Chapter 2 Environmental Sustainability and Human Values

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Chapter 2 Environmental Sustainability and
Human Values
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Sustainability The Commons

• Garrett Hardin
• The Tragedy of the Commons
• Sharing common resources
• Resource collapse
• Happening with global commons
  today
• Stewardship shared responsibility

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Sustainable Development

• Economic growth that
• Meets needs of the present
• Does not compromise future
• Meets needs of worlds poor
• Can occur only within
  limits of the
  environment

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Sustainable Development
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Sustainable Consumption

• Using goods and services for our needs
• Minimizes use of resources
• Eliminate consumption overpopulation

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Sustainable Consumption

• Requires eradication of poverty
• Poor will need to increase consumption why?
• Will require
  major lifestyle changes

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Environmental Ethics

• Application of ethical standards to environmental
  questions
• Based on values, which change
• Consider people today and in the future
• Involves many tradeoffs

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Environmental Worldviews

• Helps us make sense of
• How the environment works
• Our place in the environment
• Right and wrong behaviors
• Two extremes
• Western
• Deep ecology

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Western Worldview

• Expansionist frontier attitude
• Human-centered, utilitarian
• Exploit nature
• Accumulate wealth

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Deep Ecology Worldview

• Based on harmony with nature
• Spiritual respect for life
• All species are equal
• Requires radical shift in modern
  thinking
• Need for population control

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Voluntary Simplicity

• How should you live?
• Material wealth not required for happiness
• Values and character important
• How can you make changes?

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Environmental Justice

• Right of everyone to protection from
  environmental harm
• Moral sense of fairness equality
• Who is exposed to the most pollutants?
• Where are many
  landfills and toxic
  waste facilities
  located?

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A Plan Is Needed

• Carrying capacity
• Maximum population that can be sustained
• What is our carrying capacity?
• Human population
  must be stabilized
• Overconsumption must stop

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Development

• Goal improve quality of human life
• Unequal distribution of resources
• Many live on less than 2
  per day
• How can this problem be solved?
• What can you do?

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Education Is Key!

• Public must be aware
• Support for environmental education
• Need for more
  trained
  professionals

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Biodiversity Us

• Biodiversity variety of living organisms
• Humans are part of Earths web of life
• What does biodiversity do for us?
• Ecosystem
  services

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Protecting Biodiversity

• Much biodiversity is in the developing world
• Need for more scientists
• Proper management of land
• Every country needs
  a plan

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Where Do We Start?

• Individuals matter!
• Simple, small changes reduce consumption
• There is no away
• National level
• Commitment to sustainability
• Know your leaders

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What Does The Future Hold?

• How do you want to live?
• Most people need to reconnect with the
  environment
• More to life
  than
  technology

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Case Study World Summits

• 1992 Rio de Janeiro
• Focus on international environmental issues
• Goal sustainable development
• 2002 Johannesburg
• Assess progress
• Little success why?
• Goal reduce poverty

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The test of our progress is not whether we add
more to the abundance of those who have much it
is whether we provide enough for those who have
too little. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1937