Sustainable development and climate justice lecture notes
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University Of Sussex (UoS)
Very in-depth going into population bomb, Malthus population theory, sustainable development, green growth, degrowth, sdgs, Jeffree sachs, framings of sustainable development and history, public/celebrity framings and critical analysis as well as analysis of climate justice and indigenous forms
Sustainable Development and Climate Justice
Assignments : depths not breadth- look at case studies- go in depth and narrowly go into parts you
want to focus on and show the complexities of the topic
Talk to tutor on feedback of essay to improve next essay
Sustainable development: a brief history
Growth, such as economic, industrial and population growth, cannot continue forever
Origins:
Thomas Malthus: an essay on the principle of populations (1798)
Malthus basic theory : the Malthusian trap. (Increased food production
(linear) and exponential population growth) we will get to a point of output
crisis, not enough resources for population (per unit), where population
growth will outstrip production.
Caused concern in England as agricultural output couldn’t keep up with
population growth.
Malthus been proved wrong: Malthusian trap has been ‘fixed’ through generations (always seems to
move around the problem:)
eg through colonialism where hunger was outsourced, many studies on how greatest famines of our
time were caused by movement around and prioritisation of global trade rather then supporting local
food systems.
Think/ look back at readings on bengal famine/look at previous essays.
Another example: increase in agricultural production, invention of fertilisers and other things that
improve rate of growth in agriculture disprove malthusians thoughts of resource production as linear
and rather as arithmetic (look at economies of scale?). Look at green revolution and how it transforms
agricultural patterns leading to massive increases in productivity (esp in Asia)
This lead to variety of problems:
• best location still being used up over time
• Increased use of fertilisers negative externalities (knock on effects on environment)
there has been an application to show that there are som limits to these solutions, very often using
logic that Malthus came up with.
Applying to : land use, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution and climate change
Common in discussion: focuses on humans as irrational user of their resources, not efficiently
managing their usage and the impact of usage in long term (L-t sustainability of communities)
Neo-malthusians: building on ideas and coming up with challenges, particularly population(eg books:
population bomb, limits to growth, club of rome) and various ideas that started feeding into sustainable
development. But with a specific view that the trajectory we are on can’t be changed.
Over time see this come into mainstream politics, with range of ideas on limits of growth.:
• Industrial era- people complained about threats of pollution
• Release of Silent spring (Rachel. Carson, 1962)- on silent threat of pesticides on humans and wildlife,
, especially birds (killing birds at such rate that we will at some point have a spring without birdsong) -
highlighted danger of development taken for granted at that stage.
• 1972 UN Human Enviroment Conference, debate between sustainability and development first reach
UN
• 1983 Establisment of the World Commission on Enviroment and Development (WCED) by UN
Secretary General. Sustainability becomes more mainstream, more of an agenda on development.
• 1987 Brundtland report published, key moment for sustainable development critiquing untrammelled
growth of development, before this there was an unquestioned modernism in development focused
on state led projects of growth. (It was seen as end to theory of modernisation as accepted
discourse of development)
Brundtland Report: Our Common Future
• World population projected to double in the 21st century (focus on population growth)
• Vicious cycle in the relationship between environment and poverty (built on neo-Malthusian ideas of
people as intensive resource users and if you’re in poverty you need to use all your resources)
• Populations puts pressure on resources (greed/intensive resource use puts pressure on resources)
• Over exploitation of resources causes environmental degradation (leading to …)
• Which depletes the resources on which people depend
• Global environmental problems are the result of a cocktail of wealth and poverty (negative : saw a lot
of blame on poor people even though it highlighted some inequalities)
It changed/replaced the optimism in scientifically, technologically, and industrially led development,
with change into fear of the unintended consequences, with the social and political reprocussions of
the consequences and the long term impact.
Def of sustainable development from Brundtland report: “Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
(WCED/Brundtland Report, 1987)
Rio Earth Summit 1992: The United Nations Conference on Enviroment and Development
Built on ideas and perspectives in Brundtland report, introducing sustainability into development
planning and action.
With 27 principles put through (look into the 27 principles), which shows the first NON-BINDING
voluntarily implemented actions/agreements. (Think about how its all talk and no action in reality- still
supporting big oil companies)
Rio Earth Summit + 20 2012: ‘The Future We Want’
Attempt at linking ideas of sustainability to the millennium development goals, which have seen before
a general link together, whilst now are seen to be fused int development goals on sustainability.
Supporting quote (Para 246): ‘we recognise that the
development of goals could also be useful for pursuing
focused and coherent action on sustainable development”
Picture: millennium development goals:
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