Environment and Development. Basic Principles, Human Activities, and Environmental Implications 1st Edition Stavros G. Poulopoulos
Environment and Development. Basic Principles, Human Activities, and Environmental Implications 1st Edition Stavros G. Poulopoulos
Environment and Development. Basic Principles, Human Activities, and Environmental Implications 1st Edition Stavros G. Poulopoulos
Basic
Principles, Human Activities, and
Environmental Implications 1st Edition
Stavros G. Poulopoulos
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Environment and Development
Basic Principles, Human Activities,
and Environmental Implications
Edited by
Stavros G. Poulopoulos
Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
Vassilis J. Inglezakis
Nazarbayev University, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the
Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance
Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher
(other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden
our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become
necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using
any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods
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material herein.
xiii
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Environment
and Development
S.G. Poulopoulos
Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
Chapter Outline
1.1 Man and Environment: A Relation of Competition 1
1.2 Global Environmental Problems: Our Common Future 22
1.3 Case Study 1: Easter Island’s Human Extinction 28
1.4 Public Participation 30
1.5 Case Study 2: European Commission’s Public Consultation on Air Pollution 35
1.6 Case Study 3: Three Cases of Environmental Activism in China 36
1.7 Environmental Legislation 37
1.8 Synopsis of the Book 39
References 41
destroying nature and the other living organisms, if it was considered vital in any way for
survival. There is evidence that prehistoric man committed massive slaughter of animals
and used extensively fire either to trap and guide wild animals to their final and fatal
destination or to transform forests into land for cultivation.
For example, during the Pleistocene, the world saw a dramatic number of extinctions of
very large terrestrial species [2]. Although there is an ongoing discussion on the subject,
one of the hypotheses regarding the reasons behind the extinction of several megafaunal1
species around 11000 BC proposes that the global spread of Homo sapiens and
hunter-gatherer subsistence practices were responsible for these deaths [3]. Roberts [4]
tested this hypothesis by examining extinctions in Australia. According to his
measurements, the extinctions occurred around 46,400 years ago across Australia, thus
ruling out any climatic impacts from the late Pleistocene as the underlying cause. Since
Homo sapiens arrived in Australia at least 40,000 years ago [5], data concur with the
human overkill hypothesis of extinction.
Speculating on the causes of this huge extinction event, the great evolutionary biologist
Alfred Russel Wallace wrote [6]:
Looking at the whole subject again, with the much larger body
of facts at our command, I am convinced that the rapidity of
. the extinction of so many large Mammalia is actually due
to man’s agency, acting in co-operation with those general
causes which at the culmination of each geological era has led
to the extinction of the larger, the most
specialized, or the most strangely modified forms.
1
The most common definition of megafauna is an animal with an adult body weight in excess of 44 kg [7].
Introduction to Environment and Development 3
Table 1.1: Megafaunal Extinctions (Genera) During the Last 100 ka [8].
Table 1.2: Estimates of Percent Usable Land (Land Available for Clearing for Agriculture),
and Percent of Forest Cover on Usable Land by Years and Each Region for Central
and Western Europe [10].
% Forest Cover on Usable Land
% Usable 1000 500 AD AD AD AD 1350 (Black AD AD
Region Land BC BC 1 500 1000 Death) 1400 1850
Czechoslovakia 23.0 76.0 65.2 37.5 43.6 31.3 12.7 16.3 3.2
France 7.4 78.8 72.1 46.5 50.3 38.6 16.2 23.9 6.3
Germany 14.3 71.8 64.1 35.0 32.9 29.1 9.9 15.0 3.0
England 20.1 90.0 86.1 59.4 64.1 39.6 12.4 17.1 1.9
eWales
Ireland 30.0 64.5 68.4 69.7 50.6 38.0 13.0 19.0 0.9
Italy 10.4 69.0 51.1 30.1 47.9 40.2 22.1 30.0 7.6
Poland 9.9 95.0 91.1 75.1 69.9 46.1 22.2 24.8 4.0
Portugal 0.6 73.5 68.2 51.3 54.4 42.9 21.1 32.9 7.0
Spain 4.4 75.9 68.9 52.1 57.8 56.0 37.7 44.9 18.5
Average 13.3 77.2 70.6 50.7 52.4 40.2 18.6 24.9 5.8
impact on the natural environment was the clearing of forests to establish cropland and
pasture, and the exploitation of forests for fuelwood and construction materials. The
authors present also historical forest cover estimates as forested fractions of the usable
land in each population region. The case of central and western Europe is shown in
Table 1.2.
It could be even argued that anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions per capita back then
were higher than the current ones as a result of deforestation via slash and burn.2 However,
overpopulation nowadays does not allow any comparison in terms of absolute numbers.
This effort of humans to control and overpower environment continues even today. It
has been even mentioned that despite the technological advances, we still behave as
Neanderthals some 1000 years ago. But we know now that all beings live in the kingdom
2
It denotes the method of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds
are sown, typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming.
4 Chapter 1
of nature and interact with it constantly. We have also a dialectic and continuous
interaction with environment. Our actions that affect the environment are ultimately
reflected on us. The influence of nature manifests itself in the air we breathe, the water we
drink, the food we eat, and the flow of energy and information we consume. Despite its
beauty, nature inspired fear in man in the early history of mankind and people had to fight
it for survival. Today, man has become detached from nature and constitutes also a
constant threat to it. At the same time, we have become a threat to our own existence
since the environmental problems resulting from our actions evolve even on a
planetary scale.
Although these terms have been used interchangeably, we have to make the question:
What is nature and what is environment? Nature is the whole of the physical world,
existing outside of any human action. Man is part of nature, but at the same time he acts
upon it, thereby emancipating himself from it [11]. In Western societies, there is nostalgia
for the lost paradise and the harmonic coexistence between man and nature in the past on
one hand, and the urge to dominate nature on the other. Of course, the first belief is wrong
as presented previously, while the second one could be catastrophic for our future.
Regarding environment there are many definitions. According to that of the European
Union, environment can be defined as “the whole set of elements which form the
frameworks, the surroundings and the living conditions of man and society, as they are or
as they are perceived” [11]. Environment includes always nature and culture. So, it can be
seen as an emerging property of the manenature relation, a field of reciprocal
transformation of the human by the natural; and of the natural by the human [12].
Human activities have an adverse effect on the environment on many scales and in a
variety of degrees of extent. The release of harmful compounds to the environment seems
to be inevitable during chemical processes. Every day, numerous pollutants find their way
into the environment through the reject of undesirable wastewater, waste gas, and liquid
plus solid residues by individuals, activities, and processes. Actually, everyone has a
negative and cumulative effect on the environment. We do not perceive the role that our
simple daily activities play in degrading the environment. Whenever we drive our car,
cook food, switch on an air conditioner, use hair spray, there is an impact on the
environment. Maybe, it does not seem so important, but if you consider billions of people
living on the planet and acting in similar ways, it becomes clear that the cumulative effect
on the environment is tremendous. In many cases, this effect is long term, and after some
point it could also become irreversible. As already mentioned, human beings interact with
environment in a continuous and dynamic way all the time. Our actions create
environmental problems with consequences even for the generations to come. Throughout
human history, people have been threatened by various natural disasters like floods,
earthquakes, volcano eruptions, etc. In recent times, technological innovations and
advances have brought us new potential threats from the environment, which are now
Introduction to Environment and Development 5
man-made and deteriorate our quality of living. Air pollution, water pollution, and soil
pollution are just generic terms that include numerous environmental issues and problems
that are physically harmful and stressful.
Our acting should not be seen as a number of individual actions of “frivolous” people, but
they should be viewed in the context of the current economic model, where markets have
a central role. The end of the Cold War provided a historic chance to reconsider our
situation and direction on Earth. However, it was proved that the military threat was not
the only problem. New nightmares were to come. The economy, the targets set by
societies and countries, and a model based on increasing consumption set the basis and the
roots of the global environmental problems arisen. In the current financial market system,
which is also known as capitalism, all financial decisions are made by the market, in
which buyers and sellers interact freely with minimum State or other intervention. Any
economic natural resource belongs to the property of individuals or businesses, rather than
to the State. The entire buying and selling scheme is based on pure competition, in which
neither buyer nor seller is so strong to control the supply, demand, or price of a
commodity. All buyers and sellers have absolute access to the market and enough
information about the benefits and the harmful effects of economic goods, so they can
make as much as possible responsible decisions.
Economists often represent the pure capitalism as a circular flow of goods and money
among households and businesses operated normally, regardless of the ecosphere. As a
result, the progress of a society has been synonym to economic growth, which was
actually expressed through the growing demand for more services and products. So, even
if it was called economic development, it meant nothing else but pure economic growth.
The question arisen is obvious: since we pursuit ceaselessly economic growth, which is
based on perpetual consumption of natural resources that are part of a finite ecological
capital, are there any limits to this growth?
Philippe Destatte [13] provides shortly the story to answering this question. Aurelio
Peccei, after founding the Club of Rome3 in 1968, played a central role in the discussion
on a better form of development through three principles for the future. He set out these
principles during the following year in The Chasm Ahead [14]. He stated first that
humanity and the global environment together are part of the same integrated
macrosystem. Then, it is obvious that several parts of this macrosystem are at the risk of
3
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in
1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the Club of Rome describes itself as “a group of world citizens,
sharing a common concern for the future of humanity.” It consists of current and former heads of state, UN
bureaucrats, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business
leaders from around the globe. It raised considerable public attention in 1972 with its report “The Limits to
Growth” (http://www.clubofrome.org/).
6 Chapter 1
being decomposed or even being completely destroyed. Finally, he argued that there
is an immediate need to respond to this situation by developing a global plan. The
implementation of it should be a collective obligation for all organizations with the
capacity to act. Based on these principles and the methodological support of Jay Forrester
and his model on dynamic systems, a research project entitled “Predicament of Mankind”
was launched in 1970 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [15]. Two years later,
the relevant report on the limits to growth was released [16]. According to the report’s
conclusions, as Earth is a closed system, the exponential growth of key selected variables,
as population, food production, industrialization, pollution, and the use of nonrenewable
resources, is clearly impossible. If the present growth trends in these variables continue in
the future, it is just a matter of time (100 years) to reach the limits to growth on this
planet. The ultimate consequence will be a sharp and uncontrollable decline in industrial
capacity and population [16]. It is thus apparent that a collective awakening of conscience
and awareness is required to avert this course to destruction. According to the report, a
state of economic and ecological stability should be established so that the basic material
needs of each person on Earth are satisfied and each person has an equal opportunity to
realize his or her individual human potential.
However, this report was not the first to make reference to growth. Thomas Robert
Malthus was the first to argue that “the power of population is indefinitely greater than the
power in the earth to produce subsistence for man” back in 1798 [17,18]. His extreme
ideas about population control attracted huge criticism, making him rather unpopular in
his era. Malthus had foreseen that Earth’s resources would have been exhausted many
decades before. However, technological advances, especially in the field of agriculture,
contradicted Malthus’ prophecy and permitted the maintenance and feeding of a constantly
increasing global population. But was it really Malthus’ mistake or catastrophe had been
just postponed?
(Continued)
8 Chapter 1
In June 1972, the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE)
was held in Stockholm.4 Representatives from 113 countries were present, as well as
representatives from many international nongovernmental organizations, intergovernmental
organizations, and many other specialized agencies. This was the first United Nations
4
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/156774/.
10 Chapter 1
Figure 1.1
Global change. World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/globalchange/environment/en/.
conference on the environment as well as the first major international gathering focused on
human activities in relationship to the environment, and it laid the foundation for
environmental action at an international level. The conference acknowledged that the goal
of reducing human impact on the environment would require extensive international
cooperation, as many of the problems affecting the environment are global in nature.
Following this conference, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was
launched in order to encourage United Nations agencies to integrate environmental
measures into their programs.
The concerns regarding global change,5 namely environmental pressures that threaten to
radically alter the planet (Fig. 1.1) and put in danger the lives of many species upon it
including humankind, led to the establishment in 1983 of the World Commission on
Environment and Development by the UN General Assembly [25]. That body was an
independent body, linked to but outside the control of governments and the UN system. It
had three objectives: (1) to reexamine the critical environment and development issues and
to formulate realistic proposals, (2) to propose new forms of international cooperation on
these issues that would influence policies and events in the direction of needed changes,
and (3) to raise the levels of understanding and commitment to action of individuals,
voluntary organizations, businesses, institutes, and governments.
5
According to the World Health Organization, global change refers to large-scale and global environmental
hazards to human health and life on Earth generally. Although this term refers primarily to climate change
and stratospheric ozone depletion, it may also include changes in ecosystems due to loss of biodiversity,
changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, land degradation, urbanization, and stresses on
food-producing systems (http://www.who.int/globalchange/environment/en/).
Introduction to Environment and Development 11
In 1987, the Committee released its first report entitled “Our Common Future,” known
also as Brundtland Report6 [25]. In that famous report, the first and most popular
definition of “sustainable development” was given:
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Ref. [25]
6
The chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development was Gro Harlem Brundtland, the
Prime Minister of Norway, Parliamentary Leader of the Labor Party 1981e86, Member of Parliament from
1977, Minister of Environment 1974e79, and Associate Director Oslo School Health Services 1968e74 [25].
12 Chapter 1
Figure 1.2
The three bottom line model of sustainability.
Figure 1.3
The three pillars model of sustainability.
Figure 1.4
The three spheres model of sustainability.
Introduction to Environment and Development 13
protection, economic development, and social cohesion preservation. In many cases, these
models are denoted by three E from Environment, Economy, and Equity.
In an effort to clarify the content of the principle of sustainable development, the Swiss
“Monitoring of Sustainable Development Project” MONET tried to give a more accurate
definition [27], based on the first of the 10 “Bellagio Principles”,7 which are shown in
Table 1.3:
Sustainable development means ensuring dignified living conditions with regard to
human rights by creating and maintaining the widest possible range of options for freely
defining life plans. The principle of fairness among and between present and future gen-
erations should be taken into account in the use of environmental, economic and social
resources.
Putting these needs into practice entails comprehensive protection of bio-diversity in
terms of ecosystem, species and genetic diversity, all of which are the vital foundations
of life.
Ref. [28]
During the last years, other models and definitions have been proposed in order to clarify
and extend the meaning of “sustainable development,” such as the models of the prism and
of the eggs. The first one was adapted by Valentin and Spangenberg [29] and is based on
four dimensions (Fig. 1.5):
• economic dimension (man-made capital),
• environmental dimension (natural capital),
• social dimension (human capital), and
• institutional dimension (social capital).
The prism models have been criticized for paying too little concern to the environmental
dimension, which is the precondition for the development of human well-being. Hence, a
model of sustainability that would put the environment in the center should be developed.
Accordingly, the International Development Research Center [30] (IDRC) proposed in
1997 the “Egg of Sustainability” (Fig. 1.6), originally designed in 1994 by the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [27].
Keiner [27] presents the variety of sustainable development definitions as well as
alternative considerations, such as the survivable development and evolutionability.
7
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development called for the development of new ways to
measure and assess progress toward sustainable development. In November 1996, an international group of
measurement practitioners and researchers from five continents came together at the Rockefeller Foundation’s
Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, to review progress to date and to synthesize insights from
practical ongoing efforts. The result was the principles shown in Table 1.3 that were unanimously
endorsed [28].
Introduction to Environment and Development 25
combustion. The inevitable product of any combustion process is the release of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
along with increased levels of other greenhouse gases resulting from anthropogenic
sources, enhance further the greenhouse effect, leading to the so-called global warming
and ultimately to climate change [44].
Global warming and climate change will have many severe impacts on [45]:
• water resources and their management;
• ecosystems;
• food, fiber, and forest resources;
• coastal and sea-neighboring regions;
• economy, habitation, and society; and
• health.
It has been estimated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) that by 2030 the annual global cost of adapting to climate change will be
approximately $49e$171 billion US dollars not including costs for ecosystem adaption
that could add an additional $65e$300 billion per year [46]. The United States of America
along with China and Qatar are the current top contributors of greenhouse emissions [46].
The impacts of climate change are already being witnessed globally [46]. Rising
temperatures, air quality deterioration, more frequent incidences of food- and waterborne
pathogens and allergens, and extreme weather events are among the current manifestation
events of global warming. With the average global temperature projected to increase by
1.4e5.8 C by 2100, these events are expected to become increasingly frequent and
severe [46].
Kyoto Protocol was the response of the international community to global warming in
December 1997. Specifically, the Kyoto Protocol was an amendment to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took place in the context of
Rio Summit in June 1995, an international treaty on global warming. Ratifying countries
committed to reducing their combined greenhouse gas levels by 5%, including carbon
dioxide and five other emissions. A total of 141 countries had ratified the agreement, with
the notable exceptions of the United States and Australia. The Protocol entered into force
on February 16, 2005, and its emissions reduction requirements are binding on the 35
industrialized countries that have ratified it; the United States disengaged from the
Protocol in 2001 and has not ratified it.
The implementation of Kyoto Protocol confronted many obstacles. For example, let us
examine the position of the United States, which is the highest CO2 emitter worldwide.
The United States signed the Protocol on November 12, 1998. However, the Clinton
Administration did not submit the Protocol to the Senate for advice and consent. In March
26 Chapter 1
2001, the Bush Administration rejected the Kyoto Protocol. The United States continued
to attend the annual conferences of the parties (COPs) to the UNFCCC, but did not
participate in Kyoto Protocolerelated negotiations. In February, 2002, President Bush
announced a US policy for climate change that would rely on domestic, voluntary actions
to reduce the “greenhouse gas intensity” (ratio of emissions to economic output) of the US
economy by 18% over the next 10 years.9
What adds to the problem is the fact that energy demand is expected to increase year after
year, and this demand will be covered by fossil fuels combustion, which means more
carbon dioxide emissions released. Specifically, Solangi et al. [47] reported that world
primary energy demand is projected to expand by almost 60% from 2002 to 2030, namely
with an average annual increase of 1.7% per year. At the same time, fossil fuels will
continue to dominate the global energy use. They will account for around 85% of the
increase in world primary demand over 2002e30. And their share in total demand will
increase slightly, from 80% in 2002 to 82% in 2030. The share of renewable energy
sources will remain flat, at around 4%, while that of nuclear power will drop from 7% to
5% [48].
As Pacheco et al. [44] point out, despite (1) the actual risk of collective disaster, (2) the
scientific consensus that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions perturb global climate
patterns with negative consequences for many ecosystems, and (3) the predictions of early
warning signals and severe climate change consequences that are already in place, country
leaders insist in discounting the severity of the problem, given the scientific uncertainty
regarding the impacts of climate change.
The difference in attitude toward global warming compared to the one against
stratospheric ozone depletion could be explained by the fact that global warming is not
simply connected with a purely man-made class of compounds with specific applications
like CFCs, but principally with carbon dioxide, which in turn is related to energy
consumption and the current way of living. So, dealing with the roots of global warming
affects many economic interests worldwide.
These issues are further discussed in chapter “Atmospheric Environment”. The reason why
they are presented shortly in this section is to acknowledge that besides the short-term or
long-term adverse effects associated with them, they helpeddor forceddmodern society
and people, which had been disconnected from nature, to realize the importance of
environment and the consequences of our actions. Moreover, since these problems are
connected with compounds that are globally emitted and mixed in the atmosphere, they
have consequences for everyone on Earth without exceptions. Despite the fact that the
degree of guilty and the magnitude of potential impacts differ from country to country, it
9
The Encyclopedia of Earth. http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154065/.
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is put in no ironic spirit. Shaw is the one thinker of eminence who
has consistently advanced in the same direction as that of the true
Nietzsche—namely, productive criticism of the Western morale—
while following out as poet the last implications of Ibsen and devoting
the balance of the artistic creativeness that is in him to practical
discussions.
Save in so far as the belated Romanticist in him has determined
the style, sound and attitude of his philosophy, Nietzsche is in every
respect a disciple of the materialistic decades. That which drew him
with such passion to Schopenhauer was (not that he himself or
anyone else was conscious of it) that element of Schopenhauer’s
doctrine by which he destroyed the great metaphysic and (without
meaning to do so) parodied his master Kant; that is to say, the
modification of all deep ideas of the Baroque age into tangible and
mechanistic notions. Kant speaks in inadequate words, which hide a
mighty and scarcely apprehensible intuition, an intuition of the world
as appearance or phenomenon. In Schopenhauer this becomes the
world as brain-phenomenon (Gehirnphänomen). The change-over
from tragic philosophy to philosophical plebeianism is complete. It
will be enough to cite one passage. In “The World as Will and Idea”
Schopenhauer says: “The will, as thing-in-itself, constitutes the inner,
true and indestructible essence of the man; in itself, however, it is
without consciousness. For the consciousness is conditioned by the
intellect and this is a mere accident of our being, since it is a function
of the brain, and that again (with its dependent nerves and spinal
cord) is a mere fruit, a product, nay, even a parasite of the rest of the
organism, inasmuch as it does not intervene directly in the latter’s
activities but only serves a purpose of self-preservation by regulating
its relations with the outer world.” Here we have exactly the
fundamental position of the flattest materialism. It was not for nothing
that Schopenhauer, like Rousseau before him, studied the English
sensualists. From them he learned to misread Kant in the spirit of
megalopolitan utilitarian modernity. The intellect as instrument of the
will-to-life,[459] as weapon in the struggle for existence, the ideas
brought to grotesque expression by Shaw in “Man and Superman”—
it was because this was his view of the world that Schopenhauer
became the fashionable philosopher when Darwin’s main work was
published in 1859. In contrast to Schelling, Hegel and Fichte, he was
a philosopher, and the only philosopher, whose metaphysical
propositions could be absorbed with ease by intellectual mediocrity.
The clarity of which he was so proud threatened at every moment to
reveal itself as triviality. While retaining enough of formula to produce
an atmosphere of profundity and exclusiveness, he presented the
civilized view of the world complete and assimilable. His system is
anticipated Darwinism, and the speech of Kant and the concepts of
the Indians are simply clothing. In his book “Ueber den Willen in der
Natur” (1835) we find already the struggle for self-preservation in
Nature, the human intellect as master-weapon in that struggle and
sexual love as unconscious selection according to biological interest.
[460]
II
III