Unit 14 - Paths to a More Sustainable Future Flashcards
Name the 6 paths to a more sustainable future
Intentional Future Orientation
Systems Thinking
Study and Accept Local and Planetary Boundaries
Change what we Measure and Measure what we Value
Decouple the Economy and Deprioritize Growth
Address Global Inequality
What is intentional future orientation
Maintaining a sustainable balance so that future generations and our current generation can have a high quality of life
What is systems thinking & positivism/reductionism
Understanding that our systems have many interdependent actors, and that decisions have many chain effects
Positivism/Reductionism: simplifying things down so we can better understand them; isolating all other variables to understand your change
Garret Hardin who wrote Tradgedy of the Commons had what opinion about open access common property?
Argued that it was doomed to fail
He advocated that existing open access common properties be privatized or controlled by the government to avoid the ‘tragic’ outcomes
What happened in the Malawi Forests example that contradicts Hardin’s Tradgedy of the Commons belief?
There were forests that existed for a long period of time, then they were nationalized, but it resulted in deforestation
After nationalization, people from outside the cities came to harvest the wood, and depleted the supply
By not understanding the existing systems, the government dismantled the system of the Malawian forests
Describe Elanor Ostrom’s opinion on the Tradgey of Commons discussion
Ostrom’s research showed that privatization led to a rapid decline in the quality of many of these resources
Ostrom demonstrated that small communities of people had management institutions that reflected both the local social and ecological systems, despite not being “officially managed”
What is the key takeaway from the Northeast Edmonton School example, Malawi Forests example, and the Malawi Water Supply Management example?
(Systems Thinking)
The world is made up, in large part, of complex adaptive systems
Interventions in such systems should be done with a full understanding of the system and with humility of not knowing everything about them
Co-Management & Co-Governanace strategies are now being used to counteract issues such as these
- Adaptive Management
What is: Study & Accept Local Planetary Boundaries
This concept argues that we can continue doing whatever we want, as long as we stay within the planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries are the areas that put our society at risk, if violated
What is the planetary boundary and where should we be in the Circle?
In the green (inner circle) we are considered to be safe
In the yellow (middle circle) we are considered to be at some risk, depicts some uncertainty in the future effect
In the red zone we are considered to be in danger and that we’ve far exceeded the boundary of uncertainty
Discuss the Alberta Water Market as an example of Local Planetary Boundaries
Alberta implemented a Cap & Trade system for water to avoid overconsumption and depletion of the resource
When the Cross Iron Mills Mall was built in Calgary, they had to buy the water rights for the area, based on their expected water consumption
Also, if a municipality begins to expand and consume more water, they must buy the rights to support it
What is Change What we Measure and Prioritize
in the current system, we have inefficient measures of GDP that don’t factor in environmental harm or the health of our people. We must change this to accurately reflect the state of the world
- Volunteering does not contribute to GDP
- Neither does a parent raising and educating their children
What is the GPI - Genuine Progress Indicator
The GPI is an alternative measure to the “health” of a country; it incorporates social factors, environmental factors, on top of economic growth/decline
It uses GDP as a base and makes additions/subtractions based on relevant factors.
It has been proposed but never been successfully implemented
What is the high level concept of the Genuine Progress Indicator?
Things that are valuable (but not counted in GDP) should count in the GPI, and things that are harmful (and counted in GDP) shouldn’t count
- New Zealand suggested a new country progress measurement that includes social isolation, personal health, housing conditions, education, work life balance, and subjective happiness
What are the challenges in having measures such as the GPI replace GDP?
It is hard to measure and identify the qualitative factors, since they are subjective
If someone says they are “a little bit happier”, but housing conditions have gone down a bit … how do you weigh these out?
GDP is very simple: we know if we produced and consumed more than last year
How is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals system better for measurement
Consider “How many people have access to clean water within 5m of their home”
These questions can be measured in a technical and accurate way, and there is a push to make these factors universally measured by places around the world
Bob believes that this could be the first successful “new” measure for the health of countries instead of GDP
What is the idea behind: Decouple the Economy and Deprioritize Growth
This concept is a shift away from the “growth at all costs” mentality, and argues that sustainability should be the priority instead
Some suggestions are reducing work hours, consumption and businesses not focusing entirely on profit
What were the takeaways from the Peter Victor “Slow Growth” video?
We can model different kinds of growth
What are Social Enterprises, and what’s an example?
Social enterprises are businesses that provide goods & services, but are not focused on profit. If they make a profit that’s great, but the focus is on maintaining the service for the community
“Co-op” grocery stores are an example of stores that aren’t based on profit, rather they aim to sustain the business and provide their services
How will we help developing/poor countries in a no-growth economy?
Through redistribution, we can funnel wealth from rich countries like the US & Canada to address challenges that people face: poverty, illness, food shortages
Given that the richest 20% of the population earn 80% of the world’s income
Adam Smith - A Though Leader for Self Interest, perspective on social responsibility
Smith emphasized that we have compassion for everyone (for those in our orbit), and we all have a responsibility to address social issues
Despite everyone being self interested, we should all work together to address social issues
What is a historical example of redistribution of wealth to address social issues?
In the 1940s through to the 1970s, marginal tax rates were at their highest level
With tax rates nearing 95%, money from the rich was being taken in the form of tax and being distributed to social issues by the government
- This demonstrates that we have the capability to implement policies to address social issues
What are the main takeaways from the Plastics Video
Plastic is the Oil & Gas industry’s lifeline because oil is not going to be burned for energy going forward
Some products may have recycling logos on them, but are not actually recyclable or aren’t economically viable to recycle
The public belief is that recycling is the solution and that we don’t need to worry how much plastic we produce, but even after plastic is recycled it can end up in landfills in places like Indonesia
What were the main takeaways from the Denial Machine video
Essentially, public officials were ‘denying’ that climate change is real
Dr. Ball from the University of Victoria argued that climate change did not exist. Many people believed that he was a credible source because he had a PhD in Climatology, but he was speaking at events funded by oil & gas companies
Governments (specifically George Bush) limited the voices of environmental scientists who said Global Warming was an issue they needed to focus on
Is the issue with Climate Change in the Denial machine similar to the Tobacco debate many years ago? If so, how?
The debate with whether Climate Change’s harms were true or not can be related to the Tobacco debate many years ago.
Executives at Tobacco companies paid scientists to promote the idea that cigarettes didn’t cause cancer, and that they weren’t addictive
- In both cases, executives wanted to keep their businesses thriving, while defending from public officials
