SAJC H2 Geography Cluster 1 Lecture 1 (Sustainable Development; Our Common Future)

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 3_2024/pg 1 Lecture 3 Sustainable Development (III): Our Common Future? KEY QUESTION: What are the challenges that might limit the progress towards sustainable development? With the completion of this lecture, attached readings and tutorial, you should be able to understand: - the economic and political challenges limiting the progress towards sustainable development Lecture Outline 3.1 Introduction: What’s “wrong” with the concept of sustainable development? 3.2 Political Challenges 3.2.1 The Differing Perspectives of Developed and Developing Countries 3.2.2 Local Political Context 3.3 Economic Challenges 3.3.1 Who pays? Developed or Developing Countries 3.3.2 Energy Transition Box 1: The varied ‘ways’ to sustainable development A timeline of international conferences on sustainable development & climate change Following the Brundtland Report in 1987, the Rio conference in ’92 promised to chart a path for the world to attain sustainable development. More than 30 years have since passed, yet we remain concerned, and indeed more than ever before. This is despite the multiple conferences meant to discuss strategies and nudge actions. What is stopping us from moving forward and faster?

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 3_2024/pg 2 3.1 Introduction: What’s “wrong” with the concept of sustainable development? • The idea of sustainable development is an attempt to overcome two fundamental conflicts that became increasingly apparent. o The first of these is the seeming incompatibility between maintaining a healthy environment and the economic growth needed for development; o The second is the continuing gap between the quality of life in developed countries and the developing countries. • These conflicts play out clearly especially when we take the positions of developed countries and developing countries respectively. As Section 3.3 shows, developing countries want better development, while developed countries want a better environment, preferably without harming their own development prospects too much (see Section 3.2). • The Brundtland Report, Our Common Future (WCED, 1987), was important for securing wide public exposure for sustainable development and establishing it on the international political agenda. Both developing countries and developed countries could agree with what it said. But, it had two basic flaws. o First, it did not say how continued economic growth could in practice be balanced against the need to conserve resources and natural environments. This effectively put human needs before those of the environment. o Second, it was sufficiently ambiguous to enable each of the two main interest groups to interpret the meaning of sustainable development in a way that reflected their own agenda. So governments and campaigners in developed countries believed that sustainable development would mean better environmental protection. Their counterparts in developing countries, on the other hand, believed that it would bring them more development (that is, reducing poverty and attaining the status of modern societies) • The disagreements and contradictions between developed and developing countries on what constitutes sustainable development, and the roles each should play, are perhaps best exemplified by considering their perspectives separately. 3.2 Political Challenges 3.2.1 The Conflicting Perspectives of Developed and Developing Countries (a) Developed Countries • More of leading developed countries have realised that after decades of economic activity that had driven their growth, environmental impacts could rebound on the whole of humanity , thus began to lead the drive for greater environmental protection. • But it was the developing countries collectively have more control over much biodiversity and forested areas. • In the attempts of developed countries to achieve their pursuit for continued economic growth and yet balanced with the need for environmental conservation, sustainable development was recommended to developing countries as a developmental path that would not replicate the environmental degradation that had been incurred in the developed countries.

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 3_2024/pg 3 • However, developed countries themselves did not demonstrate the willingness to rethink their existing consumption and production patterns, and the responsibility to reduce resource use and pollution that should be assigned to them. • For example, in 1992, the U.S. president George Bush senior famously proclaimed that “the American way of life is non-negotiable.” The United States in particular remained opposed to singling out rich countries’ consumption and production patterns for criticism. On the other hand, developing countries such as India has long demanded a distinction between luxury and subsistence consumption. (b) Developing Countries • Developing countries on the other hand are faced with their challenges of rising populations and the need for rapid economic development , hence are looking towards the exploitation of their natural resources to arrive at their developmental goals. Political leaders in developing countries therefore had a different agenda from those of developed countries. • Developed countries had become wealthy by despoiling their environments and those of developing countries too. So it was seen as hypocritical of the developed countries now to ask developing countries to protect their environments and control population growth at the expense of the chance of economic development. • Despite attempting to replicate the success of developed countries, with a few notable exceptions such as South Korea and Taiwan, most developing countries failed to realise the development idea. • They still suffered from poverty, famine and ill health and so were not interested to adopt the new environmental goal that had become popular in developed countries or the supposedly more realistic ideal of sustainable development. • Sustainable development to some extent can be viewed by t he developing countries as a strategy of the developed countries to curb their economic growths. Developing countries were unwilling to commit on actions which slowed down their economic progress or reduced their access to their own natural resources. 3.2.2 Local Political Context • While Section 3.2.1 presents the political tensions between developed and developing countries, political challenges exist too at the more localised level as countries continue to progress towards sustainable development. Though not exclusively so, political challenges are m ore apparent in developing countries. (a) Weak political commitment • As Lect 2 Section 2.5 outlines, the collection of regular and good quality data is necessary. There is a relationship between high-quality data and good governance. The availability of funds to statistical institutions reflects what governments choose to invest in. The data gap undermines

St Andrew’s Junior College H2 Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment (Topic 1.1) H2_Cluster 1_Lecture 3_2024/pg 4 capacity to establish baselines, track performance and make evidence -based decisions at national and sub -national levels. Poor -quality data also reduces accountability as it masks inequalities within countries. (b) Insufficient decentralisation of decision-making power • In some African countries, local governments are assigned only with l ow levels