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1.1: Valuing Environment & Resources (Environmental Value Systems…
1.1: Valuing Environment & Resources
Environment
Provider of inputs to production processes (natural resources)
Receiver of outputs of production processes (waste & pollution)
A
material
becomes a
resource
when humans ascribe a value to them
Environmental Value Systems
Technocentrism (tech)
derived from anthro which believes that tech would advance to suit humans needs
proposes that tech would always be able to solve environmental problems
views earth's resources as instrumental to humans' needs
Anthropocentrism (human)
Believes that only human life have intrinsic value, resources have an
instrumental
value & are exploited to the benefit of mankind (men always take precedence over nature)
Nature has no intrinsic value & exists solely to meet men's needs
Stems from
global economic structure of captalism:
nature is nth more than capital & shld be accumulated and used for growth of economy
&
religious
perspectives: Judeo-Christianity that stated nature is meant for men to use
Environmental stewardship:
where men advocates for evmt sus for future generations in the future
Shallow ecology:
humans & nature are separate
Ecocentrism (nature)
All living things (natural resources) have
intrinsic
value
Deep ecology
: considers that humans and non-human entities are of equal value
Give up excess , reduce population and restrict economic growth to live a simpler life
Spiritualism:
recognises the interconnectedness of all creations & all living things are ascribed intrinsic values
Buddhism: encourages non-indulgent/wasteful lifestyles
Smaller in scale
& adopted by advocacy grps in CHLDs or smaller religious/tribal grps that recognise the need for a connection w nature
National scale:
Bhutan
(or perspectives of human-resource RS)
Scale: how widely adopted?
Stakeholders: adopted by who & why
Type of Resources:
instrumental
Producer
(commercial)
Energy: Fossil fuels (oil,coal,gas) & AE
Industrial extractive production: Iron ore, Copper, Lithium
Affected by econ, political, tech factors
Consumer
(non-commercial)
Energy: Firewood fuels in LICs affected by demand
(commercial)
Gold & Precious minerals affected by socioecon & sociocultural factors
Factors Affecting Resource Appraisal
Instrumental
Demand
(consumers: states, large firms, people)
Societal values and traditions (SE/sociocultural)
Regarded as status symbols of wealth & demand has
increased over time
w ↑ affluence (SE: demand)
Differs over space:
different countries have different cultures/traditions, ascribing a different instrumental value & cost to different resources
Yellow gold & 916 gold are highly prized in Asian countries like India & China where its used as dowry & status symbol → higher demand → diff instru value ascribed to it compared to other societies
However, culture is malleable and
changes with time
Due to advertising and romanticizing of diamond as eternal by Jewellery Company Debeers, demand and thus price surged
Income levels (E)
Proportional rs between income level and energy consumption (due to high demand for elec)
LICs
: non-commercial energy resources (firewood and charcoal) have higher instru value in rural areas with no formal access to electricity due to
local demand
→ but low instru value globally as they're not commercially traded
In the poorest LDCs, woodfuels account for 90% of total energy used. The poorer the country, the greater reliance on wood
Both LICs & HICs
: ↑ affluence → appraised high instrumental value
↑ global demand for pri energy (to be converted to sec energy: electricity) w greater domestic consumption
↑ demand for fossil fuels due to rising car ownership
commercial energy resources
(note that people do not directly influence energy consumption/resource appraisal thru ↑ elec demand as its the
gvmt
that determines how elec is generated)
Supply
(producers: states, IOs, large firms)
Advancements in Tech & Knowledge (T)
creates demand for prev unvalued substance (uranium for nuclear energy compare now and 100 years ago)
provides access to prev inaccessible areas to extract
creates demand for a resource when it identifies the uses of a resource that has always been there (sun to solar energy)
tech advancements allow for cost reduction in mining & harnessing AE → enhancing profitability & demand → increasing instrumental value
Profitability (E)
mostly for commercial energy sources
higher the profits, higher the instrumental value
is influenced by
change in demand
for goods by both consumers and producers and change in cost of production (limited supply if price is raised)
price of oil skyrocketed from $10 a barrel in 1998 to $130 a barrel in 2008
also influenced by
cost of production
→ affected by tech
National Resource Policies (P)
States diversify their energy sources to reduce dependence on one particular source in case of price fluctuations →
diversified energy mix
for energy security → higher instru value at a
national scale
In 2011, The Federal Gvmt spent $16bil of tax dollars on renewable energy and $2.5bil for fossil fuels, reducing focus on fuels, encouraging people to value renewable energy differently
CHLD green agenda & evmt considerations → shift towards cleaner
AE
↓ instru value of FF but ↑ value of AE
↑ demand for lithium used to power electric cars
International Organizations (P)
holds back or release supply available to manipulate price of resource & ensure high profitability (thus demand) w supply interventionist policies at a
global scale
Arab-dominated OPEC reduced oil exports to Western nations resulting in the price of crude oil to quadruple from $2.90 to $11.65 a barrel in 1974
however, political entities influence is diminishing due to DCs shift to alternative energy and reliance on domestic production of fuels
Intrinsic
Education Level (SE)
increases people's awareness and appreciation of the intrinsic value of environmental resources
awareness of the impacts of using FF can ↓ its instru value
acknowledging CC results in ↑ instru value ascribed to AE sources that would continue to
increase over time
as people become increasingly educated
Conservation of natural forests in DCs via NGOs (Greenpeace)
Campaigns or protests like Greta Thunberg's Fridays For Future (FFF)
Socio-cultural beliefs
can influence countries to take on a more ecocentric stand on resource appraisal, ↓ demand , ↓ instrumental, ↑ intrinsic
Bhutan's culture advocates living a simple lie by giving up on excesses, resulting in 72% of its land remaining forested while more than 1/3 is protected
however, such countries are a rare minority thus this factor influences RA on a small scale
Criteria:
Type of resource: producer vs consumer
Who is appraising
Space: LDCs / DCs / cultures
Over time
(demand more important than supply)