Lecture 2 - Definitions Of Sustainability Flashcards
(21 cards)
Who introduced the concept of sustainability and in what context?
Answer: Hannß Carl von Carlowitz introduced the concept in the context of forestry and timber management in Saxony.
Wha was Carlowitz’s core principle regarding sustainability?
Answer: Don’t harvest more timber than can regrow.
Sustainability here refers to the preservation of something (a renewable resource), not directly to fairness or justice
What is MSY in resource management?
Answer: Maximum Sustainable Yield - the point where you can maximize stock harvesting without depletion.
regeneration rate depends on available stock R
What significant event occurred in 1973 that raised environmental awareness?
Answer: The Oil Crisis, where OPEC’s oil embargo led to price increases from $3 to $5 per barrel.
What was the “Limits to Growth” and who published it?
Answer: A report published by the Club of Rome in 1972 that warned about finite resources and rapidly growing world population.
What is the Brundtland definition of sustainable development?
Answer: Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs.
What are the two key concepts in the Brundtland definition?
Answer: 1) The concept of needs, particularly of the world’s poor
2) The limitations imposed by technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs
What is intragenerational justice?
Answer: Justice within the same generation, particularly addressing the north/south divide and essential needs of the world’s poor.
What is intergenerational justice?
Answer: Fair distribution of goods between different generations.
What critique did the German Advisory Council make of the Brundtland definition?
Answer: It was criticized for lack of clear boundaries and conceptual precision.
How many states signed the Rio Declaration?
Answer: 172 states
What are the three pillars in the Three Pillar Model?
Answer: Society, Economy, and Environment
What is the main weakness of the Three Pillar Model?
Answer: Unclear definition of “balance between pillars”
What are Aristotle’s two principles of distributional justice?
Answer: 1) Distribution according to needs
2) Distribution according to performance
What is Rawls’s concept of justice called?
Answer: Justice as Fairness
What is the “veil of ignorance” in Rawls’s theory?
Answer: The concept that the right/fair choice is the one made when parties don’t know their position in society.
What are the three key principles of Rawls’s Theory of Justice?
Answer: 1) Liberty Principle (Equal basic rights)
2) Difference Principle (Inequalities must benefit least advantaged)
3) Fair Equality of Opportunity
How does Rawls address intergenerational justice?
Answer: Through the saving principle, where parties don’t know which generation they belong to so they save assuming other generations save at the same rate.
What world view is presented in the Brundtland report?
Answer: An anthropocentric view where nature’s protection is not considered an end in itself but is valuable because it serves humans (instrumental value).
What were the key principles of the Rio Declaration?
Answer: 1) Human-centered development
2) Environmental protection
3) Poverty eradication
4) Precautionary approach to the environment
What is the Three Pillar Model?
- Proposed by German Bundestag’s Enquete Commission
- Sustainability means - Balance between society, economy, and environment
