Sustainability
Development that meets the needs of today without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs
Saudi Arabi is believed to not have enough sustainability for its oil industry for future generations and suspects a great drop in economy
LEGEND
Floating topic
Correlates or defines
Slow Cities
Cities that protect and encourage local traditions and develop an economy based on that communities’ unique nature.
Positively affects
Negatively affects
Environmental Sustainability
Economic Stability
Carbon Source
Any activity, natural or human, that adds carbon to the atmosphere (principally as carbon dioxide and methane)
USA is the second biggest known contributor to carbon despite much less population than China, the biggest contributor due to its population needs
Energy Intensity
The basis of a proposal by APEC nations to have emissions targets related to the amount of energy being used (i.e., reductions per tonne of carbon emitted)
Geo-engineering
A range of proposals that have been made to reduce GhG emissions into the atmosphere by using various technological methods to capture or eliminate the gases before their release into the atmosphere. E.g., carbon sequestration would pump carbon dioxide into sealed rock layers in the earth
Globally, scientist are focused on GhG reduction in the atmosphere and radiation absorption to reduce earth absorbing any more solar energy
Geoengineering | Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/geoengineering
Cap and Trade System
A proposed method for reducing GhG emissions. Companies, utilities, and other GhG producers would be assigned an emissions limit. If they reduced emissions below this limit they could sell their surplus quota in a free market system. If they exceed their limit they would have to buy additional quota in the free market.
Canada is using a free market between Quebec and California
Cap and trade. (2016, June 5). Retrieved July 23, 2018, from https://www.ontario.ca/page/cap-and-trade
Green Taxation
Taxation imposed to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour. A carbon tax would be one example.
Canada wants to get rid of green tax
Analysis: What are green taxes, could they be scrapped, and what would the effect be. (2013, October 23). Retrieved July 23, 2018, from https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-what-are-green-taxes-could-they-be-scrapped-and-what-would-the-effect-be
Greenhouse gases GhG
Atmospheric gases that create the greenhouse effect by absorbing and holding heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. They include naturally occurring gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, and methane, and human-made gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
Index of Sustainable Economical Welfare
Alternate measure to the GDP that adjusts conventional measures of economical progress in two weeks positively for factors that improve societal well-being and negatively for consumption patterns that are non-sustainable
Smart Growth
Economic growth that occurs while sustainability is maintained. Smart growth occurs as a result of environmentally wise choices made by governments, businesses, and people with regard to their lifestyle.
an NGO is attempting to build a community with mixed land uses, compact design, housing variety, walkable neighbourhoods, distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place, open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas, etc. for the sake of smart growth
What is smart growth? (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2018, from https://smartgrowthamerica.org/our-vision/what-is-smart-growth/
Genuine Program Indicator (GPI)
A measurement that addresses the shortcomings of the GDP by assigning a positive dollar value to all activities that positively contribute to society’s quality of life, and impact of the quality of life
GPI is GDP with the addition of certain other elements like poverty rates to indicate how much a country can do
Comprehensive Indicator
A measure that shows overall the progress toward sustainability; e.g., the ecological footprint relates to the amount of land needed to support various human activities.
Specific Indicator
A single measure that shows progress toward sustainability, e.g., changes in greenhouse gas emissions over time.
Europe measures their specific indicators every July the 1st
Your key to European statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2018, from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/civil-servants-remuneration/specific-indicators
Tipping Point
A threshold beyond which a situation dramatically changes, e.g., when support to fight climate change became the dominant belief. More broadly, a point beyond which a situation has changed so profoundly that it is not possible to return to the initial state
Melting of the ice caps
Climate Change
The scientific theory that the earth’s climate is being altered by human activities. More generally, any change in global climates, whether caused by natural fluctuations or human activities.
Recent Heat Waves are due to Climate Change, as well as the extinction of most species in Canada, due to their inability to adapt to new climates
Bellagio Principle
A set of guidelines established in 1996 to assess the accuracy of measures of sustainable development
It is an extremely vague document that are simply guidelines and is basically politely asking for change
Bellagio Principles: Guidelines for the Practical Assessment of Progess Toward Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/bellagio-principles.html
Wind Power
Production of energy from windmills of various sorts
Subtopic
Thick Layer Capping
The isolation of solid wastes from the bottoms of water bodies by covering them with layers of clean materials.
AquoBlok is currently selling material that is eco-friendly and better than sand materials
Carbon Tax
A proposed method for reducing GhG emissions. All products and services that are sold would have a tax added based on the emissions that were generated to provide that product or service.
The US believes that this tax cannot be law because it is already causing extreme amounts of debt
Milman, O. (2018, July 23). Republican lawmaker pitches carbon tax in defiance of party stance. Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/23/republican-carlos-curbelo-pitches-carbon-tax-climate-change
Fair Earthshare
Within the idea of ecological footprints, this is the amount of land available to support each person if all the productive land on Earth were divided evenly among all people of the world
Vancouver is an example of Canada's greenest city, being a precisely divided city for ecological consideration
Extended Producer Responsibility
A corporate and public policy in which the manufacturer is deemed responsible for the environmental impact of its product’s packaging and the product itself during its entire lifespan
British Columbia has partnered with 16 different Eco-friendly companies to monitor and enforce Extended Producer Responsibility in the province
A. (2018, March 06). Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Programs in BC. Retrieved July 24, 2018, from https://www.rcbc.ca/recycling-programs/epr
Earth in Balance
by Kody Shah
Living Planet Index
A specific indicator, created by the World Wildlife Fund, to measure the state of the world’s biodiversity
More than 50% of of Canada's species are in decline since 1970 according to WWF
Living Planet Report Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2018, from http://www.wwf.ca/newsroom/reports/lprc.cfm
Carbon Cycle
The natural cycle through which carbon moves in the environment. It includes the hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere
Greenhouse Effect
The warming of the atmosphere as some of its gases absorb heat given off by Earth’s surface. This is a natural phenomenon that maintains Earth’s temperature at a level that supports life (e.g., about 14ºC)
Carbon Sink
Natural features (such as forests) that remove carbon from the atmosphere for a period ranging from a few minutes to a few centuries
Even though the Amazon rainforest, despite popular belief, isn't the Carbon sink of the world, it is a carbon free area which contributes to the fact that it is very well bio-diverse and free of disease more or less due to no pollutants in the air from this carbon sink
Fixed Carbon
Carbon that has been removed from the atmosphere for a very long time; e.g., carbon in limestone or coal has been out of the atmosphere for millions of years
Oil is the decomposing of old fossils and other carbon-based material
Ecological Footprint
A measure of sustainability in which a unit of land is used to demonstrate the ecological pressure created by the residents of a country. The EF is based on the principle that human activities are related to an amount of land needed to support them.
Across Canada, the FCM reported a wide range of footprints in municipalities from a low of 6.87 hectares per capita in Greater Sudbury to a high of 9.86 hectares for Calgary. Peel's ecological footprint is 7.83 hectares per capita and is the sixth highest in Canada, behind Calgary, Edmonton, Halton, Ottawa and York.
Ecological Footprint. (2004, September). Retrieved July 23, 2018, from https://www.peelregion.ca/planning/bulletins/ecological.pdf
Kyoto Protocol
An international agreement, signed in 1997, intended to begin the fight against climate change by limiting GhG emissions from industrialized countries
