Lecture by David Roberts on the relationship between change, conflict and the environment

1. Change,
Conflict
and Crisis
4
environment & development
E U A 6 0 1 a n d 6 2 0 C o n t e m p o r a r y W o r l d A r e n a
Change, conflict and crisis

2. Can the environment on which humans
depend, survive the human demand for
‘development’

3. Is sustainable development

4. Definitions
1

5. Change and the 70s
2

6. Crisis now
3

7. Definitions
1

8. What are we
talking about?

9. T h e
E n v i r o n m e n t

10. The sum of all external conditions affecting the life,
development and survival of any form of animal or plant,
covering
all life on earth

11. complex web of interrelationships
between abiotic (non-living-air, water,
soil) and biotic (living organisms-animal
and plants) components which sustain
all life on the earth, including social and
health aspects of human beings
“

12. d e v e l o p m e n t

13. positive change for
human beings and their
surroundings
“

15. GDP, GNP, PCI

16. Or…

17. HDIHuman Development Index

18. Change and the 70s
2

19. Little recognition of relationships
between development and
environment until 1970s

20. Rise of
Green Movement

21. capitalist
development
damaging
environment

22. Acid rain confirmed in Europe

23. Moved up agenda as
transnational nature
recognized

24. But defining moments and workable
solutions r
a
r
e

25. brundtland Report
1987

26. d e v e l o p m e n t
s u s t a i n a b l e

27. meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their
own needs

28. encompass
Must

29. use of
natural
resources
Activities
related to
population
economic
and social
activities
impacts
on the
environment

30. Resources considered
infinite

31. pollution and
environmental
degradation
inevitable
consequences
of
industrial
development

32. state system
G r e a t e r t h a n

33. Engages…

34. large corporations

35. transnational networks

36. Global institutions

37. environment
added
to
security
agenda

38. Crisis now
3

39. The Limits to Growth
population and
industrial growth
cease before 2100

40. Homer-Dixon(1999)

41. Relationship between population
growth, rising energy consumption,
global warming, ozone layer depletion,
cropland scarcity, deforestation, rising
scarcity of free water, declining fish
stocks and loss of biodiversity

42. Intergovernmental Panel On
Climate Change
(IPCC)

43. prolonged droughts, expanded desertification
increased severity of storms with heavy flooding and
erosion
longer and more severe heat waves
Water shortages
decreased grain yields
climate-induced spreading ranges of pests and
disease
lost and contaminated groundwater
deteriorated freshwater lakes, coastal fisheries,
mangroves, coral reefs
coastal flooding

44. Crises and tensions
4

46. Growing awareness of complexity
and interconnectedness of
global planetary system

47. Recognition of dependency of
development upon environment

48. Concern that ‘development’ may be
damaging environment

49. Environment may be
damaging to people

50. Conflict amongst various
epistemic communities like
academia/research bodies

51. uncertainty about fate of planet as
a source of conflict

52. time
values
threat
awareness

53. Combination of long-term and
often ‘invisible’ problems with
short-term and highly visible
disasters
time

54. Difficulty of clarifying and
confirming : disagreement in
‘epistemic communities’
threat

55. Which are real?
awareness

56. tensions between values
(ideology) of states,
industries, ‘experts’, activists
and planetary population
values

57. coming
together
over
crises
People
IGOs NGOs
BINGOsINGOs

58. Still leaves tensions and conflicts

59. Anthropogenic or not ?

60. If so…

61. whose crisis is
it anyway

62. Affluent or
poor to blame?
North or
South?

63. Solutions

64. technicalor
political

65. wind farms and recycling?
?

66. imagining of technical solutions like
c o l d f u s i o n

67. or challenging/rejecting mass
consumption

68. d e v e l o p ment
s u s t a i n a b l e
?

69. is the solution
part of theproblem?

70. Perpetuates exploitation of
natural resources for wealth
accumulation

71. Sustainable development too
anthropocentric

72. Privileges humans at
the expense of other
animals
Neglects dependency
of humans on entire
ecosystem

73. Seventy out of the top 100 human
food crops, which supply about 90
percent of the world's nutrition, are
pollinated by bees
Greenpeace

74. http://www.vanishingbees.com/

75. fundamental conflict between rising demand
and shrinking resources... Sustainable
development is… yoking together two ideas that
may be irreconcilable: our established notions of
development and our emergent awareness of
sustainability
KC Bell, 2013

76. We need to develop
sustainability, not sustainable
development
“
KC Bell, 2013

77. persistent
prioritization
of national
gains/losses
condemns us
to extinction?
Int. institutions
and rules but
prioritizing
market
incentives
creates
inherent
contradiction
?
Problems
stem from
exploitation
and
dependency
– anything
new or useful
to say?
Emphasises
battle of
ideas as key
issue, and
role of
epistemic
dominance
Real. Lib. Marx. Constr.