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