Environment Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is romantic movement ?
- appeared in recluse 19th century
- celebrated nature and deplored the new industrial landscape of f actores and cities
- HOWEVER -> by the second half of 20th century it was recognised that pollution of air and water was a serious problem and threat to the environment
What is Brundtland Commission?
Seated up by the UN and highlighted the relationship between development and environment
( World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 )
- The report contained the term “ sustainable development “
“ Sustainable development” -> the development that met the needs of the present without composing ability of the future generation to meet their own needs
The use of term “ Sustainable” for Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 shows how sustainability and protection on of the environment have come to be seen as very important
What is ecological footprint ?
It is a mesurare of the environment impact on the individuals or country’s lifestyle, taking into account what resources are consumed
Current environment problems are ?
Deforastisation -> particular loss of tropical rainforest
Global warming -> mainly to CO2 e,,is soon from factories power plants, cars, aeroplanes ant etc
Desertification-> involving the loss of farm lands ( the spread of desserts, as land on the edges of desserts loses its vegetation and top soil)
Loss of biodiversity-> refers to number of verity of species in ecosystem, threatened by human activity
Over use of non - renewable resources
Shared resources ( land, air, water pollution) made by TNC in developed Western countries
Ozone depletion -> thinning of the ozone layer within the atmosphere
Global north perspective on the environment ->
For the North -> the focus on issues, such as global warming, deforestation, and conserving habitats, often using the reason of sharing the same planet, is the main issue that focuses within Global North
Global South perspectives on the environment ?
For the global South -> There are more concerns about the effects of TNCs, uneven tarde and Western Consumption making it difficult for developing countries to avoid the problems
- Also poorer propeller are the least responsible for the environmental problems,they are affected by them more than wealthier people- e.g they are more likely to live on the land that is vulnerable to flooding, or close to source pollution, and they lack resources to move or to change their situation
-New emphasis on recycling also negatively affects developing countries,as there is less demand on the products,, that they ar being depended on ( timber ( лесоперероботка ), mining); recycling of scrap materials and substitution of the synthetic materials reduces demand on these
Waste from Global North often ends up in Global South by bring even more environmental problems
What effect TNC has on environment ?
The pressure form TNC leads to weaken environment controls -> for example : - having less strengthened control over the pollution
- the use of the best agricultural lands by TNCs for cash crop production -> employing few workers ->small farmers use marginal land on the edge of forest, unsustainable use of the forests and its resources
Kyoto Protocol
The protocol that was signed by 160 countries agreeing to reduced CO2 emission. USA reduced to join as it will more likely to negatively impact on its corporate interests.
People - centered approach to environment
Advocates the use of Appropriate technology - this involves the use of renewable local resources with minimal environmental impact.
EG: radio removes the need of electricity generation
Food in Africa can be stored in pot-in-pot refrigerators that need no power
NGO practical action focuses on appropriate technology - www.practicalaction.com
The Bambuti Ba’twa
Monbit
The Bambuti Ba’twa tribe of Pygimes who used to live in the low equatorial forests on the boarder with Rwanda and what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, had their land designed as a national park to protect gorillas. The Pygimes are now living in small groups on the edge of the park.
“ We became thieves… “ said one chief “… this disaster was imposed… by creation of the national park”
The clash of interests has occurred as well meaning attempts to create hostility, only negatively impacted on the social problems, even if they are to solve them
Neoliberal view on environment
- Neoliberals see the solution of environment problem in extension of the free market
- capitalism may be contributed to environmental problems, but its nature as an ongoing “ growth machine” means that it will generate solutions to the problems
- current problems such as use of high - polluting non - renewable fuels for car, will be solved by as cost rise, creating stimulus to develop more environmentally friendly acceptable alternatives
- Such solutions are referred as “ technological fixes”
- Environmentalists and sociologists tend to be very sceptical about it, as environment problems have their roots in complex social and economic context, so “ fix” seems to easy
- neoliberals advocate privatisation or extending the market into new areas it has not reached before :
- the areas they claim to attract would promote sustainable became this would make more economic sense
- those who disagrees say that this will just exclude the poor who, for example , may not be able to get water because they could not afford the market price
Neo - Malthusians and modernisation theory
- For Neo- Malthusians, those who damage to their environment most needs are from the poor people in developing countries, especially in rural areas
- their poverty leads to their degradation of the environment
- even if they are aware of long - term problems being created, short - term needs mean they use the available resources
- population growth contributes to this
- growing ni,her of people = number of marginal land has to be farmed, with loss of soil and eventual desertification
- it sees the problem internal to developing countries, rather than seeing them, as dependency theorists would want
Anti - Malthusians and dependency theory
Anti- Malthusians = environmentalists
- the people who damage the environment the most are the wealthiest on the people, because they consume a far greater amount of resources and generate much more wealth
- they would pointy to the fact of exploitation of the developing worlds resources food their benefit
- poor can export the natural resource of the forest, for example, yet for the deforestation it will require a timber ( лесовырубка) company
- the problem not in the population but in the amount of the consumption those people are consume
- unequal distribution of the resources are the real problem
- the view fits with dependency theory, in terms of seeing unequal global system
- anti - Malthusians argue that developed worlds resources consumers must reduce their consumption level, and their ecological footprints. This would allow some economic growth in the global South, which would be necessary to achieve acceptable living standards, but disagrees on how much growth is possible
