Environment and Development
04/04/2024
Mgr. Lenka Suchá, Ph.D.
Global Change Research Institute CAS
What is development?
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How does development relates to environment?
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⚫ What is development and development
theories
⚫ Sustainable development and Sustainable
development Goals
⚫ Unequal distribution of the global
environmental change
⚫ Environmental and climate justice
Outline
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⚫ Three underlying causes of global environmental change:
⚫ Domination of people over nature
⚫ Prioritisation of immediate, individual material gains
⚫ Accumulation of power and wealth
⚫ Enacted and reinforced through political systems, laws and
behaviours
⚫ Create emissions, pollution and demand for energy
⚫ Provide barriers of change
Recap from last lecture
Development and development
theories
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⚫ Cambridge dictionary: the process in which
someone or something grows or changes and
becomes more advanced
What is development
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⚫ Classification of the world
⚫ First, second and third world
⚫ Developed vs developing countries
⚫ Development as a global mission
Where the idea of development
originates from?
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⚫ Economic growth: performance of the economy, often
measured by GDP
⚫ (economic) development: more complex → enhancing the
lives of the inhabitants
⚫ Economic, social and political progress
⚫ Economic growth cannot be sensibly treated as and end
in itself. Development has to be more concerned with
enhancing the lives we lead and the freedoms we
enjoy.“Amartya Sen (Development as freedom, 1999)
Economic growth VS development
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⚫ Modernisation theory = progress from
traditional to modern stage of economy,
industrialisation, linearity
⚫ Neoliberal theory = free market principles,
overcoming the failures of the state by
structural reforms (deregulation,
privatization, liberalization),
individualisation
Imperative of
progress
Catching up
the West
Capitalism
Development theories
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⚫ Participatory development = social
participation on development,
justice, sustainability
⚫ Human development = human
development as an endpoint, gender,
education → quality of life
⚫ Human development index;
Millenium development goals
Development theories
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⚫ Dependency theory = center and the
periphery, social exclusion, state as the
important actor, extractivism
⚫ World-systems theory = core, semiperiphery
and the periphery
⚫ Post-development = criticism of
development and its impoverishment,
autoritarism of development
Political
economy
Criticism of
the Western
hegemony
Localisation
VS
globalisation
Development theories
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⚫ Sustainable development = fulfiling the
needs of the present without
compromising the future generations,
balancing economic growth with
ecological protection and equitable
social protections
Environment
and
sustainability
Development theories
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⚫ Degrowth = criticism of development and
growth at all costs, emphasis of the
unsustainable patterns and ecological
limits, promotes redistribution and ekvity
⚫ Doughnut economics = planetary
boundaries and safe and just operating
space for humanity
Environment
and
sustainability
Political
ecology
Beyond development theories
Criticism of
capitalism
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⚫ Pursuing economic, social and political progress across the
world
⚫ Meeting basic human needs, improving well-being
⚫ Paying the debt of colonialism and extractivism
⚫ BUT:
⚫ Development for who and under what circumstances
⚫ Side effects of development
⚫ Neocolonisation
Development as a global paradigm
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⚫ Modernisation theory: Walt Rostow (1960) The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto
⚫ Neoliberal theory: Milton Friedman (1962) Capitalism and Freedom
⚫ Participatory development:Robert Chambers (1983) Rural Development: Putting the Last First; Paulo Freire (1970)Pedagogy
of opressed
⚫ Human development:Amartya Sen (1999) Development as Freedom
⚫ Dependency theory and World-systems theory: Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Enzo Faletto (1969) Dependency and
Development in Latin America; Immanuel Wallerstein (1974) The Modern World-System
⚫ Post-development theory: Arturo Escobar (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World
⚫ Sustainable development: Medows et al. (1972) Limits to growth; Gro Harlem Brundtland (1987) Our common future
⚫ Degrowth: Tim Jackson (2009) Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet
⚫ Doughnut economics: Kate Raworth (2017) Doughnut economics
Development theories: seminal works
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Questions?
Environment and development:
Sustainable development goals
(SDGs)
Sustainable Development Goals
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⚫ Global awareness on sustainable
development
⚫ Common framework for development
cooperation
⚫ Proliferation to national policies and
adaptation of SDGs frameworks at country
level
Achievements of SDGs
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Progress of SDGs?
SDGs progress chart 2023
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Progress of SDGs?
SDGs progress chart 2023
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Progress of SDGs?
SDGs progress chart 2023
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Progress of SDGs?
SDGs progress chart 2023
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⚫ Overambitious and broad (17 goals, 169
targets)
⚫ Measuring and monitoring, lack of data,
selection of indicators
⚫ Legally non-binding, countries are not
accountable for achieving the goals
Criticism of SDGs
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⚫ Not adressing root causes of poverty and
inequality
⚫ One size fits all approach and potential cultural
insensitivity
⚫ Promotion of neoliberal agenda and potential of
priotization of market-based solutions
⚫ Sustainable development as unsufficient for
tackling climate crisis and biodiversity loss
Criticism of SDGs
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Questions?
Unequal distribution of global
environmentl change impacts and
environmental justice
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Land
transformation
and
degradation
Climate
change
Exploitation of
natural
resources
Pollution
Invasive
species Population growth,
economic and social
globalisation,
consumption,
energy demand…
World Inequality Report, 2022
Climate change: Who is responsible?
World Inequality Report, 2022
Climate change: Who is responsible?
Oxfam 2023
Climate change: Who is responsible?
Climate change: Who pays?
⚫ Vulnerability
as a starting
point OR
outcome
Climate change: Who pays?
Birkman et al. 2022
Environmental justice
⚫ Grassroots movements
across the world
⚫ First definitions in 1980‘s in the US
⚫ Relates to segregation and environmental
racism
⚫ Unequal distribution between Global South
and Global North
Environmental justice
⚫ Equal distribution of
environmental
benefits and
burdens across all
segments of society
Environmental justice
Leach et al. 2018
Environmental justice as cross-scale
issue
Zdroj: European Environmental Agency
Iberdrola
⚫ Distribution of the natural
resources X distribution of
processing industry
⚫ Polluting industries: transfer of
dirty industries to Global South
(pollution heavens)
⚫ Differences in consumption and
life style
⚫ Colonial history, core and the
periphery
Environmental justice as cross-scale
issue
Areas of environmental
justice
⚫ Distribution of ecological burden
⚫ Distribution of resources
⚫ Concentration of power and resources,
elitism
⚫ Access to decision making
⚫ Marginalisation and inequalities
⚫ Societal status and consumption
⚫ Power, values and knowledge
Local
Global
Environmental injustices
⚫ Environmental migration
⚫ Climate conflicts
⚫ Access to water
⚫ Green gentrification and
segregation
⚫ Access to adaptation measures
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Questions?
Conclusions and learning points
Conclusions and learning points
⚫ Development, environment and climate change as
interconnected issues
⚫ Development and progress is often related to
unequal relations between the Global North and the
Global South; core anf the periphery
⚫ Environmental justice as one of the approaches on
how to research and tackle diverse inequalities
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Thank you for your attention!
Sucha.l@czechglobe.cz
@LenkaSuch1
https://sustainablecz.org
Global Change Research Institute CAS