Lunchbox - CISV International

The
Lunchbox
Ready-to-eat sustainable development bites
made by the“I have a mango” team
The
Lunchbox
The Lunchbox
First edition – Online version
March 2012
Editor: Alejandra Echeverri.
Editorial team: Alejandra Echeverri, Karianne Sørbø, Juan Manuel Oviedo, Eirik Swensen,
Michael Anstis, Maria Celeste Montilla.
Reviewers: Michael Anstis, Rupert Friederichsen.
“I have a mango” project: Alejandra Echeverri, Kamilla B. Haaland, Juan Manuel Oviedo,
Karianne Sørbø.
Photography: Oscar Amaya, CISV International, Alejandra Echeverri, Iddy Farmer/ The Center
for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Ahmad Fuad Morad, Stevie Mann/The International
Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Liv-Heidi Pedersen/ Norwegian Children and Youth Council
(LNU), Alex E. Proimos.
Layout and illustration: Camila Barrera.
Thanks to: Dan Banik, Arturo Corredor, Annika Dalén, Mauricio Deliz, Rodrigo Esguerra, Kaja
Knutsdotter Fjørtoft, Diana Guzmán, Håvard Haarstad, Nina Heidenstrøm, Arild Hermstad,
Claudio Maudane, Maria Celeste Montilla, Inger Elisabeth Måren, Ilana Ochoa, Camilo Rojas,
Silje Samdal, André Skeie, Juan Manuel Soto, Pablo Stevenson, Roger Strand, Tristram Stuart,
Eirik Swensen, May-Lise Talgø, Paula Ungar, Nina Witoszek, Siv Elin Ånestad. Special thanks to
Informasjonstøtta in The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU) for providing funding
and the opportunity to develop this idea.
Typefaces: Baskerville and Interstate.
This publication was funded by The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU).
Everybody has had a lunchbox at least once
in their lives. Well, ours isn’t any different from regular ones. The only thing is we
packed knowledge instead of food. Imagine
3 snacks: society, environment, and economy.
This is what will nurture you by having this
Lunchbox! In addition to the content published here you will find other snacks – like
learning-by-doing activities and external
links for those who remain hungry after eating this. The best part is you don’t have to
eat it all at once. You can have a bite or two,
digest it and then have some more while carrying your Lunchbox everywhere.
Content
8
About I Have a Mango and The Lunchbox
13 Society
14
18
24
26
30
32
2012, the year to do something about it?
Is recycling a global trend?
Talk about technology!
The social dimension of sustainability
Profile: Roger Strand
Profile: Annika Dalén
35 Environment
36
42
47
52
56
58
The whole story behind palm oil
Northern andean páramo: a strategic ecosystem
What’s for dinner?
Water and sustainable development
Profile: Silje Samdal
Profile: Diana Carolina Guzmán Caro
61 Economy
62
68
74
78
80
The end of growth?
How do 8 million people move around?
Shopping, the cure for everything?
Profile: Arild Hermstad
Profile: Juan Manuel Soto
83 Our partners and us
About I Have a
Mango and The
Lunchbox
Alejandra Echever ri.
When people hear the term sustainable development they immediately relate it to recycling, windmills or not leaving any leftovers.
People still think that sustainable development is only a matter of being eco-friendly
and just caring for the environment, but they
often ignore the real meaning of sustainable
development and the importance of it in our
rapidly growing human population.
8
By definition, sustainable development comprises
the three aspects: economy, ecology and society.
Development is then considered sustainable once
it finds a balance point between the three areas.
Sustainable development also means that in our
use of natural resources to meet our needs, we shall
not compromise the resources required to fulfil the
needs of future generations.
But what really is sustainable development on a
daily basis? Well in every action we make we can
choose between doing a sustainable or an unsustainable action. Let’s take buying coffee on our way
to work as an example - an action many of us do
very often. We can choose between buying it from
a well-known coffee shop or in a small café, we can
buy coffee grown in small scale or large scale production farms, we can choose between organic and
non-organic coffee and we can also choose a take
away coffee in a plastic cup or bring our own cup to
take the coffee with us. All those choices affect the
environmental impact we have. It is with our actions
that we can contribute to a more sustainable world.
In this booklet we aim to show you different approaches to sustainable development. Through short
articles we hope to explain current issues in the field
of sustainability, facts and inspiring stories to get you
thinking about the world and your actions towards
it. It is structured with articles comparing situations
between Norway and Colombia or comparing any
North/South issue, articles highlighting case studies and interviews with researchers, people working
with other organisations and businesses regarding
sustainable development. Among other topics we
talk about consumerism, environmental problems
and development economics. The articles are based
on academic material, personal experiences and information found in the media. All the topics we have
chosen are familiar to our readers and are just a few
topics under the big theme of sustainable development.
The Lunchbox is a product of the project “I
have a mango: think, educate and act for sustainable development”, a cooperation between CISV
Norway and CISV Colombia. In this project, two
Colombians (Juan Manuel Oviedo and Alejandra
Echeverri) and two Norwegians (Karianne Sørbø
and Kamilla B. Haaland) worked in Norway from
August to December 2011 and in Colombia from
January to May 2012. We educated youth on sustainable development by giving workshops, seminars and movie nights in several cities in both countries. The team also studied different approaches to
sustainable development by interviewing researchers and people from several organisations working
with the topic. We developed local projects with
communities in Norway and Colombia.
One of the main goals of the project was to be
a link between the academic field of sustainable
development and the general society, particularly
youth. Through The Lunchbox we hope to communicate some of our experiences and summarise
some topics that we believe it is important to raise
awareness of. We also believe that there is a need
to educate the general society about sustainable
development as a whole. Values, lifestyles and attitudes can be changed once we understand the
problems our world is facing. Once we discover the
links between those issues and our own actions we
will be ready to begin the path of sustainable decision making.
9
Project participants: Kamilla, Juan Manuel, Karianne and Alejandra. Photo by Liv-Heidi Pedersen
Sweet mango
preserves
Ilana Ochoa
If life gives you mangoes, make jam!
For 750 gr:
• 2 ripe mangoes (about 450 gr) peeled
and cut in dices
• 1 vanilla bean
• The grind of 1 lemon and its juice
• 300 ml of water
• 225 gr of brown organic sugar
• 50 gr of raisins (optional)
10
In a big pot, put the mangoes and vanilla. Add the
lemon grind and juice, then the water. Leave it to
boil for about 20 minutes in slow heat. Add the
sugar, stir until it has dissolved completely. Then let
it boil for 10 minutes at very high heat, or until the
mixture has thickened enough. Finally, add the raisins and cook for another 5 minutes. Let it cool. Put
the preserves in glass jars previously sterilized and
warm. Seal them and keep them in a fresh place.
Don't forget to share it!
11
Chapter 1
Society
The right to development is the measure
of the respect of all other human rights.
That should be our aim: a situation
in which all individuals are enabled to
maximize their potential, and to contribute
to the evolution of society as a whole.
Kofi Annan
12
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13
2012, the year to do
something about it?
Karianne Sørbø.
We live in a world very much focused on economic growth while at the same time sustainable methods of development are strongly
communicated. We are told that we must take
care of the Earth and its resources for the
future, and at the same time we exploit the
Earth’s resources at an ever faster pace. To see
that this creates challenges and paradoxes, nationally, internationally – but also for us in our
everyday life – is to reflect on the idea of sustainable development. But first, what does this
concept of sustainable development mean?
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Society
The term sustainable development has meant different things at different times. The Brundtland Commission started using the term in the report “Our
Common Future” published in 1987. In this report
it was proclaimed that we could have economic
growth parallel to the development of a sustainable
society. Here ecology, economy and culture were
claimed to be the basis of a sustainable future. A
professor at the University of Bergen, Roger Strand,
argues that the report promotes weak sustainability,
where natural resources can be exchanged with the
human resources technology and innovation. The
starting point is the assumption that any natural
resource is interchangeable with human resources.
The last decades we have seen that this is exactly
what they are; interchangeable. With technological
development taken into account the proceeds are
for the most, a growing economy and greater prosperity for countries that are focusing on technology
and innovation.
At the annual energy conference organised
by the environmental organisation Zero last year,
the well-known sociologist Lord Anthony Giddens
said: “There is no such thing as a green economy”
(Oslo 21-22nd 2011). Within the capitalistic framework no economy can develop without exponential
growth. So to me this sounds like a critical, reflected
and also realistic voice of a world citizen. The term
sustainable development is put in strong doubt,
despite its uttermost positive intention. An increasing amount of researchers are now questioning a
system that measures progress in accordance with
economic growth only. Still, in a country like Norway for example; a small country but a very present
actor within the global economic segment of petrol,
we find fewer and fewer critical voices in the public
debates when it comes to the actual implementation of green growth. This is most evident when
it comes to discussions about the limits of growth
(Meadows et. al 1972) reflected today through the
de-growth movement.
Giddens’ point is that the current economic system is not compatible with the principles of sustainable development. This also means that the entire
economic discipline has to change if it should be
realistic for people to live sustainably. This does not
seem to allocate much power for us as individuals
to make changes on an everyday basis. The most
logical thing to do instead is to try to change the system from within. As individuals within a capitalist
system our most tangible weapon is our purchasing
power. This does not mean that we should not be
aware of the systems we are a part of at all times,
both economic systems and others, but it can be a
pragmatic approach to reach smaller goals within
sustainable efforts like Fair Trade, ecological production and ethical brands. When it comes down to
it, we are the ones who arrange our communities.
Change lies somewhere in the middle of the system
and the individuals of a society.
To act on the basis of new knowledge and science in the climate and environmental field has thus
proved to be harder than writing and talking about
it. A practical example of an attempt to combine
the Brundtland Commission’s approach while criticising the organisation can be found in the organisation FIVH - Framtiden i Våre Hender (Translation: the Future in Our Hands) FIVHs appeal to
relatively affordable changes that you can do in
everyday life. They are also one of the actors in the
Society
15
Photo by CISV International
environmental field that reminds you that economic
growth and sustainability seldom go hand in hand.
Everyone has to take into account their consumption and transportation patterns for the climate
goals to be achieved.
Our personal consumption is not disengaged
from the political discussions about emission cuts;
on the contrary we can make emissions cuts every
day. We must all begin to understand the connection between global injustice and the global environmental crisis. Development politics, community
development, transportation policy, trade, waste
management; the decisions we make on all these
areas affect the relations between developed and
developing countries. For the developing countries
to get out of the eternal circle of poverty, unequal
health opportunities and so on, we need to plan
the future based on a sustainable development approach that includes both environment and a global
solidarity perspective.
2012 is the focus year for sustainable development in CISV, because we believe that young people
are the key to sustainable community development.
To build friendships globally is in itself a sustainable
approach, but together we can do so much more.
Therefore we are working to include an overall sustainable attitude in our peace education, in practice
and not just rhetorically. To act sustainably is something more than to have sustainable values and to
have a voice within sustainable business. It is to have
a sustainable attitude and act on the basis of it.
16
Society
Society
17
Is recycling a global
trend?
Juan Manuel Oviedo.
I spent the second semester of 2011 working
in Norway where recycling is very important
and highly recognised among the population.
During this period I learnt to separate different types of waste and I got to know the
Norwegian recycling system, which I found
strong, systematic, and different, compared to
the Colombian one.
18
Society
Waste management is a big issue in every country, the raw material to build the product, then it goes
and recycling is just a small part of it. Some coun- through production and then it is sold in the martries put more emphasis on how to recycle, and how ket to consumers via wholesalers and/or retailers.
to do it varies from country to country. This situation Producers and importers are obliged to handle the
raises concerns about not having a global recycling waste collection after consumers have finished using
system or a common knowledge on how recycling the products. However, this represents many difficulties for people to complete this obligation since
works or why we do it.
Billions of tons of waste are produced every year they work at different stages of the cycle. Therefore
and most of the people do not recognise the impact a market arises for taking on and fulfilling particithis waste has on our environment and how it in- pants’ obligations of waste handling, the so called
fluences us all in our daily life. In this article I will recycling market. This market has many submarkets
provide information on what it means to reuse and that comprise both the waste sorting as a recycling
service, and the market for recycled materials (Norrecycle from a South American perspective.
Recycling is important because it alleviates the wegian Competition Authority, 2005).
In contrast, Colombia is a country with a differpressure that society puts on the environment by
saving the exploitation of natural resources to ac- ent type of recycling method and it should not be
quire more raw materials; it helps to decrease over- analysed without looking at other facts. The poverty
all emissions and reduces the burden of solid waste line in Colombia reached 46% of the population
(Van Beukering & Curlee, 1988). But recycling in 2009, meaning that over 20 million people lived
varies significantly from country to country. For ex- under the definition of poverty standards according to the National Planning and
ample on my way back home from
Statistics Institute (DANE). The
Norway I stopped in Barcelona and Recycling helps to decrease
poverty standard is defined by the
realised these differences. In Barce- overall emissions and
fulfilling of basic needs (such as
lona they do recycle, but they have reduces the burden of solid
water, electricity, health and shelonly two different bins: one for pa- waste.
ter) therefore if someone fulfils all
per and another for the rest. When
comparing this method with the Norwegian one, it the basic needs, this person will be over the poverty
seems like that is not recycling at all. In Norway peo- line. However, by 2010 the poverty percentage deple get back 1 Krone (almost 20 US$ Cents) per bot- creased but the misery index increased. The terms
tle when they take bottles back to the grocery store. misery and poverty are defined as different qualThis means that people get that extra Krone that ity life standards in which we look at the capacity
of fulfilling the same basic needs but with quality
they had to pay in the first place to buy it.
In Norway, products that are included in the re- standards. The term “misery” looks at the people
cycling system go through a series of markets dur- that fulfil basic needs but do not have higher qualing the lifecycle. Initially there is extraction to take ity standards (job opportunities, constant running
Society
19
“The Colours of Waste” by Alex E. Proimos
water, and stable shelter), which means that someone may be over the poverty line and under the
misery standards. By the end of 2010 the amount
of people living in misery reached over 8 million
of the Colombian population. The poverty situation in Colombia is not unique and homogenous;
there are significant differences between the countryside and the cities. For example, in 2002 the
poverty rate in the cities was around 50% while in
the countryside it represented 70%. On the other
hand, in 2006 the poverty rate in the cities went
down to 39% but only decreased to 63% in the
countryside (López, 2010). These differences may
represent one of the most serious problems regarding development in Colombian society.
The production of solid waste is inherent to
all human and social activities. Every productive
society produces waste and its management becomes a complex situation, and even more obvious
in urban centers such as the city of Bogotá with
more than 8 million inhabitants. The waste management In Colombian towns the
in Colombia is very critical waste is disposed in rivers
in most of the towns, since or open spaces such as
most of it is disposed in riv- mountains or meadows.
ers or big open spaces such
as mountains or meadows. In the countryside most
of the waste is reused by the system within the local communities, therefore recycling is strongly
linked to their daily habits. However in the cities
the amounts of waste are greater compared to
those in the countryside and people do not reuse
almost any of it, therefore as an activity, recycling
has been increasing in the past years, becoming a
trend in urban centers.
20
Society
Society
21
In Bogotá for example, glass is the most
recycled material mainly because the
economics behind it has supported the
recollection and reuse of it. The habit
of recycling paper and plastic has increased in recent years but as the costs
are higher, it has not yet become very
popular. Recycling was an activity that
started in the late fifties in Bogotá. The
first materials to be recycled were glass,
paper and scrap metal. Since its inception the main recyclers have been those
that make a living from this business.
Lately new people and new materials have been integrated to the system
such as recycled plastics and tetra pack.
In addition, new chains for recycled
products have been created. These
chains promote the reuse of packaging,
construction or remodelling, wood and
junk products.
Recycling in Colombia has always
been a business for low-income people.
In fact, nowadays the business includes
many of the displaced victims of violence. Colombia has over 1,200 towns,
from which only 15 are major cities.
The other 1,200 have an average of
22,000 people per
The recycling population
town. Only in Boin Bogotá has over 23,000
gotá the recycling
people; while 90% of the
population
has
towns in Colombia have
over 23,000 peopopulations of 22,000
ple. This means
people.
that the amount
22
Society
of recyclers in Bogotá is bigger than 90% of the
towns in Colombia (Asociación Colombiana de Recicladores, 2009). Recycling has been a successful
system because it has empowered people to reduce
the waste and reuse as much as possible. It has been
an alternative for many people that lived under the
poverty line and find in recycling a business and
a way to make a living. A deeper social situation
with the system is related to social status for the recyclers; for many years, recyclers have been recognised as people without enough resources and those
who need assistance (DANE-UAESP, 2003). This
labelling has made the rest of the society associate
recycling with activity for the poor people; therefore for most people recycling is something they are
not willing to try because at some point it might
compromise their social status.
In conclusion, the biggest difference in recycling
between Colombia and Norway is the ‘who does it’
and ‘how it is done’. In Colombia, we have people
in the streets digging into the garbage and picking
up whatever they find; while in Norway it seems
that every family recycles and that Norwegians
know since they are kids that different types of
waste go in different bins. Thanks to this situation
Colombia faces an option to employ many people,
but there is a general lack of awareness in the rest
of the population in both separating the garbage
when it is thrown and the attitude towards recyclers.
But in both cases the whole society benefits from reducing the amount of waste that goes back to the
natural environment. I believe that if there is no
monetary impact on people or enterprises regarding waste, the market participants will not be concerned about the harm caused by production and
consumption on our environment. In economics,
such environmental damage is referred to as negative externalities, in other words the negative effects
of market participants’ actions on the environment
(Norwegian Competition Authority, 2005). Overproduction and excessive consumption of goods, or
too much waste being disposed are consequences
that our society will need to face. But we will need
to agree on recycling in all countries, even when
the problems are radically different, which means
that environmentally friendly alternatives for waste
management must look at the root of the problem
and not a generalisation of the concept of recycling
for all the world. Because we only have one planet
that we are digging to get more raw materials and
if any country helps to save a bit of it, they will
contribute to reducing the pressure in any other
country until it becomes a big saviour for all.
References
• Van Beukering, P.J.H. & Curlee, T.R. 1998. Recycling of materials: local or global?. In Vellinga, P. et al. (Eds). Managing a material world. Kluwer Academic Press. Dordrecht: The Netherlands. 229-239.
• Norwegian Competition Authority. 2005. Competition Concerns Related to Recycling in Norway. English summary of the Authority’s report No. 1. Recycling Report Summary. 1-17.
• López, A. 2010. La pobreza relativa en Colombia. Editorial Unilibros. Bogotá: Colombia.
• Asociación Colombiana de Recicladores. 2009. Historia de la Asociación Colombiana de Recicladores. Available
at: http://www.anr.org.co/nentidad.php.
• DANE-UAESP. 2003. Resultados de los estudios realizados por el DANE y la UESP sobre el reciclaje en Bogotá: El
reciclaje en Bogotá, Actores, procesos y perspectivas.
Society
23
Talk about
technology!
Eirik Swensen.
In spring 2010, the campaign “Climate Cure”
with the associated basis report of possible climate change was launched. The ambition of the
campaign was no less than a shift in Norwegian
Environmental policy towards a more climate
friendly future. The report was made by a panel
with a mandate from the Norwegian Ministry of
Environment, who came up with 160 different
measures to reduce Norwegian greenhouse gas
emissions. Minister of Environment Erik Solheim called it an impressive piece of work. But
what is the point of such a report when all of
the 160 measures were well known in advance?
24
Society
The problem with today’s climate policy is not a lack the technology is unsafe, storage facilities for full scale
of knowledge; it is a lack of policy! The paradox is CCS are extremely volatile, especially for the long
that the Norwegian climate policy is fundamentally time spans that are required; it is expensive, CCS
shaped by the fear of making political decision that means the development of an whole new infrastrucchallenge people’s lifestyles. This is a fundamental ture including capture, transportation and storage; it
and typical challenge for climate policy in rich coun- prolongs carbon society, CCS is an so called end of
tries today.” What is the solution for a politician at a pipe solution, which means that it is not contradictory to the carbon society, but rather legitimise it. Apart
loss? Exactly: to talk about technology.
When Solheim said, also at the launch of the from this it is not speculative to claim that it displaces
“Climate Cure”: “It is necessary to do the simplest the focus on renewable energy sources. However, in
and cheapest measures first, we can solve the climate other words; it is “politically possible”.
Talking only about the technology as the solution
challenge by technology development” this is obviously wrong. The technological developments tak- to the climate challenge is to deprive the people’s reing place in the energy field are neither cheap nor sponsibility and rights to do something themselves in
easy. “It is necessary to make the climate challenge their own lives. It makes the debate expert controlled
and prevents popular support on
politically solvable”, he could have
the day when the unpopular messaid instead. Expensive techno- Talking about technology
sages are to come. Such recognition
logical prestige projects, are already as the solution to climate
does not seem to have reached out
constituting the core of Norwegian change only deprives
to Norwegian politicians in power,
climate policy. These huge invest- people’s responsibilities.
who instead happily spit a few more
ments, especially in carbon capture
and storage (CCS), are still not bearing fruits after 15 billion into the airy technology projects.
Future climate – and energy policy should thereyears as The Solution. Investing in technology is obviously not wrong in itself, new and cleaner technolo- fore focus more on public involvement and acceptgies will be needed in the future. The point is that it ance for necessary transition strategies. To stress that
major changes is crucial for humanity, including both
prevents a real debate on climate policy.
This leads us to another problem; technology is the todays poor and future generations, may not
not just technology. It should not challenge the “peo- yield large effects in the next ten years. Nevertheless,
ple” or “the prevailing structures.” As mentioned, the the public acceptance part can not be skipped. Pure
mantra in the Norwegian energy - as well as climate technological solutions would never solve the climate
policy over the last ten years has been CCS. This is challenge in itself.
the ideal solution, because it is not challenging the
elements that are inherent in the energy - and climate Want to read more? Tjernshaugen, A. 2011. The
policy, the politically realisable within established growth of political support for CO2, Capture and Storage
limits. There are several problems with CCS though; in Norway. Environmental politics, 20(2):227-245.
Society
25
The social
dimension of
sustainability
Karianne Sørbø.
Taken from personal experience the aspects
of society and culture are often looked upon
as external factors in working with sustainable development. Even in cases where people
claim that they are important perspectives to
include, it still seems to be perceived as a factor that interferes with the general approach
to sustainable development. Therefore in this
article I want to ask: what do we mean when
we say the social dimension of sustainability?
26
Society
The focus on technology as the main solution for the
climate and environment is still currently leading in
the public environmental debate. This I believe has
contributed to a discourse centered on the idea that
changes are not to be made on an individual or even
local level, but rather at a high political or scientific
level. Mainstream public debate also does not give
sufficient insight to the social and cultural aspects
of sustainability. The existence of equal rights independent of gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, etc.,
is of crucial importance to grasp the intricate work
towards sustainable development.
About one billion people today live in what we
categorise as extreme poverty. Over 70% of these
are women. Despite the fact that every human being should have the right to a life without violence,
every third woman in the world is exposed to it;
through violations such as human trafficking, circumcision, sexual violence, forced marriages, child
marriages, etc. These facts have driven the Norwegian Church Aid to use the formulation “feminisation of poverty”, which implies that women’s lack
of resources and influence impedes their chance of
overcoming poverty (Norwegian Church and Act
Alliance, 2011).
The term sustainability itself can certainly
become intricate once you insist on connecting it
with social and cultural aspects. For example, if
we wanted to be smart about it we could say that
traditions such as forced or child marriages should
be “sustained”. Here is when we must not mix the
terms sustainability and conservation. An important factor in the definition of sustainable development used by the Brundtland commission is that
the decisions made today “must meet the needs of
everybody in the future”(United Nations, 1987).
This I will argue has failed to include women on a
global basis because assuring the needs of the future generations must include women’s knowledge.
When it comes to sufficiently including women as
decision makers, so far very few women have had
positions that imply that they have a say in international development and peace-making processes. According to Kirkens Nødhjelp, a Norwegian
organisation that works with gender and development say as follows: “Women’s rights to participate
in decisions that affect themselves and their knowledge, experience and resources are essential for
sustainable development”(Norwegian Church and
Act Alliance, 2011).
The gender perspective of
sustainable development
I believe that the equality perspective in terms
of gender is an entrance for discussing the socioeconomic dimension of sustainable development.
Gender is a global form of categorisation that affects everybody, even though we might not always be
aware of it. Also gender equality is an objective that
could – implemented in a sustainable matter – create synergies together with economic and ecological
goals, and thus fit well within the classic perception
of sustainable development(United Nations, 1987).
“Equality entails all available human resources being brought into play to a greater extent, and this in
turn increases opportunities to generate economic
growth and guarantees welfare” (Nordic cooperation on gender equality. 2011–2014). A report to the
Environmental Advisory Council in Sweden states
that “gender equality both strengthens sustainable
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27
development and is a precondition for it”(JohnssonLatham, 2007). Let us look at what might be the
background for this statement.
The way I believe these two are interlinked is
that the access we all have to resources and power
affects our life-styles and also our consumption
patterns. If you live in a society where girls and
women are prohibited from moving around freely
or in many more societies where free movement
is limited due to mere safety concerns, women’s
transportation habits will evidently be different
from those of the men. As a result of their particular social status in some cultures women have fewer
opportunities to consume and travel, consequently
their CO2-emissions will be lower. This still is the
case in several countries and societies around the
world (Human development reports, 2012). The
results are not only that women, seen from a global
perspective, contribute to a considerably smaller
amount of emissions than men, but also that because of the unequal distribution of social, economic and political power, women face a greater
burden of the consequences of the environmental
changes to which emissions contribute.
Freedom and responsibility
If we take a closer look at the popular question of
“who is responsible for the world’s climate crisis?”
the view put forward by the 2002 Johannesburg
UN World Conference was as follows; the polluters have to pay(United Nations, 2002). Women’s
globally lower emissions as a result of their natural
consumption, family values and local orientation
can be a valuable climate change and CO2-emission lecture for all of us, but in terms of human
28
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freedom it can be the opposite. A green development is more than a green economy, and it must
include cultural and social factors like these. The
way the polluters (including both genders that enjoy relatively high incomes and a large amount of
freedom of mobility) should “pay” is simply by a
shift towards a more sustainable life-style.
Hence, when the aforementioned report on gender aspects in sustainable development states that
“the freedom of movement of individuals is a matter of power and resources” (Human development
reports, 2012) that does not necessarily mean that
we should encourage equally high rates of emissions
through consumerism and transportation. Human
rights and individual freedom should undoubtedly
be granted to all humans, but if we want to act sustainably we need to reflect more about how we use
our freedom, our power and our resources.
the “often-neglected facts concerning dissimilarities in the life-styles of women and men that are
of crucial importance to work in the sustainable
development field”(Human development reports,
2012) is much needed. A comprehensive approach
to the whole field will also include other important
factors like class and ethnicity.
By adopting a comprehensive approach to sustainability we can move further from the mere focus on green technology and innovative practices,
and create a more tangible foundation for living
more sustainably.
Want to read more?
• CEDAW- The Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Available at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
daw/cedaw/
• United Nations. 2002. Women, Peace
and Security. Security Council Resolution 1325. Available at: http://
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/
public/eWPS.pdf
Sustainable societies and new
gender roles
The UN resolution 1325 focuses on preventing violations against women in war time (United Nations,
2000). An essential ingredient in this prevention is
the effort to include women in development issues.
We need both men and women’s knowledge and
experiences as a foundation to develop a sustainable society.
By using equality as a starting point for discussing the social dimensions of sustainable development I have attempted to show – through different
examples such as climate change, consumption,
mobility and political influence – how the gender
perspective and the social dimensions are crucial
in sustainable development. Bringing attention to
References
• Norwegian Church and Act Alliance. 2011. Gender Justice [post]. Available at: http://www.kirkensnodhjelp.no/
en/What-we-do/our-strategic-priorities/gender-justice/
• United Nations. 1987. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, General Assembly
RES 42/187, 11.
• Nordic cooperation on gender equality. 2011–2014. Gender Equality Creates Sustainable Societies.
• Johnsson-Latham, G. 2007. A study on gender equality as a prerequisite for sustainable development. Environment
Advisory Council. Stockholm: Sweden.
• Human development reports. Revised 2012. Gender Inequality indexes. Available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/
statistics/gii/.
• United Nations. 2002. Johannesburg Summit 2002, World Summit on sustainable development. Available at:
http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/brochure/brochure12.pdf
• United Nations. 2000. Resolution 1325. S/RES/1325. Available at: http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf
Society
29
Profile
Roger Strand
Professor, Center for the Study of the Science and the Humanities,
University of Bergen.
Favourite season
Summer
Often described as
hardworking
What do you think about the term
sustainable development?
Well. I think that the word sustainable is nice. I do
not see anything negative with that term. Conversely; in relation to the word development, it can have
slightly scary conditions. The two words are not necessarily contradictory, but there is a build-in tension
between them. I suppose the term derives from the
Brundtland commission, where one imagined that
the three factors ecological, economic and cultural
should all be included while forming a sustainable
society in practice.
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Society
It’s not Norway that is going to save the world, but
that does not mean that one cannot work towards
the goal of a better world. Simply, there are no reasons not to. For example, I don’t have a clue whether
me separating plastic, along with paper, metal etc.,
from the rest of the garbage has any real effect in
my region. But even if it doesn’t; it doesn’t cost me
anything to do it, and the option of not doing anything is worse. Do you get my point?
I certainly do. Do you think
Norwegians believe that what they
do on an everyday basis contributes
to real change?
I believe that the whole debate has been put up to
a level where the problem is to be dealt with by the
state and the politicians. The public debate during
the 90s fell into the path of making the whole subject
of sustainable development into a case of CO2-emission reduction. It therefore ended up in mere CO2accounting. Why? Well first of all, Norwegians have
close to one hundred per cent faith in the government, and more importantly; that this government
acts upon one hundred per cent neutral grounds.
In fact, it is a specifically Norwegian idea that the
state is neutral. People tend to believe that if they
work for the state then whatever they do is controlled
by a neutral component. Hence, according to most
Norwegians the state does not work according to any
specific needs or values. You’ve most likely read my
point: this is at the least a naive view. It seems very
unlikely that a state could operate without any international audience. Every country is affected by certain outer factors that serve as external influences.
It’s not Norway that is going to save the world,
but that does not mean that one cannot work towards the goal of a better world.
How can we reach a more holistic
approach?
We need to see that the challenges are directly linked
to how we organise our societies. In Norway we produce more and more, but at the same time there
are more and more people that fall on the side. how
many people fall into the side-lines, and how many
will we exchange for a larger GDP?
The overall tendency as I see it is that when facing the modern development, we still regard the
different issues as isolated – where we need to look
upon it all as working within a connected system.
What do you do to act sustainably
in your daily life?
First of all we do not have a vehicle in our household, and no driver’s license. We use public transportation as much as we can. We have also been reinsulating the house, and using heat-controllers. And
of course; we actually do fold the milk cartons.
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31
Profile
Annika Dalén
Political scientist working as a research assistant with Dejusticia and
member of CISV.
What is your first memory of
something related to the cause?
The forest and nature courses (“skogsmulle”), which
all Swedish kids took back in the days, had a lot to
do with creating a consciousness about the world we
live in. This is a very early memory of the whole
sustainable development issue.
What might people be surprised to
know about you?
Although I know that it is totally politically incorrect, and I think that it is a really outdated and antidemocratic institution, I can’t help to be fascinated
by royalties. I watch the Nobel Price dinner every
year and I would never miss a royal wedding!
Life motto
You regret the things you don’t do, not the things
you do, so go ahead!
How did you first get involved in
sustainable development?
For me it’s more on a day-to-day basis. I try to live
my everyday life in a sustainable way. I never pack
the fruit in bags in the supermarket, I never buy imported fruit or vegetables here in Colombia, I recycle, I try to take the stairs instead of the elevator and
I eat vegetarian food.
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Society
What do you want people to know
about sustainable development?
I wish people were more conscious about how things
they eat affect the environment and act thereafter.
For example eating a lot less meat and eating more
locally produced food.
What is your least environmental
friendly habit/routine/act – what is
your bad environmental conscious?
I was born in Sweden but now I live in Colombia,
and living on the other side of the planet inevitably
implies travelling by airplane to visit friends and family in Sweden, or to have them visit you. This may be
one of the most polluting activities you can do.
Can you give us some tips on how to
be” greener” in everyday life?
Small things! When my husband and I got married
we decided not to use gold wedding rings, as gold
is one of the most polluting mining industries there
are. So we looked up a local jeweller who uses only
fair-trade and environmentally safe materials, and
bought steel rings. Also, all the people that work there
get decent salaries and working conditions, and the
little diamond in my ring is certified blood-free.
What would you say to youth to
empower them to work towards a
greener world/future?
It is their future and their world, the one that they
will grow old in. It is up to them and all of us to each
do our part. No one can do everything but everyone
can do something.
Society
33
Chapter 2
Environment
Only when the last tree has died and the last
river been poisoned and the last fish been
caught will we realize we cannot eat money.
Cree Indian Proverb
34
Society
Environment
35
The whole story
behind palm oil
Alejandra Echeverri.
Did you know that aside from being used in
peanut butter, chocolate bars and margarines,
palm oil is an important component in soaps,
lotions and cosmetics? Well you should probably wonder about the whole story behind
palm oil.
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Environment
The African oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis is the sites, they get killed by plantation workers for their
main source of edible vegetable oil. It has giant meat and in order to protect newly planted crops
bunches of red fruits full of oil that make the plant (Tan, et al., 2009). Nowadays it is recognised that
an easy source for oil extraction. The discovery in most of the equatorial forests that are the habitat of
1848 that palm oil could be used to make soaps and endemic species are threatened due to the growth
as a lubricant in engines, led to a general demand in the palm oil business.
of palm oil. Oil palm plantations became popular
The expansion of the industry generates conin Malaysia in the 1930s and quickly spread to In- cern among stakeholders, NGOs, governments and
donesia. Today palm oil is the one natural resource the public. The growth of this industry is putting
demanded in the largest amounts by companies pressure not only on endemic species but also on
such as Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. local communities and indigenous people. For exHowever, this huge demand is tearing up forests in ample in East and West Kalimantan, the Dayak in43 countries across the equator and is destroying digenous people lost their land because of the “Oil
the habitat of thousands of species (The Econo- Palm Mega-Project” that disregarded the rights and
mist, 2010).
interests of local communities when looking for new
The two largest palm oil producers are Malay- lands to increase their plantations (Wakker, 2006).
sia and Indonesia. On the island of Borneo, 56% Despite the significant economic income that the
of the forest territories have vanindustry represents for countries
ished in the last 20 years due to The oil palm crop is one
like Malaysia and Indonesia, it is
timber demand and oil palm plan- of the major threats to
evident that it generates some matations (WWF, 2012). The oil palm biodiversity and it presents a jor ecological and social problems
crop is one of the major threats to major conservation concern.
that need to be prioritised in politibiodiversity and it presents a macal agendas as well as in the discusjor conservation concern. Indonesian and Malay- sions among stakeholders and NGOs.
sian forests represent 11% of all pristine remaining
The big need for sustainable practices in the
tropical forests. They are home of endemic species industry was felt during the late 90s due to the in(meaning unique species that are not found any- creased concerns regarding the cost of long term
where else) such as Sumatran rhinos, elephants, or- production of quality palm oil, environmental
angutans, tigers and clouded leopards, all who have awareness and commitment to corporate social rebeen significantly affected by deforestation (Koh sponsibility (WWF, 2006). In 2001 the World Wild& Wilcove, 2008). In the case of orangutans, they life Fund (WWF) was exploring the possibility of
need the tropical forests as feeding and nesting sites; a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
however because of oil palm plantations they have The aim was to gather various stakeholders of the
been displaced from their habitats. When some palm oil industry in order to make them discuss the
wandering individuals return to their old nesting future path of the industry regarding sustainable
Environment
37
Photo by Ahmad Fuad Morad
development. It resulted in an informal cooperation
between Aarhus United UK Ltd, Golden Hope
Plantations Berhad, Migros, Malaysian Palm Oil
Association, Sainsbury’s, Unilever and the WWF.
In 2004 the RSPO was officially formed and had
representatives of oil palm growers, oil processors,
traders, retailers, banks, conservation NGOs and
social development NGOs. Together they discussed
appropriate solutions that combined the interests
of the industry and the environment. By 2005, 14
plantation companies had agreed to test principles
and criteria in their plantations that were agreed
on in the RSPO meeting. Today, various companies have implemented environmental management of palm oil plantations such as integrated pest
management, land application (applied waste and
sludge to crop’s soils) and waste management. All
of these practices are stated in their policy papers
and implemented by the companies.
Despite the initiative of the RSPO, difficulties
remain in applying the outcomes of meetings and
agreements. For example, there are challenges in
ensuring compliance and identifying preservation
areas for sustainable practices in the plantations
(Barlow, et al., 2007). Additionally, governments are
not directly involved in the RSPO but have the task
of overseeing companies under international conventions to ensure that neither the RSPO members
nor other producers contribute to biodiversity loss
(Sodhi & Brooke, 2006). There is a need for efficiency between the legal institutions, the RSPO
members and the governments. Unless the governments in producer countries implement robust
policies in plantation management and become
better at controlling logging, protecting forests and
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39
avoiding crops in certain forest areas, the impacts
of oil palm industry on biodiversity, land productivity and climate change will be even worse and
will have an irreversible effect upon our planet. The
effect that palm oil is having on our planet leads
us to question what we can do as individuals. More
than anything we are consumers and therefore we
have some power to shape markets. The quicker
we switch to sustainable palm oil products coming
from farms following the agreements of the RSPO,
the sooner more companies will join the RSPO.
However for now it remains difficult to make
choices since the products are not labeled. They do
not announce if they are certified products or not.
But for now there are ongoing campaigns, such as
“Label Palm Oil in Australia”(Ipetitions, 2012), in
order to ask the governments to label sustainable
palm oil products and therefore we can start similar
campaigns and sign those petitions as a step towards
a more sustainable market. The solution is in our
hands and can be done by just changing some attitudes and some actions. Why not start today?
References
• The Economist. 2010. The campaign against palm oil: The other oil spill. The Economist. Available at: http://
www.economist.com/node/16423833.
• WWF. Revised 2012. Threats to Borneo Forests. Available at: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_
work/borneo_forests/borneo_deforestation/
• Pin Koh, L. & Wilcove, D.S. 2008. Is oil palm agriculture really destroying tropical biodiversity? Conservation Letters
XX. 1-5.
• Tan, K.T. et al. 2009. Palm oil: Addressing issues and towards sustainable development. Renewable and sustainable
energy reviews 13, 420-427.
• Wakker, E. 2006. The Kalimantan border Oil Palm Mega-project. Aid environment. Commissioned by Friends of
the Earth Netherlands and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
• WWF. 2006. Oil palm sector in India. The Scope of Influencing Business and Industry to Reduce India’s Ecological
Footprint in South East Asia. WWF India.
• Barlow, J. et al. 2007. Quantifying the biodiversity value of tropical primary, secondary, and plantation forests. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 104, 18555–18560.
• Sodhi, N.S. & Brook, B.W. 2006. Southeast Asian Biodiversity in Crisis, Cambridge University Press.
• Ipetitions. Revised 2012. Label Palm Oil in Australia [campaign]. Available at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/labelpalmoil/
40
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41
Photo by Iddy Farmer/CIFOR.
Northern andean
páramo: a strategic
ecosystem
María Celeste Montilla.
The páramos are an important source of biodiversity. They are the house of over 5000
plant species and animals such as the Andean
spectacled bear and the mountain tapir, as
well as the emblematic Andean condor that
is Colombia’s national bird. But this ecosystem is endangered by climate change and
people’s actions. Do you want to know why?
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Environment
The northern Andean páramo is an ecosystem situated in the Andean mountain range, over 3000 meters above sea level, between low-lying montane forest and snow-capped peaks. The páramos are only
present in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Costa
Rica (Morales, et al., 2007). The weather in this ecosystem is wet, cold and rainy. Several changes occur
in the temperature during the day with varying from
0 to 15 degrees. The relative humidity is 80-92%,
which is very high compared with other ecosystems
and it is exposed to a high solar radiation because of
the altitude (IDEAM, 2002).
The organisms of the páramos are endemic,
which means they are only found in that place, and
show adaptations to the cold and extreme conditions.
For example, some of the plants have structures that
resemble hairs in order to keep the heat. The páramos are considered sacred areas for several indigenous communities. Some groups believe that they
are places where creation took place or think they
are places of cosmic equilibrium. These ecosystems
are strategic in a national and global level because
of the services they offer, such as water regulation.
This means that all the water that comes from the
rain is kept in the páramo. Plants act as sponges that
hold water from the atmosphere and then release it
to the soil, ponds and rivers. In fact, the water stored
in páramos is the main water source for the hydroelectric power plants in the cities of Quito, Merida
and Bogotá (Greenpeace Colombia, 2009).
The páramos play a big role in the fixation of
carbon dioxide. Which means they capture carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and store them in the
plants stems and leafs. Therefore the soils of the
páramos act as carbon reservoirs, places where the
carbon is stored. Robert Hofstede (1999)
has proved that it can store more carbon
than the tropical rainforest. While the
rainforest stores 50 tons per hectare, the
páramo stores 1700 tons per hectare. If
someone started to use the páramos as agriculture landscape, significant amounts
of carbon dioxide would be released to
the atmosphere negatively contributing
to climate change.
The páramos are The páramos are considered
ecosystems threat- sacred areas for several
ened by climate indigenous communities.
change, however And can store more carbon
they can also help than the tropical rainforest.
to slow down this
fenomenon (Hofstede, 1999).
According to the National Institute
of Environmental Studies and Meteorology (IDEAM) we expect to have an
increase in the average temperature of
two celsius degrees by 2050 in Colombia. This means that 78% of the snow
peaks and 56% of the páramos will be
gone by then. Having more cattle and
illegal mining projects in the páramos
are the biggest threats to this ecosystem. Extracting gold in large amounts
and throwing mercury or arsenic to the
ecosystem reduces biodiversity and has
a direct effect on the services provided
by the páramos. It also affects all communities that get their fresh water from
the páramo (IDEAM, 2001).
Because of the environmental, social
Environment
43
and historical importance of this ecosystem, a
project called “Páramo Savers” was created in
CISV Colombia. It is a project where several organisations work together to preserve the ecosystem and educate people by explaining the global
importance and ecosystem services it provides. The
organisations are British Council, Global Warning
Agency, Suasie, CORPSENENULANG, Matarredonda ecological park, Greenpeace Colombia and
students from different universities in Colombia.
The goal of “Páramo Savers” is to become a global
movement which provides information about páramos and the importance of taking care of them.
References
• Morales, M. et al. 2007. Atlas de páramos de Colombia. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá: Colombia.
• IDEAM. 2002. Páramos y ecosistemas altoandinos en condición de Hot Spot & Global Climatic Tensor. IDEAM
Bogotá: Colombia.
• Greenpeace Colombia. 2009. Futuro negro para los páramos. Available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/colombia/
Global/colombia/informes/informe_todo3.pdf.
• Hofstede, R. 1999. El páramo como espacio para la fijación de carbono atmosférico. In El páramo como espacio
de mitigación de carbono atmosférico. Serie 1. Quito: Ecuador.
• IDEAM. 2001. Primera comunicación nacional ante la convención marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el cambio
climático. Available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/colnc1.pdf.
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45
Photo by Alejandra Echeverri.
Photo by Alejandra Echeverri.
What’s for dinner?
Alejandra Echeverri.
Meat consumption is subject of interest from
environmental, economic, human and animal perspectives. Our current global population of over 7 billion people demands more
resources as it grows. Therefore, one of the
main challenges in today’s society is to keep
up with the rate of growth of the population
and provide enough food, water and shelter
for humanity.
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Environment
47
Animal based proteins (especially meat)
are highly consumed by people in developing and developed countries. In the
western food culture meat represents
the food with the highest position in
the hierarchy of foods. It is recognised
as the most highly prized food (Twigg,
1984). The dominant position of meat
in Western cuisine becomes evident
once you compare food intakes between
Europe and Asia for example. For the
latter, grains and vegetables are the
main components in consumer’s diets
and a small amount of meat products
have been consumed traditionally (Kichang, et al., 2010).
Nowadays people in the regions of
Southeast Asia, Latin America and SubSaharan Africa consume one third of the
meat and one-quarter of the milk products per capita compared to Northern
Europe and North America. However in
the past few decades the rate of growth
of meat consumption has doubled compared to developed regions (Delgado,
2003). Together with the rapid economic
growth in Asia and the expansion of
western culture, promoted as a new and
better lifestyle; the proportion of meat
consumption will
World meat consumption has
keep on rising (Kimore than quadrupled in the
chang, et al., 2010).
past century, it increased
In fact the world’s
from 47 million tons in 1950
meat
consumpto 260 million tons in 2005.
tion has more than
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Environment
quadrupled in the past century, it increased from 47
million tons in 1950 to 260 million tons in 2005 and
the trend is not showing a stabilising path yet (Sanbonmatsu, 2010).
In Latin America beef consumption is strongly
linked to culture. Beef represents the main source of
protein for the people in the region and cattle represent an important sector in agriculture. Uruguay and
Argentina are the South American countries with
the biggest consumption of meat per person annually with 78kg and 67kg respectively. These countries are also major producers of beef, exporting to
several countries in the world (Guarín, 2008). Since
the sixteenth century cattle has played an important
role in Colombian agriculture (Etter, et al., 2008).
Nowadays the cattle industry offers the highest
number of jobs in the country and beef is the most
consumed product in the Colombian food industry.
The average consumption of meat per person annually is 17 kg. In South American countries meat
is served for lunch, for dinner, for special occasions
and is even part of some traditional breakfasts
Meat consumption patterns vary significantly
among countries. In a study conducted by SIFO (National Institute for Consumer Research in Norway)
(Methi, et al., 2002) that assessed meat consumption in six European countries, difference in consumption was due to the amount of cooked meals
per day. In Portugal or Italy where people eat two
cooked meals per day, meat consumption was higher than countries like Norway where people only eat
one cooked meal per day. On the other hand they
found that meat is related to social events, meaning
that people tended to eat meat in family gatherings
or reunions with friends. In countries where it is an
important tradition to have those gatherings, like in
Italy, more meat was consumed. Evidently meat and
its consumption patterns are factors associated with
the culture of ethnic groups or nations (Ki-chang,
et al., 2010).
it takes only 3.3 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 calorie of protein from grain for human consumption” (World Watch Institute, 2004). Finally,
meat production endangers biodiversity, in Latin
America there is a rapid expansion of pastures into
some of the most vulnerable ecosystems, with 0.3 to
Livestock and environment
0.4 percent of forest lost to pastures annually. CatThe consequences of these increasing consump- tle are now the main reason for deforestation in the
tion trends affect several aspects that need to be in- Amazon (FAO, 2006).
troduced. The livestock sector puts stress on ecosysIf we want to keep up with the current scale
tems and the planet as a whole (FAO, 2006). Beef and intensity of meat consumption, we will need
production results in a large amount of methane, to agree between the countries and suffer together
which is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas the consequences of climate change. It will affect
emissions. According to Pete Hodgson, the New local and global agriculture; soil infertility and water
Zealand minister for energy, science and fisheries, scarcity amongst other problems. Evidently calls to
a dairy cow produces about 75 kilograms of meth- lower meat consumption levels are crucial to ensure
ane a year, equivalent to over 1.5 [metric] tonnes of sustainable development. Despite studies showing
carbon dioxide (World Watch Institute, 2004). Con- that a global transition to a low-meat diet could resuming 1kg of beef has a similar impact on the envi- duce the impacts on climate change by as much as
50% in 2050 (Stehfest, et al., 2009),
ronment as 6.2 gallons of gasoline,
or driving 160 miles on a highway Consuming 1 kilogram of
this problem remain complex. As
in an average American mid-size beef has a similar impact on
shown above, meat consumption
car (Fiala, 2006). Furthermore, wa- the environment as driving
represents more than just a probter security as a priority for human- 160 miles on a highway in an
lem for the environment. It is part
kind in the 21st century is threat- average American mid-size car. of a cultural complex that is interened by meat production (Nardone,
twined between local and global
et al., 2010). A report from the International Water perspectives. The need to reduce consumption is
Management Institute noted that it takes 550 litres clear, but as it is an important part of some tradiof water to produce enough flour for one loaf of tions is it fair to ask certain countries to stop eating
bread in developing countries, but up to 7,000 litres meat? Or even worse, how do we try to take away
of water to produce 100 grams of beef. Also energy meat from that pedestal that links its consumption
consumed during meat production leads to acceler- with social status and a model lifestyle? How can
ated rates of global warming; “It takes, on average, we change the trend? Well, in 2003 the US started
28 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 calorie the Meat Free Monday campaign as a simple idea
of meat protein for human consumption, whereas to show everyone the value of eating less meat by
Environment
49
Photo by Stevie Mann / ILRI.
having one meat-free day each week. It seeks to reduce the environmental problems associated with
the meat industry and diminish meat consumption
overall (Meat Free Monday, 2012). Ideas like this
one will not compromise our culture or religion and
they can make a world of difference, how about we
implement one meat-free day per week in our lives
to start the change?
References
• Twigg, J. 1984. Vegetarianism and the meanings of meat. In Murcot, A (Ed). The sociology of food and eating.
Aldershot: Gowing publishing. 18-30.
• Ki-chang, N. et al. 2010. Meat products and consumption culture in the East. Meat Science 86:95-102.
• Delgado, C.L. 2003. Rising Consumption of Meat and Milk in Developing Countries Has Created a New Food
Revolution. American Society for Nutritional Sciences. 3907S-3910S.
• Sanbonmatsu, J. 2010. Critical Theory and Animal Liberation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Estover
Road: United Kingdom. 79-80.
• Guarín, A. 2008. Carne de cuarta para consumidores de cuarta. Revista de Estudios Sociales 29:104-119.
• Etter, A. et al. 2008. A historical analysis of the spatial and temporal drivers of landscape change in Colombia since
1500. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 98: 1-27.
• Methi, N. et al. 2002. Consumption and Environment in five European Cities. SIFO, Oslo: Norway.
• FAO. 2006. Livestock’s long shadow-Environmental issues and options. Rome: Italy.
• World Watch Institute. 2004. Is meat sustainable?. World Watch Magazine, 17(4). Available at: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/549.
• Fiala, N. 2006. Economic and Environmental Impact of Meat Consumption [Thesis]. University of California,
Irvine. 1-18.
• Nardone, A. et al. 2010. Effects of climate changes on animal production and sustainability of livestock systems.
Livestock Science 130:57-69.
• Stehfest, E. et al. 2009. Climate benefits of changing diet. Climatic change 95:83-102.
• Meat Free Monday Ltd. Reviewed on February 2012. Available at http://www.meatfreemondays.com/
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Water and
sustainable
development
Alejandra Echeverri.
My city is called Manizales and is located in
the central Andean mountain range in the
coffee growing region of Colombia. The water resources of the city come from the two
main rivers in the country, “Río Magdalena”
and “Río Cauca” which have 14 tributaries that provide fresh water for the people in
Manizales.
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Environment
The city is also surrounded by high mountain forests and it even has a snow capped volcano nearby
called “Volcán Nevado del Ruiz”. Because of the
ecosystems and geography, the city has fresh water
available for drinking and other uses for everyone
who lives there (Suárez & Giraldo, 2008). In fact
the entity called “Aguas de Manizales” (Water from
Manizales) in charge of providing water to households, is creating a campaign in order to promote
the city as the “World’s water capital” due to the
large amount of available fresh water (Aguas de
Manizales, 2009).
Growing up in such a place never made me
realise about any problems related with water. For
example, I remember I never brought water bottles
for hiking trips because I knew I could drink from
the rivers in the forests. However, water is the main
topic in environmental education in the schools
of Manizales. We are taught to care for our water
sources, to save water while showering, brushing our
teeth or even reuse the water used for cleaning fruits
and vegetables to water our gardens. It seems like
there is a whole culture built upon water and the
meaning of it.
In the last semester of 2011, Colombia suffered
a very pronounced rainy season that left millions
of people displaced because of the floods all over
the country. While I was working in Norway, I was
amazed by all the problems in my country and especially the ones in my city. I was only able to hear the
stories from my family. They said that because of
all the rain, the rivers burst their banks and flooded
Manizales. The whole city was left without water
in their households for over 10 days and according
to a report from the risk management department,
64 people were killed, 65 wounded and 289,000
people were affected from around 61,000 families
(El Tiempo, 2011). This news was very worrying
because after all these years of living in the same
place with the same rivers, nothing similar had ever
happened. This made me realise even more that all
the environmental changes are happening right now
and those are not only a future problem as some
people still think.
Why is water important for sustainable development and for societies? Well, water is essential for
all aspects of life, for well-being of human kind, as
a vital input to economic development and a basic
requirement for the healthy functioning of world’s
ecosystems. However, half of the world’s population
lacks adequate water purification systems or clean
water supplies and an estimated 1.6 billion people
are denied access to improved sanitation. Thus,
clean water availability represents one of the main
challenges for humanity. Around 1.7 billion people
live in countries that are water-stressed; and this
number will rise to 5 billion unless we make major changes in water management (Soussan, 2005).
Most are poor countries where scarcity is not evenly
distributed and is often concentrated in the poorest areas in the countryside (Soussan, 2005). Water
scarcity is associated with mortality, food insecurity
and has a negative impact on livelihood choices and
opportunities for families (UNESCO, 2008). For
example in Ghana where about 65% of the population still live in rural areas, we can see that the
lack of rain greatly affects agriculture, which is the
livelihood of most people (Apraku Gyampoh, et al.,
2008). Water sanitation is hugely important because
through water a lot of avoidable but life-threatening
Environment
53
diseases are transmitted. Diarrhoea for
example is the second leading cause of
death in children under five years old,
killing 1.5 million children every year
(WHO, 2009).
Changes in climatic variables such
as temperature and precipitation have
significant impacts on ecosystems and
societies. Climate change will contribute to increased water scarcity because it
will worsen the exClimate change will
treme conditions
contribute to an increase in
of droughts and
water scarcity. It will worsen
floods. For examthe extreme conditions of
ple, in Bangladesh
droughts and floods.
during the period
1954–1999 floods
killed 11,571 people. Floods in that country are caused by
intense monsoon precipitation; therefore
the situation will worsen with climate
change because monsoon cycles will
change (Monirul Qader Mirza, 2002).
It can also affect the hydrological cycle
by altering surface runoff, meaning the
water that runs through the soil once it
has exceeded its capacity to hold water,
and groundwater recharge meaning the
water that moves downwards from the
surface to the ground and contributes to
the retained water in the subsurface. All
these problems can be sufficient to start
conflicts and lead to violence in pursuit
of water among users, providers, regions
or countries (UNESCO, 2008).
54
Environment
And what is our role as consumers? Well the
world’s water consumption is doubling every 20 years
and if present consumption growth rates continue,
by 2025 five billion people will not have access to
drinkable water (UNESCO, 2008). The global water footprint is 7,450 Gm3/yr, which is 1240 m3/yr
per capita in average (1 m3=1000 L, 1 Gm3=1027
m3 or 1030 L) but not every nation is equally contributing to this footprint. China is the major contributor overall but if the analyses are done per
capita, the major contributor is the United States
(Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2006). Regarding personal
consumption, if we look at brushing our teeth for
example, an average person uses 12 gallons of water
in 3 minutes spent while doing it without turning off
the tap. Therefore assuming that a person brushes
his/her teeth three times a day, he or she will need
13,140 gallons a year to only do this activity. This
amount of water is about the same amount needed
to fill half of an average size pool. Furthermore the
largest daily user of water in the houses is the toilet
representing 27% of the water use; for example for
the toilets that use 3.5 gallons per flush, each person
can consume as much as 19.5 gallons per day (The
ABC of toilets, 2012). Based on previous statements
where I showed all the problems related with water
scarcity and climate change, I believe we must take
actions towards this issue immediately.
Governments have to recognise the importance
of water and ensure the availability of freshwater
for rural and urban populations. Water should be a
priority in strategic plans for national development
because it improves quality of life and alleviates poverty. Water is an important input into many industrial production processes and into many other types
of economic activities. For example, investments
in major water infrastructure like dams can act as
catalysts for local development. Better quality water
increases production capacities and life expectancy
and reduces health care costs (Soussan, 2005). However, it is not only up to governments to safeguard
our water supply. We as citizens have a significant
role in both ensuring that governments are reaching
their goals and that they care for our water resources.
We can stop throwing waste into rivers/oceans and
exchange information or create networks in order to
raise awareness of the importance of water regard-
ing sustainable development. At a personal level we
can reduce the amount of water we use, for example
by turning off the tap while we brush our teeth or
wash the dishes, use water saving toilets or use a brick
to fill the tank, displacing some of the water. Regarding laundry, since it is an activity that uses 22% of the
water in our houses we can save water by adjusting
the settings on the machine according to the amount
of laundry we have. These are just some ideas on
how to save water in our households but there are
many other things we can do, therefore I ask you,
what are you willing to do to save water?
References
• Suárez, D & Giraldo, C. 2008. El agua y la educación ambiental en Manizales, Colombia. In Moscoso Cavallini, J.
et al (Ed). El agua como recurso sustentable de uso múltiple. RIMISP. Santiago de Chile: Chile. 64
• Aguas de Manizales. 2009. Programa de guardianes del Agua. Available at: http://www.aguasdemanizales.com.
co/GuardianesdelAgua/GuardianesdelAgua/tabid/667/Default.aspx
• El Tiempo. 2011. “Lluvias en Colombia dejan ya 64 muertos, 22 de ellos este fin de semana”[News]. Available at:
http://m.eltiempo.com/colombia/eje-cafetero/lluvias-en-colombia-dejan-64-muertos/10716705
• Soussan, J. 2005. Poverty Environment Partnership: Linking poverty reduction and water management. World
Health Organization. 1-75.
• UNESCO. 2008. Water Programme for Environmental Sustainability 2006-2009, towards adaptation measures to
human and climate change impacts. Watelet-Arbelot printing. 1-50.
• Apraku Gyampoh, B. et al. 2008. Water Scarcity under a Changing Climate in Ghana: Options for livelihoods
adaptation. Development 51:415-417.
• World Health Organization. 2009. Diarrhoeal disease. Fact Sheet 330. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/index.html
• Monirul Qader Mirza, M. 2002. Global warming and changes in the probability of occurrence of floods in Bangladesh and implication. Global Environmental Change 12:127-138.
• Hoekstra, A.Y. & Chapagain, A.K. 2006. Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their
consumption pattern. Water Resource Management 21:38-45.
• The ABC of toilets. Revised 2012. Toilets basics: Conservation. Available at: http://www.toiletabcs.com/toiletwater-conservation.html.
Environment
55
Profile
Silje Samdal
Biologist, soon to-be teacher and member of Framtiden I Våre Hender
Bergen.
Favorite season
Spring.
Life motto
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time
that is given to us” (from The Lord of the Rings by
J.R.R. Tolkien)
Often described as
I am idealistic, optimistic and devoted. Loving,
open-minded and joyful. A child of nature and a
fantasy-geek.
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Environment
When did you first start to think
about sustainable development?
What do you regard as the biggest
challenge in today’s society?
The wonderful world of nature has always been important to me. I grew up in the forest and came to
love all things living, both animals and plants. The
protection of nature and the environment was therefore of importance to me ever since childhood. As I
grew older my devotion soon included a dream of a
better world, not only for nature, but also the people
in it. I was very fascinated by the hippie-culture with
its focus on “peace and love” and couldn’t understand how the world could be so cruel and unfair as
it seemed to be. One experience that made a lasting
impact on me, regarding peace, human rights and
helping people, was the CISV summer camp I attended when I was 11 years old.. I wanted to create
a better future and started working towards a more
green, loving and sustainable world.
The biggest challenge in today’s society is overcoming the always-present attitude of ignorance when
it comes to issues like environmentalism, sustainable development and human rights; a dangerous
ignorance based on consumerism, materialism and
“what is best for me and me only”. If we can change
this attitude all the associated problems can be dealt
with, because we already have the solutions!
What do you wish other people knew
about FIVH?
I wish people knew how much they can do to make
a better world and how easy it all really is. I wish
they knew that every small thing they do actually
does help and that you have to start with yourself
first. I wish they could see how beautiful the world is
and act responsible.
Can you give us any tips to be
greener?
• Buy organic, fairtrade and local food.
• Buy clothes made from natural materials, preferably organic and fairtrade.
• Only buy things you really need.
• Make things/grow things yourself, instead of
buying.
• Turn off and plug-out all electrical appliances
not in use.
• Turn off light in rooms not in use.
• Save water.
• Give and ask for services as Christmas gifts, or
ask for donations to an environmental/human
rights organization.
• Become a volunteer and make a change!
Environment
57
Profile
Diana Carolina Guzmán Caro
Biologist working with primates at Asociación Primatológica Colombiana.
What is your first memory of your
relationship with primates?
What do you regard as the biggest
challenge in today’s society?
The first time I had to clean-up the Saguinus monkeys’ enclosure at the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Perú.
There were several individuals inside and I was
sweeping the floor, when suddenly one of them
jumped to a branch in front of me, looked at me
and then took his tongue out. It was a cute start for
a long and very valuable relationship.
Overpopulation, without a doubt. All of the planet’s
greatest problems and issues are related to overpopulation. Environmental damage and habitat destruction? Poverty, hunger and lack of water? All related
to overpopulation. Governments need to work on
the root of the problem. New strategies must be implemented to overcome the cultural, religious and
educational barriers, and thus create consciousness
on the minds of people that do not use, for example,
birth control methods.
What do you do when you are not
working?
I absolutely love to play with my cat. I really like
reading books, preferably novels. I take salsa classes.
I also like to walk, meet with friends and watch movies (mostly at home).
What do you wish other people knew
about the primates’ cause?
Life motto
“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As
your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is
your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny”.
– Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Would be described as:
Thoughtful, sensitive, organised and perfectionist.
What might people be surprised to
know about you?
In high-school I won a poetry contest two years in a
row. I also did a minor in Philosophy during college.
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Environment
That primates need to be perceived in a different
way; the image people have is related to their evolutionary proximity to humans, their known intelligence and charisma, and their use in the entertainment field. However, most people don’t know about
the great diversity of primate species that exists, or
about their ecological value. When someone mentions the words monkey, ape or primate, the first
image that should come to the mind of a person
should not be King Kong, it should be a funkyheaded Saguinus leucopus in a Colombian dry forest
or any other that really exists.
Can you give us some tips on how to
be” greener” in everyday life?
• When washing your hands do not open the tap a
lot, you’ll waste huge amounts of water.
• Whenever you can have your food or drinks in
washable dishes, glasses and bottles instead of
plastic ones, please do so.
• Try to use the recent advances in technology to
reduce as much as you can your use of paper.
• Never throw batteries to ordinary garbage. Batteries must be recycled; they are venom for the
planet. Recycle your old computers, printers,
cell phones and chargers, TV, etc. Donate them
to an institution, give them to someone who can
use them, or send them to a place where they can
disassemble them and use the different parts.
• Neuter and spay your pets. Don’t buy, adopt.
Never have birds, exotic or wild animals as pets.
• Do not throw away each thing that stops working and buy new ones. Find a place where you
can get things repaired.
Environment
59
Chapter 3
Economy
To change our national economic story
from one of financial speculation to one of
future growth, we need a third industrial
revolution: a green revolution. It will
transform our economy as surely as the shift
from iron to steel, from steam to oil. It will
lead us toward a low-carbon future, with
cleaner energy and greener growth. With
an economy that is built to last - on more
sustainable, more stable foundations.
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate
Change (addressing the LSE, 2 November 2010)
60
Environment
Economy
61
The end of growth?
Michael Anstis.
When people ask me what I studied at university I always make them promise, before I
reveal my darkest secret, that they won’t judge
me. When they agree, I admit, “I studied economics”. My faux shame is a joke; I have a
true passion for the subject but I do believe
there is something in the old saying “there is
no truer word than one said in jest”.
62
Economy
You can probably understand that in the current weak sustainability; the belief that natural capital
Zeitgeist following a global recession, anyone asso- (resources) can be substituted by human made capiciated with banking or economics is a fair target tal (labour and technology), contrary to strong susfor abuse. However I would always console myself tainability where it is acknowledged that increased
and others with the fact that my specialisation was labour or technology cannot adequately replace
development economics, and therefore I am differ- natural resources. Weak sustainability may be apent to those money grabbing corporate types. Al- plicable in the short run, but I have not yet found a
though I don’t follow the neoclassical mantra that convincing argument that it is nothing but ridicudevelopment is synonymous with economic growth, lous in the long run. Therefore these models lead us
I do believe that, as Amartyr Sen concisely notes, to the pessimistic view that with continued growth,
“economic growth is one aspect of the process eventually we will simply just run out of resources.
of economic development” (Sen, 1983). Leaving Although this sounds rather Malthusian, this idea is
aside the debate about the appropriate measures of not confined to the past; it has been explored much
development, basically as a development economist more recently and with more substantial data in
I was interested not in profit but in helping coun- The Limits to Growth (Meadows, et al.,1972). Altries grow economically. It certainly seemed like a though widely criticised for its methods, its apocalyptic denouement is not ridiculous if you follow
noble goal.
So far my justification of calling myself a de- many of the standard growth theories to their logivelopment economist comes with the assumption cal conclusions.
Schumpeter gives us a totally different approach
that growth is good, but one must question every
to growth theory; that of creative
assumption. Economic growth is
destruction
(Schumpeter,1942).
often associated with a decrease in Economic growth is often
Creative destruction is where ecopoverty and a rise in life expectancy associated with a decrease
nomic progress is driven by new
and literacy rates. However there is in poverty and a rise in life
revolutionary technology which
one factor which is generally ex- expectancy and literacy
continually destroys the previous
cluded from standard economic rates. It often excludes the
technological paradigm. The new
growth models; the environment. environmental dimension.
technology which drives growth
Disregarding the environment in
economic growth models is not simply a small over- would seem to fit with the latter part of the theoretsight, but a factor which can nullify the core of our ical Environmental Kuznets Curve(Vijayaraghavan
& Bhattarai, 2000 ), which although initially shows
economic thinking.
Rostow’s Stages of Growth model (Rostow, environmental degradation rising with income,
1960) offers us nothing past the age of high mass eventually it will fall as income increases. However
consumption; a truly unsustainable concept. this link is indirect and weak, and also the EnviSolow’s model (Solow, 1956) only leaves us with ronmental Kuznets Curve only holds true for a few
Economy
63
pollutants and not for natural resources or biodiversity. This can be explained by the Jevons Paradox (Jevons, 1865); that as innovation and therefore
technical progress increases, the use of resources
becomes more efficient. One would expect this increase in efficiency to reduce the amount of the resource used, however the paradox arises as there is
actually a rise in the consumption of the resource.
The field of environmental economics provides
us with good empirics and uses cost-benefit analysis
with full cost accounting. This method attempts to
take into account our actions’ positive and negative
effects on the environment (known as “externalities”), which is certainly a step in the right direction. The policy recommendations that come from
this field normally include the use of regulation
in the form of quotas and dynamic incentives;
increasing the cost of environmental degradation
with taxes and tariffs, which still creates a disincentive for environmental degradation as degradation
levels fall. Although these measures are effective
they do not provide a holistic plan for sustainable
development, so there is no complete growth model
present here.
There is the smaller and more recent field of ecological economics which distinguishes itself from
environmental economics by emphasising strong
sustainability. Ecological economics separates the
neoclassical idea of growth as an increase in quantitatively measurable output (the value in money of
goods, services, etc.), and the term ‘development’
which ecological economists define as a ‘qualitative improvement in the quality of life’. Furthermore this field identifies uneconomic growth; when
increased production comes with the expense of
64
Economy
Economy
65
resources and quality of life that is worth more ogy’. ‘Appropriate technology’ is technology which
than the goods produced. Even though ecological is small scale, locally owned, energy efficient and
economics successfully brings the concept of strong causes the least damage possible to the environsustainability into economics, due to the underde- ment. The ideology of ‘appropriate technology’ has
veloped nature of the field of ecological economics, been adopted by some in the sustainable developit does not provide much policy guidance.
ment movement.
A development economist who has grown an
However, use of such technology could adverseenvironmental conscience is left deserted in the mi- ly affect developing countries. If we examine the trilieu of economic thought which exple bottom line of ‘people, planet,
cludes the possibility of economic Do developed countries
profit’ for developmental purposes
growth combined with conserva- have the right to control the
it seems that for an economy to
tion of the environment. To ex- path of industrial growth in
develop in a sustainable manner
plore whether it is possible to both developing countries?
(protecting the ‘planet’ aspect) then
have growth and care for the envieither we must accept a sacrifice of
ronment we can start with the Brundtland Commis- ‘people’ or ‘profit’. To sacrifice ‘people’ would mean
sion’s definition of sustainable development:
to widen the already substantial inequality in developing countries; not a very desirable option for an
Development that meets the needs of the present
ethical so-called development economist. Therefore
without compromising the ability of future generawe are left with ‘profit’ as the variable which must
tions to meet their own needs
be left at the side for people-friendly and environ(United Nations, 1987)
mentally friendly growth. The profit is decreased
because of the greater economic costs of using
The bottom level of Maslow’s pyramid (Maslow, ‘appropriate technology’. It can be reasoned that
1943) that consists of physiological needs could these greater financial costs will impede the speed in
easily be satisfied for the entire human population which a country develops in economic terms, both
with our current level of production, however the in the short run and the long run. The question now
further up the pyramid we go, the
arises whether developed countries
less important economics becomes In our world 20% of the
have the right to control the path
in satisfying those needs. It is pos- population consumes 80%
of industrial growth in developsible to get bogged down with the of the natural resources.
ing countries. Although a worthy
abstract idea of a ‘need’ so instead
debate, let us examine the consewe can move to the work of E.F. Schumacher, who quences for developed countries.
in the book Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If PeoIn a world where 20% of the population conple Mattered (Schumacher, 1973), transformed the sumes 80% of the natural resources (Clémentin &
concept of ‘need’ into that of ‘appropriate technol- Cheynet, 2005), it is impossible that this level and
66
Economy
distribution of consumption could ever be sustainable. So far we are following the aforementioned
neoclassical economic growth theories, expending
all our natural resources. It is clear that there is a
great need for the developed world to move to a
sustainable path. However switching to ‘appropriate technology’ in the developed world can have
more drastic economic effects than slowed growth:
the consequence for developing countries. For developed economies to achieve a sustainable state by
using ‘appropriate technology’ they must first go
through a stage of readjustment. This would have
to be a period of sustained de-growth. An unsettling conclusion for a development economist, once
working for growth, who now must make a seemingly hypocritical U-turn by advocating the use of
‘appropriate technology’ and therefore de-growth.
This stark reasoning leaves the developed world
only one option if it wants to be sustainable; this is
the era of the end of growth.
References
• Sen, A. 1983. Development: Which Way Now?, Economic Journal, 93(372):745-762.
• Rostow, W.W. 1960. The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge: England.
• Solow, R.M. 1956. A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1):
65–94
• Meadows, D.H. et al. 1972. The Limits to Growth, Universe Books. New York: United States of America.
• Schumpeter, J. 1942. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Harper & Brothers. New York: United States of America.
• Vijayaraghavan, Y.B. & Bhattarai, M. 2000. The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Primer, The Property and Environment Research Center.
• Jevons, W. S. 1865. The Coal Question; An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of Our Coal Mines, Macmillan & Co. London: United Kingdom.
• United Nations. 1987. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, General Assembly
RES 42/187.
• Maslow, A.H. 1943. A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4): 370-396.
• Schumacher, E.F. 1973. Small Is Beautiful: Economics, As If People Mattered, Blond & Briggs. New York: United
States of America.
• Clémentin, B. & Cheynet, V. 2005. Speech to the students of the Masters “Ethics and sustainable development”
Lyon III. Contre le développement durable.
Economy
67
How do 8 million
people move
around?
Juan Manuel Oviedo.
Transport is an important part of human
life. When humans were nomads they moved
around looking for food and shelter, but when
they built permanent settlements the population grew and so did the amount of transport
in the communities. Nowadays, transport can
be compared to blood vessels of modern society, and a key factor that increased global
trade and economy and shrank the globalised
world.
68
Economy
In Colombia, transportation of goods has been
Historically we can see that transportation of goods
all over the world has improved the quality of life in complicated due to geographical reasons. Having the
societies. It allowed several countries to get different Andes mountain range and large rivers to cross in orfoods that helped to diminish the effects of starvation der to transport to and from a capital city located far
periods. In fact since European colonial expansion, away from the main harbours has complicated transthe American Continent was ‘discovered’ and it pro- portation significantly. In addition, the economic and
vided Europeans with key food crops such as pota- social differences together with an undeveloped natoes, which today form part of their typical national tional infrastructure held back the country´s develdishes and everyday diets. Transportation continues opment throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. For
to be a very important factor in today’s societies. example Bogotá became part of the national railway
Modern trains, cars, ships and airplanes amongst network in 1889. At the beginning four routes were
other forms of transport have allowed moving indi- built: the central one in the middle of the country
viduals and products over large distances, and have comprising Bogotá, one in Magdalena in the Cariballowed people to gain a first-hand understanding of bean region, one in Santander in the North-eastern
our world based on cross-cultural experience. It has part of the country and one in the pacific region.
been through transportation systems and communi- However, these railways were not connected to each
cation improvements that the world is increasingly other because mountains and rivers continued to
globalised every day. Regarding nations’ develop- represent insurmountable barriers. The railways,
that had almost 3600 km, were built
ment we can wonder about what
only for freight and not for passenhappens in a country that has not Transportation systems
gers. But during the period of 1899
developed its transportation system and communication
and 1902 Colombia suffered a civil
yet. Does life quality improve for improvements have
war called “La Guerra de los mil
the population when it gets devel- increasingly globalised the
días” (the thousand day war) that
oped? If we look at Jakarta for ex- world.
left the country with a lot of damagample, where public transportation
systems remain scarce; we can see a change due to es including severe ones in the railway system. All the
a smart urban transport introduced in early 2004. roads and railways were destroyed and the national
This was the implementation of TransJakarta bus- government focused on the recovery of national
way (a bus with its own lane). By 2008 the city had roads; the investments in railways diminished by
already gained a positive result such as 14% of the 90% and this led to the loss of the trains in Colompopulation shifting from using private car to public bia. Today, there are only a few functional kilometres
transport (Sinaga, 2008). Therefore if we look at it used from the original railway, such as “El tren de la
in a long term perspective, this decrease in private sabana” that is only used for tourism around Bogotá
driving leads to less traffic and air pollution that rep- and a train that goes to Cerrejón mines in Guajira in
the Northern part of Colombia.
resent improvements of life quality.
Economy
69
In 1908 a tram was installed in Bogotá but by
the second decade of 20th century that the population of over 200,000 people had used the tram over
its limits. By 1950 the population had grown up to
700,000 inhabitants and the tram was still the most
common way to transport around the city. On the
9th of April 1948, Bogotá turned into chaos because
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was murdered during his presidential campaign. The crowd destroyed a third of
the tram system and Bogota’s citizens subsequently
lost faith in it. This political situation may have not
been the key-turning point for the local transportation system, but it was definitely the starting point in
discussing the convenience of it.
In 1952 the local government decided to take
away the tram because there were no Colombian
owners and the general opinion was that the system should not be owned by a foreign company.
Moreover the Mayor at that time said it was “inconvenient” to have a tram that was not capable
of covering the whole city from north to south and
east to west. The truth is that the city had expanded
quicker than the tram’s owners could keep up with.
Then a new kind of mass transportation system was
installed in 1956 the Trolebuses (Trolleybuses, electric buses that use trolley poles), that were supposed
to transport larger amounts of people compared to
the previous trams.
From 1950 to 2000 Bogotá became one of the
most important cities in South America. It became the 5th largest city in Latin America with a
population of over 8 million people. It also turned
into a key spot for conflict resolution studies and
the capital of a country with a diverse history. In
the late 70s Procicla (an independent pro-bicycle
70
photo
Economy
Economy
Photo by Oscar Amaya
71
organisation) decided to start promoting the innova- of inhabitants. However, decision makers have been
tive idea of ciclovia. The initiative, which started in facing a challenge in the last couple of years because
1974 as cooperative work among cyclists, encour- Transmilenio is not big enough for Bogotá’s growaged citizens to take part in a weekly event that ing population and the need for a more efficient
promoted the use of bikes as a sustainable action way of public transportation. In fact, during the last
towards the environment, and as a fun way of ex- mayoral elections the key discussion point was to
ercising and pursuing healthier lifestyles. During its decide on a plan to construct an underground line.
first phase ciclovia developed quickly and became However the discussions are still ongoing.
the largest in the world and by the end of 1990s
Bogotá is a great example to help understand
it had 130 km of cycle lanes. Even now some of development in modern societies and the importhe main roads in Bogotá are closed for cars and tance of transportation in major cities. Judging
left only for bikes to use them. This happens every by the history of Colombia we can say societies
Sunday as the ciclovia activity. The project became face major challenges when new technologies are
an example for other cities in the world.
not used at the right time. The growing populaBy the end of the millennium, Bogotá had a bad tion’s demand for transportation has exacerbated
reputation as a capital of drug dealing and conflict. issues like oil scarcity that represent a main topic
The main task of the mayors in that
in political and research agendas.
period was to restore a culture of Societies face major
Even though other sectors of the
citizenship. At the beginning of the challenges when new
economy can rely on alternatives,
1990s Bogotá became an example technologies are not used at
such as renewable energy sources,
for other cities in developing coun- the right time.
there is a need to look at the altertries because it was a pioneer with
native opportunities for transport.
respect to pedestrians, cycling, and as a newly or- First of all we need behavioural changes aiming to
ganised city. The pollution and the chaos in the city reduce the overuse of any type of transportation.
led the mayor to establish new rules for living. They For example we can shift to less-polluting modes of
even forbade the traffic of private cars on certain transport like biking, change our destination choicdays in order to create a new transportation system, es, combine trips and encourage car sharing (Steg
called the Transmilenio.
& Gifford, 2005). The way we think cities work and
The idea of Transmilenio was to create a huge how we will build new ones has to change to a more
transportation system, which began as a series of community-based model. We need people to work
privately-owned public buses that were able to trans- and live in smaller sectors of the cities to decrease
port over 3 million people from north to south daily. people’s mobility. Our cities need to start focusing
Today it has 7 different lines and over 5 million us- on local and compact societies that are capable
ers daily. The system was a complete success for the of sustaining the existent industries but requiring
city because it allowed the mobilisation of millions less energy. Also we must transform the cities into
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Economy
places where people can do almost everything in
their daily lives by only walking.
However since the goal is to move our population and goods around without destroying our
landscapes, we also need technological changes.
We should use energy efficient transportation systems; integrate the existing public transportation,
develop new forms of road paving to reduce the
level of traffic noise and use sustainable engineering to build and improve national infrastructure
(Steg & Gifford, 2005). But such solutions are not
enough, in addition we have to ensure the development of city centers and accurately predict the
growth so transportation systems do not become
obsolete after 10 years of use. Transportation is a
key factor in urban and national development and
that as future decision makers we have to be able to
ensure a sustainable way for developing this sector
based on new technologies and population dynamics studies that will allow us to predict the growth
without jeopardising any type of resources for future generations.
References
• Sinaga, E.A. 2008. Development of mass public transport for large and medium-sized cities in Indonesia. Presented
on CODATU XIII, Vietnam.
• Steg, L. & Gifford, R. 2005. Sustainable transport and quality of life. Journal of Transport Geography 13: 59-69.
Economy
73
Shopping, the cure
for everything?
Karianne Sørbø.
During the first half of our “I have a Mango”
project period which we spent in Norway, we chose
the topic of consumerism for our interactive workshops with different youth groups around the country. Here we saw that environmental problems are
something that is very present in the minds of the
young people we met. Yet they love to buy clothes,
preferably in large quantities and for as little money
as possible.
We all need clothes; although often we do not
know anything about the textile products except
that they might look nice and keep us warm. Each
piece of clothing has a long story as they go from
merely raw material, to design, production, distribution, sale, use and disposal. However most of us are
not aware of the whole story.
H&M’s dirty laundry
Norway has one of the highest GDP’s in the
world. The two biggest hobbies in Norway
are shopping and interior design. Based on
the generally high income there is today a
historically high possibility for self-realisation
of the individual, still people demand more
and more.
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Economy
The Swedish clothes chain H&M has had ‘dirty
laundry’ to do lately (Dagsavisen, 2011). Greenpeace has shown that the clothing chain uses the
poisonous chemical nonylphenol1, a by-product
from nonylphenoltoxylat. This is a cheap chemical
that is used in cleaning out left-over colour from the
textiles. Nonylphenol kills living organisms relatively
fast once it is released as it breaks down into a bioaccumulative toxin2. The message from Greenpeace
is: H&M should have an environmental policy that
is comprehensive. For people to respect them H&M
need to include responsibility into their work. The
term environment cannot just mean the use of a cer1 Nonylphenol is absorbed in the body and deforms into a toxin in the cells. The
toxin reacts with the cells and is stored in the tissues.
2 A toxic substance or element that is stored and accumulated in body cells and
tissues.
tain fabric; it needs to also include workers’ rights,
local carbon emissions, etc. How I interpret Greenpeace is that we need a holistic approach; meanings
in this case an approach that includes all stages of
production and the consequences.
By the end of 2011, H&M finally decided to end
the use of the chemical nonylfenol in their production by the year 2020. Brands like Adidas, Puma
and Nike agreed to also cut the toxic substance from
their productions earlier this year. This is at least a
step in the right direction, but it looks like removing
the toxin will take an awfully long time. This is because to produce poison free clothes the producers
will have to pay more and find other methods of
production. Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace
Norway, tells Dagsavisen that H&M’s decision will
send an important signal to the whole textile business. Let us hope he is right, and that the decision
makers within the textile industry start putting a
higher value also on things that do not necessarily
give a short-term economic profit.
Consumerism and solidarity
Many accidents have occurred recently in the
Asian textile industry. Since the year 2000, as many
as 399 workers have died during working hours. In
addition, the workers who make our clothes also
suffer from poisoning of their air and water. This
is an example of a social factor of sustainable development – worker’s rights. The way it is linked
to climate change is the gap between toxic emissions in rich western countries and toxic emissions
in developing countries. To put it very categorical
we as Scandinavians get to breathe fresh air, drink
non-toxic water and shop ‘til we drop’. Asian textile
Economy
75
Photo by Alejandra Echeverri.
employees work
under challenging conditions, be
low-paid and in
addition must suffer from the consequences of a toxic
environment. Sustainable development
for everyone requires that we move the
focus towards human living conditions;
health and fairness for all.
It is hard for me to see that in a country like Norway, where practically everyone can afford to spend a little extra on
clothes, we still chose the cheapest option. So what can we do? In the production chain there is not so much we can do
as individual consumers, but we can at
least with our wallets show what we – as
participants in the
As consumers we can be part market – wish to
of the fight for basic human
contribute to the
rights for everyone.
safeguarding of
basic human rights
for everyone. For example it is possible to
buy Fair Trade clothes that reassure that
the workers get fair payment and that
their human rights are safeguarded. Today this costs a little bit extra, but if we
look at the average Norwegian pay check
this is, for most people, no big sacrifice.
Maybe it is just in our culture to think
The way textile production
is linked to climate change
is the gap between toxic
emissions in rich western
countries and toxic emissions
in developing countries.
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Economy
of quantity before international solidarity when we
shop. Furthermore, the more we buy Fair Trade as
opposed to cheap mass-produced brands the lower
the prices will get. Let us simply ask ourselves: who
suffers from our desire to have as many clothes as
we can get?
To have your cake and eat it too
Let us move back to the starting point of this article: the paradox of having more and more freedom
while being more and more demanding. The Norwegian philosopher Arne Johan Vetlesen claims that
this has a lot to do with consumerism and the economy. The individual of today has too many options,
and Vetlesen believes that overall in society there
are signs that imply that increased freedom has become increased strain. The case as he sees it is that
we have a modern society without limits, hence the
needs of the people no longer stand in accordance
with the possibilities to get them satisfied.
According to Durkheim, in situations like these
when the needs keep on increasing and immediately needs to be fulfilled, a spiral of needs with no end
starts to evolve. This goes especially for the field of
economy because here the needs are literally endless; you can set the economic goal as high as you
wish. From this philosophical analysis I draw that
it is the expectations of the people that are twisted
once you experience very rapid economic rise as is
the case for Norway. Hence the satisfactions that
one may get will never be in accordance with the
expectations.
Economy
77
Profile:
Arild Hermstad
Leader of Framtiden i våre hender (The future in our hands).
When did you start to think about
sustainable development?
Favorite season
Summer. It’s important to note that when I say my
favorite season is summer; I am talking about the
Norwegian summer. It’s much more entertaining to
keep your goal of going swimming every morning
once you risk to do it in fourteen degrees and rain.
Life motto
“When you are trying to change the world, never
fall into the dogmatic path. And more importantly;
never believe that there is ever only one path.”
Often described as
A committed person, and yes … I suppose I am regarded as a bit of an idealist.
A friend of me once noted that if you took the
first and last letter in my first name and the first and
last letter in my surname, you got ADHD. I don’t
know what that should tell me.
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Economy
I am not sure exactly when this all started, and what
exactly lead me to this chair. Something clearly
changed in 1989 though; I started to see environmental issues in correlation with global justice. That
people actually suffer directly from our overconsumption. Ever since, this is a message I became determined to repeat in the public sphere until people
would see it.
How do you view the role of
Framtiden i våre henders in the field
of sustainable development?
FIVH is unique in the way that we hold people responsible for their actions and the future. The people shall be a part of the change seeing that they
play a crucial role, not just wait along for politicians
or corporations.
How do you regard your role?
As a leader it is simply important to do what you
have said you are going to do. We all make mistakes,
the same goes when you want to change the world,
but don’t be afraid to make those mistakes on your
way; keep trying.
What do you do outside of work?
I like to bicycle, especially mountain bike. Also I
like skiing, and hiking in the mountain. Oh, and my
new-found hobby is sailing. Yes, and I do enjoy going hunting every now and then.
Who would you rather get stuck in
an elevator with?
Right now I would have to say the Canadian prime
minister. Canada just announced their exit from the
Kyoto protocol goal of CO2-emission cuts* and I
would have liked to give him a lecture on that matter. Of course it has to do with their relations to the
United States and national economic aspects, but
still. This case really concerns me right now.
Do you have any wise words for the
youth to round off with?
Travel out and see other parts of the world; see with
your own eyes and then make your own analysis of
how the world is linked together. Secondly; take climate research seriously. Avoid being dogmatic; stay
open-minded.
Economy
79
Profile
Juan Manuel Soto
Economist and M.Phil in Social anthropology. He is CEO of the organisation
Acción Verde (Green Action).
How did you first get involved with
the cause of sustainability?
What do you regard as the biggest
challenge in today’s society?
I have been employed by the United Nations, the
World Bank, the InterAmerican Development
Bank, Greenpeace Australia and other NGOs. Now
I am in charge of my own enterprise to promote reforestation in Colombia in very sensitive ecological
regions, both for our country but also for the world,
since we create buffer zones for Biosphere Reserves.
Bringing consumerism to its adequate (bearable)
levels.
What might people be surprised to
know about you?
That I could have had a future as a banker, as my
father is a very prominent Colombian banker, but I
chose a much earthier and people oriented career.
No regrets, despite the money constraints this has
implicated throughout my life.
Life motto
Every green action helps evolution.
When did you first start thinking
about sustainable development?
During my first job experience with the National
Planning Department of Colombia, when I was
asked to help plan a strategy for small scale fisheries
and small scale forest dwellers, back in 1987. I realized that the amount of natural resources was limited, yet heavily being overexploited. I saw a limit
coming fairly soon.
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Economy
What do you wish other people knew
about working towards sustainable
development?
That not making a lot of money is a very viable and
interesting way of life. You do go through hardships and sometimes even fall to forget your goals,
but eventually, everything you do for the planet pays
back in very unique ways.
What would you say to youth to
empower them to work towards a
greener world/future?
Once you have gone to a Museum and seen the
incredibly large number of species of animals and
plants (including trees) that no longer exist on planet
Earth, you should consider acting, because one day
we will see Humans in some bizarre interplanetary
museum. We will go extict if we do not act as an
intelligent species.
What is your bad environmental
conscious?
I once left an enormous bag of waste on a mountain
top, expecting the next group of trekkers would pick
it up. I later found out that they didn’t collect it either! Some years later I learnt that a third group had
collected it, but my laziness and lack of self-action
could have been a gross environmental misdeed.
Can you give us some tips on how to
be ”greener” in everyday life?
Walk, ride your bikes a lot, take public transport and
avoid plastic in all its forms.
Economy
81
Chapter 4
Our partners
and us
Great discoveries and improvements
invariably involve the cooperation of many
minds. I may be given credit for having
blazed the trail, but when I look at the
subsequent developments I feel the credit
is due to others rather than to myself.
Alexander Graham Bell
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Economy
Economy
83
CISV in Norway partnered up with CISV in
Colombia, with the support of The Norwegian
Children and Youth Council and Fredskorpset.
This match enabled us to present you this book,
which will be hopefully read and used worldwide,
to inspire actions that lead to a sustainably developed world.
CISV International
CISV International is a global federation of over 60
volunteer-led National Associations and Promotional Associations. Each Association comprises one or
more local CISV Chapters and youth-run Junior
Branches. We work with like-minded organisations
and partners around the world to achieve our vision
of a more just and peaceful world.Our vision gives
us a strong purpose, or mission, which is summed
up in our Statement of Purpose, CISV educates and
inspires action for a more just and peaceful world.
Founded 60 years ago, CISV International has
become a worldwide volunteer movement working toward peace and intercultural cooperation
and understanding. We have educated and inspired
many thousands of children and young people,
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Economy
empowering them to achieve their full potential and
to play an active role in creating a better world.
Our innovative and non-formal Peace Education
learning experiences, which are facilitated by our
dedicated volunteers, begin with our original and
unique Village programme for 11 year olds. Our
blend of international camp-based programmes,
family exchanges, local community action and leadership training supports our participants of all ages
to develop the attitude, skills and knowledge needed
to act for positive change, in their communities and
internationally.
As an international Peace Education organisation, CISV inspires action through our community
of volunteers worldwide. And for 2012 CISVers all
over the world will focus on sustainable development, one of our four content areas. The I Have a
Mango participants, with the support from the organisation’s Education Department, have explored
this theme from two different perspectives, Norway
and Colombia, and thinking about CISV’s multicultural community as they made this book.
I have a mango project
A project to think, educate and act for sustainable
development. CISV Norway had the chance to create this project with the support of The Norwegian
Children and Youth Council (LNU) and Fredskorpset, inviting CISV Colombia as their partner.
The 1-year-long project was based as an exchange
programme between two Colombians (Alejandra
Echeverri and Juan Manuel Oviedo) and two Norwegians (Karianne Sorbo and Kamilla B. Haaland).
Spending 5 months in each country, they worked
to empower CISV and its members to talk about
and act towards sustainable development – the
theme of the year in CISV International. Through
this project, participants had to understand what
sustainable development meant in general, and also
specifically in Norway and Colombia. The Lunchbox is a product of their experiences, discoveries and
reflections, having a North/South perspective.
LNU
The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU)
is an umbrella organisation for more than 90 Norwegian non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
for children and youth. The member NGOs work
within a wide range of areas, from education and
politics through culture and music to scouting and
religious work.
LNU represents the youth organisations views
in front of authorities and other important institutions. LNU is an expert on children and youth.
It also administrates 8 different trusts for activities
and project for children and youth. With funds from
Fredskorpset, LNU supports organisations that
want to establish year long projects with partner
organisations in the South, like CISV Norway and
Colombia did.
Fredskorpset
Fredskorpset Norway is a public body answerable
to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
financed totally over the State Budget. For the year
2010, Fredskorpset has been allocated 185 million
Norwegian Kroner. The organisation arranges reciprocal exchanges of personnel between organisations in Norway and developing countries. Over the
past ten years, about 4300 people have participated
in these exchanges. The objective is to contribute to
lasting improvements in economic, social and political conditions in the world.
Through their programmes they promote reciprocal learning; help participants to integrate their
know-how and experience into their own societies;
help to develop and strengthen civil society in developing countries; enhance the ability of the people
to set and achieve their own development goals and
promote greater participation by developing countries in international cooperation.
www.cisv.org
www.cisv.no/mango
www.lnu.no
www. fredskorpset.no
The Lunchbox is a tool for education in
sustainable development. It shows the complexity of the topic by offering different
types of snacks: society, environment, economics. Discover short articles that give you
an insight on what sustainable development
means in different countries and cultures.
You can also find profiles of inspiring people, and as part of this Lunchbox you can
find activities for CISV camps and external
links for those who want some more. This is
the perfect meal for those who want to know
about sustainable development.