Core Concepts of Environmental Governance and Sustainability
Foundational Concepts in Environmental Politics
Anthropocene Epoch Defined
Viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
Environmental Contamination: Sources, Sinks, and Sites
- Sources: What produces contamination.
- Sinks: Forms in which contamination is absorbed or assimilated.
- Sites: Where the contamination event happens.
I=PAT Formula: Impact, Population, Affluence, Technology
The formula states: Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology. This model captures the materialistic dimensions of environmental degradation but does not contemplate ideational factors (e.g., values or beliefs).
Understanding the Ecological Footprint
The impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
Externalized Costs and Internalization of Costs
Externalized Costs (Externalities): Costs imposed on society or third parties that are not borne by the producer or consumer. Internalization of Costs: Ways in which the culprit (polluter or resource user) assumes responsibility for an externality, often through regulation, taxes, or fees.
The Concept of Americum
A term used to describe any group of 350 million people with a per capita income above $15,000 and a growing penchant for consumerism. This concept, often associated with the American capitalist stereotype, suggests that the number of such high-consumption groups (Americums) is progressively increasing globally.
The Tragedy of the Commons
An economic problem in which individuals neglect the well-being of society in the pursuit of personal gain. When demand for a shared resource overwhelms the supply, every individual who consumes an additional unit directly harms others.
Proposed Solutions to the Tragedy of the Commons
- Rules and regulations
- Centralized authority
- Privatization
- Collectivism
- Education
- Hegemonic stability
The “Cancer of Westphalia” in Environmental Governance
The notion of national sovereignty, derived from the Westphalian state system, creates a burden on international cooperation and environmental governance. States often prioritize their sovereignty over collective action necessary to address global environmental challenges.
Soft Law Versus Hard Law in International Relations
These terms describe different approaches to international law:
- Hard Law: Formal treaties and conventions that have enforceable mechanisms or “teeth.”
- Soft Law: Guidelines, declarations, and statements that lack enforceable mechanisms.
The Paradox of Aggregation
Describes the inherent conflict between individual interest and collective interest, particularly in environmental decision-making.
Key International Environmental Institutions
UNCHE (1972): United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
Held in 1972, this conference resulted in the Stockholm Declaration and an Action Plan to address issues concerning the environment and sustainable development. It also led to the creation of UNEP.
UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme
The leading global environmental authority. UNEP sets the global environmental agenda, supports the implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.
UNCED (1992): Earth Summit and Rio Declaration
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992), also known as the Earth Summit. Key outcomes included the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21. Discussions focused on critical issues such as oil, public transportation, fossil fuels, and water resources.
UNFCCC (1992): Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), adopted after the Rio Earth Summit. Its primary objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Parties meet yearly (COPs), initiating processes like the Kyoto Protocol (signed in 1997).
COPs: Conference of the Parties
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of an international convention (e.g., the UNFCCC).
International Environmental Regimes
Sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations. Examples include the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Societal Drivers and Ethical Frameworks
The Role of Global Civil Society
Often referred to as the third realm of governance, global civil society is made up of everyday people, individuals, NGOs, and businesses operating on a global scale.
Challenges in Global Governance: The Culture of Consumption
The increasing culture of consumption is one of the biggest challenges for global environmental governance, driven by rising population and per capita consumption rates.
This culture is shaped by systemic drivers, including:
- Advertising and marketing
- Economic growth models
- Technology
- Income inequality
- Corporations
- Population growth
- Globalization
These factors collectively influence the quantities, costs, and distribution of consumer goods.
Judeo-Christian Influence on Environmental Politics (Lynn White)
This argument, proposed by Lynn White, suggests that humanity’s relationship with nature is built upon a sense of entitled domination and control, which can be traced back to the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Common Heritage of Humanity and World Heritage Sites
These concepts represent a form of collectivism regarding global resources or cultural/natural sites.
- Common Heritage of Humanity (CHH): A principle of international law stating that certain resources (e.g., deep seabed, outer space) belong to all humanity.
- World Heritage Sites: Sites designated by UNESCO for protection due to their outstanding universal value.
Defining Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable Growth: An Impossibility Theorem?
Many theorists argue that sustainable development makes more sense than sustainable growth, positing that perpetual economic growth is fundamentally incompatible with planetary limits.
The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
The EKC hypothesis suggests that economic development initially leads to a deterioration in the environment, but after a certain level of economic growth, levels of environmental degradation begin to reduce, forming an inverted U-shape.
Managing Ecological Capital
The principle that humanity should live off the interest (the regenerative capacity) of natural resources without depleting the principal (the core stock of the resource).
Aldo Leopold’s Concept of The Land Ethic
A moral framework proposing that when making decisions, we should consider the well-being of the land, moving beyond purely economic considerations. Under this ethic, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.”
Leopold’s Notion of “The Land”
Leopold viewed “the Land” not merely as property, but as a complex biotic community. Humans are integrated players within this community, connected to soils, minerals, water, and other life forms.
Population and Economic Approaches
Demographic Factors: Fertility, Mortality, and Migration
These three factors determine population change. The frequency of people being born (fertility) compared to people dying (mortality), combined with movement across borders (migration), determines the planet’s population growth rate.
Neo-Malthusian Theory
A revival of Thomas Malthus’s reflections on population growth, characterized by a pessimistic view of environmental reality. Neo-Malthusians argue that unchecked population increase will inevitably result in planetary-wide resource depletion and environmental collapse.
Contrasting Fertility Rates in the Global North and South
- Global North: Characterized by greater access to birth control and higher rates of female empowerment and integration into the labor force. Women often prioritize professional development over immediate family building, leading to lower fertility rates.
- Global South: In contrast, women are often still relied upon primarily as homemakers, leading generally to higher fertility rates.
Corporate Environmentalism and Ecobusiness
The growing interest of businesses in adopting eco-friendly practices. This movement is typically driven by the pursuit of profits and efficiency rather than pure altruism.
Defining Greenwashing
The practice of deceptively advertising products and services as environmentally friendly or sustainable. This is often a corporate response to increasing public and regulatory pressures for ecologically friendly business practices.
Environmental Approaches to the Economy
Three distinct approaches to addressing environmental issues within economic systems:
- Maintaining: Addressing environmental issues primarily through the existing agents and mechanisms in the current economic system.
- Reforming: Believing that structural change within the system and its actors is necessary to achieve sustainability.
- Transforming: Arguing that the existing economic system is fundamentally to blame for environmental harm, necessitating the search for radical alternatives where climate reality is held as a paramount value.
Ecofeminism: Gender and the Natural World
A feminist approach to understanding ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to theorize about the relationship between humans and the natural world, often linking the domination of women to the domination of nature.