Perspectives:

Perspectives and worldviews:

Moral standing: Whether or not a living or nonliving entity should be taken into account by
human beings, or has a claim on human action or decisions.

Ethics: focuses on moral principles and what behaviours are right and wrong.
-​ While it might examine how cultural traditions and scientific research affect ethical
judgement, ethics is fundamentally focused on values and behaviour.

Environmental ethics: studies the moral relationship between humans and the environment,
including the value of living and nonliving entities.
-​ Though economic inequalities and cultural traditions may play a role in these
relationships, they are not the primary focus of environmental ethics.

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Worldviews: lenses, often shared by groups of people, through which they perceive, make
sense of, and act within their environment.
-​ human-nature dualism: A worldview that sees human beings as separate from nature,
and views nature as a resource for human exploitation.
-​ natural resources, natural capital and maximum sustainable yield
-​ Animism: A worldview that sees no fundamental divide between human beings and
nature
-​ Entire living world is sentient

-​ Imperialist worldview: there is a sacred bond between humans and their god, and that
nature is separate from this. The role of science is thus to control nature.
-​ Stewardship worldview: humans have responsibilities towards the environment on a
local and global scale and that comes with certain privileges. We can manage and
exploit it; therefore, it is our duty to look after it respectfully.
-​ Romantic worldview: nature is valuable to human beings because it is a beautiful and
unadulterated thing to be seen aesthetically.
-​ Utilitarian worldview: If an action benefits the largest number, they are considered
morally right. When it comes to nature, this perspective values it mainly for its
practical benefits to humans, such as resources, health, and economic support. In this
view, the importance of nature lies in its utility for human well-being.
Regenerative economy: An economy that works with, and within, the cycles and limits of the
living world to strengthen natural systems.
Sentient: Able to feel and perceive things.

Instrumental and intrinsic value:

-​ Instrumental value: When something has value for its use for human beings.
-​ providing goods (food and water), services (decomposers breaking down waste)
or opportunities for human development (knowledge or creative inspiration).
-​ Ex. A river’s instrumental value: a hydroelectric plant on a river in Tibet is useful
for humans, but its construction may have had negative effects for the river’s
ecology.
-​ Anthropocentric, technocentric

-​ Intrinsic value: A characteristic of a natural system that has an inherent worth,

irrespective of economic considerations, such as the belief that all life on Earth has a
right to exist.
-​ Living organisms, like humans, have parts, processes, and behaviours organised
to accomplish survival and reproduction. In this view the living and nonliving
world has a fundamental right to exist.
-​ Align with many indigenous communities and regenerative economies.

Appeal to nature fallacy:

-​ The assumption that anything that can be classified as natural or from nature is good,
healthy, just, or right.
-​ Not true, since chemicals, floods, storms, etc. are from nature

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Influences on perspectives and worldviews:

-​ Worldviews are hard to change because these perspectives are often shared within our
communities. A change in our own perspective can cause a disconnection to our social
networks.
-​ Sociocultural norms: are the rules that a community uses to determine what is
appropriate behaviour, expression, and values. Because human beings are social
animals, sociocultural norms are probably the strongest influence on an
individual’s perspectives and worldviews.
-​ Scientific understandings: Perspectives are shaped by knowledge of the world,
acquired from education, media, and community experiences.
 -​ In 2022, research revealed a 70% decline in global wildlife since 1970.
This shifted many people's views on the importance of protecting
biodiversity.
-​ Laws: reflect and influence societal perspectives and worldviews. Change
observed behaviours which also change perspective
-​ Ex. Korea food waste collection laws
-​ Religion: shapes what people think and how they see the world.
-​ Days before world leaders met for COP27, faith leaders from around the
world published a letter calling for an end to new fossil fuel projects.
-​ Economic conditions: Economic security influences perspectives. A weak
economy and high unemployment can make people prioritise economic
growth.
-​ Campaigns: use powerful imagery to shock consumers and businesses to change
behaviour.
-​ Governments and NGOs
-​ Unplastic India's campaign showed birds as plastic bottles being harmed,
emphasising the environmental dangers of plastic waste.
-​ Demographics: characteristics of a country's population, such as size, age
structure or ratio of men to women. Demographic groups often share perspectives
and worldviews.
-​ A 2021 study reported that 71% of American Millennials (people born
between 1981-1996) believe that addressing climate change should be top
priority to ensure a sustainable planet.
-​ Local and global events: Stories about our changing natural environment and the
human experience influence people's perspectives.
-​ Fridays for Future demonstrations shifted worldviews on the urgency of
climate action.
-​ Specific lived experiences: Individual experiences can reshape perspectives and
worldviews.
-​ More and more people are experiencing the negative impacts of climate
change, such as severe storms, flooding, drought and fire. These
experiences impact the way people see the world and their willingness to
act.
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Environmental value systems:

-​ EVS is a type of worldview that is focused on the relationship between human beings
and the natural world
-​ Input, process, output:
 -​ Processes are how we make sense of the inputs coming into our
consciousness. A cost-benefit analysis occurs as a process in
environmental value systems. This is where information is filtered,
analysed, synthesised, and evaluated.
-​ An input is external information coming into the EVS from a wide
variety of sources such as literature, media, scientific discoveries,
sociocultural norms, etc.
-​ An output is the results of the EVS. These could be answers, decisions,
actions, or other outputs.

-​ Ecocentric: places nature at the centre of our value system; an understanding

that all living beings, including humans, are interconnected and interdependent.
Ecocentrists believe that nature has an intrinsic value.
-​ Anthropocentrism: places humans at the centre of our value system, where
human interests and well-being are the primary focus. Nature is valued for its
usefulness to humans. leads to exploitation of nature for short-term human
benefit.
-​ Most people in high-income countries have anthropocentric worldviews
that prioritise economic growth and human comforts.

-​ Technocentrism: believes that technology and human innovation can address

most social and environmental issues. Technocentrists are usually also
anthropocentrists. They see nature as a resource to be exploited for human
benefit.

-​ Values surveys can be used to investigate the perspectives shown by a

particular social group towards environmental issues.

Environmental movements:
The modern environmental movement is a social movement to protect nature from harmful
human activities. It is a wide-spread reaction to increasing evidence and awareness of the
negative socio-ecological impacts of human activity
Influences:
-​ Literature: can be a powerful force for affecting perspectives and worldviews. People
can be moved by stories, both fiction and non-fiction.
-​ Rachel Carson's non-fiction book Silent Spring (1962)
-​ Start of modern envi movement
-​ highlighted the damaging effects of pesticides on food chains,
ecosystems, and human health
-​ Raise awareness
 -​ public outcry for greater environmental protection
-​ Pesticide DDT was banned in many countries as a result.
-​ Scientific discoveries: help understand how the planet works, and the actions that may
be effective to protect Earth's systems.
-​ Individuals: can inspire larger groups to protest and to take action to protect the
environment.
-​ Wangari Maathai: founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977.
-​ An indigenous grassroots organisation in Kenya that empowers local
communities, especially women, to take part in reforestation and
sustainable development projects.
-​ Environmental disasters: have a large negative impact on humans and are reported
around the world. The stories and lived experiences of these disasters inform our
perspectives and worldviews.
-​ Bhopal, India in 1984
-​ pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Limited leaked toxic methyl
isocyanate gas
-​ Thousands of people were killed by the deadly gas. Many other people
suffered long-term health issues.
-​ became a symbol of the importance of industrial safety, corporate
responsibility, and the need to prioritise the health and well-being of
communities and the environment.
-​ Technological developments: providing more environmentally-friendly ways of
producing the things we need.
-​ renewable energy such as more efficient solar cells and wind power
technologies that enable offshore wind farms, have given us viable and low-cost
alternatives to fossil fuels.
-​ International agreements: Environmental concerns are often global, so international
agreements are vital to address the problems we face. These agreements are a key part of
the environmental movement because they result from dialogue, negotiation and
cooperation among many stakeholders.
-​ Rio Earth Summit in 1992
-​ brought together world leaders to address urgent environmental issues,
including climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development.
The summit led to key international agreements, such as the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
-​ Media: Spreading information about environmental issues worldwide. TV shows,
documentaries, and news articles focus on topics like pollution, deforestation, and
endangered species. This coverage helps raise public awareness and highlights the
urgent need to protect the environment.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Systems:
Models:
-​ Simplify reality
-​ include certain components and processes of the real world, and they exclude certain
components and processes
-​ Enables us to understand:
-​ The most important components and processes in a complex situation, so we
can apply that information to take effective action and make good decisions.
-​ make predictions about the future.
-​ transfer understanding that we have in one area to a different area.
-​ understand things that are too small to see (atoms) or too large to see (solar
system).
-​ recognise patterns in the world.
-​ test processes and outcomes under different conditions.
-​ communicate ideas.
-​ Limitations:
-​ based on assumptions and models leave out certain information
-​ If assumptions are incorrect, and if the missing important information, then
the model may lead us to the wrong conclusions.
-​ How to overcome?
-​ Develop different scenarios, based on using a range of different assumptions in
the model.
-​ The UN can develop different possible population predictions by using
different assumed birth rates, death rates, and probabilities.
​ ​ ​ —--------------------------------------------------------------

Systems approach:
-​ System is any set of interacting or interdependent components (parts), organised to
create a functional whole. Systems:
-​ have parts.
-​ have connections between those parts.
-​ have a function or purpose, and
-​ exhibit emergent properties.
-​ Emergent properties: A property (characteristics or behaviours) of a system that arises
and becomes apparent when small parts within the system interact with each other.
These properties are not apparent when observed as individuals
 -​ Flock of bird
-​ System approach is an approach that explores connections and interdependencies
between the parts of a system, and between the parts and the whole.
-​ System boundaries: A line that separates the system you want to study from the
external environment that is not part of that system.
-​ The system's external environment is not part of the system, but can affect the
system or be affected by the system.
-​ Temporally the system changes through time and the boundaries may
disappear entirely. Boundaries are important to recognise, because they
influence our perspectives on how that system works, and its relationship to its
environment and to other systems.
-​ If we draw our boundaries too narrowly, we may miss some important systems
behaviours that affect the thing we are studying. If we draw our boundaries too
widely, then the increased complexity may hide valuable information about the
thing we are studying. Finding the right system boundary in a model is important
to provide a useful focus for our inquiries.

-​ Open system: A system that exchanges both

matter and energy with its external
environment.
-​ ponds, and living organisms are
considered open systems

-​ Closed system: A system that exchanges energy with the external environment, but
not matter.
-​ nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, and the hydrological cycle
-​ The input is solar energy and the output is heat energy.
-​ Earth is a closed system
-​ Almost no matter enters or leaves the system, the exception being that we
launch probes into space, never to return (matter out) and the occasional
meteorite enters the system (matter in).
-​ The Gaia hypothesis was introduced to the world by a scientist named James Lovelock
in 1970s, and is further developed by Lynn Margulis. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that
our Earth acts a self-regulating system, it can function and maintain a stable
equilibrium on its own. It is a process in which the environment can access nutrients
and dispose of wastes, however, it is not a conscious act, but is the natural and
 survival response of individual organisms. Lovelock and Margulis suggested that all
living organisms, along with the Earth's physical components, form a complex system
that maintains conditions suitable for life.

Ecological economics:
-​ A school of economic thought that views the economy as embedded (contained within)
society and in the environment.
-​ Ecological economists believe that human beings are mainly social, reciprocal,
cooperative, and adaptive.
-​ Our needs and wants are limited. We have certain needs like food, water, shelter,
clothing, and relationships. Our wants are socially constructed, and vary depending on
our social conditions.
-​ Ecological economists do not think that human nature causes our environmental
problems. Instead, blame the design of our economies.
-​ Our current economies and governments prioritise economic growth and profit
maximisation. To extract as much value as they can from nature and human
beings.
-​ Complex systems are very difficult to measure, predict, and influence. So environmental
economists are more cautious about using prices and markets to manage natural
resources or to stop pollution. They believe that simply putting a price on nature is
not sufficient to solve complex environmental problems.
-​ GOAL: Instead of aiming for general economic growth, ecological economists believe
that the economy should aim to support human and ecological well-being.
-​ design policies and economic provisioning systems that ensure that all people
can meet their basic needs for food, water, healthcare, education, mobility, and
housing with as low an ecological impact as possible.
-​ may or may not grow the economy, but ecological economists claim that as long
as we are aiming for human and ecological well-being, it does not matter.
-​ View the economy as an open system. The economy
pulls energy and matter from Earth’s sources
(timber, soil, fossil fuels, plants, animals) and deposits
waste (such as carbon dioxide and fertiliser run-off)
and heat into Earth’s storages (such as soil, oceans
and the atmosphere).

​ ​ ​
—-------------------------------------------------------
Storages and flows:​
Storage:
-​ An accumulation of matter, energy, and information in a system; the location where
matter, energy, and information are held.
-​ water in a bathtub, a country's population, wood in a tree, mineral deposits in an
area, or buildings in a city. These examples are physical, but you can also have
non-physical storages, like self-confidence or hope.

Flows:
-​ A movement of matter, energy or information between storages in a system.
-​ Inflow causes the storage to increase, outflow causes the storage to decrease.

Boundaries:
-​ Lines or clouds to represent the unexplored area outside the boundary of our diagram.

Principles:
-​ If the sum of all inflows to a storage is greater than the sum of all outflows from a
storage, then the level of the storage will increase, then when graph trend goes up.
-​ If the sum of all outflows from a storage is greater than the sum of all inflows to a
storage, then the level of the storage will decrease. Trend is downwards
-​ If the sum of all inflows to a storage is equal to the sum of all outflows from a storage,
then the level of the storage will not change.
-​ Flows can be adjusted more quickly than storages; storages change slowly because flows
take time to flow.

-​ Storages act as buffers in a system, reducing a shock to a system, such as a large

storage that can withstand a temporary disruption to a flow.
 -​ If there is a drought, and less rain flows into a water reservoir, the reservoir will
decrease slowly. However, in some cases these buffers are not beneficial. For
example, even if we dramatically reduce our carbon dioxide emissions, the carbon
dioxide levels in the atmosphere will take many years to start decreasing.

Flows come in two types: transfers and transformations.

-​ Transfer: A system flow that involves a change in location of energy or matter,
without any change in its state or form.
-​ water flowing in a river, heat being moved by ocean currents, and kinetic energy
moving from a bat to a ball when the ball is hit.
-​ Transformations: A system flow that moves energy and matter, but in the process
there is also a change in the chemical nature, state, or energy.
-​ liquid water freezing to a solid state, plants turning solar energy into glucose in
photosynthesis, and burning fossil fuels in combustion
—-------------------------------------------------------

Feedback loops and tipping points:

Stability and equilibrium:

-​ steady-state equilibrium is a situation, mainly in open systems, where there are
continuous inputs and outputs of energy or matter that may result in short-term
changes and imbalances. However, the system remains in a relatively constant state
over time, tending to return to a previous equilibrium, known as a stable equilibrium.

Negative feedback loop:

-​ also called a balancing feedback loop, occurs when the output of a storage or system
returns as an input in a way that inhibits or reverses the operation of the same process.
-​ Body temperature

Positive feedback loops:

-​ occur when the output of a storage or system returns as an input in a way that
amplifies change. Positive feedback destabilises the system and drives it away from its
equilibrium, leading to either an increase or a decrease in a system component.
-​ As the population of a species declines, it can be more difficult for the individuals
to find mates. Reproduction declines. Ìf continues, extinction.

Tipping points:
-​ A tipping point is the minimum amount of change that will cause destabilisation
within a system. This disturbance shifts the entire system to a new equilibrium state.
 Positive feedback loops lead to tipping points, because a system is pushed in the same
direction over time, preventing the system from recovering and returning to a stable
state as with negative feedback.

​ ​ ​ ​ —----------------------------------------------------

Causal loop diagrams:​

-​ A type of systems diagram that illustrates complex relationships between different

variables in a system. four basic elements:
-​ the variables
-​ the causal connections between the variables (which variable influences the
other)
-​ the type of influence, a direct relationship (indicated by + symbol) or inverse
relationship (indicated by - symbol)
-​ the type of loop, indicating either negative (balancing) or positive (reinforcing)
feedback loops, if such behaviour is present. Negative (balancing) feedback is
indicated with a B, and positive (reinforcing feedback) is indicated with an R.

-​ the variables: size of the population, number of births and number of deaths
-​ the causal connections between the variables and the type of influence:
-​ When births increase, the population increases. Thus, the direct causal
connection between the two variables is indicated with an arrow pointing from
births to population with a '+' symbol (Figure 1a)
 -​ When deaths increase, the population decreases. Thus, the inverse causal
connection between the two variables is indicated with an arrow pointing from
deaths to population with a '-' symbol (Figure 1a)
-​ Increases in population also positively influence births. Thus, you can add
another direct causal connection indicated with an arrow pointing from
population to births with a '+' symbol (Figure 1b)
-​ With regard to deaths, increases in population also increase deaths. Thus, you
can add another direct causal connection indicated with an arrow pointing from
population to deaths with a '+' symbol (Figure 1b)
-​ The type of feedback loops: The population-births loop is a positive (reinforcing)
feedback loop, labelled 'R'. The population-deaths loop is a negative (balancing)
feedback loop, labelled 'B'.

--------------------------------------------------

Resilience:
-​ The ability to recover from disturbances and avoid tipping points to aim towards
sustainability.
-​ Disturbances always occur, however, a healthy system can recover from the disturbance,
helped by negative feedback loop

Resilient systems:
-​ Healthy ecosystems exhibit resilience
-​ Organisms adjust their numbers based on various factors, including climate,
competition, and human actions. Over time, they evolve to enhance survival.
New ecosystems can emerge in response to environmental shifts.
-​ dynamic, not static
-​ Resilient systems undergo short-term changes, like the behaviour oscillations in
predator-prey populations While they adapt, resilient systems maintain long-term
stability.

Factors affecting resilience:

-​ Diversity: strengthen resilience
-​ increases species interactions, forming a dense web of connection for quicker
feedback response.
-​ Results in less redundancy, allowing one species to substitute another, for
instance, as a food source.
-​ Genetic diversity within species means that some members of the species have a
better chance to survive and reproduce after a major disturbance.
 -​ Ex. Diversity makes human systems more resilient too. People's diverse
skills allow them to take on different roles in an organisation, driving
better decisions. Diverse organisations are able to react faster to
disturbances, showing resilience.

Size and number of storages:

-​ Large and numerous storages (nutrients, water, biomass) improve ecosystem
resilience. A large storage is more stable than a smaller one. Multiple storages within a
system mean that if one is depleted another is available for organisms in the ecosystem.
-​ In human systems, we store water for dry periods, fossil fuels for continuous
energy, and money for financial security during income interruptions. These
storages offer stability when flows are interrupted, enabling systems to adapt
swiftly to disturbances.

Human impact on ecosystem resilience:

-​ goal should be to lessen negative impacts and increase positive impacts.
-​ Negative:
-​ Humans use natural resources to meet their needs, reducing both ecosystem
diversity and storages.
-​ These harms are often invisible and delayed, therefore, we might not recognize
the problem in time to respond. Often, the impact of our actions can only be
recognised once we are reaching a tipping point - might be too late to mitigate
ecosystem collapse.
-​ Ex. clear forests to grow soybeans to feed livestock for human consumption. We
cut down or burn rainforests for palm tree plantations for palm oil in foods. Such
monocultures, while cost-efficient for farmers, reduce biodiversity. We extract
water from rivers and lake storages for drinking and industry needs. Pollution
from human activities harms diverse organisms. Reducing diversity and storages
threatens ecosystem resilience, risking tipping points and collapse.
-​ Positive:
-​ Reducing ecosystem disturbances, like halting rainforest deforestation.
-​ Increase ecosystem storages and diversity by planting diverse forests that are
better adapted to our changing climate. Can also change agricultural methods to
increase carbon storage in soils.
-​ Increase the resilience of human systems, for ex. plant more trees in cities to cool
and shade the urban landscape and people, as well as absorb and store more water.
-​ These are regenerative economic practices
-​ Timely and visible feedback helps our decision-making
 -​ Visible electricity metres, energy-tracking apps, and household energy
comparisons on consumers' energy bills all lower energy use and carbon
dioxide emissions.

​ ​ ​ ​ —---------------------------------------------------

Sustainability:
What is sustainability:
Sustainability:
-​ measure of the extent to which practices allow for the long-term viability of a system.
Refers to the responsible maintenance of socio-ecological systems such that there is no
diminishment of conditions for future generations.
-​ The use of resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimises damage
to the environment.

Domains (economy, social, environment):

-​ Weak sustainability models place the economy centrally, with the environment and
society external to it. There is little or no overlap between the three domains. The
'Mickey Mouse model' and the 'three pillars model' in Figure 1 are examples of weak
sustainability models.
-​ Strong sustainability models recognise that the economy is embedded within societies,
not separate from them. Both society and the economy are embedded within the
environment.

Nature's Unifying
Patterns (Principles) Unsustainable human behaviour

Nature recycles all Human beings have created a take-make-waste linear economy.
materials. We take materials from our surroundings, make products with
them, and discard products as waste. Very few materials are
recycled.
 Nature uses chemistry Human beings produce goods with unsafe chemistry and
and materials that are materials. We pollute ecosystems with plastics, toxic dyes, and
safe for living beings. other materials that remain in ecosystems and poison organisms.

Nature builds using Human beings produce and build using many materials, some
abundant resources, abundant, some not. Even resources that were once abundant, like
incorporating rare sand used in concrete, are increasingly scarce. We use many
resources only non-renewable resources, like fossil fuels. Even renewable
sparingly. resources are used too quickly for nature to replenish them.

Social sustainability:
-​ Creating the structures and systems that support human well-being, including heath,
education, equity, community, and other social factors.
-​ Social capital: A community’s network of relationships which support individuals
and enable the society to function effectively.

Economic sustainability:
-​ Creating the economic structures and systems to support production and
consumption of goods and services that will support human needs into the future.
-​ creating provisioning systems that ensure that human beings can continue to meet their
needs over time.

​ ​ ​ ​ —-------------------------------------------

Environmental justice

Economic inequality:
-​ The unequal distribution of income, wealth, consumption, and opportunity in a society.
-​ Regulatory capture: When the government prioritises the interests of one (often
economically powerful) small group over the general interests of the public.
-​ Moreover, wealthy people and large businesses often have political power. They
can lobby governments to pass laws that support their financial interests, or
block laws that harm their financial interests.
-​ As a result, our political systems often remain positive (reinforcing) economic
feedback loops.

Environmental justice:
 -​ the right of all people to live in a pollution-free environment and to have equitable
access to natural resources, regardless of issues such as race, gender, socioeconomic
status, or nationality.
-​ ensure equitable access to resources.
-​ lack equal access to basic resources like food, water, energy, and housing. Some
are denied resources because of race, caste, gender, and other characteristics.
-​ High prices can make some goods unaffordable to people who are unemployed
or have low incomes.
-​ role of trade and appropriation of resources
-​ The global North still extracts resources from the South. Unequal power in
international organisations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) favour
high-income countries. This imbalance also suppresses commodity prices and
wages in the global South, with some resource extraction still involving
near-slavery conditions for workers.
-​ Reduce the unfair differences in how harmful activities affect the environment.
-​ The global South also faces negative environmental impacts from unsustainable
practices in the global North. Water stress, resource depletion, pollution, and
climate change harm people's health, well-being, and incomes.
-​ factories serving global North consumers often pollute natural resources such as
rivers and soil in the global South.
-​ pursue fair environmental policies.
-​ Governments should ensure that policies are environmentally and socially just.
For example, major renewable energy projects, like hydroelectric dams, can
displace large groups of people, erasing their communities and livelihoods.
-​ Moreover, efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions should ensure that the
burdens of energy transition are justly shared. In 2019, France raised petrol
taxes to curtail fossil fuel use. While effective, such taxes can unduly burden
low-income individuals, especially in rural areas dependent on cars. The resulting
2019 Yellow Vests protests focused attention on this problem.
​ ​ ​ ​ —-----------------------------------------------

Sustainability indicators:
-​ Sustainable Development: development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
-​ Introduced by Brundtland Commission
-​ To measure sustainable development, we must assess both human needs and Earth's
resource limits. This involves evaluating health, education, equity, security, and
ecological factors like climate change, biodiversity, and pollution.
-​ Single indicators:
 -​ GDP per capita, Gini coefficient (inequality), Natural Increase rate of
population, etc.
-​ Composite indicators: A measure of multiple characteristics of a people or
ecosystem; often, though not always, presented as an index number.
-​ Human Development Index (HDI):
-​ Measures health, education, and standard of living of a population
and is expressed as an index number; the higher the number, the
higher the human development.
-​ Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI):
-​ A sustainability indicator that adjusts a country’s Human
Development Index (HDI) for planetary pressures such as material
footprint and CO2 emissions
-​ GDP growth is not an appropriate measure of development because:
-​ much of the new income and wealth generated by economies goes to the top
income groups who already have high levels of development.
-​ beyond a certain level of income , more income does not lead to improved
well-being (only good for lower income).
-​ The pursuit of GDP growth has led to unsustainable use of resources that
threaten ecological collapse.

Footprints:
-​ PHDI Introduces footprint
-​ An indicator that measures the impact of an individual or group on some aspect
of the environment.
-​ Ecological footprint
-​ measures a population's use of natural resources and waste production.
-​ resources like grazing land, cropland, and forests
-​ measured in global hectares (gha)
-​ Biocapacity: The ability to produce resources and absorb wastes.
-​ Biocapacity deficit: Where a population’s ecological footprint is greater than
the resources that nature can provide and regenerate; an indication of
unsustainability.
-​ import resources or deplete their natural assets, for example, by
overfishing.
-​ Biocapacity reserve: Where a population’s ecological footprint is below its
biocapacity.
-​ average ecological footprint per person is 2.7 gha, but Earth's biocapacity is just
1.6 gha per person
-​ require 1.75 planets
-​ Carbon footprint:
 -​ A measure of the CO2 emissions (sometimes also other greenhouse gases) from
our actions.
-​ 4 tonnes annually per person
-​ GDP correlates to Carbon footprint
-​ Water footprint:
-​ A measure of the total amount of water used to produce the goods and services
consumed by an individual, community, or country.
-​ includes the embedded water in products
-​ a cotton t-shirt can require thousands of litres of water from cultivation to
manufacturing.
Citizen science:
-​ A situation in which non-scientists collaborate with professional researchers to collect
data on the environment.
-​ eBird project: Birdwatchers report their bird sightings through the eBird app.
They provide scientists with valuable data on bird populations, and migration
patterns over time. Researchers use this information to understand how climate
change and habitat loss impact bird species and ecosystems.
​ ​ ​ ​ —-----------------------------------------------------

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

-​ set of objectives created by the United Nations in 2015
-​ global challenges faced by humanity
-​ Structure:
-​ each SDG, there are sets of
targets and indicators
-​ Progress:
-​ Countries have made uneven
progress on achieving the
SDGs.
-​ only about 12% are on track
-​ more than 50% are moderately
or severely off track
-​ about 30% have not made
any progress or have actually
worsened since 2015.
-​ High-income countries have
more progress on meeting all SDGs
-​ Uses and limitation:
 Uses Limitations

Common ground: the common set Silos: the SDGs are not connected well to one another
of goals, targets and indicators and do not necessarily support a systems approach that
makes it easier for governments, recognises how the environment, society and the
businesses and other organisations economy are connected
to use the same language for
policies

Universal: the goals, targets, and Lack of context: because the same set of goals,
indicators apply to all countries targets, and indicators are used for all countries, there
may not be enough attention to contextual challenges
faced by some countries

Ambition: the SDGs are the first Ambition: some criticise the SDGs for not being
time that countries have outlined ambitious enough, and also for supporting current
socio-ecological goals for the economic systems that are harming environmental and
planet; the fact that they are hard to social goals
achieve shows ambition

Data: the SDGs use quantitative Data: Some targets do not have adequate indicators so
data to mark progress and report on there are SDGs that are not measured adequately
it regularly

​ ​ ​ ​ —------------------------------------------

Planetary Boundaries:
-​ Johan Rockström and Will Steffen proposed the
planetary boundaries model
-​ A model that attempts to quantify the limits of nine
Earth systems, to determine the ‘safe operating
space’ of human economic activity. The goal is to
avoid tipping points in Earth's systems that may cause
Earth's systems to change so much that human life is
no longer possible.
 Boundary Explanation

Freshwater change This boundary measures freshwater withdrawals from above ground
(blue water) and in storages below ground (green water). Humans
need water to survive. But excessive use of water for agriculture,
industry, and households can deplete water sources.

Stratospheric ozone This boundary measures the stratospheric ozone layer, which is
depletion damaged by human-made chemicals. Stratospheric ozone filters out
ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which harms human skin and
ecosystems.

Atmospheric aerosol This boundary measures microparticles, or aerosols, that humans emit
loading into the atmosphere. When we release too many of these particles, it
can affect cloud formation and rainfall patterns, disrupting ecosystems
and poisoning organisms.

Ocean acidification This boundary measures ocean acidity from carbon dioxide dissolving
in the waters and forming carbonic acid. Ocean acidification prevents
some sea animals from forming protective exoskeletons. It also
threatens corals and the habitats they provide for fish and other
organisms.

Biogeochemical This boundary measures chemical fertiliser use in agriculture. These

flows of phosphorus fertilisers run off into rivers, lakes, and oceans and cause toxic algae
and nitrogen blooms that deplete the water of oxygen needed by other organisms.

Novel entities This boundary measures the impact of new chemicals entering
ecosystems. Toxic chemicals can permanently damage the function of
ecosystems and human health.
 Land system change This boundary measures the conversion of land, such as forest and
wetlands, for human use. Land conversion depletes Earth's carbon
storages, destroys ecosystem habitats, and hinders the ability of land
to cycle water, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

Biosphere integrity This boundary measures human impact on species and genetic
diversity, which exceeds planetary boundaries, and ecosystem
function which has not yet been quantified.

Climate change This boundary measures the changes to average global temperatures
from greenhouse gas emissions. Current global warming is +1.2
degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial period. There is a high chance
of it increasing to +1.5 degrees Celsius before 2030, which is likely to
cause irreversible tipping points in Earth's climate system

Uses and limitations:

Uses Limitations

Important data: the model identifies Data incomplete: the model is a work in
science-based limits to human disturbance of progress, research is still being done
Earth systems

Focus on complex systems: the model helps Ignores social foundation: it does not
us focus on more Earth systems than just consider human needs, only environmental
climate, seeing the interconnections impacts

Guides action: data is useful for Local usefulness: the global-oriented data
policymakers to develop strategies for may be less useful to guide local actions,
limiting human disruption to Earth systems given very different local contexts

​ ​ ​ ​ —------------------------------------------
Doughnut Economics model:
-​ Kate Raworth in 2012.
-​ Sustainable Development Goals and
planetary planet to create doughnut economy
-​ Ecological ceiling: The outer boundary of
the Doughnut Economics model, representing the
planetary boundaries that we must not cross if we
want to maintain habitable conditions on Earth.
-​ The inner boundary of the Doughnut
Economics model, representing basic human
needs that need to be met to achieve social
sustainability; based on the UN social SDGs.

-​ To create a “safe and just space for humanity”, we should stay within the social
foundation and ecological ceiling where our planetary boundaries are maintained at a
manageable and sustainable level, and everyone’s basic needs are met.
Where are we?
-​ no country is in the doughnut's 'safe and just
space for humanity'.

Regenerative and distributive design:

-​ aims for an economy where humanity thrives in harmony with nature, moving away from
merely increasing gross domestic product (GDP).
-​ Regenerative:
-​ An economy that works with, and within, the cycles and limits of the living world
to strengthen natural systems.
 -​ For households, this involves consuming less and supporting businesses that
regenerate nature and minimise waste to repair, restore, and re-wild nature's
ecosystems, including:
-​ preserving and expanding green spaces, planting diverse species,
removing excess paving to enhance water absorption, creating habitats for
insects, and composting food waste.
-​ Businesses have an even larger role in driving regenerative practices, businesses
should:
-​ offer products that enhance human well-being, partner with eco-friendly
suppliers, and reduce waste and embrace circular economy principles .
-​ Governments can impact entire economic systems by:
-​ passing laws requiring regenerative practices, like France's Anti-waste
Law, and South Korea's food waste regulations
-​ providing financial incentives (subsidies, tax reductions, or long-term
inexpensive loans) for regenerative transitions

-​ Distributive economy:
-​ An economy that shares value and opportunity more equitably among all
stakeholders.
-​ 1. Distribute wealth from the top 1% to the bottom 50%
-​ 2. equitable societies experience less aspirational consumption, where
people buy products to boost social status.
-​ 3. paying workers fair wages with good benefits and promoting work-life
balance.
-​ 4. ensure access to universal basic services like health care, education, and
housing. By providing public luxuries like parks, affordable recreation,
and cultural events, individual consumption decreases.
Uses and limitations:

Uses Limitations

Environmental justice: the model includes Difficult paradigm shift: the model rejects
both social and environmental domains, so the goal of economic growth that most
considers socially just outcomes governments and businesses still aim for;
shifting worldviews has been difficult

Popularity: the model has mass awareness Broad: the popularity of the model rests on its
and has a wide following globally broad message about meeting the needs of all
within the means of the planet; disagreements
emerge around concrete policies to achieve
that

Developing: the model is being applied to Developing: the model and its application are
cities, businesses, and governments with a work in progress, so some questions about
clear frameworks to guide transition to the model’s possible application cannot be
regenerative and distributive organisations answered yet

​ ​ ​ ​ —-----------------------------------------

Circular economy:
-​ The circular economy is a model that promotes decoupling economic activity from
consumption of finite resources. systems of production and consumption should
mimic nature, using materials again and again. 3 principles:
-​ Eliminating waste and pollution
-​ Circulating products and materials
-​ keeping products in use for as long as possible. When a product becomes
unusable, it should be broken down into components for new products.
 -​
-​ To circulate products and materials, product designers and businesses need
to design for circulation from the start. Products should be durable,
maintainable, modular, and recyclable.
-​ Regenerating nature.
-​ Means returning nutrients and biological materials to it
-​ rewilding, urban 'sponge cities', replanting diverse forests, and greening
initiatives
-​ a key area for regeneration is farming.
-​ builds healthy soils to absorb more CO2 and retain water, making
food production more resilient to droughts
Uses and limitations:
-​ Focuses only on material and energy sustainability, not social sustainability.

Uses Limitations

Nature's principles: the circular economy Business awareness: existing businesses

uses nature's time-tested principles to improve may not be aware of circular economy
sustainability practices; lack of expertise

Natural resources: keeping materials and Business costs: existing businesses may not
products in use means that we will need to be able to transition to circular strategies due
extract fewer materials from nature, to costs of changing production; new
preserving land, water, and biodiversity businesses may find that using circular
strategies makes products unprofitable
 CO2 emissions: keeping materials and Lack of government laws: most
products in use means we need to produce governments do not have regulations
less, and will emit less CO2 requiring businesses to use circular practices

Pollution: keeping materials and products in Pollution: it may not be possible to redesign
use means less waste, which reduces pollution all current products to circulate; waste and
in ecosystems pollution will likely continue

​ ​ ​ ​ —------------------------------------------------

Laws:

Role and limitations of environmental laws:

-​ The rules about how human beings use and impact natural resources, with the aim of
improving social and ecological sustainability.
-​ The built environment, which includes infrastructure, buildings, and all other
human-made elements of our world, consumes nearly half of our global annual raw
material extraction

Principle What it means

Precautionary taking actions to avoid potential harm to the environment, even

principle when scientific evidence of harm is unclear

Prevention principle taking actions to anticipate, mitigate and avoid potential

environmental damage before it happens

Polluter pays principle making sure that those who cause environmental damage pay for
the costs of ecosystem restoration

Integration principle ensuring that government policies consider their social and
environmental impacts to reduce or eliminate harm
Public participation involving affected communities (stakeholders) in making decisions
principle that have social and environmental impact

Benefits Limitations

Shifts norms: Laws reflect social norms, but Conflicting interests: environmental law can
they also shape social norms, requiring conflict with other business or property
responsible behaviours from everyone interests; balancing interests is hard

Impacts systems: laws require behaviour Narrow focus: when environmental law
change from entire groups of people, focuses on specific issues (water, air), it may
resulting in systems change not address interconnected environmental
problems; system impact could be limited

Levels the business playing field: laws can Lobbying: Environmental laws often raise
require that all businesses adopt certain business production costs and lower profits;
environmentally beneficial practices, so that powerful businesses may pressure politicians
all face the same conditions and costs not to pass such laws

Elevates priorities for individuals: Lack of political will: when environmental

requiring certain behaviours by law makes laws, such as petrol taxes, are unpopular, it is
them a higher priority for individuals risky for politicians to enact them

Holds governments accountable and Lack of enforcement: many governments

empowers them: governments also follow are not able to enforce environmental laws
environmental laws, so citizens can hold due to lack of functioning institutions,
governments accountable; laws also personnel training, and funding
empower governments to hold other
stakeholders like businesses accountable if
they ignore their responsibilities
​ ​ ​ —-------------------------------------------------------

International environmental law and agreements:

-​ International law provides an essential framework for addressing transboundary
environmental issues of pollution and resource management.
-​ Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, Montreal protocol
-​ The UN have a major role in developing international agreements on global issues
such as climate change, biodiversity, and other international concerns.

Benefits and uses Limitations

Global cooperation: these agreements make Conflicts of interest between countries in

it possible to address planetary boundaries, different contexts (access to resources, access
and are the only tool we have to technology, access to funding) and between
stakeholder groups inside countries

Sharing knowledge: the UN agreements Evolving scientific knowledge/uncertainty:

support transfer of knowledge and our understanding of human impact on the
technology from high-income to low-income environment is always evolving; some
countries for mitigation and adaptation countries use this as an excuse to delay action
strategies instead of abiding by the precautionary
principle

Some success: the stratospheric ozone hole Too little progress, too little funding: GHG
is healing, the growth in GHG emissions has emissions continue to grow; conflicting
slowed, knowledge and technology have interests and diverse contexts make
been transferred to low-income countries, negotiations and action slow and complex;
there is broad agreement about urgency of high-income countries have not met climate
action finance commitments
 Lack of enforcement: some agreements are
legally binding, but there is no international
enforcement mechanism if countries do not
meet their targets. National courts are
beginning to hold their governments
responsible for those targets.

Other geopolitical conflicts: conflicts around

other issues, like China-US economic
competition and the Russia-Ukraine conflict,
complicate environmental negotiations.

-​
International courts and tribunals:
-​ International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and
the Court of Justice of the European Union
-​ Resolving environmental disputes
-​ Resolving environmental disputes
-​ Interpreting international agreements
-​ Holding countries and governments accountable:
-​ Limitations:
-​ Delays, Recognition, Enforcement, Compensation

Legal innovations to protect the environment:

-​ Environmental constitutionalism:
-​ A constitution is a group of principles or precedents that establish the
foundation of a country's or state's political and legal system. Constitutions
outline how the government functions and may also include the rights of the
people who are governed. A country's laws cannot contradict its constitution.
-​ The introduction of environmental rights and obligations into the constitution.
When these obligations and rights are written into constitutions, it strengthens
environmental protection significantly.
-​ governments can be held accountable for environmental protection
-​ national courts can enforce compliance with constitutional environmental
protections
-​ environmental rights will endure over time, because constitutions are not
easily changed.
 -​ Limitations:
-​ Constitutional language is necessarily vague which can leave these
principles open to interpretation, which can lessen their impact.
-​ Governments may not have the financial and institutional resources to
uphold constitutional environmental rights.
-​ Not all constitutions and courts can enforce compliance with the
constitution. Courts must rely on other branches of government to carry
out their decisions. If those other government groups disagree with a
court’s decision, they may not enforce it.
-​ expensive and time-consuming to hold governments to account for
constitutional protections of the environment.
-​ useful for preventing future environmental problems.

Legal personhood for natural entities:

-​ Granting legal personhood to nonhuman and nonliving entities is a recent legal strategy
to strengthen environmental protection. This strategy is inspired by indigenous
worldviews that see no separation between humans and the natural world. This strategy is
also called the rights of nature movement or the movement for biorights.
-​ Having legal standing means that nonhuman and nonliving entities (via human
representatives) can use courts to prevent harm or seek compensation for damages.

Environmental litigation:​

-​ A situation where two groups or individuals who have a dispute over an environmental
issue go to a court to settle the dispute.
-​ often focuses on either mitigation or adaptation.
-​ Mitigation court cases challenge government policies and seek stronger
environmental protection.
-​ In adaptation litigation, an individual or group files a case against a government
or private entity that is causing environmental damage. These cases ask the
government or private entity to protect the people who are harmed by their
actions, helping them to adapt.
-​ ​