international environmental policy what global efforts have been made to save the earth? how...

International Environmental

Policy

What global efforts have been made to save the Earth?

How successful have they been?

Environmental values• 3/4 of the world’s nations gain more economic benefits from their

natural resources than their entire industrial segments.

• It is estimated that the world gains $38 trillion worth of free services from the environment every year.

• The world’s GDP from industry is $18 trillion.

• The gap between the rich and the poor is larger than ever.

• In 1995, the US Department of Energy reported that the U.S. could cut carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2010 with NO NET LOSS to the U.S. economy (Leggett, 275).

• Environmental politics is considered ‘low’ politics, and is always considered less important then economic or military issues.

Action is needed on all levels!

Environmental degradation occurs on all levels and needs to be dealt with on all levels:

• Local issues: air and water pollution, toxic waste, change of local land use

• Regional and trans-boundary issues: downstream air and water pollution, land use change

• Global issues: depletion of ozone, climate change, loss of biodiversity, overpopulation, persistent organic pollutants

Why should we care?Why should we care?

There are three main schools of thought — all admit that we should act to save the environment, but they differ in their reasons why.

Three divergent views of environmentalism:• Anthropocentric view: Ecosystems are only valuable in so far as they

meet human needs.

• Middle ground: Human needs are important, but the environment is worth more than just the sum of its economic benefits. It therefore requires protection.

• Eco-centric view: Nature has an intrinsic value independent of its economic use to humans; it must be protected in its own right.

Ancient History

• 18721872: Yellowstone National Park is founded, the first National Park in the United States.

• 19051905: The U.S. National Forest System is established.

• 1969:1969: There is a call for a U.N. council on the environment.

• 1970:1970: The EPA is established in the U.S.

Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; 1972 The first international environmental council

• Acknowledged humanity’s integral connection to the environment and recognized that it is in the best interest of human society to protect the environment

• ACKNOWLEDGED THAT OVER POPULATION IS A• MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM

• Took an anthropocentric view

• Established the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

• Announced intentions to hold national governments responsible for environmental issues

United Nations Environmental Program:

• Disseminates information!• Holds governments accountable• Encourages regional cooperation and

technology sharing• Implements the Global Environmental

Facility (GEF), which funds environmentally sound development

• Organizes international conventions and supports negotiations

• Mission statement: “To provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.”

The Global Environmental Facility $(GEF)$

• Based on funding from The World Bank, UNDP and UNEP

• Since 1991, GEF has funded over 1,000 projects.• The GEF receives between $1-1.7 billion a year.• The US contribution to this is $140 million.• The US budget is >2.2 trillion dollars per year.• The US military budget exceeds $500 billion per year,

plus an additional $50 billion for homeland security.• The US’s contribution to the GEF comes to 50 cents per

American citizen per year.• This is <1/1000 (0.1%) of our military budget.• Are we willing to pay more for the GEF, and less on

military?

International Cooperation on Ozone Depletion

• 1973: Scientists in Irvine theorize that CFC’s (chloroflourocarbons) could destroy the ozone layer.

• The business community attacks the scientists involved, suing two of them, and hiring their own scientists specifically to counter these claims.

• 1977: US Congress holds hearings on the effects of CFC’s on the ozone layer.

• The issue was put in the public eye; consumers reacted and stopped buying CFC products.

• 1978: Congress bans “non-essential” use of CFC’s in household products.

• 1984: The hole in the stratospheric ozone layer is discovered.

• 1987: Montreal Protocol sets reduction targets and establishes phase out deadlines.

Why was phasing out CFC’s successful?

• CFC pollution had dramatically fallen due to public awareness; the public pushed for governmental action on both the national and the international level.

• The discovery of the hole in the ozone layer was a dramatic event that triggered public outcry.

• UNEP kept the issue alive through strong leadership.• Industry was able to find a relatively easy and

inexpensive alternative to the pollutant.• Cost/benefit considerations shifted; demand for products

that did not contain CFC’s rose, increasing the industrial benefits to speeding up phase outs.

Unfinished Business

• Illegal trade of CFC’s still exists, mostly in developing countries.

• Hydrochloroflourocarbons (HCFC’s) largely replaced CFC’s; they still deplete ozone, but at a slower rate.

• Most CFC’s produced before legislation was passed have yet to reach the stratospheric ozone and will still do damage; the ozone hole has started to close up, but it could open again.

Earth Summit: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,

Rio de Janeiro; June 1992

Main Issues:

• Globalization and its environmental effects

• Sustainable Development

What came out of Rio:Agenda 21:

• An action plan for sustainable development was introduced.• The Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) was established.• The “Quality of Life on Earth” was addressed, but it was not clear for whom.• The question was posed: Should supply or demand be altered?

Rio Declaration:

• Anthropocentric: It declares human needs are the focus of concern, and it claims that countries have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources.

• It states that countries have the right to develop or prevent development to satisfy the needs of future generations.

• It claims that sustainable development should be practiced, and environmentally harmful consumption habits should be avoided.

• It cautions that the “Precautionary Principal” should be widely applied.

Convention on Biodiversity (CBD)

Addressed:

• Habitat destruction• Introduction of invasive species• Overexploitation

Problems:

• Loss of Biodiversity holds no immediate threat to human health.

• Uneven distribution of resources: A few countries hold the majority of the biodiversity hotspots.

• Raises moral/ethical questions -- WHY should species be saved?• Developing countries fear losing

sovereignity over their own resources and seek to gain financial reward for protecting biodiversity.

• Developed countries want to secure continual access to biogenetic resources.

CBD continuedOutcome:• Biodiversity is a common concern for humankind.• States have sovereign rights over their own natural resources.• States must commit to conserving natural resources.• Establishment of "fair sharing" of biogenetic research results • raises questions of intellectual property.What's missing?• No designated list of biodiversity "hotspots" for specific protection• No commitment to specific territories• No legal provisions for benefit sharing or transfer of funds

Global Warming

• There are two hard facts about climate change:1. Greenhouse gasses are rising in the atmosphere

due largely to the burning of fossile fuels.2. The global average temperature is increasing at

comparable rates.• Mathematical theory clearly established a causative

relationship.• The U.S. alone prevented the allocation of emission reduction

targets and timetables (under the Bush administration).• Under Clinton, Gore pushed for targets and timetables,

claiming that the U.S. would stabilize CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by 2000.

• We are now 14% above the 2000 levels.

Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) 1992

Negotiations:• Issue took a North-South division• What commitments should developed countries make to lower emissions

versus commitments of developing?• Historic responsibility • Financial means to make a difference• What can developed countries

offer in terms of financial aid?

Three warring factions took shape:• Small island states and low GHG emitters that would be hit the hardest by

global warming wanted the developed world to act fast.• China, India and Brazil saw climate change as a serious threat but needed

financial and technical aid to combat it.• Saudi Arabia and other fossil fuel exporters worried that efforts to cut

emissions would damage their economies.• Points of contention: Who would fund the developing nations' efforts?

FCCC

Outcome:

• The convention was ratified at Rio in 1992.

• As of May 2000, 181 countries and the EU had ratified it.

• No binding emission reduction targets were agreed upon.

• The initiation of future negotiations that would include legally binding targets and timetables was set: KYOTO!

The Kyoto Protocol, 1997

Key provisions:

• Developed countries should reduce their emissions to 5% below their 1990 levels by 2012.

• It allows flexibility instruments such as joint implementation, clean development mechanisms and emissions trading to be used.

Flexibility

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Developed countries fund GHG reduction projects in developing countries for emission reduction credits.

Joint Implementation: One developed country can fund an emission reduction project in another developed country for reduction credits.

Johannesburg 2002

• A wider gap was shown between the rich and poor nations.

• Little progress had been made since Rio.• Progress was hindered by the “war on

terrorism”.• Kyoto was stalled by the U.S. — the framework

was in place, but the issue was implementation.• Five focal areas:

– Water– Energy– Health– Agriculture– Biodiversity

Johannesburg

Outcomes:* Declaration to halve by 2015 the number of people without basic sanitation* Goal to restore and maintain ocean fish stocks* Aim for significant reductions of the loss of biodiversity by 2010* Safer use of chemicals by 2020

Stockholm (1972) Montreal (1987)

Rio (1992) Kyoto (1997)

Johannesburg (2002)

Summary

• Ozone depletion was countered.• Global warming, pollution, species

extinction, poverty continued unabated.• The human population continues to grow.• The U. S. played a major role in

undermining all three international efforts.