ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

Environmental Development



Environmental Development

Answer 1

Business and ecology begins with the examination of the interconnections both within and between industrial and ecological systems. Seeking to transform current industrial processes from linear to cyclical systems, industrial ecology is rooted in the notion that structuring industrial systems to behave as ecosystems do would create sustainable development—where the wastes and by-products created within one system are utilized as energy or raw materials for another system. Just as the death and decay of plant matter provides the nutrients to create rich, fertile soil, the waste and by-products from one industrial process can become the energy and raw materials to fuel another industrial process (Allenby, 2009). Closely linked to industrial ecology is the concept of a circular economy, which seeks to balance economic development with environmental and resource protection. Most concretely embraced in China, where, in 2008, the Circular Economy Promotion Law was passed, a circular economy is achieved by interlinking manufacturing and service businesses. In this way, economic performance is enhanced and environmental impacts are minimized through collaborative efforts to manage environmental and resource issues (Pfahl, 2003). For example, the European Union has proposed an Integrated Product Policy (IPP), which is intended to increase demand for green products while encouraging green design and manufacturing processes. In resource-limited Japan, extensive product recycling and energy efficiency have been embraced to counter decades of environmental degradation and resource exhaustion. Consistent with an eco-industrial approach to achieving sustainable development, Japanese leaders have initiated various types of eco-industrial projects throughout the country.

Answer 2

Economic and industrial activities and changes in land use, such as deforestation, have generated a constant increase in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. A high concentration of GHGs (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons) may in turn increase the average temperature due to the so-called “greenhouse effect.” On this basis, the subject has been analytically discussed at international conferences, especially at Conferences of the Parties (COP), which occur once a year in different regions of the world. A result of these discussions has been the proposition of market-based instruments to assist industrialized countries (developed countries)—hitherto the most responsible for the greatest percentage of GHGs—in reducing their GHG emissions. Another reason for the emergence of these market instruments is due to the variation in GHG abatement costs that exist among countries. There are differences in costs, but economic incentives exist for countries to begin providing this service, thereby generating a carbon market. The idea is that the reduction, stabilization, and/or elimination of a given pollutant can be achieved through trading carbon credits, since this trade lends greater flexibility for countries to reduce GHG emissions. Due to the high costs of the projects that reduce emissions and/or carbon sequestration, there is also the possibility of the approval and registration of small-scale projects, which incur more modest costs. These projects have slightly different regulations when compared to large-scale projects, allowing, for example, that traditional communities in developing countries can sell the carbon ...