HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL

THOUGHTS

Maryam Zafar
M. Phil NUST
President Gold Medalist
 CSS Syllabus
• I. History of Environmental Thought :- Environment and Sustainable Development,
History of Environmental Movements, Industrial and Agriculture Revolution, United
Nations Conference on Human Environment 1972, Our Common Future 1987, Rio
Summit 1992, Agenda 21, World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002,
Millennium Development Goals.

• II. Sustainable Development Issues :- Population growth, Poverty, Biodiversity loss

and its Conservation, Energy security (energy conservation and alternative energy
resources), Urbanization and sustainable cities, Carrying capacity and ecological
footprint. Food security and sustainable agriculture. Ecological restoration.

• III. Interdisciplinary nature of Environmental Science :-Orientation on convergence

of various social and natural sciences to evolve a new discipline of environmental
science: Environmental Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Physics,
Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Toxicology, Environmental Economics,
Environmental Geology, Environmental Geography, Environmental Biotechnology,
Environmental Sociology.

• IV. Environmental Pollution :-Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Soil Pollution, Noise
Pollution, Solid Waste, Water Logging & Salinity, Deforestation, Desertification,
Eutrophication, Global and regional air pollution problems (Greenhouse effect,
Global Warming/Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, Acid Rain).
 cont…..
• V. Climate Change:- Climate Pattern at local, regional and global scale. Different types of climate
including tropical and mid latitude climate, polar climates. Climate change processes, Drivers and
Indicators of Climate Change, Effects of Climate Chang on natural and societal systems. Carbon
foot print. Climate change adaptation and mitigation, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),
REDD+. Global environmental politics on climate change: role of India, China and USA
(Copenhagen Accord 2009).

• VI. Environmental Governance :- Policy, legal and institutional frameworks for governance of
environment in Pakistan: National Conservation Strategy of 1992, National Environmental Policy
Act of Pakistan 2005, Environmental Protection Act of 1997, Pak-EPA (Review of IEE/EIA)
Regulations 2000, Hospital Waste Management Rules 2005, Pollution Charge Rules, Sample Rules,
Solid Waste Management Plan 2005, Hazardous Substances Rules 2005, National Drinking Water
Policy 2009, Sanitation Policy, National Climate Change Policy 2012.

• VII. Global initiatives:- Brief on some of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements ratified by
Pakistan, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety, Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention on
Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention),
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS), United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol to UNFCCC, Montreal Protocol on
Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD).

• VIII. Environmental Assessment and Management :-Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic

Environmental Assessment, Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14000), Occupational
Health & Safety management systems (OHSAS 18000), Participatory Approaches to Environmental
Management, Technological Approaches to Environmental Management, Approaches to Solid
Waste Management, Disaster Risk Management, Pollution Control Technologies, Geographic
Information System & Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Management.
 Nature protection has historic roots
• Plato complained in the fourth century
B.C. that Greece turned from fertile soil
and abundant forests to a “skeleton of a
body wasted by disease”

• French and British colonial

administrators observed rapid soil loss
and drying wells that resulted from
intensive colonial production of sugar
and other commodities
 cont….
• The pioneering British plant physiologist, Stephen Hales,
for instance, suggested that conserving green plants
preserved rainfall. His ideas were put into practice in 1764
on the Caribbean island of Tobago, where about 20
percent of the land was marked as “reserved in wood for
rains.”

• In 1979, Pierre Poivre, an early French governor ordered

that one-quarter of the island was to be preserved in
forests, particularly on steep mountain slopes and along
waterways.

• Mostafa K. Tolba, former Executive Director of the United

Nations Environment Program has said,
– “The problems that overwhelm us today are precisely those we failed to solve decades
ago.”
 History
• Conservation history and
environmental activism into at least
four distinct stages:
– Pragmatic resource conservation
– Moral and aesthetic nature
preservation
– A growing concern about health and
ecological damage caused by pollution
– Global environmental citizenship
 1. Pragmatic resource conservation
• “Man and Nature” in 1864 by geographer George
Perkins Marsh as the wellspring of environmental
protection in North America

• President Theodore Roosevelt and his chief

conservation advisor, Gifford Pinchot established the
framework of our national forest, park, and wildlife
refuge systems

• “not because they are beautiful or because they

shelter wild creatures of the wilderness, but only to
provide homes and jobs for people.” Resources should
be used “for the greatest good, for the greatest
number for the longest time.”
 2. Preservation movement
• Ethical and aesthetic concerns inspired this
movement

• John Muir; a geologist, author, and first

president of the Sierra Club-Biocentric
Preservation

– Nature deserves to exist for its own sake,

regardless of its usefulness to us

• In 1935, wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold

thousands of trees in a practical experiment in
restoring the health and beauty of the land.
3. Modern environmental movement
• The tremendous industrial expansion during and
after the Second World War added a new set of
concerns to the environmental agenda.
• Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson
published in 1962, awakened the public to the
threats of pollution and toxic chemicals to
humans as well as other species.
– The movement she engendered might be called
environmentalism because its concerns are
extended to include both environmental resources
and pollution
• Among the pioneers of this movement were
activist David Brower and scientist Barry
Commoner Brower, who introduced many of the
techniques of modern environmentalism
 4. Environmental quality is tied to
social progress
• Criticism: Roots of the environmental movement are elitist

• Aldo Leopold, a founder of the Wilderness Society, promoted ideas of

land stewardship among farmers, fishers, and hunters. Robert
Marshall, also a founder of the Wilderness Society, campaigned all his
life for social and economic justice for low-income groups.

• Both Rachel Carson and Barry Commoner were principally interested

in environmental health—an issue that is especially urgent for low-
income, minority, and inner-city residents.

– Core concepts of modern environmental thought is sustainable

development, the idea that economic improvement for the world’s
poorest populations is possible without devastating the environment.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 United Nation Conference on Human
Environment
• First United Nations conference on Human
Environment at Stockholm, Sweden from
3 to 14 June 1972; Stockholm conferene

• With the GOAL of establishing a new and

equitable global partnership through the
creation of new levels of co-operation
among States, key sectors of societies and
people, working towards international
agreements which respect the interests of
all and protect the integrity of the global
environmental and developmental system.
 Triggering Factors
• Population Explosion

• Resource exploitation/overuse

• Environmental degradation

• Threatened Biodiversity
 Outcomes of UNCHE
• United Nations Environment Program

• Environmental Fund

• Principles
United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP)
• Global body
– International agreements
– Periodic Assessment
– Coordination & Awareness
• Divisions (Seven)
– Early warning and assessment,
Environmental Policy implementation,
Technology, Industry and Economics,
Regional cooperation, Environmental law
and conventions, Global Environmental
Facility coordination, and communication
and public information
 Environmental Fund

• Polluter Pay Principles

• Developed world to developing world

 Principles
Sr/NO. Principles
1 Human being at the centre of Sustainable
development
2 Sovereign right of states to exploit their
resources
3 Equitably meet developmental and
environmental needs
4 Most environmentally vulnerable, shall be
given special priority
5 Co-operate in a spirit of global partnership
 cont….
Sr/NO. Principles

6 Enact effective environmental legislation

7 precautionary approach
8 Environmental impact assessment, as a
national instrument
9 States of any natural disasters or other
emergencies
10 Environmental disputes peacefully
 Our common Future (1987)
• "A global agenda for change“ by
World Commission on Environment
and Development (1983) by the UN
General Assembly

• We are not forecasting a future; we

are serving a notice - an urgent
notice based on the latest and best
scientific evidence.
 Objectives
• To propose long-term environmental strategies for
achieving sustainable development by the year 2000 and
beyond

• To recommend ways concern for the environment may be

translated into greater co-operation among developing
countries and between countries at different stages

• To consider ways and means by which the international

community can deal more effectively with environment
concerns

• To help define shared perceptions of long-term

environmental issues and the appropriate efforts needed
to deal successfully with the problems of protecting and
enhancing the environment
 Salient Features

• A Threatened Future
• Towards Sustainable Development
• Population and Human Resources
• Food Security: Sustaining The
Potential
• Species and Ecosystems: Resources
for Development
• Energy: Choices for Environment and
Development
 cont….
• Industry: Producing More With Less
• The Urban Challenge
• Managing The Commons
 Rio Summit
• Twenty years after UNCHE at Rio De
Janeiro, Brazil in 1992
• United Nation conference on
Environment and Development-Rio
Declaration
• Also known as Earth summit

• Goal:
– Rethinking economic development
– Natural resource management
– Halting Pollution
 Rio summit Agreements
• Agenda 21
– Preparing world for 21 century

• Rights and Responsibilities of the state

– Developed VS Developing

• Forest Principles
– First global consensus about forests

• Formation of Global Environmental Facility

• Reviewed after every 10 years

 International Agreements
• United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate
Change(UNFCCC)

• UN Convention to Combat
Desertification(UNCCD)

• Convention on Biological
Diversity(CBD)
 Financial Support
• Role of developed countries

• 10 Billion Dollar per year from western

countries to third world countries
 Agenda 21
• Not legally binding
• Outcome of the Rio declaration
• 300 pages document

• Objectives
– Sustainable development
– Elimination of poverty
– Management of chemicals and wastes
 Features of Agenda 21
• Section 1: Dealing with social and
economic growth
• Section 2: Conservation and
management of resources for
development
• Section 3: Strengthening the role of
major groups
• Section 4: Means of implementation
 Implementation
• Global Environment Facility
• Criticism from third world
• GEF, regional bank & bilateral aid
• 0.7% of GDP of each of industrialized
country

• Implementation Hierarchy
– Local-Local Agenda 21
– National-UN Department of Economic an
Social Division Affairs
– Global-UNEP
 Rio+10 Summit
• Review of implementation of the United Nations
conference on Environment and Development
• UN World Summit on Sustainable
Development(WSSD)
• Earth Summit II
• Johannesburg, South Africa (Aug, 26-Sep, 4) 2002

• Objectives
– Eradiating Poverty
– Natural Resource Management
– Halting the unsustainable pattern of production
 Outcomes of Summit
• Water and sanitation
– Clean drinking water and basic sanitation
by 2015
• Energy
– Promoting use of green resources
• Global Warming
– Ratifying the Koto Protocol
• Biodiversity
– Cut down the harvesting rate by 2010
 Cont…..
• Trade/Economy
– Tackling the World Trade Organization
issues

• Corporate Accountability
– Accountability of NGOs, suppliers,
customers, industrialists etc
 Agriculture Revolution
• Shift from pre-agriculture period to
modern agriculture

• Transition from a living form of

agriculture to a more advanced and
more productive one

• Three stages
 Stages
• 12,000 years ago
• Latin America, China, North Africa, Southeast Asia
First • Modest population increase

• 1871-1960
• Industrial revolution
Second • Population increase

• 1960-Present
• Exponential population growth
Third • Norman Borlaug-Father of Green Revolution
 Agricultural Technologies
• Crop Rotation
– Dissimilar types of crops in same area
• Plough
– Oxen replaced by high machinery
• Enclosure
– Removal of right to establish ownership (Britain)
• Intensive Farming
– Higher outputs
• Market Development
– Removal of custom barriers and less tariffs
• Selective Breeding
– Better seeds with desirable crop yields
 Environmental impacts
• Climate change
• Deforestation
• Depletion of underground aquifers
• Environmental impact of pesticides
• Soil degradation
• Eutrophication
• Loss of biodiversity
• Greenhouse gas emission
• Dependence on non-renewable resources
 Industrial Revolution
• 1700-end of WWII
• Environmental Impacts
– Resource stress
– Population change
– Urbanization
– Air pollution
– Water pollution
– wildlife extinction
– Global warming
 MDGs
• Millennium Summit of the United Nations
in 2000 by 2015
• 149 member states
• Main areas
– Human capital
• Nutrition, Healthcare, Education
– Human infrastructure
• Drinking water, waste, energy, communication
– Human Rights
• Empowering women, property rights, political
voice
Eight Goals
 SDGs
• Designed in Rio20 held in 2012
• Adopted in 2015
• Deadline-2030
• Why SDGs are more important?
– Zero goals
– Universal goals
– Comprehensive goals
– Financial mechanism
– Peace building
– Socio economic development
 17 Goals
Sr/ Goals Sr/ Goals
NO. No.
1 End Poverty 10 Reduce inequality

2 Sustainable Agriculture 11 Better human settlements

3 Ensure health lives 12 Sustainable consumption

4 Equitable quality education 13 Combat climate change

5 Empower women 14 Sustainable use of oceans

6 Sustainable management of water 15 Sustainable use of ecosystems

7 Sustainable energy 16 sustainable development
8 Sustainable economic growth 17 Global partnership

9 Sustainable industrialization
THANK YOU