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3A: A Brief History of Development
3B: Sustainable Development
3C: Critiquing Sustainability
3D: The Human Development Index
3E: Measuring Sustainability (The EPI)
3F: WSSD and RIO+10
3G: The Earth Charter
3H: A slow death by progress
Part of the dilemma:
1. Sustainable development advocates global economic growth of 5 to 10x (goal = alleviating poverty).
How can that be achieved without exceeding the carrying capacity of ecosystems?
2. Formulations of development policy are to have “broadly-based participation.” How can we achieve the
radical political/social revisions prerequisite to ecological sustainability by consensus?
Defining economic “growth”? Review KR#1B (pp 669-680): economics
Make sure you understand:
• Why some people consider the environment and economy as tradeoffs – what do you think?
• “classical” and “neoclassical” economics and the implications of continuing along the lines of the latter
for the environment
• The implications of a “steady – state” economy
EPI is calculated from 25 performance indicators which are combined to create a final score.
Examples
� Environmental Health
• Environmental burden of disease (DALY)
• Drinking water (concentrations of E. coli)
• Air pollution (concentrations of O3 or particulates)
� Ecosystem integrity (“vitality”)
• Air pollution (concentrations of O3 and SOx)
• Water quality (P, DO)/quantity (per capita water availability)
� Climate change
• Per capita CO2 emissions, CO2 emissions associated with electricity generation, industrial emissions
Ideas to watch for:
� There seems to be an emerging consensus that GDP does not properly account for social
and environmental costs and benefits
� Will a particular alternative to GDP emerge?
� How will an alternative eventually impact policy?