DECK 8

Question 1

Talk about technological change in the introduction to sustainable development

Answer 1

• the long-term driver of economic development
• comes with side effects
• can achieve human goals through a deliberate goal-based interaction of public and private research and development (R&D) efforts

Question 2

Talk about GDP per capita for sustainable development

Answer 2

• GDP per capita is one summary measure of the economic development of a country
• It is imperfect, however, because it does not measure the goods and services transacted outside of the market as well as the “bads”, like pollution, that often accompany production

Question 3

When did economic growth start in Great Btitain?

Answer 3

1750 with the Industrial Revolution

Question 4

What are the environmental crisis in sustainable development?

Answer 4

The worlds unprecedented large-scale economic activity is creating an immense environmental crisis: humanity is changing the Earth’s climate , the availability of fresh water, the oceans chemistry, and the habitats of other species

Question 5

What era are we in?

Answer 5

We have entered the era of the ANTHROPOCENE, an era in which humanity is creating major disruptions of the Earth’s physical and biological system

Question 6

What is the BAU path in sustainable development?

Answer 6

The business as usual path is a scenario in which humanity continues on the current course. An alternative path, one that aims for social inclusion and environmental sustainability, will be called the sustainable development path

Question 7

What boosted economic growth in England during 1750?

Answer 7

• Unique combination of forces spurred growth in economic life that eventually spread to the entire world.
• Topography, river ways, canals, ports, and mineral deposits in combination with the market incentives, rule of law, and a university-led scientific outlook all helped boost economic growth

Question 8

What did James Watt inmprove?

Answer 8

In 1776, in an environment where commercial law existed and intellectual property rights were recognized, James Watt improved on a previous stream engine design, and patented his Watt steam engine. His invention made it possible to efficiently and economically harness massive amounts of energy from coal deposits

Question 9

What is catch-up growth driven by?

Answer 9

Adopting technologies from abroad

Question 10

What has kept the process of endogenous growth moving forward since the industrial revolution?

Answer 10

Several waves of technological change:
- steam age (1780-1830)
- age of steel production and railway building (1830-1880)
- age of electricity (1880-1930)
- age of automobile of the chemical industry and aviation (1930-1970)
- age of information and communication technologies (1970-2010)

Question 11

Why has the US been the main technological leader for a long time with 1.7% gdp growth rate?

Answer 11

Mainly fur to easily available energy sources

Question 12

What did DENG XIOPING do when he came to power in China?

Answer 12

Opened the country to a market system

Question 13

What facilitated the era of globalization?

Answer 13

Facilitated by technological breakthroughs, systems of production became global

Question 14

What are the main economical diseases?

Answer 14

• Bad economic policies
• Poor governance (corruption, inefficiency, incompetence)

Question 15

According to Acemoglu Robinson, why do nations fail?

Answer 15

The notion that hot climates causes poverty is flawed, as history shows no lasting link between geography and economic success. Political and historical factors, like borders and governance play a much larger role in global inequality. Look at Singapore and Malaysia.

Question 16

What is the resource curse?

Answer 16

Energy is at the core of every economic activity, and countries with abundant fossil fuel resources can more easily achieve economic growth. However some resource rich countries have mismanaged their natural resources falling into a resource curse, where large financial flows from resources become diverted into massive corruption

Question 17

What does climate have a large effect on?

Answer 17

Crop productivity, diseases, water scarcity, and vulnerability to environmental hazards

Question 18

What is the effect of gender inequality?

Answer 18

With a large difference in attitudes in gender equality, it limits the economic development of a country since women cannot fully participate in economic and political things, resulting in the country to only run half of its brain power and talents

Question 19

Why is the government vital for the rule of law?

Answer 19

• To avoid anarchy and violence
• ensure that other institutions operate according to the law
• ensure contracts are enforced
  If the government is corrupt, it might fail to deliver broad-based economic development. In addition, corporate lobbying can result in failures of the regulatory process

Question 20

What played an adverse role in economic development of former colonies?

Answer 20

The colonial legacy

Question 21

Who predicted that any gain in living standards would be annihilated by population growth, and did not foresee technological advances and the demographic transition. However he was right to predict massive population growth

Answer 21

Malthus

Question 22

What is the list of planetary boundaries across 9 areas to allow the identification and quantification of safe operating limits for human activity?

Answer 22

1. Human-induced climate change which threatens the global food supply, the survival of other species, and disrupts life due to more intense storms and sea level rises
2. Ocean acidification, which threatens marine life
3. Ozone depletion, which causes increase disorder such as skin cancer
4. Pollution from excessive nitrogen and phosphorus, which threatens estuaries with eutrophication
5. Overuse of freshwater resources, which is exacerbated by growing populations and changing precipitation patterns due to climate change
6. Land use - deforestation not only adds CO2 to the atmosphere but destroys the habitats of other species
7. Biodiversity loss - we depend on biodiversity for food supply, safety from natural, industrial materials, freshwater, and our ability to resist pests and pathogens
8. Aerosol loading - the burning of fossil fuels puts small particles into the air that are damaging to the lungs
9. Chemical pollution, a broad category mostly caused by industrial activities

Question 23

What is pent-up growth?

Answer 23

The amount of growth resulting from poorer countries catching up with richer countries, would correspond approximately to tripling world output

Question 24

What is the good and bad of fossil fuels?

Answer 24

• It allowed the breakthrough to the era of modern economic growth
• However, now it is a danger as is emits too much co2, as the economy grows, the energy use tends to grow alongside it: a doubling of the size of an economy tends to be associated with a double in primary energy use

Question 25

How does economic activity contribute to rising CO2 levels, and what actions are necessary to mitigate the associated climate risks?

Answer 25

- Each $1000 of economic output uses 0.19 tons of oil-equivalent energy, releasing 2.4 tons of CO2 - For every 7.8 Billion tons of CO2 released, atmospheric CO2 increases by 1 ppm - CO2 levels have risen from the historic range of 150-280ppm to 400ppm increasing by 2ppm per year - If CO2 levels reach 450-500ppm, the earth would be 2 degrees hotter - Urgent actions are needed including enhanced energy efficiency, transitioning to low-carbon electricity, and adopting cleaner fuel alternatives

Question 26

What is comparable to the energy sector in terms of its environmental impact?

Answer 26

Agriculture

Question 27

Why cant global markets ensure that economic growth is sustainable?

Answer 27

Primarily because the planetary damages are "externalities": those who impose the damages do not pay the costs of it. The result is the overuse of the products and services that create these externalities Second, the problem is the intergenerational: those living today spoil the environment without having to bear the responsibilities to the future generations/ When these externalities are ignored, we have a "tragedy of the commons". A variety of policy tools can help: taxation, permit systems, liability rules, social institutions that promote cooperation at the community scale, and public financial support to discover more sustainable technologies through directed research

Question 28

Talk about solar radiation reaching to Earth

Answer 28

Solar radiation reaches the Earth as ultraviolet radiation; a large part reaches the surface, warming the Earth as a result. According to the concept of "black-body radiation", any warm body radiates electromagnetic energy, and the warmer the body, the greater the radiation. When the sun radiates energy to the Earth, it warms to just the temperature so that an energy balance is struck: the amount of energy radiated by the Earth equals the amount of energy radiated from the Sun to the Earth

Question 29

What are the major GHGs directly emitted by humans?

Answer 29

CO2, METHANE, NITROUS OXIDE, HYDROFLOUROCARBONS, PERFLUOROCARBONS, AND SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE Without the greenhouse effect, the average Earth temperature would be around -14 degrees, with the greenhouse effect, it is around 18 degrees

Question 30

What are the differences between GHGs radiative forcing and their residence time

Answer 30

CH4 traps roughly 23 times more heat than CO2 but the residence time is around 10 years rather than hundreds in the case of CO2

Question 31

What are the effects of increasing temperature?

Answer 31

- Major decline in crop yield - Melting glaciers - Rising sea levels that would threaten major cities - Increase in ocean acidification - Loss of solid moisture - Decline in rainfall - More frequent heat waves - Droughts - Floods - Extreme tropical cyclones NOTE THAT SEA-LEVEL RISES THAT CAUSE FLOODING - ABOUT 125-150 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN GANGES DELTA IN BANGLADESH AND INDIA

Question 32

What are the current priorities in climate change mitigation?

Answer 32

- Highest priority is to reduce CO2 emissions coming from the burning of fossil fuels - Second is to head off the deforestation which is causing co2 emissions from land-use changes - reduce respectively, methane and nitrous oxide emissions

Question 33

Define decarbonization

Answer 33

The sharp reduction of CO2 per dollar of GWP

Question 34

What are the challenges of tapping into renewable energy sources?

Answer 34

- The greatest potential for renewable energy is often located far from population centers - Both wind and solar power are intermittent energy sources

Question 35

What are the main pillars of deep carbonization?

Answer 35

- First is energy efficiency, using much less energy per unit of GDP than now - Second is low-carbon electricity, meaning that we produce electricity with wind, solar, nuclear, or carbon capture and storage technologies so that emissions of CO2 per megawatt of electricity are drastically reduced - Third is to shift from burning fossil fuels to using electricity generated by a low-carbon source, a process called "fuel switching" or "electrification"

Question 36

What are the sustainable development goals?

Answer 36

1. End poverty in all forms everywhere 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, sale, resilient, and sustainable 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development