exceeding the carrying capacity of the land, which would ultimately lead to the loss of pasture – a tragedy for everyone

this tendency was driven by the fact that the positive benefit that each herder gained by adding one more animal (in meat, wool, leather or sale at market) always exceeded the negative impact on the quality of the pasture, which was small and shared by all herders

Question 21

how did the theory of tragedy of the commons become well known?

Answer 21

the theory only became well known through an essay published by Garrett Hardin in 1968, who likened the environment to a global commons (areas and resources that are shared but not regulated, they are unowned and consequently beyond national jurisdiction)

Question 22

what did Garrett Hardin argue?

Answer 22

he argued that the Earth has a limited carrying capacity for the size of the population and that the optimum carrying capacity had already been reached by the last quarter of the 20th century

any further increases in world population would bring about deterioration in the quality of the environment and human life

as the number of people increased, there would be increased pollution, degeneration of the quality of agricultural land, deforestation and a lowering of air and water quality

Hardin believed that to prevent this there should be limitations on world population growth (deep green ecology)

Question 23

what do some critics argue about tragedy of the commons?

Answer 23

some critics argue that the tragedy of the commons has been exaggerated

there are numerous examples of indigenous peoples, such as the Amazonian and North American Indians as well as the Bedouin and Mongolian Yak herders, who sustainably manage collective goods

Question 24

examples of successful environmental regulations

Answer 24

international regimes have had some success in forcing states to comply with environmental regulations…

• 1959 Antarctic Treaty
• 1987 Montreal Protocol

Question 25

1959 Antarctic Treaty

Answer 25

the 1959 Antarctic Treaty ensures that the Antarctic remains the last great wilderness

it prevents the continent being used for military purposes, the detonation of nuclear devices or the storage of radioactive waste, and only allowing access for scientific research

Question 26

1987 Montreal Protocol

Answer 26

the 1987 Montreal Protocol banned the production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which were depleting the ozone layer which is the part of the atmosphere that protects against the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation

a fund was established in 1990 to help the developing world find alternatives to CFCs and by 1996, developed countries had stopped producing these gases

Question 27

issues with national sovereignty: the USA rejecting Kyoto

Answer 27

President Bill Clinton signed the Koyoto protocol but it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification

It was clear that the Senate would not ratify Koyoto and in 2001 the incoming president George W Bush formally Renounced the protocol stating that it would harm the economy and that the USA would never sign it

President Bush’s key objection was that developing states were not being asked to do enough to combat climate change So it would be unfair for developed states to take all of the responsibility

ultimately the Koyoto protocol never included the worlds major polluter the USA being responsible for around 36% of global emissions at that point

This demonstrated that securing world leaders signatures on climate change treaties is one thing but getting states to ratify those treaties international law to ensure said treaties have legal affect is quite another

When the worlds largest polluting State decided not to ratify the Coto protocol it was dealt with significant blow if the biggest polluter had not signed up why should other less polluting states do so

Question 28

issue with national sovereignty and climate change denial: the Trump administration

Answer 28

In 2012 Donald Trump argued that China had invented the notion of climate change in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive

Foreign affairs warned that the reversal of climate change policy is under President Trump could bring about a global knock on affect pushing the world towards harsh nationalism and reducing international cooperation concerning the environment

Upon election Trump published and America first energy plan indicating that he would overturn President Obama’s climate action plan and stating that his administration would take advantage of the estimated US$50 trillion in untapped shale oil and natural gas reserves on US oil in an effort to reduce the USA’s energy dependency

He has also stated that he is committed to clean coal technology and to revive in the US coal industry in his first weeks in office he was criticised for approving the construction of a new or oil pipeline from Canada to Texas this policy highlighted a continuing thirst for using oil and threaten damage to sensitive environments along the pipelines path

During his election campaign Trump was inconsistent about his views on the Paris agreement he also modified his position on the extent of climate change from being a hoax to stating that “there was some connectivity, some” between human activity and climate change

In June 2017 Trump officially withdrew the USA from the Paris agreement stating that the USA would “begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States”

Question 29

what do the USA case studies suggest?

Answer 29

International law is only effective if nationstates agree

National sovereignty poses a huge threat to cooperation on the environment and the ability of environmental global governance institutions to address and resolve contemporary global issues

Question 30

shallow ecologism

Answer 30

US philosopher Anthony Weston Put forward the idea of shallow green ecology

It’s a must to preserve the natural environment so that human beings can continue to benefit from it Rather than because protecting the environment in itself is a noble objective

For example resources that are use all the human being such as oil and gas should be used carefully and efficiently so that future generations can also make use of these resources

Shallow green ecology is more pragmatic than deep green ecology and is more rooted in politics and religion or spiritualism

Question 31

shallow ecologism

Answer 31

The idea of green politics emerged in the late 1970s and with it the first reference to green political thinking and political parties

The first green political parties were founded in Belgium and Germany in the UK the ecology party became the Green party in 1990

Green parties have generally struggle to gain enough electoral support to form governments have some European states e.g. Germany in Latvia green parties have governed as junior partners in a coalition government

Question 32

deep ecologism

Answer 32

The Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess Introduced the idea of deep green ecologism as a way of thinking about humans and the environment

It is both a scientific philosophical And even religious argument

It rejects the notion that there are only state interests and argues that protecting the environment and the global commons itself are essential political objectives in their own right

Question 33

h

Answer 33

Many actors in global politics do not express the views of deep ecology even the most committed NGOs and environmental campaign groups follow the ideas of shallow ecologist them and try to persuade governments and others of the need to protect the environment for the sake of human security and well-being

Question 34

what is sustainability?

Answer 34

Sustainability is the idea that a system can be maintained in a healthy and steady state and retain a particular capacity if it is treated in an appropriate manner

For humans and other life forms to flourish we need to find a means of living sustainability otherwise there will be the possibility of mass extinctions on the demise of life as we know it

At the very least we will deplete resources leading to possible conflicts poverty and social dislocation

Question 35

sustainability: shallow ecologists

Answer 35

For shallow ecologists sustainability can be achieved through the existing political and economic structures this is the basis for green capitalism

It is clearly in the interests of capitalism to be sustainable otherwise it will prove to be its own grave digger

The task of capitalism is to produce and implement technology is practices and products that are environmentally sustainable

The task of representative democracy is to encourage all sections of society that this is both necessary and possible

Such an approach forms the basis of much present-day environmentalism it is relatively easy for conservative liberal and social democratic parties to except this approach since it marries environmental concerns to continued economic growth high levels of employment and continued affluence

Question 36

sustainability: deep ecologists

Answer 36

For deep ecologist the idea of shallow ecologist will not bring about sustainability

For this to occur humans must drastically reduce the levels of consumption and implement practices to reduce population levels

Humans must adopt an eco-centric approach and regard ourselves as an integral part of nature no more special than any other section of the Earth ecosystem