GO131: International Relations Professor Walter Hatch Colby College

1. GO131: International Relations Professor Walter Hatch Colby College Environment, Population, Health

2. Global Interdependence • An obvious benefit: growing trade • An obvious cost: negative spillovers

3. Example: Acid rain

4. Example: Water pollution

5. Tragedy of the Commons • Public good (example: open pasture) • How to maintain the public good? • The Global Commons: Oceans, Space

6. Approaches to the Problem • Liberal: establishing regimes via interstate bargaining • Revolutionary: challenging capitalism by restricting growth

7. Background • 1972: first UN conference on international environmental problems and policies. Stockholm, Sweden. • 1982: second UN conference. Nairobi, Kenya. • 1992: third UN conference (and first “Earth Summit”). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. • 2002: fourth UN Conference (second “Earth Summit”). Johannesburg, South Africa.

8. Case One: Global Warming • Global temperatures on rise • Cause: emissions from burning of fossil fuels • Result: carbon dioxide, methane gas, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and nitrous oxide. • “Greenhouse gases” act like glass in a greenhouse

10. Greenhouse Gases

12. Climate Change

13. Real-Life Effects • Human health • Water supplies • Ecosystem

14. One visible example

15. States as Problem-Makers CO2 emissions, 1995

16. Obstacles to a Solution • Domestically, political costs are high: reduced profits, fewer jobs • Internationally, political costs are high

17. States as Problem-Solvers • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Rio 1992) • Kyoto Protocol (1997) • Binding Target: To reduce emissions in industrialized countries • 5% below 1992 levels by 2012 • Set national ceilings • Complicated market mechanism • Give break to developing countries (for now)

18. Kyoto without the U.S. • Treaty needed support from states totaling 55% of global emissions • With U.S. opting out (36%), progress stalled • But protocol took effect anyway in 2005 • Thanks to Russia

19. Case Two: Ozone Depletion • Ozone layer in the atmosphere shields earth from harmful ultra-violet rays • Chemicals (primarily CFCs used in refrigeration and aerosol spray) float into the stratosphere

20. The Ozone Hole 1988 2000

21. Real-life Effects • Higher rates of skin cancer • Threat to vegetation, and thus crop yields • Eco-system

22. Obstacles to a Solution • Another collective action problem involving a public good • Short-term costs for long-term benefit • Free-riders gain by allowing the use of CFCs

23. States as Problem-Solvers • US (1978) unilaterally banned the use of CFC propellants in spray cans • Canada, Norway, Sweden followed

24. From Unilateral to Multilateral • The Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985) • The Montreal Protocol (1987) • Reduce production of CFCs by 50% by 1998 • London Amendments (1990) • Eliminate CFCs by 2000 (later: by 1995)

25. A Relative Success

26. Case Three: Biodiversity • When species become extinct, they stay extinct • More than 15,000 species of animal and plant species are now threatened • Costs • Ecosystem (loss of microorganisms -> loss of arable land) • Hurts pharmaceutical industry • Jeopardizes food supply

27. Global Efforts • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (1973) • Treaty on Biodiversity (1992) • Signatories agree to protect habitat • Wealthy states pay poor states for rights to use products extracted from rare species in protected habitats • U.S. opted out (along with nine other small countries)

28. Marine Mammals

29. InternationalWhaling Commission • Established in 1946 to regulate whaling • Became conservation agency, setting quotas for hunting certain whales • Voluntary participation • Norway and Japan continue whaling

30. Inter-AmericanTropical Tuna Commission • Established in 1950 to regulate tuna fishing industry • Became an agency to help conserve dolphins • Agreement on international dolphin conservation (1999)

31. Rain Forests • The earth’s lungs • Concentrated in global south (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar) • ODA to encourage preservation • “debt for nature” swaps

32. Oceans • Global commons • 70 percent of earth’s surface • Problem of free-riding • Drift nets • Enclosure • UNCLOS

33. UNCLOS • A decade of treaty negotiations (1973-1982) • Rules on territorial waters • US refused to sign until 1994

34. Antarctica • A common resource • Antarctic Treaty (1959)

35. Global Population

36. Out of Control? • From 6.2 billion today to as much as 8 billion in 2025 • 75 million new people each year • Global south will contribute 97 percent of this population growth

37. Can economic growth be sustained? • Exhausting Mother Earth’s “carrying capacity” • Agenda 21 (1992) • Commission on Sustainable Development (1992)

38. HIV/AIDS • Global South • Southern Africa • Swaziland: 38.8 percent of the adult population

39. Life Expectancy:“Demographic fatigue?” • Botswana: from 61 years in 1990 to 44 in 1999 to 39.7 in 2004 • Zambia: 32.4 years

41. Turning it Around

42. Other diseases • Tuberculosis: 1.5 million die each year • Malaria: Up to 1.5 million die each year

43. Water Shortages • 1.1 billion people now lack daily access to clean drinking water • WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for All)