Unit 14 - Paths to a More Sustainable Future

Question 1

Name the 6 paths to a more sustainable future

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is intentional future orientation

Answer 2

Maintaining a sustainable balance so that future generations and our current generation can have a high quality of life

Question 3

What is systems thinking & positivism/reductionism

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Garret Hardin who wrote Tradgedy of the Commons had what opinion about open access common property?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What happened in the Malawi Forests example that contradicts Hardin’s Tradgedy of the Commons belief?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Describe Elanor Ostrom’s opinion on the Tradgey of Commons discussion

Answer 6

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”

Question 7

What is the key takeaway from the Northeast Edmonton School example, Malawi Forests example, and the Malawi Water Supply Management example?
(Systems Thinking)

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What is: Study & Accept Local Planetary Boundaries

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What is the planetary boundary and where should we be in the Circle?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Discuss the Alberta Water Market as an example of Local Planetary Boundaries

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What is Change What we Measure and Prioritize

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What is the GPI - Genuine Progress Indicator

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What is the high level concept of the Genuine Progress Indicator?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What are the challenges in having measures such as the GPI replace GDP?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

How is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals system better for measurement

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is the idea behind: Decouple the Economy and Deprioritize Growth

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What were the takeaways from the Peter Victor “Slow Growth” video?

Answer 17

We can model different kinds of growth

Question 18

What are Social Enterprises, and what’s an example?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

How will we help developing/poor countries in a no-growth economy?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Adam Smith - A Though Leader for Self Interest, perspective on social responsibility

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What is a historical example of redistribution of wealth to address social issues?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What are the main takeaways from the Plastics Video

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What were the main takeaways from the Denial Machine video

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Is the issue with Climate Change in the Denial machine similar to the Tobacco debate many years ago? If so, how?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What were the main takeaways from the Summon of the Americas Protest video

Answer 25

It was on poverty and the Debt Crisis: the poorer countries of the world were indebted to the wealthier countries. Arguments centered around, should there be debt forgiveness?

The video argued that protesting keeps the world in check, and that protestors’ role is to be critical of the matter, rather than provide solutions to it - they may not have the answers

Question 26

Discuss the Daily Show’s growing influence

Answer 26

The mainstream media was struggling to communicate ideas clearly and concisely to viewers, so this comedy show became a better source of information for people

Question 27

What were the takeaways from the Corporation’s are Externalizing Machines video

Answer 27

Issues can arise through externalities, as corporations leave problems for “somebody else to deal with” (pollution, excess waste, etc)

Protestors went to the Chairman of Shell’s home, and hung a murderer sign over it. After he spoke with the protestors, they agreed “you’re not the problem, the corporation is.”