Tenta 2018-10 Flashcards
What is the final value according to the Brundtland report?
To make sure that this generations needs are met without compromising the possibility for future generations to meet theirs.
Describe briefly what the social dimension of SD takes into account and how it relates to final value.
The social dimension of SD takes into account that SD also need to cover that everyone has a possibility to live a good life. This includes having good living conditions like health, freedom, living above threshold etc. Some consider the three dimensions as prequisuts for us and future generations to be able to ensure that everyone lives a good life. Good living conditions often prosper in societies with a functional and stable state, a juridictional system and accountability.
TO compare this with final value of SD, this requires us to have basic acknowledgement if what a good life means and what we consider needs, and that we let peopple who live under the level of these needs to develop even though it might cause the env. damage.
Describe three reasons for discounting future incomes.
- Time preference: prefer to have the money now
- Expectance to be richer in the future, which makes you appreciate the money more now rather than later
- Might not be around later, you might have no use for the money later
(don’t care about the future, tech dev.)
Which entities have moral standing within the ethics framework of:
a) Anthropocentrism
b) Animal rights
c) Biocentrism
d) Radical ecocentrism
a) Humans
b) humans and animals which can feel, have preferences and wishes (mammals, fish, birds)
c) All life
d) Ecosystems and species as a whole, not individuals
The consumption of meat is a major contributor to env problems. here are 3 diff solutions for reducing the impact. Assign to each a view from the dichotomies connected to different perspectives regarding the solutions to sustainable problems. Motivate.
a) everyone becomes a vegetarian
b) Beat- a mix of meat and beans
c) In-vitro meat (cultured meat)
a) radicalism - huge for people in meat industry, with economical confusion in that industry, and big change of peoples habits. And cultured traditions would disappear.
Also change in lifestyle - since change in behaviour rather than tech fix, and corresponds with peoples values. Also an individual act and not political (if not instated by law). And based on efficiency since it would take less resources. But could also be sufficiency because it would be us not needing as much as we use today.
b) Efficiency - requires less resources and doesnt need behaviour change. Get the same out of it.
c) Technical fix - a tech solution that does not require behaviour change
Gross Domestic Production (GDP). Describe 2 ways to calculate it.
1. Expenditure approach GDP = C + G + I + (X-M) C = household expenditures G = government expenditures I = Investments X-M = Export - Import - selling and buying between households not taken into account
- Product approach
GDP = sum(value added by companies)
- counts everything that adds value to the final costumer
Describe subjective indicators of quality of life. Explain and examples
- Measures peoples well-being and life satisfaction
- Self assessment and do not rely on numbers or gathered statistics about health or education eg
- Can be cognitive or affective
- Cognitive - life satisfaction, person knows he/she is well of
- Affective - feels happy, a feeling in ones gut, feels loved
Describe objective indicators of quality of life. Explain and examples
- Measures facts considered important for a humans well-being and filing basic needs. Eg education, health, child mortality, gender equality, political stability, geografic location, GDP/capita
- Based on numbers and statistics, easy to compare
Western Europe is an ex of a region in the world where animal production in agriculture has developed to be concentrated along coastal areas. Present and explain factors that have contributed to this dev in moders agriculture:
- easier to export
Today common with large meat industries whoch sell much. To optimize profit it is strategic to be close to seaports and keep logistical costs down - Cheaper feed
Large farms can’t produce feed for all their animals, so have to import it and be able to get it cheap - Concentrated animals - more industrialised and large scale production of animals lead to more efficient farming and development of meat production
Regional concentration of farming can have some serious env effects. Present and describe tree negative effects related to regional concentration of farm animals.
- Local waste - animal produce a lot of waste, manure. Keeping more animals in the same area increase waste concentration and it will have a larger impact on water, and land fertilisation
- Transportation - of food increases, increasing GHG emissions in that area, affecting human and animal health
- Use of antibiotics - more animals in close spaces increase risk of disease and injuries. To prevent this antibiotics are used. Overuse of antibiotics then coming into water or developing resistive bacteria will have scary unknown consequences.
Sustainability challenges related to livestock and arguments for highlighting them.
- Animal welfare - animal well-being have lower priorities today and profit. Animal rights, right to life, health and happiness, free from suffering and pain. Happy animals could also give a better prize on meat bc f better taste and public opinion.
- Waste - consequences of human and wildlife nearby. Decentralize would reduce impact of waste, lead to less transportation if spread out
- Land use - livestock production require a much larger area than plant based food production, which makes it less efficient, and higher CO2 and other GHG emissions from production. Larger impact of eutrophication bc fertilizers taht run into rivers
- Methane - from cattle, GHG emission, no tech fix to solve the problem
Agriculture responsible for approx 25% of the worlds GHG emissions, and a change in diet from meat and dairy based to plant based would cut that in half. Important to reduce livestock for a sustainable society.
Describe in which 3 ways there can be limited availability of non-renewable resources.
- Geopolitical reasons
- Limited space
- Limited availability of resources
- Geopolitical reasons - certain materials in the world may only be present at certain geographic areas, other parts need to import scarce and valuable substances from other countries. Doe to trade and politics, certain nations access to certain resources can therefore be limited
- Limited space - competition of bioproductive land, space for food, bioenergy, natural conservatives, infrastructure
- Limited amount of resources - stocks in the lithosphere, extraction rate and the ability to reach the resources without the concentration being so low that it is not profitable any more
Describe the 4 material management strategies, which have been presented in the course, and how these can ba used in the management of limited non-renewable resources.
It can be divided into Dematerialization and Transmaterialization
- Reduce the flow - less material, multifunctionality - D
- Slow down the flow - better quality - D
- Close the flow - reuse and recycle - D
- Exchange for a less scarce material - T
Explain what dissipative use of a material means, and for which types of materials this can be especially problematic from a sustainable perspective.
Dissipative use is when a substance/material is being partly or completely emitted/dispersed during normal use. this leads to the material ending up un nature because it is often hard to collect.
Ex: fuels, detergent, paint, gas
Problematic for substances that are man-made or exist in low concentration naturally, since an emission of that could easily disturb ecosystems
