Lecture 2

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT RECENT HISTORY: THE LAST 200 YEARS  Malthus o Population growth and carrying capacity of the earth is likely not sufficient if population growth continues as its going o British scholar, 1970s almost 1980s  Thoreau o Nature as interconnected community o That things don’t happen in isolation o Early American people that discussed sustainability  Marsh o Stewardship vs. resource consumption o As an economic issue as well as a resource issue o How do you have stewardship if you don’t have value on what the environment is worth vs resource consumption  Muir o National parks idea in US o Sierra Club o Argued first ‘modern’ national park is Yellowstone park in 1870; 2) Australia 3) Banff 4) Canada some may believe that the first is in Magnolia in 1783 EARLY CONSERVATION – EARLY 20 TH CENTURY  Lacey Act of 1900 o Response to birds killed for fashion o Early wildlife protection o Senator was appalled we were killing birds for hats and make it illegal to bring illegal killed animals across state line and expanded to Nordic countries in Germany and helped stopping blatantly killing for fashion  Canadian Nation Parks o Banff in 1887 (world’s third or fourth National Park) o 1850 forward 1)Yellowstone 2)Australia 3)Banff lots of this came with wildlife protection  National Wildlife Refuges o Theodore Roosevelt o Founded pelican wildlife where they protect wildlife specifically  Nature as resource depot  use all resources then cant use it anymore ; movement forward  Gifford Pinchot  head of forestry FROM CONSERVATION TO ECOLOGY  Ecology first came in mention in 1860s in literature  Science of ecology o Relationships and connections  Opposed to nature is simplistic, static, stable environment  Looking at it if you take away x how does it impact y and z  Emerging ideas in 1800s

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT  Food webs and trophic levels o  Humans not indispensable  Time when humans were seen as centre of the food webs, idea was nature was servicing people, and people can take what they wanted from nature  Succession o Changing plant communities  Succession following fire  Chaos and complexity theories o Unpredictability and uncertainty  In these successions while it can seen as mapped out, you were still working with error, so uncertain o Nature is not a machine  Can’t fix what you break b/c don’t know the action or reaction and you don’t know once you break it, how bad the reaction will be  Change in mindset from nature is simple  nature is being a part of the world and nature is unpredictable and chaotic that can’t be easily fixed ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT – 1960S AND 1970S  Silent Spring, 1962 o Rachel Carson o Idea of book: Better living through chemistry o Concept of pesticides were killing birds and people; idea that pesticides are killing birds and can kill people these aren’t minor pesticides but are like DBT which are very severe o In Toronto, built on garbage coastline was straight-line and expanded and how they kept rats down they had DBT truck that killed rats and books like silent spring which came national best seller, which was unheard of during that time, this brought discussion and at least ppl questioning what was happening  The population bomb, 1968 o Paul Ehrlich o First idea of exponential growth made real and why that matters  Small is beautiful, 1973 o E.F. Schumacher o Idea that while its popular for a long time, Nordic country look at economic growth is unsustainable eventually run into problems like population grow and the carrying capacity o grows the need to expand economy

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT o President Carter: declared emergency area and was superfund and now the federal government now is involved in US, not state government, when cleaning toxic waste US LEGISLATION IN THE 1970S  What happened in US helped push forward; started in US Canada come (it was a long time but prior to 70s ppl were allowed to do what they wanted to do)  1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)  1970 Clean Air Act  1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) o Multiple water, energy and pesticide regulations  Multiple water, energy, and pesticide regulations  1977 Clean Water Act EUROPEAN LEGISLATION IN THE 1970S  1970 UK Department of Environment founded o First Clean Air Act, 1970  1971 French Ministry of the Environment founded  1972 OECD adopts Polluter Pays Principle  1973 Environment Action Programmes  1974 German UBA (Environment Agency) founded  1993 European Environment Agency founded ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE  United Farm Workers organized, 1962 o Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta o General idea: pesticide free zone children: less likely cognitive impairments or issues than those where there are heavy pesticides, Mexico o Heavy pesticide: most likely lower income o Ex. Hamilton West end  affluent east end  traditionally lower income area  Hamilton was isolated and not a lot there and go to Hamilton most polluters in east b/c winds blow west to east; heavy polluted usually are east end because the predominate areas will not experience polluted airs  Wind blows west to east

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL JUCTICE MOVEMENT BEGINS  1982, PCB landfill proposed o African American neighborhood o Warren County, North Carolina  Protests and marches  1987, report by Ben Chavis o “Environmental racism”  Discussion of are we imparting these environmental problems unfairly in 80s we said yes but by how much? ENVIRONMENT ETHICS  Intrinsic value: a thing has value in itself o Related to economics; how much was it worth? At least that’s a question that can be developed further  Instrumental value: a thing is valuable insofar as it benefits humans  Land ethic o Aldo Leopold: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” EXPANDING TO A GLOBAL SCALE  Earthrise o 1968 Apollo 8 moon orbit  Blue Marble o 1972 Apollo 17 lunar landing o First clear image of space and it mattered because photos represented understanding of the isolation of earth, that there is no escape plan, this is what we have, and it became a symbol to change things  help lead to more discussions  1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment o Stockholm, Sweden  “Think globally, act locally” o René Dubos, from report Only One Earth  UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established o Importance of triple bottom line (environment, economics, and equity)  1983, UN - World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) o Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland  1987 report, Our Common Future o a.k.a. “the Brundtland report” Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” WCED. Our Common Future, 1987.  1987, Montreal Protocol o Global response to thinning of ozone layer (potential for catastrophe) o Phased out production of CFCs

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT ANTHROPOCENE EPOCH  International Commission on Stratigraphy o Official body for establishing geological time scale  US Geological Survey  Anthropocene Working Group o Has determined a new epoch should be officially designated o Now studying: What physical evidence should be used as its marker?  Socio-economic and earth system trends of the great acceleration 1750 to 2010  Using it more of every resource ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC APPROACH  Economy, environment, society  People, planet, profit  Focus on Environment +Economy

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT WHY NOT INCLUDE SOCIAL POLICY  Social policy tends to be connected to the concept of welfare state o Social system based on assumption by political state of primary responsibility for individual and social welfare of its citizen  Social policy tends to be a reflection of political ideolog or constitutional rights  Social polices can be related to o Health care o Education o Senior security o Employment security ENVIRONMENTAL VS ECONOMIC POLICIES Environmental policies tend to be restriction based  Traditionally there to protect environment from manmade or industrial or corporate action Economic policies tend to be incentive based  Traditionally to grow and expand economy, want to incentivize it so you can grow it ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY (CANADA) - Two key pieces that are relevant to most organizations - Legislation within that at provincial and federal level - Canadian Environmental Protection act (CEPA) - Canadian environmental assessment act (CEAA) Examples of others - Fisheries Act - Biodiversity and Conservation (e.g. SARA) ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY (ONTARIO) – SOME HISTORIC Environmental protection act (EPA) - Environmental approvals - Air emissions - Waste management - Spills and contaminated sites clean up - Enforcement Ontario water resources act Safe drinking water act Clean water act Toxic reduction act Environmental assessment act - Linked to federal, intention going though environmental assessment go through it at provincial/federal fairly simply or similarities; differ reason needed for differ provincial/federal level; NOT ALWAYS NEEDED Natural resources legislation Fish and wildlife legislation

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT o Ex. Bread, gasoline, medicine, toilet paper What influences elasticity - Substitutes  can you put something else other options that allow you do something different - Buying power  can you buy ex. Electric vehicle or not going to impacted or maybe you’re not effected - Utility  perceived usefulness, maximize happiness, sustainability consciousness, labour rights (other issues that are not related to money) Marketing utility and consumption - Good marketing, good product, want or need - Concept that an individual goals to maximize utility  Perceived uselessness Perfect competition - Many alternatives - S&D equilibrium - Consumer leverage  they decide what decision to make and within reason company competes for consumer - Reasonable threshold to entry  new entrance/option substitutes are able to enter with reasonable threshold, not completely easy btu has to be reasonable threshold for them to compete POLICY What does economics have to do with policy? - Control  externalities doesn’t contain monetary value, market can fail if not right structure/control/incentive that reflect proper lawful action, markets can fail so incomplete of the impact - Incentivize - Punish Challenge is externalities we have not captured, logging company  timber, it’s not the nutrients it provides, it’s not captured Organization that polluting can make corrective action b/c its captured, because it can impact their bottom line Triple bottom line not financial driven btu can internalize to address sustainability issues that are not captured within economic Ultimately - Role of government is to control areas where the market might fail o But why would the market fail? ECOLOGICAL SERVICES (AREN’T WE MISSING SOMETHING)..EXTERNALITIES - Regulates temperature - Supplies clean air - Supplier clean water - Breaks down waste - Provides shelter

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT - Provides food - Provides resources Sustains all life on earth …. In balance For economists in the room at a value of 33 trillion/year 1997 Or 4500 /inhabitant not adjusted Global gpd/capital 2018 – 11700 TVM  number should be higher 1/3 of our economic systems are captured. So we have an issue for internalizing externalities PAUL HAWKINS: NATURAL CAPITALISM  Radical resource productivity o Need to take efficiency and take it to an exponential level, maximize our resources down to greatest potential o Resource productivity is not in the teens,20s or 30s and you’ll get the amount of energy that is used by your vehicle to move it vs the energy available for every drop oil of; efficiency across entire system not in one tech or vehicle; across all sectors o Every ounce of material we are using  Biomimicry o A school of thought, mimic nature and use nature as a guide and find systems whole and complementary and symbiotic, there is no waste, everything is close loop; huge cycles that are closed loops and need to look at nature to those cycles and don’t generate waste, not being physical waste but emission or products that cannot be utilized  Services and flow economy o Idea that everybody doesn’t need a vehicle they need a way to get from a to b and not everyone needs phone, we need ability to communicate with one another ex. Share economy  Investing in natural capital o Invest back into nature to ensure that ecological services are available Environment burden (EB)  EB= P*T*A  Population, tech, affluents  Affluents = proxy for consumption, more money you have more likely you can consume more; utility (sometimes doesn’t mean they will always)  Tech= what tech do we use, simpler  Population = as pop increases, if we don’t change habits, environmental burden increase, we are sign to have higher EB and we get worse (Ex. Consume tech, EB increase) o If any aren’t balanced then EB increases

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT Down cycle  Natural material used for industrial process and is transformed  Transformed material is recycled for a less use (economically and technically)  Material can no longer be recycled – disposal (poor environmental impact) Upcycle  Material/process has societal, environmental, and economic benefit  Transformed material is recycled for a more use (Economically and technically)  Natural material used for industrial process and is transformed Ex.  Limestone enters furnace and removes impurities and you get a lighter product that floats on the top and removed separately from molten iron, it was fairly being comes out as rock, substitute a natural materials of extract Down cycle  Limestone used in blast furnace  Slag produces  Use a low grade aggregate or fill Upcycle  Slag ground by cement plants ot make substitute cementitious material  Slag produces  Limestone used in blast furnace t reduce iron They were used as blast furnace, and now it sub for cement and slag was down the road to cement plant and slag was ground up and used as Cementous instea do fusing limestone and kiln process to make cement  Fundamental difference between that is the aggregate has low value of use and wasn’t optimized

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT  Radical productivity and and blast fuance cook limestone and the same temp as cement kiln  -cement industry found way to grind material and improve the environmental process sub limestone that was burnt and they voiding the drying material and S02 and C02  Take slag as it would be ground it would exhaust gas to dry the process and eliminate need the for natural gas and reduce c02 from the process (limestone decomposing)  Slag attracts S02 and eliminate being released; they are capture emission and end up in product ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH: INDUSTRIAL PARKS

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY + ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT  Cost without reward cant reward, value of externality vs cost of reward; price fo carbon; has to be incentive it has to be incentive to reduce that ton of C02  Cost of externality tax or credit system have to exceed cost of making a change  Ton of c02 costs 30$$ and removal 31$$ economic decision is clear you paid tax  C02 30$$ solution is 29$$ don’t need incentive other than economic; SUSTAINABLE DESIGN - Focus beyond environment – incorporation of social impact and community health The opposing argument - Decouple environment from the economy - Decouple environment from social issues - Address the most urgent Solve the most urgent problem (forget the rest)?