Lecture 5/6

• Developed countries use more resources per person to maintain their life-style • Developing countries with higher populations use less resources per person for their way of life

I=PATS: total impact on environment results from interaction of population, affluence, and technology, with an added sensitivity factor

individuals need space and resources

greater per capita resource use

increased exploitation of resources

how sensitive an area is to human pressure (change/impacts)

measured using the ecological footprint model

• estimate of environmental impact • the land (and water) area needed to provide the resources for a person, population, business or country as well as the land (and water) required to assimilate the wastes produced

• Study of how people use resources to provide goods and services in the face of variable supply and demand

• Examines direct costs of producing materials and the delivery of the products (= internal costs) • Views environment only as an external “factor of production” (= external costs)

immediate usefulness measured as profit

include fertile soils, forests, fresh and marine waters, rock (minerals/metals), fossil fuels, etc.

include air and water purification, soil formation, climate regulation, pollination, and nutrient recycling

The environment enables economic activity by providing goods and services BUT economic activity can affect the environment in return

social condition arising from desire to be more wealthy/successful or as the inability for an individual to understand the consequences of their actions because of their social/financial status

• Focus on long-term sustainability rather than short-term gain • Live within ‘our means’ - can no longer assume unlimited resources and endless growth • Focus on more than monetary economic goals (e.g. the “triple” bottom line) • Appreciate less visible benefits (e.g. ecosystem services)

economies are unsustainable if population growth is not reduced and if resource use is not decreased

economies are unsustainable and cannot overcome their ecological limitations - (e.g. populations above carrying capacity and resource limitations)

develop and use new technologies to solve problems immunity

• Technological solutions will help but are not enough to solve problems using the current economic theories and models • Need a new way to find solutions that sees the human economy as part of the environment (existing within the environment) • Economy receives resources and services from environment • Answer: Look to nature for solutions – nothing is wasted in nature

Assumes that resources are always available, and wastes can be disposed of in a linear way

Assumes that nature is involved so efforts should be made to return materials, at the end of a product’s life, back into the production system to reduce waste (reclaim / reuse)

Examines the impact from creation to disposal of a product and every stage of the process

Provides a sustainable business strategy that mimics the regenerative cycle of nature in which waste is reused