The environment

• Things involved


  • Climate change
  • Deforestation
  • Marine life
  • Biodiversity
  • Global energy
  • Outer space
  • The polar regions
• Major contributors


  • Waste
  • Power plants
  • Oil drilling
  • Transport
  • Consumerism
  • Farming
  • Industrialisation
  • Overfishing
• China emits 10,065m tons of CO2 per year
• US emits 5,146m tons of CO2 per year
• India emits 2,654m tons of CO2 per year
• Russia emits 1,711m tons of CO2 per year
• Japan emits 1,162m tons of CO2 per year
• Germany emits 759m tons of CO2 per year
• Iran emits 720m tons of CO2 per year
• Sweden is 4th, UK is 5th, and Denmark is 6th on climate action, but nobody is doing enough
• The UK was the first country to declare a climate emergency
• Climate change


  Multinational corporations
• The Global North causes climate change, while the Global South experiences the effects
• There is a moral duty to aid the Global South in lessening the effects of climate change and waste
• The tragedy of the commons means politics will be dominated by individual states and their national interests, competing for economic gain and natural resources, even at the expense of the shared environment
• Pressure groups


  • Just Stop Oil
  • Greenpeace
• Global Civil Society


  • WWF
  • David Attenborough
• Deep Ecology


  Preserve and protect the environment for the benefit of the environment itself (not just for humans), all living things are of equal value and humans are not more important, individualism is to be rejected and we should all live in harmony, nature is not to be exploited for human benefits
• Very few people adopt the view of deep ecology, and international views are very much against it
• Shallow Ecology


  We should preserve nature for humankind, sustainable development is important as it aids human development, it is acceptable to prioritise human needs always but it should reduce harm to the environment
• Realist view


  National interest is important, if actions harm ecology and development they are not beneficial, all actions should consider economic impact, important to focus on climate change but all states need to do this at an equal pace and no one takes more action than the other
• Liberal view


  Developed states should help developing states as their contribution to climate change is more and impacts developing states, accountability is important, climate change requires collective action
• UNFCCC


  UN framework convention on climate change, treaty which created a process in which future negotiations on climate change could take place, agreed in 1992 at Rio Earth Summit, main focus is to limit global average temperature rises, 197 and all UN member states are parties
• UNFCCC principles


  • Developed states must report each year on climate progress
  • Publish figures on greenhouse gasses and what policies are in place
  • Encourage scrutiny
  • Ensure that food production is not threatened and is sustainable
  • Act in the interests of human security despite uncertainty
  • Developed countries must lead and do the most to reduce climate change
  • Developing states should have financial help from developed states
• UNFCCC


  • Wide membership
  • Accountability
  • Withdrawing is controversial
• UNFCCC weaknesses


  • Can withdraw from treaties
• Kyoto Protocol 1997


  Legally binding targets to reduce emissions - 37 industrialised states and the EU, reduce emissions by 5%, Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa (BRICs) granted exemption so the US rejected the treaty, states submitted reports to the UN to monitor progress, first commitment period ended in 2012 (came into force 2005) and the second is 2020, EU reduced emissions by 8%, EU created carbon emissions trading scheme, 37 countries pledged to be stricter on emissions during the second commitment period and reduced their emissions by 25%
• Paris Agreement 2015


  Keep global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius, limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, legally binding targets for all states with no exemptions, both US and China (40% of all global emissions), signed up to legally binding targets, $100bn a year for developing countries, Trump admin exited and Biden admin reversed this on his first day in office
• IPCC


  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created in 1988 with 721 experts from 90 countries, provide states with advice about causes and impacts, as well as offering solutions, regularly assess current climate situation, can only advise governments, cannot enforce, provides balanced assessments and undertakes scientific research
• COP 28 - UAE president pledged $30bn to fight climate change, King Charles urged charities not to use charitable status, the UK government didn't want Charles to go, Greta Thunberg said it's a load of balls, a $420mn fund to help states impacted by climate change is not much and it's unclear if the cash will actually be used to fix the problem
• Greenhouse gas emissions need to be halved in the next 7 years or the targets will not be met and we will all suffer the consequences
• Causes of climate change

  • Capitalism
  • Waste
  • Farming/fishing
  • Consumerism
  • Industrialisation
  • Oil drilling
  • Overconsumption
• Tragedy of the commons


  Exploitation of global common areas, e.g. Antarctica
• Deep ecology


  Environment is equal to humans, protect the environment for the environment
• Shallow ecology


  Protect environment for humans
• Climate emergency
• UN framework convention, Rio summit, limit temp rises, all UN members are party (197), sustainable food, human security, developed countries should do more, scrutiny

  1992
• Intergovernmental panel on climate change, 721 experts from 90 countries, review, report, advise, confirmed greenhouse gases have an effect

  1988
• Kyoto protocol, legally binding targets on 37 industrialised and EU states to reduce emissions by 5% (EU by 8%), BRICS exempt, US rejected, UN monitoring

  1997
• COP 15 summit, green climate fund, tax relief on green companies for an incentive

  2009