ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND HUMAN SECURITY: THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND HUMAN SECURITY
THE ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

• Nay Htun, PhD, FIC.
• Professor of Environmental Sustainability,
• Stony Brook Southampton,
• State University of New York
• Extramural Lecture, AIT
• 27 May 2008.
• Fellow and Visiting Professor Imperial College
  London
• Visiting Professor and Sr. Advisor Lund
  University, Sweden (Former UN Asst. Sec-General
  UNEP, UNDP)

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYTHE CRITICAL
BUILDING BLOCKS

• ATMOSPHERE composition, temperature, physical
  state
• HYDROSPHERE composition, precipitation, quantity
  constant, accessibility, rivers, lakes, oceans,
  coastal zones, hydro-cycle
• GEOSPHERE-BIOSPHERE, LITHOSPHERE weathering of
  geosphere to form soils, provides terrestrial
  plants with a firm substrate and vital nutrients
  and minerals needed for plant growth.
• LINKGAGES AND INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SPHERES WHICH
  NURTURE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS.

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2007 IPCC REPORT
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2007 IPCC REPORT

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2007 IPCC REPORT
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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY UNDER INCREASING
PRESSURES

• ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES DISCHARGING AND EMITTING
  INCREASING QUANTITIES OF WASTES, POLLUTANTS EG.
  GHGs, OZONE LAYER DEPLETING SUBSTANCES,
  PERSISTENT ORGANIC, (POPs), HEAVY METALS
• NATURAL DISASTERS exacerbated by
  anthropogenic activities. Hydro-meteorological,
  geological and biological disasters increased
  from 71(1900-1909) to 2711 (1990-1999) 396 in
  2006
• INCREASING ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES, MORE PRESSURE
  ON ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMIC AND HUMAN SYSTEMS
• CONSEQUENCES FOR HUMAN HEALTH AND WELL BEING
• UN International Decade for Disaster
  Reduction (IDNDR)

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EMERGING CONCERNS WITH ENVIRONMENT, ECOSYSTEM
AND CLIMATE CHANGES

• PERMAFROST AND GREENLAND MELTING
• GLACIERS MELTING AND LAKES BURSTING
• ATMOSPHERIC BROWN CLOUD HOVERING OVER CONTINENTS
• GLOBAL WARMING
• SEA LEVEL RISING
• HUMIDITY INCREASING
• MORE FAVOURABLE FOR INSECT, BACTERIA, VIRUS,
  MOLD, FUNGUS
• BALLAST WATER DISCHARGE
• ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES INCREASING

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SOME LINKED CONVERGING IMPLICATIONS

• FOOD SECURITY
• WATER STRESS
• WATER QUALITY
• INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• ALLERGY
• RESPIRATORY ILLNESS
• NEW DISEASES
• ZOONOSES
• DISASTERS

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DISEASES FOOD SECURITY

• SOME EXAMPLES
• COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER honey bees affecting US
  14 billion per year of US agriculture, attributed
  to pesticides, mites, fungus, virus and
  environmental changes.
• PACIFIC SALMON heavy losses and extinction in
  Western Canada and US, caused by sea lice
  breeding on farmed salmon.
• FROG POPULATIONS severely affected , extinct, due
  to increase of chytrid disease caused by fungus
  Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

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DESTRUCTIONS AND DISASTERS

• INFRASTRUCTURES
• HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
• ECOSYSTEMS
• Atmosphere, land, forests, rivers, lakes,
  coastal zones, biodiversity
• ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
• SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PATRIMONY

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INFECTIOUS DISEASES

• GROUP OF EIGHT SUMMIT, ST. PETERSBURG 06
• A VIGOROUS RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF
  INFECTIOUS DISEASES, THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATHS
  WORLD WIDE, IS ESSENTIAL TO GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
  AND TO THE WELL-BEING OF THE WORLDS POPULATION.
  MAJOR DISEASES SUCH AS HIV / AIDS, TUBERCLOSIS,
  MALARIA AND MEASELS CONTINUE TO EXACT A HEAVY
  TOLL ON ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES AROUND THE WORLD,
  PARTICULARLY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, IMPEDING
  ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• CLEAN WATER, SANITATION, EMERGENCE OF HIGHLY
  PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA WITH THE ACCOMPANYING
  POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN PANDEMIC, DEMANDS OUR
  IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

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WHO 2006 REPORTS

• 24 of global disease burdens and 23 of all
  deaths can be attributed to environmental
  factors. Of the 102 major diseases ---
  environmental risk factors contributed to disease
  burdens in 85 categories
• Children 0 14 yrs. of age, the proportion of
  deaths attributed to the environment was as high
  as 36

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EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

• EUROPES ENVIRONMENT --- THE FOURTH ASSESSMENT
  OCT 2007
• Despite some success with air pollution, current
  levels mainly nitrogen oxide, fine particles and
  ground level ozone are estimated to shorten
  average life expectancy in Western and Central
  European countries by almost one year and
  threaten the health development of children. In
  Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, the
  situation is assumed to be similarly bleak
• (53 Countries, total population 870 million)

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IPCC FOURTH ASSESSMENT REPORT 2007

• More endemic morbidity and mortality due to
  increase in vector borne diseases , primarily
  from floods and droughts.
• Increase cholera incidence with increasing water
  temperatures
• Increased risks of infectious, respiratory and
  skin diseases
• Migration and disasters related health effects

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MALARIA

• Yearly one million deaths and 500 million become
  severely ill
• Warming effects and extreme weather events would
  precipitate large outbreaks
• Increase range of mosquitoes which spread malaria

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WEST NILE

• Affects humans, horses and over 130 species of
  birds
• Warm weather and droughts play role in amplifying

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DENGUE

• Current outbreak in Asia Pacific attributed to
  climate change and global warming

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ASTHMA

• In US prevalence has quadrupled since 1980
• New drivers include increased levels of CO2,
  which increases plant pollens, soil fungi, fine
  particles, micro-organisms

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INCREASING AWARENESS CONCERNS WITH CONVERGENCE
OF ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY AND HUMAN SECURITY

• SOME RECENT EXAMPLES
• April 2007 New York Times Editorial Warming and
  Global Security
• April 2007 CNA Corporation, a US national
  security think tank released report by 11 retired
  Admirals and Generals who argued that climate
  change is a threat multiplier
• January 2007 UN Security Council first ever
  debate on climate change. UKs former Foreign
  Secretary Margaret Beckett said What makes war
  start? Fights over water, changing patterns of
  rainfall and warned that global warming not
  limited to adverse environmental effects, and the
  global population would be wise to consider
  consequences people have not been thinking about

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RESPONSE OPTIONS ?

• NEW PARADIGM
• Normative means
• Economic Instruments
• Technologies
• Education, training, information
• Institutions
• Governance
• TOWARDS

TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IMPERATIVE
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PARADIGM CHANGE

• CONSUMPTION PATTERNS, e.g.
• Energy, water, carbon material footprint
  reduction, low carbon economy.
• PRODUCTION SYSTEMS e.g.
• Zero emissions
• Biomimetics
• Nano materials and applications

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PARADIGM CHANGE

• ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Subsidies,
  taxes, loans, financing mechanisms, cap and
  trade, CDM, etc
• NORMATIVE MEANS
• INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEMS
• Governance
• Administration
• Education

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PARADIGM CHANGE---Human Behavior---

• THINK ACT OUTSIDE-BOX
• CARING, SHARING, RESPECT, HARMONY, PEACE
• Nature
• Neighbors
• Ourselves

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GREENING REVOLUTION

• A FUTURE THAT IS
• CLEAN
• SAFE
• SECURE
• SUSTAINED
• ENVIRONMENTAL
  SUSTAINABILITY
• HUMAN SECURITY
• FREEDOM FROM WANT
• FREEDOM FROM FEAR
• FREEDOM TO CHOOSE