Global Environmental Politics
Introduction:
▪ Interactive lectures (the summary of the text)
▪ Read required readings (at least read one required reading)
▪ Simulation (7th of December – Saturday).
▪ Practitioners insights (they will prepare us for the simulation – tips and advices)
Evaluation:
▪ Written exam: 80% (January)
▪ Reflection paper (linked to the simulation. E.g. you will try to represent a president…). After
the simulation, everyone is asked to link the discussions with the report - 20%. Simulation of
the UN.
Example of questions:
Reflection Paper:
▪ Drawing lessons from the simulation. 2000 words max.
▪ Deadline: 3rd of January, 6 pm.
Exam:
▪ 2 types of question: Short-answer questions (2-5 questions) (testing the factual knowledge:
concepts. E.g. what is environmental Justice)
▪ Long-answer questions (2-3 questions): critical reflection. Using the concept and applying it
to the cases. Reflect on the concept in certain cases. Or: compare 2 cases. 1 – 1,5 pages max.
▪ Required readings cover the lecture!
▪ Follow the discussions during the lectures, cause they can be on the exam.
▪ If you know the slides – you are well prepared. There are few concepts – apply them to the
cases.
▪ 3 hours exam.
Simulation:
▪ Simulation of the ongoing discussion on the Climate change.
, ▪ The oceans are everyone’s. The oceans are polluted, which threaten the biodiversity. They
try to agree on the UN level: how to find a solution to this problem.
▪ Next week or the week after that, the paper will be indicated, where we can indicate the
country. 2 people will represent one country.
▪ Then you can get started researching your position. E.g. what does Morocco want? E.g. if you
are a small country, you do not want to share money. Smaller countries work in coalitions. 1)
Find what you want. 2) Find who your friends are.
What is a Sustainable Development?
Sustainable development:
▪ The Donner Model: humans should use the resources, without destroying the earth.
▪ Finding the alternative to the current system
▪ Alternative ways to meet human needs
▪ Planetary boundaries
▪ Production Models. Balance between production and consumption. Not producing too much.
Balance.
▪ Circular economy: how you reuse materials and how you recycle the waste In the way
turning it in a cycle.
▪ Knowledge and Education – as a sustainable development.
▪ We have been talking only about humans. The preservation of the eco-system, for the
survival of other species. Sustainable development would be – going together with the
species as one. Humans are just one of the multiple species.
▪ Win-win: good for humans and species.
▪ Getting rid of the exploitation of the nature, getting rid of the countries in the north
exploiting countries in the south. Solidarity between countries the global north and global
south.
▪ Changing the global mind set. That comes with education.
What is Sustainable Development?There is no one definition. There are so many different views.
Different scales (global vs individual change).
▪ No poverty
▪ No hunger
▪ Good health
▪ Quality education
▪ Gender equality
▪ Clean water and sanitation
▪ Renewable energy
▪ Good jobs and economic growth
▪ Innovation and infrastructure
▪ Reduced inequalities
▪ Suitable cities and communities
▪ Responsible consumption
▪ Etc.
,Rio Conference: Sustainable development was defined. There are social economic and environmental
spheres, where they overlap and then we have sustainability
Sustainability: consists of the intercourse between society, economy and environment.
▪ But what do we improve more? Economy, society?
▪ Nested model: where environment defines the boundaries. The rest (society and economy)
can not survive without the environment.
▪ In Europe, people are dependent on the production economy (meat consumption) and we
are far away from the circular economy (recycling).
▪ People in the 1970s, had a different perception about the topics than now.
▪ Nowadays, we have a lot of people living in the world. There is a significant population
growth. Therefore, we need to find a solution for everyone to live in a humanized way (not
exploiting the oceans and other resources).
▪ Developing economies and countries have a faster population growth.
Climate change: energy use.
▪ The increase of energy use among people.
▪ Energy Use: mostly by China, India, other developing countries and Russia.
▪ The EU is proud that their economy goes up and that the production of fossil fuels goes
down. However, they are importing a lot of energy from countries, which still produce a lot
of energy.
Deforestation:
▪ Due to increased climate change, there is an increase of deserts, which impacts peoples
livelihood (e.g. causes people to migrate because there is no rain).
▪ Pollution (industrial activities).
▪ The overfishing – one of the biggest challenges.
▪ Global risks landscape:
▪ Environmental issues (e.g. natural disasters and climate change). The risks are acknowledged,
but they are not resolved.
The Anthropocene:
▪ We live in a different era. We do not live in a middle ages . We live in the new era, in which
humans changed the planet. E.g. mining became natural, which changed the shape of the
planet, which we can not reverse.
▪ Anthropocene: a changing force on the planet: Humans have become one of the greatest
geological powers.
Lesson 1 (27 September 2019)
Topic: Evolution of the environmental problems
▪ Environmental policy and politics have evolved from solving local problems to an integrated
approach addressing complex problems ranging from the local to global scale and involving a
growing diversity of actors
, Context (why it is the case):
• Growing human impact on the planet: There are more and more people in the world, we
consume more resources and produce more waste
• Scientific progress: The scientific (technological) progress has changed the way we live.
However, it created positive and especially negative externalities (problems) which we are
facing now.
Interconnected World:
▪ In the 1970s environment was not an issue. However, now we are living in the
interconnected world (trades, goods, cargos, interconnected economies), which has an
impact. Interconnected pollutions (e.g. we also started to fly – more and more). This results
in the global environmental problems. This is more crucial from decades in the past. It is not
only a European problem, but more of the international problem
Global Injustice :There are regions in the world (that consume more, that have a
higher standard of living) and they consume a lot of resources. And there are a lot
of people who use fewer resources. This is not fair. There is a Social injustice
(Global injustice), which is amplified through the environmental scale.
Two concepts:
▪ Responsibility: who is responsible for what? Green house emissions:
responsibility is a big issue
▪ CBDR (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities): was formalized in United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,
1992. CBDR principle acknowledges all states have shared obligation to address
environmental destruction but denies equal responsibility of all states with regard to
environmental protection. There is an asymmetrical responsibility. Europe says: China, it is
your responsibility to deal with the pollutions. A lot of products were actually produced by
rich countries and then disposed to poorer countries.
How did (global) environmental policy start?
▪ The US was the first country that adopted the environmental policies (60s-70s). Rachel
Carson she wrote books about environment ‘Silent Spring’, which were available for people.
US used DDT as a pesticide on the farmlands. And the book was about this. E.g. Silent Spring:
the spring without birds. The environmental movement started with her, around
1960s, trying to put pressure on the government. DDT is nowadays is still used (e.g.
in African countries against mosquitos).
▪ 1970s: Major US legislations: Obamas acts were based on the acts of the 1970s.
They adopted the act about Environmental Protection Agencies and the act about
clean water and air.
▪ Other countries in Europe adopted environmental policies (number of European countries),
because they thought that it was a good idea. ***There was no international negotiations
yet, not working together, but solving domestic problems in the 1970s.
