Protecting the Global Environment

Gary C Bryner

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317253372
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

" Gary Bryner's brief, readable, capstone book: " Features a forward by Mark A. Boyer Outlines the major environmental challenges facing the world today Applies international relations theory to these challenges Covers such key topics as development, sustainability, and market capitalism Offers a social justice perspective to environmental problems and solutions Borne of an amalgam of social science, fieldwork, and a passionate commitment to justice, this book brings debates about climate change to a new level, compelling readers and researchers to rethink the reasons for reversing global environmental trends. The book lays out three inspirations for improving environmental prospects: effective markets, sustainable development, and environmental justice for the most vulnerable. It also projects three possible scenarios flowing from the success or failure of these inspirations one bleak, one breakthrough, and one of status quo. Gary Bryner is not sanguine about humanity s ability to make the right choices, but this does not deter him from asking us to think beyond our own generation and our own species in urging environmental action now."

Chapter One
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS

Scientists are deeply concerned by environmental trends. “A Warning to Humanity” (1993), written more than a decade ago by more than a thousand of the world’s leading scientists, summarized the situation in sobering terms:

Human Beings and the Natural World are set on a collision course. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.

A series of reports by the World Resources Institute, the United Nations Environment Programme, the WorldWatch Institute, and a host of scientists in research institutes, universities, and government agencies have outlined a sobering set of environmental threats, risks, and challenges (United Nations Environment Programme 2002; American Association for the Advancement of Science 2000; World Resources Institute 2005; WorldWatch Institute 2008).

These reports indicate that many of the most serious environmental problems, such as greenhouse gas emissions, the loss of biodiversity, and the accumulation of chemicals in the environment, have grown worse. These reports also indicate that the planet cannot sustain current levels of consumption and pollution occurring in the wealthy, industrialized nations and that the problem becomes far worse if people in the developing world increase their resource use to similar per capita levels. The most immediate environmental problems are typically found in the less developed countries, where poverty and environmental decline are inextricably intertwined. People who struggle to survive often engage in environmentally unsustainable practices, and those people are particularly affected by environmental problems such as water and air pollution, lack of clean drinking water and sanitation, and loss of biodiversity.

Longer-term environmental threats such as disruptive climate change are a concern in both the industrialized and developing world. Global warming has already been associated with significant changes in the climate of some regions and is expected to exacerbate problems of drought and severe storms that are already plaguing the developing world. Consumption of nonrenewable resources is similarly a global problem. Box 1.1 summarizes trends in some natural resources. Perhaps the most familiar resource consumption issue involves oil. Many petroleum engineers and analysts argue that we have or will soon reach “peak oil”—the point at which we have used half of the world’s recoverable oil—and production will begin an inexorable decline. With demand for oil continuing to grow steadily, decline in production will produce a tremendous gap between supply and demand, thus creating profound economic disruptions as prices skyrocket and growth no longer becomes possible (Goodstein 2004; Roberts 2004; Simmons 2005). For those who regard the current patterns of resource use and pollution as unsustainable, environmental degradation not only threatens people alive today but will also create pressures severely limiting the opportunities of succeeding generations to pursue their life choices.

Although there is wide agreement among environmentalists and ecological scientists that the world faces a grim future unless fundamental changes in consumption patterns occur, this conclusion is not as widely shared among the general public or those engaged in environmental politics. There are two primary reasons for this discrepancy. First, some measures of environmental quality show significant improvement over time. Air pollution, the kind of pollution that generally has the greatest impact on human health, has been reduced throughout the developed world. In the United States, emissions of total suspended particles peaked around 1950. Controls on burning and greater use of cleaner fuels induced steady declines until the 1980s. Carbon monoxide emissions peaked in about 1970 and have fallen noticeably since then, largely a result of motor vehicle emission controls. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (the primary constituent of ozone pollution) and of

Box 1.1 Trends in Global Natural Resources

	Global Trends
Biodiversity	Around 24 percent of mammals and 12 percent of birds are classified as threatened.
Deforestation	The net loss in global forest area during the 1990s was about 94 million hectares (ha), about 2.4 percent of total forests. This was the combined effect of a deforestation rate of 14.6 million ha annually and a rate of reforestation of 5.2 million ha annually.
Desertification	Desertification affects as much as 1/6 of the world’s population, 70 percent of all drylands, and 1 /4 of the world’s total land area and costs the world approximately US$42 billion a year.
Energy	Global energy use, which has increased nearly 70 percent since 1971, is projected to increase at more than 2 percent annually for the next fifteen years.
Fish Stocks	3/4 of all fish stocks are being exploited at or above their sustainable limits.
Land Degradation	By 1990 poor agricultural practices had contributed to the degradation of 562 million hectares, about 38 percent of the roughly 1.5 billion ha in cropland worldwide. Since 1990 an additional 5 to 6 million hectares have been lost to severe soil degradation annually.
Water	1/3 of the world’s population lives in countries experiencing moderate to high water stress.
Wetlands	50 percent of wetlands are estimated to have been lost since 1900.

Sources: World Resources Institute, www.wri.org/trends/index.html; UNESCO. World Water Assessment Programme, www.unesco.org/water/wwap/facts_figures/protecting_ecosystems.shtml; UNEP, GEO-3. p. 4, www.unep.org/geo/geo3/english/pdfs/synthesis.pdf; United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/desertification/desert.htm; United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, Agriculture, Land, and Desertification 2001, p. 2, http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/312/96/PDF/N0131296.pdf?OpenElement; World Bank. World Development Report 2003: Sustainable Development in a Dynamic World, p. 164, www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2002/09/06/000094946_02082404015854/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf;Wetlands International, The Socio-economics of Wetlands, www.wetlands.org/pubs&/pub_online/SocioEcs/Part1.pdf.

nitrogen oxide also peaked around 1970 but have only declined slightly in subsequent decades. Economic growth, technological modernization, and environmental regulation have combined to improve environmental quality (Bryner 1995, 54–56). Air quality data from other industrialized countries show a similar pattern of dramatic improvement over the past three decades in air quality, even as population increased by more than a third and gross domestic product has more than doubled (Lomborg, 1998, 177). There is considerable evidence showing that as countries become wealthier, their citizens demand more protection of environmental quality and have the resources to invest in cleaner technologies and in pollution control. Yet it remains unclear whether these effects are sufficient to have more than local impact.

Second, some advocates of economic growth argue that future generations will be better off if we leave them greater wealth to adapt to whatever problems they face rather than trying to prevent specific problems from occurring (Wildavsky 1997). Although not opposed to investments in developing new technologies and new sources of clean energy, which will benefit future as well as current generations, they are skeptical of investing large sums in efforts to prevent potential environmental changes that may not occur or have the effects that ecological scientists anticipate.

Thus, there is a yawning gap between two views of the planet’s future, with many economists arguing that wealth is the key to the future because it can be used to solve whatever environmental problems occur, whereas ecologists warn that irreplaceable natural processes and ecological services on which life depends are directly threatened by the continuation of current consumption and pollution patterns (Daily 1997).

Until recently, assessing such claims was difficult because there were no clear indicators for evaluating the severity of measuring environmental threats. In 2009 the journal Nature published a paper by a group of scientists proposing a way to gauge threats by identifying boundaries for human activity that should not be transgressed if people want to prevent unacceptable global environmental changes and preserve the environmental stability the planet has enjoyed during the past 10,000 years (Rock ström et al. 2009). They argued that during the Holocene era, environmental changes were ubiquitous but nonetheless within the regulatory capacity of earth systems to maintain stable, human development–friendly conditions. However, the industrial revolution opened a new era, called the Anthropocene, dominated by the growing use of fossil fuels and industrialized agriculture. In their view, these patterns are pushing earth systems beyond the bounds of the stable environmental state enjoyed during the Holocene and could result in “irreversible and, in some cases, abrupt environmental change, leading to a state less conducive to human development.”

The scientists defined the thresholds dividing sustainable from unsustainable activity through physical indicators such as the concentration of carbon dioxide or the number of species going extinct beyond the natural or background level. Using those indicators, they estimated that three of the nine planetary systems—climate change, biodiversity loss, and the nitrogen cycle—have exceeded safe boundaries and that others are close to doing so. They identified the climate threshold as 350 parts per million of CO₂ in the atmosphere, and noted that the current level is 387. They defined the rate of biodiversity loss boundary as no more than ten per million species, and observed that the current rate is more than one hundred. They set 35 million tons a year as the limit for the amount of nitrogen removed from the earth to produce fertilizer for agriculture and other products, and reported that the current volume is 121 million tons. Excess nitrogen ends up polluting waterways and coastal regions, and nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas. They also indicated that the boundaries may soon be reached for global freshwater use, the amount of land converted to cropland, and ocean acidification. They also regarded the boundaries as intertwined, stating, “we do not have the luxury of concentrating our efforts on any one of them in isolation from the others. If one boundary is transgressed, then the other boundaries are under serious risk.”

Although they provided easily stated targets that can serve as focal points in policy debates, their approach does not end disagreement about the likelihood of catastrophic environmental change. They acknowledged that there are many uncertainties about how long it will take to produce dangerous environmental changes or to trigger feedbacks that “drastically reduce the ability of the Earth system, or important subsystems, to return to safe levels” (Rockstrom et al. 2009, 474–75).

Yet their work reinforces other studies emphasizing that environmental and natural resource challenges have increasingly become global in scope. Some challenges, such as the threat to the stratospheric ozone layer and to the global climate as well as the decline of oceanic fisheries and degradation of the oceans, center on the global commons—the ecosystems on which all life depends. Other challenges, such as acid rain, hazardous wastes, and river pollution, are environmental problems that cross national boundaries and implicate international relationships in devising solutions. Another set of global threats arise from the globalization of markets and trade, which has greatly increased cross-border interactions and international flows of pollution and wastes as well as chemicals, genetically modified organisms, and other products. Additional challenges are primarily local in nature, such as the health effects of polluted air and water, the exhaustion of local nonrenewable resources, and damage to natural systems that provide important environmental services like watersheds and wildlife habitat. These problems reach virtually every part of the planet and affect communities almost everywhere. Cooperation, technology sharing, and other interactions can improve efficiency and effectiveness, particularly in policy areas in which more developed nations can assist developing ones to foster the technical and regulatory problem-solving capacity. Distributing global resources requires collective efforts so as to ensure there is some fair distribution of access and use as well as preservation for future generations. All countries have a stake in preserving the Arctic, the Antarctic, and other unique areas that are part of the common heritage of humankind.

Consequently, as environmental and natural resource problems have become international challenges, the scope of necessary response also broadened. The developed countries, although they are responsible for disproportionate contributions to the threats to the global commons, cannot protect and restore them without the help of the developing countries, whose economic growth is now also contributing emissions that threaten the biosphere. Countries are much less able to export their environmental pollution and problems to others today because they are constrained by a host of treaties and agreements aimed at managing international environmental relations. Local environmental problems in the developing world often overwhelm local resources, and technical and financial resources from elsewhere are required for timely and effective remediation. Poverty and environmental degradation are intimately intertwined: the struggle to survive leads to unsustainable use of resources, and environmental decline threatens livelihoods that are closely tied to the health of the land and water.

Three problems—loss of biodiversity, scarcity of fresh water, and disruptive climate change—are particularly difficult and emblematic of the global environmental challenges we face.

Biodiversity

Biological diversity represents the variety of ecosystems on earth, the species that inhabit them, and the genes that make up those species. Ecosystems, species, and genes can be described as three levels of living things on Earth. Each level interacts with and affects the others, but preserving each also represents distinct challenges. Ecosystems are formed by both living and nonliving components of an environment. The interactions among these elements are critical in determining the health of the system overall as well as individual species. Ecosystems range from complex tropical forests and coral reefs to estuaries and ponds, savannas and prairies, deserts and mountain tops, and neighborhood parks and backyards (Alonso, et al. 2007, 4–7). Species are groups of individual organisms sharing a set of unique characteristics. Some species can be found throughout the world, whereas others, endemic species, are only found in certain regions and require unique habitats. If these habitats are destroyed, the species are lost. Keystone species, such as kelp and corals in coastal ecosystems, are particularly important because they affect the health and well-being of other species; if they are damaged, others are endangered. Some 1.75 million species have been identified out of the 10–30 million species scientists estimate exist. The number of species of mammals (4,900), birds (9,800), amphibians and reptiles (13,000), and fish (28,000) is relatively small compared to the 360,000 species of beetles and 400,000 species of noninsect invertebrates identified so far (Alonso et al. 2007, 4–5). Genetic diversity—differences in the genetic makeup of individual members of a species—is essential for the flourishing of the species. The interaction between genetic makeup and local environments determines how well species can adapt to changing conditions, diseases, and other threats. Isolated species typically lack the access to genetic diversity that is essential for adapting to changing conditions.

Biodiversity produces a host of ecological goods and services that are essential for life, including food, medicines, fuel, and materials. It is also central to the spiritual, cultural, and aesthetic lives of people around the world. Ecosystem services include pollination necessary for food production, purification of air and water, stabilization of local and globalwide climates, drought and flood control, and recycling of nutrients. Because they are essential for physical life or spiritual and mental well-being, many people regard them as priceless. Others are willing to estimate a monetary value so that ecosystem services can be incorporated into economic analysis. One such study estimated the value of some of the world’s ecoservices at US$33 trillion a year, twice the value of all the goods and services produced by people. Some indicators of ecosystem services include the value of drugs containing ingredients from wild plants, the value of fisheries and fish catch, products from natural and managed forests, and soil bacteria that convert nitrogen into a form that can be used to produce crops and natural vegetation (Alonso et al. 2007, 8–13).

Naturally caused extinction is part of biodiversity: there have been five major mass extinctions in earth’s history, occurring about every 26 million years. Their causes are still debated, with explanations being offered that range from meteorites and comets to climate change to the loss of keystone species (Mackay 2009, 14). Natural processes result, on average, in the extinction of two species a year. These natural extinctions need to be distinguished from the extinctions resulting from human actions, including the loss and fragmentation of habitat to agriculture, human settlements, quarrying and mining, intentional or inadvertent introduction of invasive species that overwhelm ecosystems, unsustainable harvesting of plants and animals, air and water pollution, release of toxic chemicals, and global climate change. Together, these contribute to an extinction rate several hundred times greater than the natural rate. The extinction rate for specific species varies greatly, depending on their size, distribution, and characteristics. Habitat loss is the leading threat to bio-diversity, a function of human population growth and growing consumption. Invasive species introduced into freshwater systems pose a separate threat by spreading disease, damaging power plants and other equipment, and requiring massive pesticide use in agriculture. Nine of the world’s fisheries are declining because of overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction. Climate change is a threat to biodiversity in general because of the way it disrupts patterns of rainfall and alters temperature as well as magnifies the problem of biodiversity loss in a variety of specific ecosystems, such as corals, alpine meadows, barrier islands, southern temperate forests, deserts, and arctic coastal areas. As the European Environment Agency warns (EEA n.d.), “As we understand more about the ways that climate change is impacting biodiversity, it becomes clear that we cannot tackle the two crises separately. Their interdependence requires us to address them together.” Thus, loss of biodiversity directly translates into economic decline as harvesting of fish, timber, and other products decline; food production drops; and a host of other benefits, including medicines, aesthetic and spiritual well-being, and recreation opportunities becomes sparse. Loss of biodiversity is also irreversible—a permanent loss to humankind of part of the richness of planet earth (Alonso et al. 2007, 14–19).

Globally, some 24 percent of mammals and 12 percent of birds have been classified as threatened. In the United States 120 of 822 freshwater fish species are considered threatened, represe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction: Protecting the Global Environment
• 1 Global Environmental Trends
• 2 Understanding Global Environmental Politics: Theories of International Relations and Political Science
• 3 Capitalism and the Challenge of Making Markets Work
• 4 Sustainable Development
• 5 Justice and Fairness in Global Environmental Politics
• 6 Toward a Sustainable World
• Notes
• References
• Additional Reading
• Index
• About the Author