Dr Michael H Smith (Green Growth, Climate Change, Sustainable Development & Sustainable Design Solutions)
Dr Michael Smith was an ANU Research Fellow 2006-2016. He now serves as a senior policy and programs officer in the ACT Government, ranked as one of the top 10 cities globally for action on climate change. Whilst at ANU, he has co-authored ~200+ "green growth" publications (incl. 6 books with 200,000+ sales) in advanced strategies to help investors, business leaders, designers, engineers, & policy makers achieve a low carbon resilient future. He has an h-Index of 18 with >2941 citations (Google Scholar), and a ResearchGate score of >19 with 170,000+ reads. Collaborating with co-authors, he and his co-authors were first to publish in detail how & why;
- 1) Sustainability would drive the next wave of innovation, & how businesses, cities & nations can best lead this 6th wave of innovation (Natural Advantage of Nations, 2005, Routledge)
- 2) Green growth can be achieved by decoupling GDP from environmental pressures 5-10 fold (PhD thesis+"Cents & Sustainability" (Routledge, 2010)+ UNEP IRP reports). PhD @ https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
- 3) Smart action to achieve the Paris Agreement & UN SDGs can boost global GDP >$25 Trillion by 2030 above BAU. Reports @ www.2xep.org.au/doubling-energy-and-resource-productivity-by-2030.html
- 4) All business sectors can profit from action on climate change @ www.eex.gov.au & double energy productivity by 2030 @ https://a2se.org.au/reports-publications
- 5) Strong climate change action could drive a new mining&metals boom @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301420717304725?via%3Dihub
- 6) Investors/CEOs can & should address climate risks, adaptation& mitigation opportunities co-authoring 5 reports.eg: www.igcc.org.au/resources/Documents/IGCC_Adaptation_Guidance_web_Full_FINAL.pdf
- 7) There are many climate mitigation, adaptation synergies. So climate change mitigation & adaptation strategies should be integrated.
- 8) Engineers/design professionals can use a “Whole System Design” (Routledge, 2010) approach to improve efficiency 50-80%(“Factor Five”, Routledge, 2010) @ https://research.qut.edu.au/tnep/books/
- 9) Professionals can up-skill by utilising his co-authored online textbooks @ https://research.qut.edu.au/tnep/curriculum/
- 10) Universities should integrate sustainability practices into their campus facility operations & curricula. (http://sustainability.edu.au/material/teaching-materials/10a-universities-and-sustainability-acf-tela-paper-universities-and-susteainability)inspiring the Australian Campuses Towards Sustainability network@www.acts.asn.au/
- 11) Nations should develop Agenda 21 strategies. eg: Collaborating with colleagues at the ACF to develop the first fully costed Agenda 21 strategy for Australia in 2002.
- 12) Industry groups can better serve their members by developing sustainability frameworks & action plans. Michael worked with Dr Hargroves & Philip Toyne to co-author the first such action plans for peak industry groups in Australia to help empower their business members.
- 13) It is important to advance & resolve the great sustainability discourses & debates to build political will to support lasting ESD policy reform @ https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
A full list of 200+ co-authored publications is @ ResearchGate - www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Smith119/
Dr Smith wishes to acknowledge the many great co-authors with whom he has collaborated including;
- Institutional investors - David Rissik
- Business energy-efficiency web portal - Alan Pears, Geoff Andrews, Deni Greene
- Australian energy productivity sectoral roadmaps - Jon Jutsen, Anita Saddler, Alan Pears, Liz Hutton, Dr Mary Stewart, and Tony Westmore.
- Sustainable engineering textbooks - Dr Peter Stasinopoulos, Dr Karlson Hargroves, Assoc Prof Desha, Nick Palousis, Alan Pears, Geoff Andrews.
- Co-authored book publications - Prof Ernst Weizsacker, Dr Karlson Hargroves, Associate Prof Cheryl Desha and Dr Peter Stasinopoulos. Prof Steve Dovers. Prof Peter Newman, Prof Alan Pears, Hunter Lovins, Alan AtKisson, Professor Jeff Kenworthy, Professor Roger Burritt, Professor Val Brown, Professor Paul Weaver, Professor Jaya Pillai, Dr Chika Saka, Dr David Dumaresq, Rob Murray Leach, Anna MacKenzie, Dr Janis Birkeland, Professor Mike Young and Dr Jim McColl.
- UNEP IRP Decoupling 2 - Technologies, Opportunities and Policy report -
All co-authors and especially lead Authors: Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (lead coordinating author), Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves, Christian Hudson, Michael Harrison Smith, and Maria Amelia Enriquez Rodrigues.
UNEP IRP - Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution report co-authors - especially lead authors Kevin Chika Urama, Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen, Niels Riegels, Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, Jeffrey Herrick, Lea Kauppi, Jeffrey A. McNeely, Jacqueline McGlade, Eric Eboh
Supervisors: Professor Stephen Dovers and Professor Mark Howden
- 1) Sustainability would drive the next wave of innovation, & how businesses, cities & nations can best lead this 6th wave of innovation (Natural Advantage of Nations, 2005, Routledge)
- 2) Green growth can be achieved by decoupling GDP from environmental pressures 5-10 fold (PhD thesis+"Cents & Sustainability" (Routledge, 2010)+ UNEP IRP reports). PhD @ https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
- 3) Smart action to achieve the Paris Agreement & UN SDGs can boost global GDP >$25 Trillion by 2030 above BAU. Reports @ www.2xep.org.au/doubling-energy-and-resource-productivity-by-2030.html
- 4) All business sectors can profit from action on climate change @ www.eex.gov.au & double energy productivity by 2030 @ https://a2se.org.au/reports-publications
- 5) Strong climate change action could drive a new mining&metals boom @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301420717304725?via%3Dihub
- 6) Investors/CEOs can & should address climate risks, adaptation& mitigation opportunities co-authoring 5 reports.eg: www.igcc.org.au/resources/Documents/IGCC_Adaptation_Guidance_web_Full_FINAL.pdf
- 7) There are many climate mitigation, adaptation synergies. So climate change mitigation & adaptation strategies should be integrated.
- 8) Engineers/design professionals can use a “Whole System Design” (Routledge, 2010) approach to improve efficiency 50-80%(“Factor Five”, Routledge, 2010) @ https://research.qut.edu.au/tnep/books/
- 9) Professionals can up-skill by utilising his co-authored online textbooks @ https://research.qut.edu.au/tnep/curriculum/
- 10) Universities should integrate sustainability practices into their campus facility operations & curricula. (http://sustainability.edu.au/material/teaching-materials/10a-universities-and-sustainability-acf-tela-paper-universities-and-susteainability)inspiring the Australian Campuses Towards Sustainability network@www.acts.asn.au/
- 11) Nations should develop Agenda 21 strategies. eg: Collaborating with colleagues at the ACF to develop the first fully costed Agenda 21 strategy for Australia in 2002.
- 12) Industry groups can better serve their members by developing sustainability frameworks & action plans. Michael worked with Dr Hargroves & Philip Toyne to co-author the first such action plans for peak industry groups in Australia to help empower their business members.
- 13) It is important to advance & resolve the great sustainability discourses & debates to build political will to support lasting ESD policy reform @ https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
A full list of 200+ co-authored publications is @ ResearchGate - www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Smith119/
Dr Smith wishes to acknowledge the many great co-authors with whom he has collaborated including;
- Institutional investors - David Rissik
- Business energy-efficiency web portal - Alan Pears, Geoff Andrews, Deni Greene
- Australian energy productivity sectoral roadmaps - Jon Jutsen, Anita Saddler, Alan Pears, Liz Hutton, Dr Mary Stewart, and Tony Westmore.
- Sustainable engineering textbooks - Dr Peter Stasinopoulos, Dr Karlson Hargroves, Assoc Prof Desha, Nick Palousis, Alan Pears, Geoff Andrews.
- Co-authored book publications - Prof Ernst Weizsacker, Dr Karlson Hargroves, Associate Prof Cheryl Desha and Dr Peter Stasinopoulos. Prof Steve Dovers. Prof Peter Newman, Prof Alan Pears, Hunter Lovins, Alan AtKisson, Professor Jeff Kenworthy, Professor Roger Burritt, Professor Val Brown, Professor Paul Weaver, Professor Jaya Pillai, Dr Chika Saka, Dr David Dumaresq, Rob Murray Leach, Anna MacKenzie, Dr Janis Birkeland, Professor Mike Young and Dr Jim McColl.
- UNEP IRP Decoupling 2 - Technologies, Opportunities and Policy report -
All co-authors and especially lead Authors: Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (lead coordinating author), Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves, Christian Hudson, Michael Harrison Smith, and Maria Amelia Enriquez Rodrigues.
UNEP IRP - Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution report co-authors - especially lead authors Kevin Chika Urama, Peter Koefoed Bjørnsen, Niels Riegels, Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, Jeffrey Herrick, Lea Kauppi, Jeffrey A. McNeely, Jacqueline McGlade, Eric Eboh
Supervisors: Professor Stephen Dovers and Professor Mark Howden
less
InterestsView All (22)
Uploads
Green Growth - UN Reports, Books, and Theses by Dr Michael H Smith (Green Growth, Climate Change, Sustainable Development & Sustainable Design Solutions)
· Simultaneously boost labour, capital and multi-factor productivity through improved rates of production, greater labour participation, quicker returns on capital expenditure, as well as reduced energy and resource input costs.
· And thereby achieve total productivity benefits up to 2.5 times greater than the simple productivity benefits from reduced energy and water input costs from energy/resource productivity investments.
Utilising these insights, these series of reports show, for the first time, how a focus on energy and resource productivity could boost cumulative global GDP >US$25-30 Trillion by 2030 compared to business as usual (BAU) whilst enabling a transition to a low carbon future. The implications of this result are significant for everything from
a) achieving progress to keep global warming under 2 degrees
b) achieving progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
c) to building political will for policy reforms to enable (a) and (b).
This Four Page Executive Summary summarises the following 3 reports listed below and downloadable from this web page.
Report #1 – Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 - Unlocking a $25-30 Trillion Cumulative Increase to Global GDP Whilst Transitioning to a Low Carbon Future. ANU Discussion paper.
Report 1 is complimented by Report 2 - a “how to guide” for policy makers - and Report 3 - a guide for business leaders.
Report #2 – Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 – A “How to Guide” for Policy Decision Makers.
Report #3- Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 – Improving Business Competitiveness and Profitability Whilst Transitioning to a Low Carbon Future. ANU Discussion paper
This report was produced by the Decoupling Working Group of the International Resource Panel. It explores technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed countries to accelerate decoupling and reap the environmental and economic benefits of increased resource productivity. It also examines several policy options that have proved to be successful in helping different countries to improve resource productivity in various sectors of their economy, avoiding negative impacts on the environment.
It does not seem possible for a global economy based on the current unsustainable patterns of resource use to continue into the future. The economic consequences of these patterns are already apparent in three areas: increases in resource prices, increased price volatility and disruption of environmental systems. The environment impacts of resource use are also leading to potentially irreversible changes to the world’s ecosystems, often with direct effects on people and the economy – for example through damage to health, water shortages, loss of fish stocks or increased storm damage.
But there are alternatives to these scary patterns. Many decoupling technologies and techniques that deliver resource productivity increases as high as 5 to 10-fold are already available, allowing countries to pursue their development strategies while significantly reducing their resource footprint and negative impacts on the environment.
This report shows that much of the policy design “know-how” needed to achieve decoupling is present in terms of legislation, incentive systems, and institutional reform. Many countries have tried these out with tangible results, encouraging others to study and where appropriate replicate and scale up such practices and successes.
This report was produced by the Decoupling Working Group of the International Resource Panel. It explores technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed countries to accelerate decoupling and reap the environmental and economic benefits of increased resource productivity. It also examines several policy options that have proved to be successful in helping different countries to improve resource productivity in various sectors of their economy, avoiding negative impacts on the environment.
The report shows that there are many decoupling technologies and techniques that deliver resource productivity increases as high as 5 to 10-fold are already available, allowing countries to pursue their development strategies while significantly reducing their resource footprint and negative impacts on the environment.
This report shows that much of the policy design “know-how” needed to achieve decoupling is present in terms of legislation, incentive systems, and institutional reform. Many countries have tried these out with tangible results, encouraging others to study and where appropriate replicate and scale up such practices and successes.
The report, entitled Policy Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution, finds that as the global population rises, increased urbanization, climate change and a shift in how food is consumed are likely to dramatically increase future demand for water.
Under current trends, demand for water will exceed supply by 40 per cent in 2030.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "Reliable access to clean water is a cornerstone of sustainable development. When clean water is consistently unavailable, the world's poorest must spend much of their disposable income buying it, or a large amount of time transporting it, which limits development. And since only half of one per cent of the world's freshwater is available for the needs of both humanity and ecosystems, we will need to do more and better with less if we are to ensure healthy ecosystems, healthy populations and economic development."
Despite the importance of water, many countries have a "mixed track record" in managing their water resources, the report says.
Governments have tended to invest heavily in mega-projects like dams, canals, aqueducts, pipelines and water reservoirs, the report says. With a few exceptions, these solutions are inefficient and many of them are neither environmentally sustainable nor economically viable.
The most cost-effective way of achieving water decoupling, according to the report, is for governments to create holistic water management plans that take into account the entire water cycle: from source to distribution, economic use, treatment, recycling, reuse and return to the environment. Specifically, to achieve water decoupling, the IRP recommends:
Investing more in research and development to improve technology that reduces water waste;
Building sustainable infrastructure to improve the efficiency of water use and eliminate water contamination and pollution;
Introducing policies to curb water demand and re-allocate water to sectors where it produces goods and services most beneficial to society while ensuring vulnerable groups are protected;
Strengthening research into the value of ecosystem services and water to human welfare and economic development.
Doing more to assess "virtual water" (the water used to manufacture goods that are traded internationally), water footprints and related impacts to better understand how international trade patterns could be used to support decoupling where it is most needed.
Hence this leaves the question ‘is it possible to reconcile the need for economic growth with the need to significantly reduce environmental pressures?’ In 1987 Our Common Future, argued that not only was it achievable but that it was an imperative, a position that was criticised then and is still questioned today, despite the evidence it provided. Cents and Sustainability responds to this by presenting the strongest case for ‘forceful’ and ‘sustainable’ economic growth based on a strategy to decouple economic growth from environmental pressures, combined with renewed efforts to achieve environmental restoration and poverty reduction. Beginning with a brief overview of some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, the book then explains ‘decoupling theory’, overviews a number of factors that can undermine and even block efforts to decouple in both developed and developing countries, and then discusses a number of key considerations to assist the development of national ‘decoupling strategies’. The book then focuses on presenting evidence to support greater action, not just on climate change, but also on decoupling economic growth from the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration of natural systems, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution.
In the lead up to the UNFCCC Paris COP in 2015 and beyond, Cents and Sustainability will be a crucial guide to inform and assist nations to develop strategies to significantly reduce environmental pressures, strengthen their economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.
Preliminaries, Acknowledgments and Endorsement Quotes
Introduction by Ernst von Weizsäcker – ‘Factor 5: A Global Imperative’
http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781136545801_sample_822240.pdf
PART ONE: A WHOLE SYSTEM APPROACH TO FACTOR 5
Preface to the Sector Studies
Chapter 1: A Framework for Factor 5
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter1-FrameworkforFactorFive.pdf
Chapter 2: The Buildings Sector (Residential Sector - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter2-ResidentialBuildingsSub-Chapter.pdf.pdf )
Chapter 3: The Heavy Industry Sector - Steel and Cement (Cement Article - http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC149p21.pdf)
Chapter 4: The Agricultural Sector
Chapter 5: The Transport Sector
Online Sector Study: Factor 5 in the Pulp and Paper Sector
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Documents/Factor5-PulpandPaperOnlineSectorStudy.pdf
Online Sector Study: Factor 5 in the Food and Hospitality Sector (Energy Efficiency - Dairy, Bakery, Supermarket, Restaurant, and Fast Food Outlets) http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Documents/Factor5-FoodandHospitalityOnlineSectorStudy.pdf
PART TWO: MAKING IT HAPPEN
By Ernst von Weizsäcker
Chapter 6: Regulation: The Visible Hand
Chapter 7: Economic Instruments for the Environment, for Efficiency and for Renewable Energies
Chapter 8: Addressing the Rebound Dilemma - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter8-AddressingRebound.pdf.pdf
Chapter 9: A Long-Term Ecological Tax Reform - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter9-LongTermEcologicalTaxReform.pdf.pdf
Chapter 10: Balancing Public with Private Goods
Chapter 11: Sufficiency in a Civilised World
The authors present a bold vision for the future and demonstrate how we can get there, drawing on lessons of competitive advantage theory and the latest in sustainability, economics, innovation, business and governance theory and practice. The result is nothing less than the most authoritative and comprehensive guide to date, to building the new ecologically sustainable economy.
Sample chapters of the book are available from google books and from
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/NAON_ch1.aspx
The Natural Advantage of Nations was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Banksia Award in 2005 for Environmental Leadership. An international bestseller it has been used as a university text by numerous universities including the London School of Economics. The book can be ordered from Routledge Publishing @ https://www.routledge.com/The-Natural-Advantage-of-Nations-Business-Opportunities-Innovations-and/Hargroves-Smith/p/book/9781844073405
By clearly differentiating between economic and physical growth and focusing on how to achieve significant decoupling this thesis advances the traditional debates and discourses about “growth”. This thesis shows that in theory and practice it is possible to achieve significant levels of decoupling, and thus environmental sustainability, whilst maintaining economic growth.
This thesis examines the relative costs of inaction versus action on decoupling, concluding that the costs of inaction significantly outweigh the costs of action. It also examines whether a transition to environmental sustainabilty will lead to net job losses or gains, showing that, with effective policy, it can result in net employment gains. As such, this thesis provides a new integration to show that it is possible to reconcile the need to simultaneously achieve environmental sustainability, economic growth and job creation. This result has important implications for other important sustainability debates such as the climate change debates. These are explored in detail in this thesis.
This thesis also demonstrates that many social sustainability goals – reducing poverty, inequality and corruption whilst improving access to education and health –correlate strongly with improved economic growth. Thus this thesis demonstrates that it is possible to create a new form of economic growth that is also environmentally and socially sustainable as called for in the seminal text on sustainable development "Our Common Future" in 1987.
Finally, this thesis is a formal defense of and contribution to the academic field of ecological modernization which has hypothesized that it is possible to simultaneously pursue environmental sustainability, social justice and economic growth in ways that mutually re-enforce each other. This thesis provides significant evidence to support this central tenet of ecological modernisation. The research of this thesis has helped inform and contribute to several international book publications all of which show nations how to achieve significant decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures such as Cents and Sustainability:Securing Our Common Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures (Earthscan, 2010). Note: This thesis was submitted in May 2008 and was awarded in 2009. You can download all the chapters individually from the ANU digital thesis library here https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
However, as the latest climate change science shows, if Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and China (BRIIC) nations and developing countries “grow first with fossil fuels” and reduce emissions later, it is going to be very hard for greenhouse gas emissions and related global warming to stay within the 2 degree guardrail to avoid dangerous climate change. So, this thesis reviews whether or not these common myths are true. The thesis integrates the latest studies which
1) Evidences that the first industrial revolution could have technically still occurred with less fossil fuels and more renewable energy over time, just more slowly than it did with abundant fossil fuels. The thesis shows that it was not until the 1830s with the advent of rail in the UK that coal prices fell and use of coal and steam engines really took off. The thesis shows the key role renewable energy therefore played in powering first industrial revolution innovations from 1600s-1820 in the UK such as the revolution in cotton manufacturing, which was water powered.
2) Evidences that fossil fuels, whilst important still for some medium to high temperature industrial processes, are no longer essential to achieve much of the modernisation of developing and BRIIIC economies. The thesis evidences how innovations in energy efficiency (i.e.: more energy efficient industrial processes, building and transport vehicle design) makes it much easier now to power a modern economy on renewable energy and energy storage. (See Chapter 2)
3) Evidences that, if energy efficiency improvements are combined with low carbon energy sources such as wind power and solar PV, low carbon energy systems are no longer more expensive than fossil fuels in many parts of the world. (Chapters 2-4)
4) Shows that it is still possible to further reduce the costs of key renewable energy and other low carbon technologies (Chapters 3-4) and as a result
5) Shows that it is possible to meet society’s needs for key industrialised products whilst reducing emissions. Provides evidence that it is possible to have a 3rdlow carbon industrial revolution and hence technically and economically possible for developing and BRIIC economies now to leapfrog to a low carbon future. (Chapter 2-3)
The thesis also evidences that it was improvements in overall energy productivity through the combination of greater energy efficiency and energy conversion efficiency as well as expansion of energy sources, which drove the price of energy services down, which helped underpin economic growth in the first and second industrial revolutions.
The thesis shows that it is possible again to achieve a step change in energy productivity in how society delivers energy services – through a focus on integrated approaches to energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage – in ways that deliver energy services relatively cheaply in many parts of the world. Hence the thesis shows that it is possible for developing and BRIIC nations to chart a low carbon 3rd industrial revolution and that this is increasingly being understood in China and India and other developing nations. Thus the thesis overall show how to achieve a transition to a low carbon future whilst boosting productivity and economic growth, which is very important and relevant for current debates on climate change policy in developing and BRIIC countries. The thesis finishes (Chapter 5) by showing how a low carbon industrial revolution could create higher economic growth than business as usual using insights and results from earlier chapters
- Incorrect Assumption #1 - That the costs of inaction from unmitigated climate change will be small for developing nations. As this thesis shows, recent economic studies show that 70-80% of the costs of inaction of unmitigated climate change will impact developing countries. (World Bank, 20091) And that long term unmitigated climate change threatens much of the economy of many developing national economies and their peoples which are often dependent on rain-fed agriculture, hydroelectric power and coral based coastal fisheries for their well-being. (See Chapter 1 for more details)
- Incorrect Assumption #2 – That climate change mitigation and adaptation will cost too much and can only be afforded once developing countries have reached a certain level of per capita GDP. That there are few profitable opportunities to clean up now and mitigate climate change, because, in a free market, private actors have supposedly already invested in options that provide financial savings and profits. As this thesis shows in Chapter 2, 3 and 4, due to market, informational and institutional failures there are many opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with both good returns on investment and developmental co-benefits. Specifically, Chapter 2 shows that action on climate change is a very effective way to achieve, at lowest cost, many aspects of the 17 goals of the current UN Sustainable Development Goals draft. Chapter 2 also shows that there are many aspects of climate change mitigation can significantly help to boost developing country economic growth once co-benefits are taken into account. This thesis investigates where climate change adaptation strategies have climate change mitigation and development co-benefits and vice versa. (See Chapters 2-4)This thesis shows that this has been recognised recently by a few developing countries like Ethiopia and Kenya who have formally recognised the value of identifying and focusing on integrated development/mitigation/adaptation strategies – known as climate resilient pathways. (Chapter 3). Chapter 3 shows that the recent work of these countries is evidencing the economic, social and environmental value of such an integrated approach to development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. (Chapter 3) This thesis focuses on mapping these synergies between development and climate change mitigation and adaptation in Chapter 2 and 3 because to date, most developing countries (and some OECD countries) have developed their development, climate change adaptation and mitigation plans separate from each other without appreciating the potential synergies between them. As this thesis shows, this has been partly due to the fact that countries have been required to research and develop national climate change adaptation plans by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) separate from their climate change mitigation plans. The UNFCCC guideline documents for developing national adaptation plans do not mention once either the words mitigation or climate change mitigation/adaptation nexus or the climate/energy/water nexus or energy/water nexus. These individual climate change mitigation and adaptation reports developed by developing countries tend to consist of very long lists of separate items to do, which are never able to be fully and immediately funded. The very task of doing separate national climate change mitigation and adaptation reports results in both reports together, with their extremely long lists of things to do, resulting in decision makers concluding that developing countries will never have the resources to implement them. These can reinforce a sense of hopelessness and despair. Development is challenging. There are many calls on scarce developmental resources. If national climate change mitigation or adaptation plans don’t clearly show how they can help achieve core developmental goals and pressing issues, then there is a risk that climate change mitigation and adaptation ends up being seen as another “nice thing to do”, if and when developing countries can afford it.
This thesis shows that, conversely, it is possible to identify many climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that have in the past helped actual developmental goals in different developing countries. This thesis shows that identifying these development/mitigation and adaptation synergies has helped countries like Ethiopia and Kenya to prioritise climate change action and build political and community will to make progress6. This thesis also contends that another value of this climate resilient pathway approach is that it could even help to change the discourse around the costs of climate change action for developing countries. Chapter’s 2-4 evidence that smart action on climate change is not a cost or a burden, but rather contributes to achieving development goals with good returns on investment, so enhancing economic growth rather than harming it.
Finally, some argue that developing countries rich in fossil fuels will be overall losers if the world adopts a global climate change agreement. This belief underpins lack of support from certain fossil fuel rich developing countries, like Saudi Arabia, to a global agreement on climate change. However, as this thesis suggests, this assumption needs to be questioned as - fossil fuel rich developing countries are currently highly vulnerable to many risks of climate change such as more extreme heat waves, prolonged drought, the spread of desertification, more intense rainfall and flooding and the spread of vector borne disease, and . - , until recently, little detailed work has been done to assess the actual costs of mitigation and adaptation for these fossil fuel rich developing countries. Clearly it is beyond the scope of this one Master’s thesis to examine the costs of inaction versus action on climate change for all fossil fuel rich developing countries, so this thesis considers one of these nations - Nigeria. In Chapter 4, the costs of inaction versus action on climate change are considered for Nigeria through an integration of the latest literature examining aspects of this for Nigeria. Chapter 4 shows that the costs of inaction on climate change have been formally recognised to be as high as 30% of national GDP by 2050 in official Nigerian government documents. This is because the Nigerian agricultural regions, oil and gas sectors as well as most of the developed regions along the Nigerian coast are highly vulnerable to changes to rainfall or storm surges and sea level rises respectively. The risks from unmitigated climate change beyond 2050 are even higher because the risks of negative impacts from prolonged drought and sea level rises become even greater. Conversely this chapter shows that, for Nigeria, the economic benefits of pursuing a low carbon climate resilient development pathway are higher than business as usual even in the short term from 2015 to 2035. Chapter 4 shows that climate resilient pathway development approaches are essential to ensuring climate change does not undermine the achievement of Nigeria’s development goals. The literature integrated in Chapter 4 also suggests that action on climate change in Nigeria will result in higher economic growth than business as usual even in the short term between 2015 and 2035.
This is a significant result. It suggests that similar studies should be applied to other fossil fuel rich developing nations to help better inform their decision makers by showing them the potential significant benefit of a well-designed global agreement on climate change for their nations too.
Productivity Enhancing Climate Change Strategies by Dr Michael H Smith (Green Growth, Climate Change, Sustainable Development & Sustainable Design Solutions)
· Simultaneously boost labour, capital and multi-factor productivity through improved rates of production, greater labour participation, quicker returns on capital expenditure, as well as reduced energy and resource input costs.
· And thereby achieve total productivity benefits up to 2.5 times greater than the simple productivity benefits from reduced energy and water input costs from energy/resource productivity investments.
Utilising these insights, these series of reports show, for the first time, how a focus on energy and resource productivity could boost cumulative global GDP >US$25-30 Trillion by 2030 compared to business as usual (BAU) whilst enabling a transition to a low carbon future. The implications of this result are significant for everything from
a) achieving progress to keep global warming under 2 degrees
b) achieving progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
c) to building political will for policy reforms to enable (a) and (b).
This Four Page Executive Summary summarises the following 3 reports listed below and downloadable from this web page.
Report #1 – Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 - Unlocking a $25-30 Trillion Cumulative Increase to Global GDP Whilst Transitioning to a Low Carbon Future. ANU Discussion paper.
Report 1 is complimented by Report 2 - a “how to guide” for policy makers - and Report 3 - a guide for business leaders.
Report #2 – Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 – A “How to Guide” for Policy Decision Makers.
Report #3- Smith, M (2015) Doubling Energy & Resource Productivity by 2030 – Improving Business Competitiveness and Profitability Whilst Transitioning to a Low Carbon Future. ANU Discussion paper
This report was produced by the Decoupling Working Group of the International Resource Panel. It explores technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed countries to accelerate decoupling and reap the environmental and economic benefits of increased resource productivity. It also examines several policy options that have proved to be successful in helping different countries to improve resource productivity in various sectors of their economy, avoiding negative impacts on the environment.
It does not seem possible for a global economy based on the current unsustainable patterns of resource use to continue into the future. The economic consequences of these patterns are already apparent in three areas: increases in resource prices, increased price volatility and disruption of environmental systems. The environment impacts of resource use are also leading to potentially irreversible changes to the world’s ecosystems, often with direct effects on people and the economy – for example through damage to health, water shortages, loss of fish stocks or increased storm damage.
But there are alternatives to these scary patterns. Many decoupling technologies and techniques that deliver resource productivity increases as high as 5 to 10-fold are already available, allowing countries to pursue their development strategies while significantly reducing their resource footprint and negative impacts on the environment.
This report shows that much of the policy design “know-how” needed to achieve decoupling is present in terms of legislation, incentive systems, and institutional reform. Many countries have tried these out with tangible results, encouraging others to study and where appropriate replicate and scale up such practices and successes.
This report was produced by the Decoupling Working Group of the International Resource Panel. It explores technological possibilities and opportunities for both developing and developed countries to accelerate decoupling and reap the environmental and economic benefits of increased resource productivity. It also examines several policy options that have proved to be successful in helping different countries to improve resource productivity in various sectors of their economy, avoiding negative impacts on the environment.
The report shows that there are many decoupling technologies and techniques that deliver resource productivity increases as high as 5 to 10-fold are already available, allowing countries to pursue their development strategies while significantly reducing their resource footprint and negative impacts on the environment.
This report shows that much of the policy design “know-how” needed to achieve decoupling is present in terms of legislation, incentive systems, and institutional reform. Many countries have tried these out with tangible results, encouraging others to study and where appropriate replicate and scale up such practices and successes.
The report, entitled Policy Options for Decoupling Economic Growth from Water Use and Water Pollution, finds that as the global population rises, increased urbanization, climate change and a shift in how food is consumed are likely to dramatically increase future demand for water.
Under current trends, demand for water will exceed supply by 40 per cent in 2030.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said: "Reliable access to clean water is a cornerstone of sustainable development. When clean water is consistently unavailable, the world's poorest must spend much of their disposable income buying it, or a large amount of time transporting it, which limits development. And since only half of one per cent of the world's freshwater is available for the needs of both humanity and ecosystems, we will need to do more and better with less if we are to ensure healthy ecosystems, healthy populations and economic development."
Despite the importance of water, many countries have a "mixed track record" in managing their water resources, the report says.
Governments have tended to invest heavily in mega-projects like dams, canals, aqueducts, pipelines and water reservoirs, the report says. With a few exceptions, these solutions are inefficient and many of them are neither environmentally sustainable nor economically viable.
The most cost-effective way of achieving water decoupling, according to the report, is for governments to create holistic water management plans that take into account the entire water cycle: from source to distribution, economic use, treatment, recycling, reuse and return to the environment. Specifically, to achieve water decoupling, the IRP recommends:
Investing more in research and development to improve technology that reduces water waste;
Building sustainable infrastructure to improve the efficiency of water use and eliminate water contamination and pollution;
Introducing policies to curb water demand and re-allocate water to sectors where it produces goods and services most beneficial to society while ensuring vulnerable groups are protected;
Strengthening research into the value of ecosystem services and water to human welfare and economic development.
Doing more to assess "virtual water" (the water used to manufacture goods that are traded internationally), water footprints and related impacts to better understand how international trade patterns could be used to support decoupling where it is most needed.
Hence this leaves the question ‘is it possible to reconcile the need for economic growth with the need to significantly reduce environmental pressures?’ In 1987 Our Common Future, argued that not only was it achievable but that it was an imperative, a position that was criticised then and is still questioned today, despite the evidence it provided. Cents and Sustainability responds to this by presenting the strongest case for ‘forceful’ and ‘sustainable’ economic growth based on a strategy to decouple economic growth from environmental pressures, combined with renewed efforts to achieve environmental restoration and poverty reduction. Beginning with a brief overview of some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, the book then explains ‘decoupling theory’, overviews a number of factors that can undermine and even block efforts to decouple in both developed and developing countries, and then discusses a number of key considerations to assist the development of national ‘decoupling strategies’. The book then focuses on presenting evidence to support greater action, not just on climate change, but also on decoupling economic growth from the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration of natural systems, freshwater extraction, waste production, and air pollution.
In the lead up to the UNFCCC Paris COP in 2015 and beyond, Cents and Sustainability will be a crucial guide to inform and assist nations to develop strategies to significantly reduce environmental pressures, strengthen their economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.
Preliminaries, Acknowledgments and Endorsement Quotes
Introduction by Ernst von Weizsäcker – ‘Factor 5: A Global Imperative’
http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781136545801_sample_822240.pdf
PART ONE: A WHOLE SYSTEM APPROACH TO FACTOR 5
Preface to the Sector Studies
Chapter 1: A Framework for Factor 5
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter1-FrameworkforFactorFive.pdf
Chapter 2: The Buildings Sector (Residential Sector - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter2-ResidentialBuildingsSub-Chapter.pdf.pdf )
Chapter 3: The Heavy Industry Sector - Steel and Cement (Cement Article - http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?act=view_file&file_id=EC149p21.pdf)
Chapter 4: The Agricultural Sector
Chapter 5: The Transport Sector
Online Sector Study: Factor 5 in the Pulp and Paper Sector
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Documents/Factor5-PulpandPaperOnlineSectorStudy.pdf
Online Sector Study: Factor 5 in the Food and Hospitality Sector (Energy Efficiency - Dairy, Bakery, Supermarket, Restaurant, and Fast Food Outlets) http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Documents/Factor5-FoodandHospitalityOnlineSectorStudy.pdf
PART TWO: MAKING IT HAPPEN
By Ernst von Weizsäcker
Chapter 6: Regulation: The Visible Hand
Chapter 7: Economic Instruments for the Environment, for Efficiency and for Renewable Energies
Chapter 8: Addressing the Rebound Dilemma - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter8-AddressingRebound.pdf.pdf
Chapter 9: A Long-Term Ecological Tax Reform - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Factor5-Chapter9-LongTermEcologicalTaxReform.pdf.pdf
Chapter 10: Balancing Public with Private Goods
Chapter 11: Sufficiency in a Civilised World
The authors present a bold vision for the future and demonstrate how we can get there, drawing on lessons of competitive advantage theory and the latest in sustainability, economics, innovation, business and governance theory and practice. The result is nothing less than the most authoritative and comprehensive guide to date, to building the new ecologically sustainable economy.
Sample chapters of the book are available from google books and from
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/NAON_ch1.aspx
The Natural Advantage of Nations was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Banksia Award in 2005 for Environmental Leadership. An international bestseller it has been used as a university text by numerous universities including the London School of Economics. The book can be ordered from Routledge Publishing @ https://www.routledge.com/The-Natural-Advantage-of-Nations-Business-Opportunities-Innovations-and/Hargroves-Smith/p/book/9781844073405
By clearly differentiating between economic and physical growth and focusing on how to achieve significant decoupling this thesis advances the traditional debates and discourses about “growth”. This thesis shows that in theory and practice it is possible to achieve significant levels of decoupling, and thus environmental sustainability, whilst maintaining economic growth.
This thesis examines the relative costs of inaction versus action on decoupling, concluding that the costs of inaction significantly outweigh the costs of action. It also examines whether a transition to environmental sustainabilty will lead to net job losses or gains, showing that, with effective policy, it can result in net employment gains. As such, this thesis provides a new integration to show that it is possible to reconcile the need to simultaneously achieve environmental sustainability, economic growth and job creation. This result has important implications for other important sustainability debates such as the climate change debates. These are explored in detail in this thesis.
This thesis also demonstrates that many social sustainability goals – reducing poverty, inequality and corruption whilst improving access to education and health –correlate strongly with improved economic growth. Thus this thesis demonstrates that it is possible to create a new form of economic growth that is also environmentally and socially sustainable as called for in the seminal text on sustainable development "Our Common Future" in 1987.
Finally, this thesis is a formal defense of and contribution to the academic field of ecological modernization which has hypothesized that it is possible to simultaneously pursue environmental sustainability, social justice and economic growth in ways that mutually re-enforce each other. This thesis provides significant evidence to support this central tenet of ecological modernisation. The research of this thesis has helped inform and contribute to several international book publications all of which show nations how to achieve significant decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures such as Cents and Sustainability:Securing Our Common Future by Decoupling Economic Growth from Environmental Pressures (Earthscan, 2010). Note: This thesis was submitted in May 2008 and was awarded in 2009. You can download all the chapters individually from the ANU digital thesis library here https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/49387
However, as the latest climate change science shows, if Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and China (BRIIC) nations and developing countries “grow first with fossil fuels” and reduce emissions later, it is going to be very hard for greenhouse gas emissions and related global warming to stay within the 2 degree guardrail to avoid dangerous climate change. So, this thesis reviews whether or not these common myths are true. The thesis integrates the latest studies which
1) Evidences that the first industrial revolution could have technically still occurred with less fossil fuels and more renewable energy over time, just more slowly than it did with abundant fossil fuels. The thesis shows that it was not until the 1830s with the advent of rail in the UK that coal prices fell and use of coal and steam engines really took off. The thesis shows the key role renewable energy therefore played in powering first industrial revolution innovations from 1600s-1820 in the UK such as the revolution in cotton manufacturing, which was water powered.
2) Evidences that fossil fuels, whilst important still for some medium to high temperature industrial processes, are no longer essential to achieve much of the modernisation of developing and BRIIIC economies. The thesis evidences how innovations in energy efficiency (i.e.: more energy efficient industrial processes, building and transport vehicle design) makes it much easier now to power a modern economy on renewable energy and energy storage. (See Chapter 2)
3) Evidences that, if energy efficiency improvements are combined with low carbon energy sources such as wind power and solar PV, low carbon energy systems are no longer more expensive than fossil fuels in many parts of the world. (Chapters 2-4)
4) Shows that it is still possible to further reduce the costs of key renewable energy and other low carbon technologies (Chapters 3-4) and as a result
5) Shows that it is possible to meet society’s needs for key industrialised products whilst reducing emissions. Provides evidence that it is possible to have a 3rdlow carbon industrial revolution and hence technically and economically possible for developing and BRIIC economies now to leapfrog to a low carbon future. (Chapter 2-3)
The thesis also evidences that it was improvements in overall energy productivity through the combination of greater energy efficiency and energy conversion efficiency as well as expansion of energy sources, which drove the price of energy services down, which helped underpin economic growth in the first and second industrial revolutions.
The thesis shows that it is possible again to achieve a step change in energy productivity in how society delivers energy services – through a focus on integrated approaches to energy efficiency, renewables and energy storage – in ways that deliver energy services relatively cheaply in many parts of the world. Hence the thesis shows that it is possible for developing and BRIIC nations to chart a low carbon 3rd industrial revolution and that this is increasingly being understood in China and India and other developing nations. Thus the thesis overall show how to achieve a transition to a low carbon future whilst boosting productivity and economic growth, which is very important and relevant for current debates on climate change policy in developing and BRIIC countries. The thesis finishes (Chapter 5) by showing how a low carbon industrial revolution could create higher economic growth than business as usual using insights and results from earlier chapters
- Incorrect Assumption #1 - That the costs of inaction from unmitigated climate change will be small for developing nations. As this thesis shows, recent economic studies show that 70-80% of the costs of inaction of unmitigated climate change will impact developing countries. (World Bank, 20091) And that long term unmitigated climate change threatens much of the economy of many developing national economies and their peoples which are often dependent on rain-fed agriculture, hydroelectric power and coral based coastal fisheries for their well-being. (See Chapter 1 for more details)
- Incorrect Assumption #2 – That climate change mitigation and adaptation will cost too much and can only be afforded once developing countries have reached a certain level of per capita GDP. That there are few profitable opportunities to clean up now and mitigate climate change, because, in a free market, private actors have supposedly already invested in options that provide financial savings and profits. As this thesis shows in Chapter 2, 3 and 4, due to market, informational and institutional failures there are many opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with both good returns on investment and developmental co-benefits. Specifically, Chapter 2 shows that action on climate change is a very effective way to achieve, at lowest cost, many aspects of the 17 goals of the current UN Sustainable Development Goals draft. Chapter 2 also shows that there are many aspects of climate change mitigation can significantly help to boost developing country economic growth once co-benefits are taken into account. This thesis investigates where climate change adaptation strategies have climate change mitigation and development co-benefits and vice versa. (See Chapters 2-4)This thesis shows that this has been recognised recently by a few developing countries like Ethiopia and Kenya who have formally recognised the value of identifying and focusing on integrated development/mitigation/adaptation strategies – known as climate resilient pathways. (Chapter 3). Chapter 3 shows that the recent work of these countries is evidencing the economic, social and environmental value of such an integrated approach to development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. (Chapter 3) This thesis focuses on mapping these synergies between development and climate change mitigation and adaptation in Chapter 2 and 3 because to date, most developing countries (and some OECD countries) have developed their development, climate change adaptation and mitigation plans separate from each other without appreciating the potential synergies between them. As this thesis shows, this has been partly due to the fact that countries have been required to research and develop national climate change adaptation plans by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) separate from their climate change mitigation plans. The UNFCCC guideline documents for developing national adaptation plans do not mention once either the words mitigation or climate change mitigation/adaptation nexus or the climate/energy/water nexus or energy/water nexus. These individual climate change mitigation and adaptation reports developed by developing countries tend to consist of very long lists of separate items to do, which are never able to be fully and immediately funded. The very task of doing separate national climate change mitigation and adaptation reports results in both reports together, with their extremely long lists of things to do, resulting in decision makers concluding that developing countries will never have the resources to implement them. These can reinforce a sense of hopelessness and despair. Development is challenging. There are many calls on scarce developmental resources. If national climate change mitigation or adaptation plans don’t clearly show how they can help achieve core developmental goals and pressing issues, then there is a risk that climate change mitigation and adaptation ends up being seen as another “nice thing to do”, if and when developing countries can afford it.
This thesis shows that, conversely, it is possible to identify many climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that have in the past helped actual developmental goals in different developing countries. This thesis shows that identifying these development/mitigation and adaptation synergies has helped countries like Ethiopia and Kenya to prioritise climate change action and build political and community will to make progress6. This thesis also contends that another value of this climate resilient pathway approach is that it could even help to change the discourse around the costs of climate change action for developing countries. Chapter’s 2-4 evidence that smart action on climate change is not a cost or a burden, but rather contributes to achieving development goals with good returns on investment, so enhancing economic growth rather than harming it.
Finally, some argue that developing countries rich in fossil fuels will be overall losers if the world adopts a global climate change agreement. This belief underpins lack of support from certain fossil fuel rich developing countries, like Saudi Arabia, to a global agreement on climate change. However, as this thesis suggests, this assumption needs to be questioned as - fossil fuel rich developing countries are currently highly vulnerable to many risks of climate change such as more extreme heat waves, prolonged drought, the spread of desertification, more intense rainfall and flooding and the spread of vector borne disease, and . - , until recently, little detailed work has been done to assess the actual costs of mitigation and adaptation for these fossil fuel rich developing countries. Clearly it is beyond the scope of this one Master’s thesis to examine the costs of inaction versus action on climate change for all fossil fuel rich developing countries, so this thesis considers one of these nations - Nigeria. In Chapter 4, the costs of inaction versus action on climate change are considered for Nigeria through an integration of the latest literature examining aspects of this for Nigeria. Chapter 4 shows that the costs of inaction on climate change have been formally recognised to be as high as 30% of national GDP by 2050 in official Nigerian government documents. This is because the Nigerian agricultural regions, oil and gas sectors as well as most of the developed regions along the Nigerian coast are highly vulnerable to changes to rainfall or storm surges and sea level rises respectively. The risks from unmitigated climate change beyond 2050 are even higher because the risks of negative impacts from prolonged drought and sea level rises become even greater. Conversely this chapter shows that, for Nigeria, the economic benefits of pursuing a low carbon climate resilient development pathway are higher than business as usual even in the short term from 2015 to 2035. Chapter 4 shows that climate resilient pathway development approaches are essential to ensuring climate change does not undermine the achievement of Nigeria’s development goals. The literature integrated in Chapter 4 also suggests that action on climate change in Nigeria will result in higher economic growth than business as usual even in the short term between 2015 and 2035.
This is a significant result. It suggests that similar studies should be applied to other fossil fuel rich developing nations to help better inform their decision makers by showing them the potential significant benefit of a well-designed global agreement on climate change for their nations too.
Special thanks to Stuart Richardson and Alison Thorn from Department of Industry and their colleagues for building this web site so capably.
A focus on design is critical, as the output from this stage of the project locks-in most of the economic and environmental performance of the designed system throughout its life, which can span from a few years to many decades. Indeed, it is now widely acknowledged that all designers – particularly engineers, architects and industrial designers – need to be able to understand and implement a whole system design approach.
This book provides a clear design methodology, based on leading efforts in the field, and is supported by worked examples that demonstrate how advances in energy, materials and water productivity can be achieved through applying an integrated approach to sustainable engineering.
Chapters 1–5 outline the approach and explain how it can be implemented to enhance the established Systems Engineering framework.
Chapters 6–10 demonstrate, through detailed worked examples, the application of the approach to industrial pumping systems, passenger vehicles, electronics and computer systems, temperature control of buildings, and domestic water systems.
The book is also available through google books and for educational purposes, the book's chapters are available from http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/Whole_System_Design.aspx
brings together the knowledge of how countries, like Australia, can achieve at least 60 percent cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This resource has been developed in line with the activities of the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship research program which is focused on research that will assist Australia to achieve this target. This training package provides industry, governments, business and households with the knowledge they need to realise at least 30 percent energy efficiency savings in the short term while providing a strong basis for further improvement. It also provides an updated overview of advances in low carbon technologies, renewable energy and sustainable transport to help achieve a sustainable energy future. Whist this education and training package has an Australian focus, it outlines sustainable energy strategies and provide links to numerous online reports which will assist climate change mitigation efforts globally. This training program seeks to compliment other initiatives seeking to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through behaviour change, sustainable consumption, and constructive changes in economic incentives and policy.
Peer reviewed by over 50 international and national water experts, this is the largest free online sustainable urban water solutions textbook to help water professionals adapt to climate change. Water management decisions made over the next decade will have significant impacts on national economic, environmental and social well-being in light of reduced availability and unreliable supply of water due to Climate Change. There is a need to focus on urban water usage and the rapid urban development occurring along coastal zones that are raising many complex water, natural resource management, engineering and planning challenges. Adapting to climate change will require significant professional skills development in urban, coastal and industrial water resource management and supply to address changes to water availability and rising sea levels, and this is the primary focus of this proposal. This project has been developed in consultation with a number of collaborating partners, many representing important end users of the training material. The material will undergo a rigorous review by over 50 Engineers, Architects, Water Professionals and Academics across the collaborating Professional Institutions, Universities, Government Agencies, Industry and NGO collaborators. The result is a comprehensive guide to urban water sensitive design, demand management, water efficiency and alternative water sources.
The engineering, design and planning professions will play a significant part in moving society to a more sustainable way of life. Recognising this, this online textbook seeks to provide engineers and built environment professionals with a core understanding of sustainability issues and opportunities as they relate to their practice. This online textbook is designed to facilitate the effective incorporation of key pieces of information, or 'critical literacies', and the design calculations, or 'design principles', relating to sustainability into engineering curricula and capacity building.
The Critical Literacies program is intended to provide teachers, lecturers, trainers and self learners with a suite of material that has been well researched, peer reviewed and trialled to assist in the acceleration of the use of such material an alert to sustainability principles and activity in the engineering profession.
Course Text Book: In the preparation of any education program, and in particular an introductory course, it is a challenge to cover all possible questions or uncertainties that may arise during delivery of the material. In response to this challenge, this course is supported by the text book developed by our team, namely 'Hargroves, K. and Smith, M.H. (2005) The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century, Earthscan, London'. References and optional reading material is provided for each lecture for those who wish to explore the content in more detail.
Acknowledgements: The development of the Engineering Sustainable Solutions Program – Critical Literacies Portfolio has been supported by grants from the following organisations:
- UNESCO, Division of Basic and Engineering Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector (with particular support and mentoring from Tony Marjoram, Senior Programme Specialist - Engineering Sciences, and Françoise Lee).
- The Institution of Engineers Australia, College of Environmental Engineers (with particular support and mentoring from Martin Dwyer, Director Engineering Practice, and Peter Greenwood, Doug Jones, Andrew Downing, Tim Macoun, Julie Armstrong and Paul Varsanyi).
- The Society for Sustainability and Environmental Engineering (with particular support and mentoring from Terrence Jeyaretnam).
Expert review and mentoring has been received from Janine Benyus and Dayna Baumeister, The Biomimicry Guild (USA); Paul Anastas, Green Chemistry Institute (USA); Alan Pears RMIT University (AUS); Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute (USA); Tom Conner, KBR (AUS); and Mia Kelly, TNEP Working Group (AUS). We would like to add a special thank you to the Engineers Australia review panel Trevor Daniell, Thomas Brinsmead and David Hood.
Citation: Smith, M., Hargroves, K., Desha, C. and Palousis, N. (2007) Engineering Sustainable Solutions Program: Critical Literacies Portfolio - Principles and Practices in Sustainable Development for the Engineering and Built Environment Professions, The Natural Edge Project, Australia. (TNEP)
Sustainable IT, also known as Green IT, is a multi-component approach to establishing and sustainably operating an IT business function. Sustainable IT is becoming increasingly important in the eyes of many organisations. A survey[1] of organisations of all sizes across both the government and corporate sectors found that 80 percent of IT decision makers believe that implementing Sustainable IT in their organisations is important and 49 percent cite positive reputation as one of the greatest benefits. However, 51 percent of IT decision makers cite cost as a barrier to implementing Sustainable IT technologies, 25 percent cite complexity of implementation and maintenance, and 21 percent cite potential disruptions to current IT systems.
This Lectures Series offers a solution that addresses many barriers to Sustainable IT while optimising costs and minimising negative environmental impact. The focus is on the product and service provision components of Sustainable IT. Specifically, these lectures describe a holistic, end-to-end solution for IT systems of medium and large enterprises. This solution consists of:
Product service systems: also known as sustainable services and systems and eco-efficient services.[2] There are several product service systems topologies. These Lectures describe the use services topology[3] as applied to IT products and services. In this topology, customers purchase the services of some or all IT hardware and software products through leasing, renting, sharing or pooling while the vendor maintains the ownership, responsibility and stewardship of the products. The aims are to remove aged technology with minimal environmental impact while customers maximise their investment on their IT systems. Vendors can be either an external company or the customer’s IT business function, operating largely independently.
Sustainable IT products: i.e. those items of client and data centre equipment that are resource efficient to manufacture, transport and operate, and have low-to-no adverse health impacts on people and the environment throughout their lifecycles.
These lectures draw from information regarding product service systems and sustainable IT products. They also draw from information regarding the development and implementation of several previously and currently popular IT service models that are relevant to successful product service systems, including: IT service management (ITSM),[4] also known as service-oriented IT management (SOITM); service-oriented architecture (SOA),[5] also known as service-oriented computing (SOC); and IT leasing.[6]
Since an IT system is a large and heavily integrated system with many components, a change in any component of the system will impact on several other components. Thus, it is important that decisions are informed by an accurate understanding and assessment of the impacts on the whole IT system. Hence, readers may be interested in learning about the business components of Sustainable IT, which are beyond the scope of these lectures. The business components are particularly relevant to decision makers in enterprises and include:
IT business function governance: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainability Capability Maturity Model (CMM), change management, supply chain management.
IT business function management: revenue, cost minimisation, asset utilisation, risk minimisation.
Environmental management systems: ISO 14000 family, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).
Resource audits: energy and waste.
Developing projects: scoping, goals, objectives and targets.
Measurement: Balanced Scorecard, key performance indicator (KPI), metrics, lifecycle analysis (LCA).
Reporting: Triple Bottom Line (TBL), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), carbon footprint.
IT industry maturity and trends: emerging technologies, regulations, Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), carbon offsets.
Background -----------
In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the use of electronic goods such as computers, MP3 players, mobile telephones, entertainment systems and gaming systems. There is now a disturbing trend towards the minimum re-use or recycling of these products with the disposal of e-waste receiving minimal or no evaluation of social or environmental consequences.
The risk to human and environmental health is now becoming a major factor in government decision making, demonstrated by the recent directives of the European Union focused on reducing Waste from Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE), and on the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). In order to manage this rapidly growing waste stream we need to understand the flows of electronic goods in society - from the perspectives of consumer behavior (consumption and disposal patterns) to the performance of producers through product stewardship (design, re-use, product recovery, recycling and disposal).
Given these directions in e-waste The Natural Edge Project in partnership with Griffith University and Dell are undertaking the task of developing two courses, available online, introducing and discussing the challenges of e-waste in our society. These courses will be designed to engage with our most influential age bracket, that of youth, through both a high school and an undergraduate focus.
These courses will endeavor to facilitate learning to help bring about changes in perspectives and values regarding Australia 's e-waste issues, and highlight the opportunities available to make a positive difference
The first comprehensive and up-to-date book on the whole climate-energy-water nexus from a global point of view.
Contains real-world practical examples of important 'win-win' opportunities. Includes sections on the knock-on consequences for other issues such as food production and biodiversity conservation
Imagine if, as in the Netherlands, every government initiated a program to work out how they could achieve a 90 percent plus reduction of their negative environmental impacts over the next 50 years? Imagine if, as in Western Australia, every state or regional government worked with business, universities and civil society in a spirit of partnership to develop a sustainability strategy? Imagine if every state or regional government committed to halving its ecological footprint over the next 20 years? Imagine if, as in Goa a state in India, every nation’s experts tackled the challenge of how to create sustainable cities cost effectively in 30 years? Every nation and regional government can and should. Those involved with these and many other significant projects have given their time and effort to contributed to a new book Natural Advantage of Nations:Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century . They have done so because they want to share what they have learnt. They want to share the good news that sustainable development-the triple bottom line- is achievable in our lifetimes. They want to share the joy and excitement of working on projects that provide real solutions and genuine hope because they are grounded in rigorous science, engineering and economics. They want to pass on the truth that it is possible to combine idealism with bottom line reality if we are wise. The challenges facing us are great. However, by being realistic about them and by working together, we are confident that we can achieve sustainable development this century. The book is also the first book to show how in a tripartite world, where business, government and civil society all have power, they can all best work together to address and solve the major challenges of the 21st century..
The book has been internationally praised and selected as one of three books featured and promoted in the back of “Limits to Growth-The 30 Year Update”. The book has been chosen as the featured book on the cover of the new Earthscan/James&James web site. (http://www.earthscan.co.uk/) This is because the book is both a book dealing with the big issues but it does so in a simple clear language that any person can understand. The book has been annointed by both Amory and Hunter Lovins as a successor to the paradigm shattering and internationally bestselling book Natural Capitalism that they co-authored with Paul Hawken. Michael Fairbanks has described the book as the “ultimate integration” because it combines natural capitalism with the latest in competitive advantage, economics, innovation, governance and globalisation theory.
With the companion web site this is currently the most comprehensive guide of how to truly create a better world. But the most heartening thing of all about this book is that it was done in partnership with over 50 contributors, and over 50 significant organizations worldwide all whom have come together to work together to solve these problems. These organizations are significant such as the World Federation of Engineering Organizations ComTech that represents over 70 million engineers globally. This critical mass of organizations represented in this book is the best sign of hope yet that the critical mass of both understanding and real commitment is growing to restore the balance before it is too late.
In this first chapter of this book, freely available from - http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/NAONChapter1.1.aspx - it explores the question of whether or not business competitiveness and profitability can be reconciled with the need to also achieve environental sustainability? The Chapter along with Chapter 6 of this book - the Natural Advantage of Nations - explains how it is possible to reconcile business competitiveness and environmental sustainability.
When I graduated with a science degree in the late 1990s - I had been formally taught not one thing about environmental sustainability or climate change solutions. All my engineering & business graduate friends were in the same boat. So, I have been working behind the scenes to try to fix this. I co-founded the Australian Campuses Towards Sustainability Network&the Natural Edge Project in 2002 to address this & since have co-authored cutting edge climate change and sustainable solutions publications including 4 textbooks (100,000+ sales) and 5 online textbooks, multi-media education and training resources and Government web portals on sustainable development, green growth, eco-efficiency (energy, water and materials efficiency), sustainable design, corporate sustainability, sustainable engineering, climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable cities, water sensitive urban design, and industry sector sustainability strategies. Hence, I have co-developed numerous online education and training resources over the last decade which are designed to help both busy educators update their curricula and also provide additional adult self directed learning for students and practitioners. These are all available here - http://sustainability.edu.au/material/profile/225/