1. Sustainability, Economics, and Equity
Chapter 20
Sustainability, Economics, and Equity
Quote of the chapter:
“Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or the environment, and make amends if you do.” ~Paul Hawken, author of Natural Capitalism

2. Sustainability, Economics, and Equity
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
1994 – US, Canada, and Mexico passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAGTA)
Intended to increase trade by reducing tariffs/other taxes and regulations
Negative consequences:
Industrial pollution
Poor working conditions
Discrimination
Questions of social justice
Point of story?

3. Sustainability
Sustainability – meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Newer concept
Basic needs include –
Well being – status of being healthy, happy and prosperous

4. Economics
Economics – examines how humans either as individuals or as companies allocate scarce resources in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services

5. Supply, Demand and the Market
Most economies are market economies
Market – occurs whenever people engage in trade
Cost of good is determined by supply and demand

6. Supply
Supply curve (s) - shows how many units that suppliers of a given product or service are willing to supply
Factors that influence supply –

7. Demand
Demand curve (D) - shows how much of a good consumers want to buy.
Factors that determine demand -
Slopes downwards because as the price of the good rises, the demand declines

8. The 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

9. The Law of Demand
Law of demand – when the price of good rises, the quantity demanded falls and when the price falls, demand rises

10. Equilibrium
When the price of a good comes to an equilibrium point and the two curves (S and D) intersect on the graph
At this price, suppliers find it worthwhile to supply exactly as many of the product as consumers are willing to buy.

11. Externalities
Externalities - costs/impact of a good or service on people and the environment not included in the economic price of that good or service
Ex. costs of using common resources such:

12. Supply and Demand with Externalities

13. Wealth and Productivity
GDP (gross domestic product) - the value of all products and services produced in a year in a given country
Includes 4 types of spending:
Does not reflect externalities such as pollution
GPI (genuine progress indicator) - attempts to address this shortcoming

14. GPI vs. GDP in US from

15. Kuznets Curve

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

17. Terminology Natural capital – resources of the planet Human capital –
Manufactured capital – all goods and services that humans produce
Market failure –
Environmental economics – examines the costs and benefits of various policies and regulations that seek to regulate or limit air and water pollution and other causes of environmental degradation
Ecological economics –
Valuation – assigning monetary value to intangible benefits and natural capital

18. Systems Diagrams: Two Economic Systems

19. Cradle to Cradle System

20. Environmental Worldviews
Important to policies a nation considers and how it implements them:
Anthropocentric - human-centered
Stewardship
Biocentric - life-centered
Variety of positions
Ecocentric - Earth-centered
Various forms

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

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

23. Several Approaches to Measuring and Achieving Sustainability
Human development index (HDI) – combines 3 basic measures of human status:
life expectancy
knowledge and education
individual purchasing power
Human poverty index (HPI) – measures 3 things:

24. US Policies Overview

25. Deterrents and Incentives
Strategies used by US to protect environment, promote human safety/welfare and (in some cases) internalize externalities:
Command and control
Incentive based approach
Green tax

26. Triple Bottom Line

27. Two Major Challenges of our Time:
Reducing poverty
Stewarding the environment (environmental justice)

28. Millennium Development Goals (Poverty and Inequity)
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
2013 report: /mdg-report-2013-english.pdf

29. Environmental Justice
Inequitable distribution of pollution and of environmental degradation with their adverse effects on humans and ecosystems
People that are of lower incomes and minorities that have a disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards
Can they not afford to get away? Or
Do industries move here because no one will complain?

30. Story of Change