Content Flashcards
The aims of this first chapter are to introduce some of the more fundamental aspects of environmental politics at the global scale. This forms a basic underpinning for the rest of the course by setting out key questions about the nature of so-called ‘global’ environmental problems; how we identify the ‘global’ scale; why these are controversial; and how political processes may resolve – or sometimes add to – these controversies. (3 cards)
1
Q
Critically evaluate different ways that global environmental problems may (or may not!) be described as “global”
A
Systemic environmental problems are global because they are caused by a change in a global system. Under this approach, a change in one location in the global system will impact upon the rest of the system → e.g. Ozone layer
Cumulative environmental problems are global because they occur globally, not because they are linked to a global system → e.g. Biodiversity loss
2
Q
Discuss the relationship of NGOs to the creation of knowledge regimes and epistemic communities, and some of the criticisms of the role NGOs in these contexts
A
- “NGOs are increasingly prominent forces in framing environmental issues. They help establish a common language and, sometimes, common world views” (Princen et al, 1994)
- Some environmentalists argue that NGOs are crucial to persuade others of the strength of scientific evidence
- Others contend that this kind of knowledge regime is too uncritical of its own social values or contexts to be applied without question to different societies
- Main way that NGOs extend knowledge regimes is though advocacy coalitions and epistemic communities
- “[international advocacy coalitions allow] ecological values to be placed above narrow definitions of national interest.” Keck, Sikkink, 1998
3
Q
Debates on deforestation
A
- Carbon sink
- Tropical tree cover can provide an est. 23% of climate change mitigation in the next 10 years to achieve Paris Agreement goals (Nunez, 2019)
- Most terrestrial plant and animal species can be found in trop. forestes (Pavia, 2019), an est. 10% of known species in the Amazon, as well as 400 different indigenous groups (WWF UK, 2023)
- Seventeen countries from the so-called Global South have expressed their exasperation at the European Union’s anti-deforestation legislation and the impact it could have on their exports of commodities such as soy, palm oil, cocoa, beef, coffee or timber (da Silva, 2023)
