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SUSTAIN 1S03 [ Lecture One ]

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Historical Context of Sustainability (History and evolution of environmental thought) Innovation (based on their impact on the world, human progress, and improvement to the human condition) Best of all time -

Electricity Written work Sanitation Medical technology Internet

What changes in the late 1700’s/ early 1800’s? Why is it relevant to the sustainability? -

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Nuclear Energy Automatic weapons

Our first innovations in efficiency -

The wheel (transportation) o Used for farming (plowing)

A critical innovation (perhaps one of the most important) -

Changes the way we share ideas Changes in political systems Changes economic systems Facilitated education Facilitated collaborative research The printing press*

Improvements to the Human Condition -

Sanitation Sewer systems (filtering water) Medicine

Technological advancement occurred in the late 1700’s/ early 1800’s Industrial revolution starts

The world’s thirst for energy

Worst of all time -

Refrigeration o Improvements to sanitation and food storage (along with medical advances) resulted in population growth

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Energy is limited on an island Coal will ignite and supply a large amount of energy o Coal replaced the use of water and biomass (trees) resources for energy o There were no longer natural limitations- only technological or economic ones o Our usage began in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s o Our primary resource for energy before coal was whaleoiling o Outputs an abundant amount of CO2 o 1800’s – 200 tons of coal every 10 minutes o 1900’s- 200 tons every 26 seconds o Today- 200 tons every ¾ of a second o Our coal usage went down a little bit in 2008 due to the recessive You need wood or water for energy before coal 1859- We used a barrel of oil every 18 hrs 1906- We used a barrel of oil every one second Today- We used 230 barrels per second ^On top of coal

SUSTAIN 1S03 The environmental movement -

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Our usage of non- renewable energy impacts our air quality, aquatic life, bodily impact from mercury Silent spring released in 1962 US EPA founded in 1970 o Did research upon environmental issues o Founded by US president Richard Nixon DDT banned in 1972 o Impact of pesticide on human beings (we consume fish that are intoxicated with DDT) Carson brought the environment issues to the general public Highlighted a connection of man to nature, rather than a dominance over nature Highlighted the timeline of innovation (chemical) relative to natural time o Nature will deal with the toxic human impact on the environment to some degree at some time period o But we as humans are so focused on innovation that we do not allow nature to repair itself 1984 (Bhopal) o Union Carbide plant in India o Manufactured the pesticide “Sevin” o MIC gas leaked into the water system and led to 2300 deaths o 500 000+ people impacted 1987 (Our common future) o Everything we have done in the past 33 years of the environmental/ sustainable aspect have led to this o ‘Sustainable development’ is a term that is only 33 years old o Montreal protocol (eliminating CFC) Kyoto Protocol o 1997

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A commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the international community Overall reduction of 5% (for all participating countries) from 1990 levels between 2008- 2012 Support developing nations to live more sustainable and meet the criteria of reduction India and china did not want to participate in the protocol  We have built our wealth and population on non- reusable and detrimental energy sources so why can they not develop in the same way

A movement- but still a long road (that requires political will) -

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Kyoto target for Canada o 6% below 1990 level o In 2011, Canada officially withdrew (paid a penalty) from the Kyoto Protocol o In 2012, Canada CO2 emissions 17% higher than 1990 levels o Canada is one of the highest contributors to CO2  More transportation o Canada is an environmental leader We compare the impact of greenhouse gasses to CO2 value After 11 years of politics and planning- in April 2014, Ontario consumed the final tonne of coal for power generation in Thunder Bay There are 4 coal- consuming manufacturers in Ontario How long did it take China to build a manufacturer that supplied the same capacity of energy equivalent to the supply of coal? o Every 42 days for 6 years

TedTalk -

The quadruple squeezes o Climate o Human growth

SUSTAIN 1S03 o o

Ecosystem dilemma Surprise

The environmental movement -

Expansion of the 17 UN sustainable goals o Because we understand biodiversity is important o Aquatic acidity from climate change

Where our approach may be failing us -

The ideal family system never existed o Family, marriage cohesive Leaders view of the world either existed a long time ago or never existed at all We never had the same opportunities that we have today ‘What’s on the scale vs. actual health’

You react not based on the condition you’re in but what has caused the condition Whatever we create/ believe, we fall into

SUSTAIN 1S03 [ Lecture Two ] Economy and Environment Environmental and Economic approach - Three pillars o Environment o o

Economy Society

Environmental and Economic Investment -

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Environmental Policy (Ontario)- some historic -

Environment Economy

Why not include social policy? -

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Social poly tends to be connected to the concept of a welfare state o “A social system based on the assumptions by a political state of primary responsibility for the individual and social welfare of its citizen Social policy tends to be reflection of political ideology or constitutional rights Social policies can be related to: o Healthcare o Education o Senior security o Employment security

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Environmental policies tend to be restriction based o “You may pollute at this level” Economic policies tend to be incentive based

Environmental Policy (Canada)

Environmental protection act (EPA) o Environmental approvals o Air emissions o Waste management o Spills and contaminated sites clean- up o Enforcement Ontario water resources act Safe drinking water act Clean water act Toxics reduction act (Cancelled) Environmental assessment act Natural resources legislation Fish and wildlife legislation

“What is the toxic equivalent….” Answer: No limits to push things forward Economics: a quick overview -

Environmental vs. Economic Policies

Two key pieces that are relevant to most organizations Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) Examples of others: o Fisheries Act o Biodiversity and Conservation (eg. SARA)

Productivity and Specialization o Ability to maximize the benefit with available resources

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Trade- off based on decisions to move economy in one direction over another Specialization can allow economy to follow in one area to

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maximize the benefit from available resources Spin- off jobs associated with a robust economic sector

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SUSTAIN 1S03 -

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Canada has a good oil industry, forestry, fishery, mining, canola, natural resources o We are good at pulling stuff out of the ground (what we specialize in) Supply and demand o If demand increases and supply does not, then the price goes up o If supply increases and demand does not, then price goes down o Equilibrium is at the intersection of the curve (supply and demand are equal)  Not over- supplying  This is the target o “Movement (along the curve) and “shifts” (change in equilibrium) Elasticity o Elastic products/ service  Small changes in price leads to a significant change in demand o Inelastic products/ service  Significant changes in price leads to a small change in demands  Something that is mandatory is inelasticity  Medicine o What influences elasticity?  Substitutes  Buying power  Utility? Economics: A quick overview o Marketing, utility, and competition  Marketing  Good marketing? Good product? Want or need?

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Utility 

Concept that an individual’s goal is to maximize utility (perceived usefulness) Competition  Perfect competition o Many alternatives o S & D equilibrium o Consumer leverage o Reasonable threshold to entry

Policy -

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What does economics have to do with policy? o Control o Incentivize o Punish o Ultimately: the role of government is to control areas where the market might Fil  But why would the market fail? We have policies because the market fails

Ecological services (Aren’t we missing something) … externalities -

Regulates temperature Supplies clean air, clean water Breaks down waste Provides shelter Provide food Provide resources Sustains all life on earth… in balance At a value of $33 trillion/year o The value of our natural resources is how much is it worth quantitatively

SUSTAIN 1S03 Video Summary -

Any cleaning supplies that carry chlorine produces dioxin that is the most toxic chemical Change in consumers thinking it is okay to switch up and constantly upgrade wasting resources

Recycling: Down- cycling vs. Up- cycling -

Environment Budern (l) -

EB = PTA EB PT/A

Natural Capitalism -

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Radical resource productivity Biomimicry o ‘we have to look to nature, for inspiration’ Services and Flow Economy o Change the way we interpret ownership into usership o We don’t actually need a drill, we just need a hole in the wall Investing Natural Caption

Environmental Approach: Industrial Ecology -

The goal of industrial ecology is to make one industry’s waste another’s raw material Link industrial design and processes to the surrounded environment Link economic system to the environment, e.g., optimize use of resources, energy, and capital Redesign…

Cradle- to Cradle -

Highlighted the relationship of technical- nutrients to biologicalnutrients

Recycling: its still in its original form Down- cycling: its function is downgrading Up- cycling: transformed into more economical value Slag- combination of impurities from the coke and limestone results in a low- grade product (BF- slag) o E.g. road base material

What causes the transition? -

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Opportunity o New business model (carpeting as a service not a product) Individual leadership o Eg. Ford’s River Rouge Plant redesign Policy o Eg. EPR, Ecoparks, taxes, regulatory limits

Sweden runs out of garbage, forced to import from Norwat Sustainable Design -

Focus is beyond environment- incorporation of social impact and community health The opposing arguments: o Decouple environment from the economy o Decouple environment from social issues

SUSTAIN 1S03 The influence of public policy

[ Lecture Three ] Policy (The role of policy in sustainability) What is a policy? -

Principles of action Governments, corporations, individuals have a set of “principles of action” Who establishes policy?  Government (public sector), McMaster (social sector)

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What is a public policy? -

“Public policy” refers to the legally established policies of a government Who establishes public policy?  federal, provincial Cities do not have laws, everything is determined by the provincial sector

Types of Measures: Examples o o o o o o o o o o

Who/ what influences public policy? -

Private interest o Businesses o Associations o Unions o o

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NGOs Individuals

International Organizations o UN o WTO o Other country governments Lower levels of government o Provincial governments o Regional governments o Municipal governments

We pay into a healthcare system We individually supplement the tar sands Sanction- based o Incentive or restriction  Financial or permit based (ex. Building permits, environmental permits, tax credits, grant/ lowinterest loans) Customer/ service provider o Governments can be the largest procurers in a country or region  City of Hamilton (2019) : $4 billion  Ontario budget (2019- 2020) : $165 billion  Federal budget (2019- 2020) : $330 billion

Financial (Grants, loans, subsidies) Taxation Legal and Regulatory Educational Procurement Information networks Public enterprise Public services Scientific/ technical Commercial (trade agreements, tariffs)

The speed of policy and political will -

The speed of policy: Changes in the market move faster than policy

SUSTAIN 1S03 -

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Political Will: Action that may be in the face of controversy, against majority public opinion, or even in contradiction to political ideology Opposite of political will: NIMTOO- “Not In My Term Of Office”

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Policy (Specific examples) -

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Coal Phase- Out in Ontario (Key pressures) o 1991; Canada- US Air quality Agreements, commitment to reduce cross-boundary air pollution o Mid 1990; Ontario hydro was $35 billion in debt o 1999; opened up electricity market to sell assets met with strong opposition so coal plants now managed by new OPG (under Ministry of Energy) o 2003; NY Attorney General (+48 NGOs) against Canada for failing to meet its obligations under the CEPA and the Fisheries Act (complaint stated the cause of acid rain and respiratory disease in parts of the US) o Political promise be all parties in 2003 election (only difference is timeline) Adams Mine Act o Highly controversial project to turn an old Dofasco mine (8000 acres) into a landfill for the City of Toronto o 15-year project to approve a landfill for the City of Toronto o Starts in 1989 o Major environmental approval issues o Toronto votes in favor in 2000 (company and City of Toronto can not agree on) o Adam Mine becomes a lake as a result of a 9-page regulation in 2004 (all permits revoked in the same legislation)  Regulation  No person shall dispose of waste at the Adams Mine site

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Montreal Protocol (the concern) o 1973- Scientists discover CFCs in the atmosphere o 1974- Scientists discover that CFCs break down stratospheric ozone o 1985- British Antarctic Survey team discovers ozone hole scientists reveal ozone depletion had adverse environmental and human effects Montreal Protocol o 1987- Montreal Protocol o Tremendous global awareness and concern o Ratified by 24 nations initially o Went on to be first UN treaty to achieve universal ratification o “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date” Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General)

Policy What is a corporate policy? -

Principles of action Governments, corporations, individuals have a set of “principles of action) Companies may have policies related to their key activities (ex. An ISO 14001 registered company would have a specific “environmental policy”)

Industry Associations -

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Industry associations are focused on communicating an industry position for the benefit of its member o Some against blatant regard for public opinion (tobacco industry) Evolved to become more complex

SUSTAIN 1S03 Lobbying still an important aspect of associations (Corporate and otherwise) o Consultation with regulators o Opportunity for engagement for smaller business Sustainability aspect o Developing industry- wide standards/ protocols o Conducting research o Publishing sustainability reports o

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Non- Governmental Organizations -

NGOs are most prevalent in the environmental and social welfare space eNGOs have emerged as a specific subset environmental defence  oilsands

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Founding Assembly held in Toronto in 1993 with 26 countries and 130 participants Within 10 year, over 10 million hectares managed under FSC Certification 20 years later, over 184 million hectares managed under FSC Certification (7% of the worlds forests)

Example: ISO -

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Multiply environmental standards exist in the ISO 14000 family Most prevalent is ISO 14001: Environmental Management Many other standards o ISO 14044: Life cycle assessment- requirements and guidelines o ISO 144064: Greenhouse gases quantification Plan, Do, Check, Act

Standard Associations Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) -

Prescribe a specific set of principles Standardized approaches or design methodologies ISO, FSC, Canada Green Building

Is LEED Platinum the highest level of sustainable design? o Sustainability for the masses o o o

Recognized and controlled approach Evolves faster than the building codes can Forces regulators to consider best practices (regulator can incentivize rather than enforce)

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Example: FSC -

Private enterprise  to create value for its shareholders (make money)

CSR and Globalization

Example: LEED -

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Establishes in the early 1990s as a means to address unsustainable logging and clear-cutting practices

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Globalization has changed the dynamic between companies and governments Companies are now not bound to the countries in which they operate Circle size can reflect: Finances, maturity of organization, number of citizens/ employees o Long ago (Country (Company..resource, production, sale))  Now (Country (Company- sales (Country B- resources) (Country C- production)) If companies are so big, why bother with CSR?

SUSTAIN 1S03 o o o o o

Social conscious consumers (internally or externally driven) Social media (social shaming) Employee attraction/ retention “having a seat at the table” New generation of leaders

What does CSR look like? -

Common term: “Local Management, Global Standards” CSR and sustainability are synonymous

SUSTAIN 1S03 -

[ Lecture Four ] Climate Change.. Understanding the global context The Greenhouse effect -

Greenhouse gas effect plays a role in our survival Water vapour is the greatest contributor to the greenhouse effect NO (more impactful) > CO2

Carbon cycles and the Greenhouse Gas Effect -

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Humans contribute a lot to the carbon cycle by omitting the extracting materials from underground that carry carbon (Manmade vs. natural cycle) We contribute to the carbon cycle, but we are not part of the cycle (Additive impacts) Systems will absorb the carbon, but it will cause detrimental impact GHG effect (IR)

The cooling factors -

Greatest cooling effect: white, volcanic eruptions that produce sulfate high enough in the atmosphere, biomass burning (Forest fire), desserts, and dust sandstorms, burning of coal and oil, Barren Islands, and Ice and snow

The Kneeling Curve -

The carbon dioxide concentration in atmosphere is increasing There’s more CO2 from core samples and actual CO2 concentration data

In Oct 18, 2019, the CO2 concentration at Marna Loa  CO2 increase then decrease following by an increase and decrease (reflected with different seasons and months of the year)

Sources of GHGs -

Global greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector Industry, Transportation, Buildings, Agriculture/ forestry and other land use, electricity and heat production, other energies Coal ...