GEOG 256 9 5 13 Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I Sustainability is II Kidd The Evolution of Sustainability III Carrying Capacity IV Impact Per person V Ecological Footprint Outline of Current Lecture I Conceptual Problems with Carrying Capacity II Capital Approach III Resilience Theory IV Weak vs Strong Sustainability V Material Input Approach VI Decoupling Strategies Current Lecture I Conceptual Problems with Carrying Capacity 1 It s not fixed it can change with technology or consumption 2 It s a maximum not an optimum short of die off what standard of well being do we want 3 There are data problems we don t know what the planetary capacity is 4 Difficult to say that a region of the planet can support a certain when humans transport themselves and resources over vast distances These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute II Capital Approach Ecological Econ Carrying capacity focuses on populations and impacts the focus here is on the resource base Our well being comes from the goods and services produced from capital stocks K K can be natural or man made If capital decreases while prod stays the same well being declines Capital must not decline if you want to preserve future generations opportunities for wealth and well being Natural Capital provides non renewable and renewable resources for Production source function Assimilative Life support functions Aesthetics Spiritual Values Protection Safety Functions Ex of natural K reductions fishery depletion farmland loss III Resilience Theory Includes Robustness ability to absorb shocks or come back quickly and adaptive capacity ability to change if need be The stock of natural K increases the resilience of society to major shocks war drought energy crisis and to cumulative processes like urbanization IV Weak vs Strong Sustainability Weak allows for substitution of man made K for natural K Strong requires constant stock of natural K because manufacturing capital often requires natural capital because natural capital fulfils function that can t be replaced you can t manufacture air The 5 Capitals 1 Manufactured 2 Finanical 3 Social 4 Human 5 Natural V Material Input Approach 1 It is impossible to measure the extent of natural capital how do you sum more trees but less natural gas 2 So we need a rule of thumb to move us in the right direction 3 Reducing material input is a good alternate objective 4 Material input means all the resources moved to produce a good or service from birth to death 5 we need to reduce material input unit of service by perhaps 10 fold AKA dematerialization or decoupling 6 Sustainable Development is viewed as a process not as a hard to measure end state that improves the long term health of human and ecological systems AKA continuous improvement approach Good for those wanting small steps carrying capacity and natural capital are outcome or end state approaches VI Decoupling Strategies Modernization technology can mitigate impact by increasing eco efficiency Economic Substitution Shift from consuming more harmful to less harmful goods Qualitative improvement instead of qualitative growth Build smaller but higher quality w great design amenities thermal performance instead of large less elaborate building