Transcript The Skeptical Environmentalist Its Impacts and Critique
21
st
Century Environmentalism ?
• Timeline of some key events re-iterated • UK perspectives on growth of environmentalism and people-environment relations • Lomborg (2001)
The Skeptical Environmentalist
• The Environmentalists Fight Back – but is it working?
• Public scepticism – are we “
bovvered
”?
Example Essay Q
• From 2002 Exam – • Critically analyse the global environmental views outlined by Lomborg (2001) that "Mankind's lot has vastly improved in every significant measurable field and is likely to continue to do so".
• Feel free to do, and/or plan, and submit to me for comments
1960s
• Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ 1962 • Kenneth Boulding’s ‘Spaceship Earth’ 1966 • Paul Ehrlich’s ‘Population Bomb’ 1968 • Friends of the Earth 1969
1970s
• First Earth Day 1970 • Greenpeace 1971 • Polluter Pays Principle ‘OECD’ 1971 • UN Conference on Human Development, 1972 •
Limits to Growth
1972 • Worldwatch Institute 1975
1980s ‘The Disasters’
• 1984 -
Bhopal
, India – Union Carbide toxic chemical leak 10,000 dead 300,000 injured • 1984 -
Ethiopian drought
– 1 million dead • 1986 -
Chernobyl
led to a famine with 250,000 , toxic radioactive explosion • 1989 -
Exxon Valdez
dumps 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound in Alaska
Rise of Green Power in 1980s
• Environmental Groups – UK membership went from 2 to 5 million between 1980-88 • Green Party – gained 15 % of vote at European elections in 1989 • John Elkington and Julia Hailes, 1988 – ‘Green Consumer Guide’
1990s ‘Business Changes’
• 1992 – Business Council for Sustainable Development representation at Earth Summit • 1995 – Shell linked with death of Ken Saro-Wiwa – World Trade Organisation established • 1996 ISO14001 EMS • 1997 Marine Stewardship Council founded • 1998 Monsanto GMO crisis • 1999 Global Sustainability Index
Summary
• 1960s birth of new consciousness, movement, groups • 1970s tense battle ground between economists and environmental movement • 1980s Introduction of sustainable development • 1990s Realising SD • 2000s ?? - Skepticism and WSSD places emphasis on Poverty and Partnerships (not environment) – nation states taking more control (away from UN etc.) post 9/11
The Skeptical Environmentalist Its Impacts and Critique
• The Questioning of Environmentalist Assumptions of Crisis (Lomborg, 2001) • The Scientific / Environmentalist Fightback •
Further Reading to assess its’ impact
Lomborg (2001) - The Skeptical Environmentalist
• • Statistical analysis of major indices of global environmental state and well-being that concludes -
“Mankind's lot has vastly improved in every significant measurable field and is likely to continue to do so"
• Argues many environmental concerns are created and perpetuated by environmental movement • Suggests global budgets would be better spent on reducing poverty (and enabling adaptability to climate change) than on costly anti-pollution measures – www.lomborg.org
– See also Preface reading
Media Response / Portrayal
• Very widely (and positively) reported as key questioning to many environmental wisdoms: – “The Skeptical Environmentalist is a triumph”
The Economist
6/9/01 – “Probably the most important book on the environment ever written”
The Daily Telegraph
, 27/8/01 – “A magnificent achievement”
The Washington Post
, 21/10/01 – “ The reader should be wary in particular of Lomborg's passion for global statistics: overarching averages can obscure a lot of important detail ”
The Guardian
, 1/09/01
Environmentalists Fight Back
• Scathing reviews published in
Scientific American
02),
Nature
and
Science
(Jan • Based on statistical fallacies and economic indicators (rather than detailed scientific research) • Weaknesses in global data sets • • He has limited scientific credentials and portrayed as an oddball
“Reads like a compilation of term papers from one of those classes from hell where one has to fail all students”
– Pimm and Harvey (2001,
Nature
– www.anti-lomborg.com
414, 8)
Lomborg’s Rise and Fall ?
• Widely quoted by leading global politicians and sold many millions copies of book • March 2002 – appointed as Director of Denmark’s Environmental Assessment Institute • January 2003 – Found guilty by Danish Government Committee of “scientific dishonesty” who stated that “ [ he] has clearly acted at variance with good scientific practice” • Increasingly viewed by scientific community that although controversial, is also incompetent in analysis and interpretation
Lomborg’s Rise, Fall and Rise Again?
• April 2004 – named one of world’s 100 most influential people by
Time
magazine • November 2004 – named a Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum • Co-ordinated the
Copenhagen Consensus
with ten world leading economists assessing options on key global crises • Published
Global Crises, Global Solutions
based on cost benefit analyses of different policy options on global problems BUT ..
• “
Junk economics done by Nobel laureates is simply distinguished junk economics
” – Tom Burke, Guardian 23/10/04
Implications of Lomborg debates to Modern Environmental Science
• Too simplistic to discount as an ‘incompetent oddball’ as has changed socio-political view of environmental science • Need to increase rigour of scientific analyses to counter the views that all is ok with global environment • Need to clearly identify social, cultural and political causes and implications of environmental changes • Has focused more of the Climate Change debate on people’s adaptability (and vulnerability) rather than just mitigation options
Ongoing Public Debates
• Continued public scepticism that global environmental arguments being mis-used to detriment of local communities & environment • Other leading ‘environmentalists’ speaking out against scientific consensus – e.g. David Bellamy attacks ‘scam of global warming’ • Continued push for various ‘public good’ moves based (partly) on environmental benefits they provide – e.g. local, organic food; anti 4x4 campaigns; Debt relief / ‘Make Poverty History’
Local Food – Environmental and Social (health?) benefits
• Has Green movement been co-opted – reduced its radical ideas and taken over by middle classes? E.g.
– German Greens once in power; – Jamie Oliver claiming the local food agenda!
• • Do you look where your food comes from – e.g. English (in-season) apples or New Zealand (6 month old) ones?
Food miles
?
Does Public Action Work? Should we try?
• 21 st century seen a number of very large public protests on key policy issues implying increased public activism again?
• BUT, how successful have such pressures been?
– Jubilee 2000 – G8 demosntrations in B’ham etc. leading to increased debt relief etc. – Stop the War – 1-2 million people mobilised in protest against Iraq war – politicising the young ??
– ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign – big noise but how much impact at G8 Gleneagles or recent UN review • Widespread acceptance now that Millennium Development Goals won’t be met on timeframe set and that Kyoto Protocol is doomed to fail
Coursework Essay Q
• Reminder – Essay Q due Tuesday November 8 th Office – UG • Use references, maps (e.g. degradation status) etc. to save words • Structure around keywords – Outline problem (hunger extent – keep short) – Outline causes (environmental impact contested, others too) – Analyse role of GM as solution (pro’s, con’s, alternative’s – e.g. farmer innovations, low external input approaches) • Any major concerns / queries – e-mail: [email protected]
• Extensions can ONLY be granted by UG office, ES Level 9