Download A Question of Ethics

A Question of Ethics
Michael Donnelly (Realeyes Sustainability)
Patricia Mackey (Sustainable NI)
Why sustainability matters
What is Sustainable Development?
“To enable all people throughout the world to satisfy
their basic needs & to enjoy a better quality of life…
…without compromising the quality of life of future
generations”
Securing the Future, UK's Sustainable Development Strategy,
HM Government 2005
Why sustainability matters: living within
A
Global
Perspective
environmental limits
life supporting resources
declining
consumption of
life supporting resources
rising
©2003 The Natural Step: All rights reserved
Source: The Natural Step
An alternative view of development
Aim = Growth
Aim = Quality of Life for All
1. ENVIRONMENT
2. SOCIETY
2. SOCIETY
3. ENVIRONMENT
3. ECONOMY
1. ECONOMY
Where we are now….
Where we need to be
Five principles of sustainable development
Living within
environmental limits:
Ensuring a strong,
healthy & just society:
• Respect limits of
environment, resources &
biodiversity
• Ensure natural resources
to support life remain
unimpaired
• Meeting diverse needs
of all
• Promote personal
wellbeing, social cohesion
& inclusion
• Create equal opportunity
Achieving a
sustainable economy:
Promoting good
governance:
Using sound science
responsibly:
• Strength, stability,
prosperity & equal
opportunity
• Polluter Pays
• Efficient resource use
• Participative governance
across society
• Engage people’s
creativity, energy &
diversity
• Policies developed &
implemented according to
sound science
• Precautionary Principle
• Public attitudes & values
reflected
Source: Securing the Future, UK's Sustainable Development Strategy, HM Government 2005
Beyond the environment: the triple bottom line
Living within
environmental
limits:
Ensure natural
resources to support
life remain unimpaired
Ensuring a strong,
healthy & just
society:
Meet diverse needs of
all; promote wellbeing,
inclusion & equal
opportunity
Achieving a
sustainable
economy:
Strong, stable, efficient
& fair
Global Challenges
Climate Change: Why it’s happening
• Without heat trapping “Greenhouse
gases” Earth would be 25C cooler
• Human activity is increasing levels of
greenhouse gases in atmosphere
• CO2 has increased from 280 to 380 ppm
• Rising between 2 and 3 ppm/year
• Main source is fossil fuel combustion for
energy and transport
• Average surface warming of 1 to 6C
expected
What’s at stake: projected global risks
Monbiot: 90% cut by 2030
Tyndall: 90% cut by 2050
UK Gov: 60% cut by 2050
• Rice yields fall 15%
• Increasing extreme weather
events
• Indian Ocean coral dies
• 400m extra in water stress
• 5m extra in hunger
• 18% species loss
• Greenland icecap melts
o
1 C
• 97% coral reefs bleach
• Major city flood risk
• Arctic summer sea ice melts • >50% species loss
• 2.3-3bn water shortage
• “Runaway” climate change
• 200m more at risk from
- Forest die-back
malaria
- Permafrost melt
• Ecosystem collapse
- Carbon release from soils
• Human cost?
o
o
2 C >2 C
We already have the solutions
Public Transport
Passive Design
Energy
Efficiency
Renewables
Emissions
Trading
Pollution: damaging health and the environment
• “UK air pollution more dangerous than Chernobyll”
• 24,000 premature deaths per year (Royal Commission on
Environmental Pollution)
• Over 100,000 man-made chemicals exist
• Only 3,500 have been adequately tested for health and
environmental impacts
• Over 300 man-made chemicals can be found in the
average European’s blood
• With globalisation, Europe is exporting its pollution
overseas
Waste: our throwaway economy
10 x
10,000 kg
raw
materials
10 x
Manufacture
EXTRACT
1000 kg
finished
product
CONVERT
USE
6 months
DISCARD
Consumption should not be an end in itself: need to
rethink value and efficiency
100 kg
long-term
durables
Global Inequality
Poverty: an ever widening gap
UK average high
street coffee price
$2
20% of world
survives on less
than $2 per day
Biodiversity: the sixth extinction
• Up to 50% of species could be wiped out by
climate change
• Widespread decline in wildlife populations
•
•
•
•
Habitat destruction and loss of wilderness
Over-harvesting of timber, fisheries
Falling fertility from pollution
Invasion of alien species
The goal: One planet living
• Ecological footprint = equivalent
area of land required to meet an
individual’s needs
• Food, fibre, waste, energy,
space
• Measured in “Global hectares
per capita” (gha)
“Equal sustainable share” = 1.8 gha
“Global average footprint” = 2.2 gha
“UK average”
= 5.6 gha
Group Exercise
Coffee Cup Exercise
• Work as groups
• First map out the lifecycle of a cup of
coffee:
• From raw materials to disposal!
• Identify impacts
• Social, environmental and economic
• How can this be improved?