20 Tomorrow’s World

Overview of Chapter 20  Living Sustainably  Sustainable Living: A Plan of Action  Changing Personal Attitude and Practices  What Kind of World Do We Want? © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Living Sustainably  Environmental Sustainability  Ability to meet humanity’s current needs without compromising the needs to future generations © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Living Sustainably  Consumption  Human use of materials and energy  World does not have enough resources to sustain everyone at level enjoyed by US  Countries like China are rapidly catching up (right) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wealth and Productivity GDP (gross domestic product)- the value of all products and services produced in a year in a given country. GDP does not reflect externalities such as pollution. GPI (genuine progress indicator)- attempts to address this shortcoming by including measures of personal consumption, income distribution, levels of higher education, resource depletion, pollution, and the health of the population.

Economics Law of Supply: Law of Supply: When the price of a good rises, the quantity supplied of that good will rise and when the price of a good falls, the quantity of the good supplied will also fall. Law of Demand: Law of Demand: When the price of a good rises, the quantity demanded falls and when the price falls, demand rises.  Law of Supply and Demand:  Economists study this intersection between the two.

Microlending The practice of loaning small amounts of money to people who intend to start a small business in less developed countries.

Environmental Worldviews Anthropocentric- human-centered, considers that human beings have intrinsic value and nature should provide for our needs. Biocentric- life-centered, says humans are just one of many species on Earth, all of which have equal value. Ecocentric- Earth-centered, places equal value on all living organisms and the ecosystems in which they live, and it demands that we consider nature free of any associations with our own existence.

World Agencies United Nations (UN) United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) The World Bank The World Health Organization (WHO) The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

United States Agencies The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) The Department of Energy (DOE)

Five Recommendations For Sustainable Living  1. Eliminating poverty and stabilizing the human population  2. Protecting and restoring Earth’s resources  3. Providing adequate food for all people  4. Mitigating climate change  5. Designing sustainable cities © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. From Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, Published in 2006 by Lester R. Brown

Recommendation 1 - Eliminating Poverty and Stabilizing Human Population  Eliminating Poverty  Improving quality of life in lower-income countries will require increasing economic growth Must address issues of: health, nutrition and education  Role of women requires attention (right) © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 1 - Eliminating Poverty and Stabilizing Human Population © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Eliminating Poverty  Need more trained professionals in developing countries  Debts to poorest countries should be forgiven  Population Must devote necessary resources to family planning

Recommendation 2 - Protecting and Restoring Earth’s Resources  The world’s forests  Lost for two reasons Converted to cash Pressure from rapid population growth and widespread poverty  Need to protect forests © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 2 - Protecting and Restoring Earth’s Resources  Loss of biodiversity  Need to protect  biodiversity Food, medicine, clothing Ecosystem services © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 2 - Protecting and Restoring Earth’s Resources  Protecting and Restoring Earth’s Resources  Economic development cannot ignore functions of biological and physical systems  Depends on attitudes and practices based on scientific information © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 3 - Providing Adequate Food For All People  Link between poverty and food insecurity  Agriculture must be improved to achieve more global sustainability © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Manage farmlands and grazing lands efficiently (precision farming and IPM)  Reduce loss of soil fertility, erosion, aquifer depletion, etc

Recommendation 4 - Mitigating Climate Change  Human activities are causing the increase in global temperature  Must address climate change in aggressive coordinated fashion  Cannot wait until scientific knowledge is complete- earth is too complex  Stabilizing climate requires a comprehensive energy plan  Phase out of fossil fuels in both developed AND developing countries © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 4 - Mitigating Climate Change © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 5 - Designing Sustainable Cities  Almost 50% of world’s population now lives in cities  Need to design sustainable cities  Urban transportation systems  Parks and open spaces © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.  Innovative approaches to handle water scarcity and sewage treatment

Case-In-Point Jakarta, Indonesia  Megacity in a developing country  Badly polluted air  95% of human waste dumped into rivers  2009 Green Hope  Education program © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Personal Attitudes and Practices  Consumption overpopulation  Situation where each individual in a population consumes too large a share of resources  Sustainable consumption  Use of goods and services that satisfy basic human needs and improve the quality of life but that minimize the use of resources so they are available for future use © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing Personal Attitudes and Practices  Role of Education  Accurate information must be made widely available  People’s concerns for the environment do not translate into action © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of Education  People must be educated to understand the reasons for changing practices 1. Set up environmental curricula at all school levels 2. Encourage environmental organizations 3. Support institutions that promote conservation and sustainability 4. Encourage inclusion of relevant material in programs of social groups © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Kind of World Do We Want?  Those who live in developed countries are the source of most of the problems facing the global environment  Assumption made that environment will take care of itself  This view needs to be changed radically © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Kind of World Do We Want?  Most critical environmental problem is our own attitudes and values  Your generation must be the next pioneers  Explore a different way for humans to exist in the world  Requires reconnecting with natural environment  Requires revaluing ourselves according to a new set of ideals  What kind of world do you want to live in? © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.