Exoteric environmentalism

This quote from Gustavo Petro, the Mayor of Bogotá in Colombia, has been popular on social media recently- and captures the essence of a pressing need for a change in our car-centric attitudes and approach to global urban mobility.

As I have alluded to in this previous post, vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air quality problems, and consequently a range of health issues, in urban centres across both developed, and developing, nations. Furthermore, road accidents are increasingly becoming one of the leading killers in developing countries, and globally it is an issue that particularly afflicts young people ’with road traffic injuries now the single biggest source of fatality among 10- to 24-year-olds worldwide’.

These issues (namely air quality and road deaths) are only a few of the wider negative externalities associated with global transport/mobility systems which have become increasingly based on motorised transport- and, in particular, individual car ownership and use which accounts for such a huge proportion of it. There are many others- carbon emissions, the social impact on cities and communities, security of supply of oil…

A shift from a situation where individuals rely on a motor vehicle, and the increasing costs and negative impacts that it entails (both borne individually, and by society more generally), to fulfil their basic lifestyle needs- to one where a fit-for-purpose public transport system (including, crucially, walking and cycling at its core) allows the vast majority of people to achieve their mobility requirements, is a universal need for all societies around the world.

The ‘Planetary Boundary’ model- which sets a framework bringing together a number of specific ‘earth system processes’, and judges to what extent we are using these within, or beyond, safe limits- is a concept I have referred to on a number of occasions in this blog (including in the post from last year Combining Inclusive Wealth and Planetary Boundaries).

The approach has continued to gather attention and interest, and the Guardian’s excellent Sustainable Business website has recently provided a really useful podcast bringing together the concept’s ‘architect’ Johan Rockstrom, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Oxfam’s Kate Raworth, and Gail Whiteman from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). It explains the model, from a number of perspectives, and is a really useful listen… 

Pretty useful ‘node diagram’ from research paper by Isaksson and Steimle mapping some of the interconnections and interdependencies, and complex relationships, between environmental, social and economic issues. 

I would suggest ‘loss of biodiversity’ node could be linked back to/ create reinforcing loops with a number of the other issues presented-  specifically resource scarcity, loss of food production…

The BBC article ‘Childhood asthma ‘admissions down’ after smoking ban’ reports on the notable reversal in trends of childhood asthma hospital admissions in England since the indoor smoking ban in 2007. The statistics indicate such admissions, which were rising at a rate of more than 2% a year, sharply declined by 12% in the year following the ban, and furthermore dropped at a rate of 3% in 2 subsequent years. Furthermore, the results indicate the effects are universal- with the reductions amongst boys and girls of all ages, those from wealthy and deprived neighbourhoods, and both in urban and rural areas.

Causing some significant contention and discord in the time leading up to the ban, with arguments such as negative economic impacts and restrictions on personal liberties being cited to oppose the legislation, these trends (which are replicated in other places which have undertaken bans- including Scotland) seem to justify the ruling. Inasmuch, I believe, it will be the type legislation that will be looked back at in years to come, and we will wonder why it was never implemented beforehand.

However, while rulings on smoking have had positive impacts, another significant risk factor of chronic respiratory disease (as identified by the World Health Organisation) continues to afflict populations around the world- namely outdoor air pollution.

Such pollution, resulting from a range of sources- including power plants, construction, transport, forest fires- and exacerbated by issues such as the geography of cities and seasonal temperature changes (which interlinks with other environmental issues such as climate change) are causing significant air pollution problems to populations around the world. While the impacts are particularly being felt in developing countries (due to issues such as rapid industrialisation, lack of drugs to combat the problems, population growth)- it is certainly not exclusive to them, with rich nations, and specifically large cities, suffering from dangerously high levels of air pollution. Some recent articles indicate the scale of the issue:

• Levels of air pollution in Beijing being described as reaching ’apocalyptic’ levels this week.
• London continues to have some of the worst air quality levels in Europe- and a study suggesting that up to 9% of deaths in the city are due to air quality.
• And, in Kabul- the largest city in Afghanistan- as many civilians are killed from air pollution as are from conflict.

While a direct link between the specific issue of childhood asthma and air pollution does not seem to have been conclusively identified- it is clear that the issue of air pollution around the world, in developed/developing nations, is a substantial and rising danger to health. While we have seemingly been successful (in a UK context) of (at least starting) to tackle the respiratory risks of smoking to children, don’t we have a responsibility to extend such efforts to ensuring they experience clean air as a more universal right- both locally and globally?

Like the smoking ban legislation, will we look back in years and generations to come, and think (and wish we had acted sooner): why did we continue to, even when we knew the risks and dangers that our actions posed, pollute and degrade to such dangerous levels the most basic and fundamental physical necessity of our children- the air that they breathe? 

Although a couple of years old now (and, as a result, I am aware of a few other examples which would make useful additions to the list)- this collection, Visualising Sustainability, of sustainability/ sustainable development visuals/ diagrams/ models/ figures from a range of external sources is one of the most extensive and impressive I have come across (bringing together nearly 300 examples…)

As discussed before in my blog, environmental issues are inherently complex and interconnected, and visualisations can be extremely useful to conceptualise and communicate them to a wider audience. This list of diagrams, sourced from across a range of groups and disciplines, can be useful to develop understanding of relatively simple/fundamental issues in the field (such as the three aspects of sustainability), to more complex relationships/concepts (such as ecosystem services, ecological footprinting, and interconnections with wider policy).

Ice hot blue, Myvatn geothermal nature baths, North-East Iceland

Ducks and swans at dusk, Reykjavik, Iceland 

Mountain valley at dawn, somewhere over the Icelandic highlands

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland

Godafoss waterfall at dusk, North-East Iceland