Environment

• The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report

  produced using the expertise of over 800 experts. It was likely that the period between 1983 and 2013 was the warmest 30-year period for 1,400 years. It confirmed the loss of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, concluding that it was 95-100% certain that human activity had caused global warming. The projection for global mean temperature rises by 2100 was more than 1.5°C in each of the modelled scenarios.
• Shallow Green Ecology and weak sustainability.

  Brundtland report 1987 meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

  This idea now central to World Bank and IMF which both support growth that is inclusive and environmentally sound so that it reduces poverty and meets the needs of today's and future population.
• shallow ecology on intergeneration equity

  Shallow ecology places emphasis on the importance of humans and this extends to humans that have not yet been born therefore intergenerational equity is of vital importance to shallow ecologists.
• The Roles of TNCs and Private Capital in fighting climate change.

  ---helping kick-start the technological innovations required for solutions

  ---ambitious non-state actors lower the costs and increase the benefits of climate action for less ambitious actors like states

  ---2020: BlackRock - the world's biggest asset manager - to exit

  investments that "present a high sustainability-related risk"

  2021: BlackRock holds $85bn in coal despite pledge to sell fossil fuel shares. Loophole means asset manager can hold shares in firms earning less2020: BlackRock - the world's biggest asset manager - to exit

  investments that "present a high sustainability-related risk"

  2021: BlackRock holds $85bn in coal despite pledge to sell fossil fuel shares. Loophole means asset manager can hold shares in firms earning less than a quarter of revenues from coal. than a quarter of revenues from coal.
• BlackRock

  2020: BlackRock - the world's biggest asset manager - to exit

  investments that "present a high sustainability-related risk"

  2021: BlackRock holds $85bn in coal despite pledge to sell fossil fuel shares. Loophole means asset manager can hold shares in firms earning less than a quarter of revenues from coal.
• The role of NGOs in fighting climate change

  ---play a catalytic role within

  national politics and

  international politics e.g. in

  raising awareness and

  prioritising environmental

  issues

  ---decision-making structures can

  also make them both more

  ambitious and nimbler than

  many nation states (not

  confined to needing votes &

  less bureaucratic)
• GreenPeece vs Lego+Shell


  As part of its Save the Arctic campaign, Greenpeace's most recent action has targeted Lego over its partnership with oil

  corporation, Shell, which continues to drill in the Arctic. The campaign has been high-profile, starting with an animated

  Lego-style video, coming in the wake of the hugely popular Lego Movie. The initial video, which featured a Lego Arctic

  paradise being slowly flooded with oil, has already notched up more than 5m YouTube views since it was uploaded last

  month. The campaign has not registered any official success so far. Shell has reaffirmed its commitment to the Arctic as an

  oil resource and Lego remains unrepentant over its involvement with Shell, and vows to continue the partnership.
• GreenPeece vs Volkswagen

  In response to a successful Volkswagen commercial campaign featuring a small Darth Vader, Greenpeace adopted a Star Wars theme as it campaigned to make VW reduce its CO2 emissions and stop its lobbying against climate change law in Europe. In addition to an Episode I and II video campaign, Greenpeace organised a protest that saw stormtroopers take to the streets of London and Berlin. The campaign was a successful one for Greenpeace, with over 520,000 people signing

  the petition against VW. Following the action, the car company signed-up to meet EU laws by 2020, legislation it had

  previously been lobbying against.
• GreenPeece vs Fashion detox

  Greenpeace opted for a different tack in its action against fashion brands such as Burberry and Primark, trying to push

  them into a commitment against hazardous chemicals. It organised a three-day "social media storm" which involved more than 10,000 tweets being sent to Burberry, as well as concerted action through Facebook and Instagram. This worked in tandem with high-street action, which saw volunteers in six countries campaigning outside Burberry stores. The desired effect was achieved, with Burberry committing to rid its manufacturing process of toxic, perflourinated chemicals by 2020, as well as increasing supply chain transparency. Primark made the same pledge two weeks later. Sports and fashion

  brand Adidas also made the 2020 pledge after Greenpeace published a report on toxic chemicals in Fifa World Cup

  merchandise, along with 18 leading brands such as H&M and Zara.
• Why are cities an important part of tackling climate change?


  ---Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and this is likely to increase to over two thirds by 2030.---Cities use a large proportion of the world’s energy supply and are responsible for around 70 per cent of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions which trap heat and result in the warming of Earth.----The huge carbon footprint created by our cities resultsfrom poor planning and layout. Low-density suburban sprawl with little public transport and homes far from work andshops means more cars on the roads emitting carbon dioxide. In addition, most of the ever-increasing number of buildingsstill use fossil fuels for their energy needs. Cities, while being the main cause of climate change, are also the most affected.--Most cities are situated near water putting them at risk from rising sea levels and storms. However, given their role ashubsof innovation and creativity, we also look to cities to provide us with answers.Energy, building, mobility and planningsolutions and innovations in cities have the potential to deliver major emission cuts.
• Ernst Friedrich Schumacher


  A German-born UK economist and environmental thinker, Schumacher championed the cause of human-scale production and advanced a 'Buddhist' economic philosophy (economics as if people mattered) that stresses the importance of morality and 'right livelihood'.
• Arne Naess


  A Norwegian philosopher who was influenced by the teachings of Spinoza, Gandhi and Buddha, Naess was the leading advocate of 'deep ecology', arguing that ecology should be concerned with every part of nature on an equal basis, because natural order has an intrinsic value.
• Garrett Hardin


  A US ecologist and microbiologist, Hardin is best known for the idea of the 'tradegy of the commons', which calls attention to 'the damage that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment.' He developed an uncompromising form of ecologism that warned against the dangers of population growth and excessive freedom.
• Murray Bookchin


  A US libertarian socialist, Bookchin highlighted parallels between anarchism and ecology through the idea of 'social ecology', and was also strongly critical of the 'mystical' ideas of deep ecology, which he dubbed 'eco-la-la'.