DP: Climate change and human development

I would like to share my first thoughts and impressions after almost a month of deep diving into different and interesting topics, like the corporate responsibility, renewable energy, innovation, social entrepreneurship and several sustainable development issues.

I have been thinking of opening the discussion on the main challenges the developing countries are facing, like the lack of the community participation in the development plans and projects (sadly I personally experienced it during my trips to Tanzania while collaborating with different non-profit associations) or the consequences of a system based on different types of aid (Dambisa Moyo, on her book Dead Aid, 2009, explains her point of view about the creation of dependency and the negative aid effect on the African economic development).

However last week the World Bank published the report Turn down the Heat. Why a 4 C° warmer World must be avoid realized by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics and its alarming contents suddenly grabbed my whole attention and pushed me to direct the conversation towards the big challenge both the developed and developing countries have to face: the Climate Change.

I am going to describe how the current situation looks to my eyes at the moment and I will re-evaluate this issue in a few of months from another perspective and with a broader knowledge of the concept of development.

Before discussing about this urgent matter let’s see how climate change is linked to the sustainable development area.

People in Tanzania walk for many kilometers in order to get some water. (Picture I took during my trip to Arusha in 2010).

Terms like growth, economic growth and progress are always mentioned in any kind of discussion, especially at this very moment in such a crisis period. The different economic measures and the business strategies are always driven to reach a certain development, human or business related. But what is development? I believe the best definition is “A change for good”, given by Robert Chambers (Development Studies Professor) and in order to have positive effects, development needs to be sustainable. Sustainability means balance, it is the equilibrium between the society, the economy and the environment and should be the priority number one in any kind of topic.

Sadly I believe profitability instead has been since ever the number one priority. The globalization and the capitalism have driven the world to this risky situation and now that people see the real effects of decades of uncontrolled production and consumption, they start to think about it. The profitability have pushed companies and government to become modern, industrialized and more developed but the most industrialized countries are the one emitting the biggest quantity of greenhouse gases that lead to the global warming.

In addiction the world population keeps growing, in the next 40 years there will be 2.3 extra billion people, with a total of 9 billion human beings living on the same planet, pushing consumption up and squeezing the last drops of the natural resources. The population will grow more in the regions least able to handle it (especially Africa) and the climate change consequences will affect more the same regions, like a vicious circle.

Here it is possible to see the current world population, it is really impressive..

The World Bank report states the world is dangerously getting to 4 C° global warming by the end of the century and describes the alarming consequences.

A drastic environmental change is expected and the possible effects would include extreme heat waves, the extinction of several ecosystems like the coral reef, draught and ice melting. Scientists are even not sure if the human body would be able to handle the extreme temperatures. The agricultural system would be affected the most and the developing countries will need to face an even bigger challenge than the current one, while poverty will proliferate even more. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report greenhouse gas emission levels are around 14% above the risky level at the moment and in 2020 the emission would probably reach 13 billion metric tons above the level needed to limit global warming to 2 C°. In addition China and India economies are expected to double in the next ten years and what would be the effect on the climate if the population demand will not be met by sustainable policies and measures, like renewable energy, recycling and ad hoc water management?

Old Delhi, December 2011. (Picture I took during my trip to India).

Even if the future doesn’t look that bright as I wish, I believe it is still possible to do something and it is necessary to take an action soon, a change is needed and for good!

In 2010 the International Energy Agency has published a “solutions guideline” with several recommendations aimed to keep the warming at least below 2°C. These measures include renewable energy implementation: wind power (on shore and off shore), hydropower dams, geothermal and biomass energy; more efficient buildings, residential and commercial buildings are accounting for 32% of the total energy used around the world; nuclear power, according to the IEA the world’s nuclear power capacity should double by 2025 in order to meet the climate targets; cleaning up coal plants, in order to meet that 2°C climate target the countries around the world should have at least 38 coal plants by 2020, capturing and storing the carbon.

So everybody keeps talking about climate change issue, the governments and the society itself are aware of the current alarming situation, researchers are presenting to the world several options aimed to improve the current situation and to reduce the GHG emissions and why nobody takes action? Why despite of the alarming warnings more then 1000 new coal-fired power plants are being planned around the world, the majority in two countries not affected by the cap and trade system: China and India? Why despite the fact coal plants are the ones that pollute more, the coal trade keeps growing (coal use increased by 4% in 2011 and coal trade by 13% in 2010)? Why while someone advises to do something clever someone else just does the opposite?

I believe the answer is given by another question: does Economic Growth mean Development?

Amartya Sen Indian-Bengali economist, in his book Development as a freedom talks about the development “as expansion of the real freedoms and capabilities that the people enjoy and that lead them to life a live that they value”. According to Sen a more people-centered model is needed and the human and social development indexes need to be considered too while talking about a nation development.

The economic development instead has the economy, therefore the money, at the center. Our capitalistic society is driven by the profitability, business interests come first and as a consequence the countries continue to be aggressively focused on increasing their production (without caring about the environment), deforestation is still going on and the ultimate goal is always to increase the GDP, mirror of the wealth of a nation.

I personally believe people are the wealth of a nation instead and because of this the massive change needed at this moment should start at a personal level.

I believe that a sustainable development is possible and should be part of the “business as usual” strategy of a company and also part of each individual single choice. Years of globalization drove the society in the wrong track, in a production-consumption path where most of the people believe happiness lies behind richness. Every single individual should therefore take a breath, think and start changing the old and wrong habits while considering the environment effects. Fair trade, proper water and electricity consumption, car sharing and controlled waste are few aspects that should be part of the everyday life. Those behavioral changes would positively affect the global issue of the climate change while having a positive outcome on the human and social development.

I strongly believe the solution of this dramatic moment lies behind the importance of having the people and their quality of life at the center of any development study.

Till when the society will place the economy instead, it would be really hard to change the path.

Glorious Orphanage, Arusha, Tanzania (August 2011)

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