Ecological debt
Ecological debt refers to the accumulated
Within the ecological debt broad definition, there are two main aspects: the ecological damage caused over time by a country in one or other countries or to ecosystems beyond national jurisdiction through its production and consumption patterns; and the exploitation or use of ecosystems over time by a country at the expense of the equitable rights to these ecosystems by other countries.[4]
History
The term 'ecological debt' first appeared on paper in 1985, in a yellow booklet with the title “Women in movement" made by the German ecofeminist
In 1992, the term appeared again in two reports published in different places around the world: “Deuda ecológica” by Robleto and Marcelo in
Overall, the ecological debt 'movement' was born of the convergence of three main factors during the 80s-90s: 1) the consequences of the debt crisis in the 70s due to the
In 2009,
Feminist
In 2009 as well,
Political dimension
Historical context
There have been several debates around the notion of ecological debt, and this is mostly because the concept arises from various social movements in response to the distributional injustice of climate change's consequences on the environment and people's livelihood.
Salleh, in particular, showed how the ecological debt manifested in the destruction of the environment and associated climate change the North has created is made possible through the process of
In political ecology, which reconnects nature and the economy, ecological debt is crucial because it recognizes that colonization has not only resulted in a loss of culture, way of life, and language for
During the
Today
In the 2000s, two networks were created and still exist today: the Southern Peoples Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance (SPEDCA) which is a network of creditors that launched a campaign for the recognition of ecological debt, and the European Network for the Recognition of Ecological Debt (ENRED) which is a network of debtors.
During the
The
Calculations
Climate debt
When discussing ecological debt,
Calculations
Academic work on calculations of the ecological debt came later. An article published in 2008 looked at the distribution of
As seen previously, calculation of the ecological debt implies various aspects related to political ecology. While calculating the amount of emissions, some scholars have disregard inequalities of emissions from the past whereas others have considered historical accountability. In addition, there is a connection between ecological issues and the economy due to the value natural resources have and the important role they play in benefiting our economy.[19]
In 2000, Neumayer calculated what he named the 'historical emissions debt', consisting on the difference in emissions of actual historical emissions (from a specific date in the past) and equal per-capita emissions (current emissions).[20]
Theoretically, it may be possible to put a money value on ecological debt by calculating the value of the environmental and social
In 2015, Matthews proposed a method to calculate the ecological debt, by looking at the accumulated `carbon debts' for each country.
Other scholars have proposed a different approach, a `modified equal shares' approach, that would consider each country's basic needs and would weight each ones' share of emissions.[24] However, this approach brings potential ethical and political difficulties to quantitatively defining what would thus be the equal shares.
Key debates
Although some recent emerging countries have participated in the increase of
Recent studies on ecological debt focus more on sub-topics as the notion of historical responsibility[5] (whether or not a country is considered ethically responsible or accountable for carbon emissions prior 1990, i.e. when global warming was universally recognized), the components of climate debt (see above sections), the difficulties in deciding when to start counting past emissions[26] and if this debate is slowing the implementation of programs or the legal and political consecration of the debt through treaties.[27]
Present key debates focus on how is the debt going to be paid back. First, some academia have pushed for financial
Another debate addresses the fact that the ecological debt risks “commodifying nature” is exhausting ecosystem services. Researchers have tackled this risk by showing how it will expand the inclination of objectifying, monetizing and ultimately commodifying nature.[5] Moreover, the language of debt, repayments, credits and so forth is understood in Northern countries mostly, and is mostly focused on recognition of wrongdoing but not payment for loss of services for instance.[5]
Resources
Books
- Ecological debt: the health of the planet and the wealth of nations, Andrew Simms, Pluto books, 2005
- Larkin, Amy (2013). Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy ISBN 9781137278555
Reports
- Ecological debt. History, meaning and relevance for environmental justice, Warlenius, R. et al., 2015
- J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley C. Parks (2009). "Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Ecological Debt, and Climate Justice: The History and Implications of Three Related Ideas for a New Social Movement". International Journal of Comparative Sociology. 50 (3–4): 381–408. S2CID 143911217.
- James Rice (2009). "North-South Relations and the Ecological Debt: Asserting a Counter-Hegemonic Discourse". Critical Sociology. 35 (2): 225–252. S2CID 145372698.
- Towards a Level Playing Field, Repaying Ecological Debt, or Making Environmental Space: Three Stories about International Environmental Cooperation, Osgoode Hall Law Journal,2005, VOL 43; NUMB 1/2, pages 137-170[permanent dead link]
- Elaboration of the concept of ecological debt, Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, 2004
- Credit Where it's Due: The Ecological Debt Education Project, Friends of the Earth Scotland, 2003
- Who owes who?: Climate change, debt, equity and survival, Christian Aid, 1999
See also
- Carbon footprint
- Carrying capacity
- Ecological economics
- Ecological footprint
- Environmental racism
- Green imperialism
References
- ISSN 0959-3780.
- ^ Donoso, A. (2015). "We are not debtors, we are creditors. In: Bravo, E., & Yánez, I. (Eds.), No more looting and destruction! We the peoples of the south are ecological creditors". Southern Peoples Ecological Debt Creditors Alliance (SPEDCA).
- ISBN 978-90-382-1341-5.
- ^ "Ecological debt". Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- ^ a b c d Warlenius, R., Pierce, G., Ramasar, V., Quistorp, E., Martínez-Alier, J., Rijnhout, L., Yanez, I. (2015). "Ecological debt. History, meaning and relevance for environmental justice". EJOLT Report. 18: 48.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Robleto M.L., Marcelo W. (1992). La deuda ecológica. Una perspectiva sociopolítica. Santiago de Chile: Instituto Ecología Política (IEP).
- ^ Borrero Navia, J. (1994). La deuda ecológica. Testimonio de una reflexión. Cali: Fipma y Cela.
- ^ "Deuda Ecologica". Deuda Ecologica (in Spanish). 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Salleh, A. (2009). Ecological debt: embodied debt. Eco-Sufficiency and Global Justice. London: Pluto Press.
- ^ PMID 18212119.
- S2CID 145372698.
- ^ Andrew Simms. Ecological Debt: The Health of the Planet & the Wealth of Nations. (London: Pluto Press, 2009) p.200.
- ^ Polanyi, Karl (1944). Chapter 3: Habitation versus Improvement. In The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 35–44.
- .
- ^ Seager, J. (2009). The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World (4th ed.). New York, NY: Penguin.
- ^ Warlenius, Rikard (2014). "Reversing the arrow of arrears: The concept of "ecological debt" and its value for environmental justice". Global Environmental Change: 22.
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(help) - ^ Zeller Jr., Tom (December 5, 2009). "Negotiators at Climate Talks Face Deep Set of Fault Lines". New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ S. Khatua and W. Stanley, "Ecological Debt: a case study from Orissa, India" (2006) [1]
- ISBN 978-3-030-96355-2, retrieved 2022-10-24
- S2CID 154625649.
- S2CID 154241874.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ .
- .
- ISBN 978-0199733125.
- doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/1/014010.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - S2CID 46996496.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - S2CID 154314395.
- ^ Ngosso, Thierry (2016). "Ecological Debt Versus Financial Debt In The African Context". The Critique. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ Krahe, Dialika (2009-08-10). "A New Approach to Aid: How a Basic Income Program Saved a Namibian Village". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 2018-02-28.