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Colloquium on the Global South

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Published March 17, 2008

by iris_author

The Social and Environmental Implications of Extractive Industries in the Global South

Panelists: Kernaghan Webb (Associate Professor, Business Law, Ryerson), Uwafiokun Idemudia (Assistant Professor, African Studies, York), and David Szablowski (Law and Society, York)

Many aspects of our daily lives rely heavily on resources obtained from the South. Extractive industries such as mining and oil cause severe social and environmental degradation in many southern countries. This panel aims to discuss the consequences of these industries as well as address possible changes in the structure and governance of the mining and oil industries.

Topics covered will include: mining as a development model, governance of MNE Extractive Activities in Developing Countries as well as examining partnership initiatives that address the links between oil extraction and poverty reduction in the Niger Delta.

Wednesday, March 19 (2:30-4:30 pm)
Room 390 York Lanes, York University

This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS).

Posted in: Events

Ontario’s Ethanol Problem

Published by

Published March 17, 2008

by iris_author

The Sunday Toronto Star carried a sobering article on the "Ethanol Craze" and how it is impacting Ontario's farmers and the province's food supply. With the cost of food rapidly increasing due to higher oil prices, conversion of a significant amount of the supply for fuel may only exacerbate the problem. It has already sparked massive protests in Mexico, where corn prices have quadrupled due to the enormous demand for corn by the US ethanol industry. Moreover, since corn is used in so many products, the downstream economic costs will be widespread. The environmental costs will also be profound, given that corn monocultures will require massive chemical inputs to keep up production.

There's much more in this feature article, so definitely take a look.

Posted in: Blogs

Greening the (Ex)-Governor’s Mansion

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Published March 16, 2008

by iris_author

Silda Wall Spitzer, the former first lady of New York State, and wife of disgraced governor Eliot Spitzer, had headed up an interesting project to "Green the Governor's Mansion." Here's a glimpse of her speaking in January to the U.S. Green Building Council at the New School in NYC. Luckily, the new Governor, David Paterson, is also a strong advocate on renewable energy and will most probably continue such ground breaking projects.

Posted in: Blogs

So you’re buying stuff that is green, eh?

Published by

Published March 13, 2008

by afdubreu

Maybe you think you are, but perhaps that “green” product isn’t so green after all. The Globe and Mail recently reported that the Competition Bureau will soon be making it a lot tougher for companies to deceptively label their products as green. That is to say it will be tougher for companies to “greenwash” consumers with claims that are misleading or outright false, as products labelled as green often sill have substantial environmental footprints, even if certain negative aspects of a product have been addressed. I’m thrilled to see this movement by the Competition Bureau as I have often felt torn by the action we’ve seen to date by most corporations. On the one hand, they are taking steps in the right direction. On the other, the steps are still of the “incremental” type, rather than the significant change that needs to happen to stabilize this planet.

The article also advises that the Competition Bureau will be working with the Canadian Standards Association to publish industry guidelines that will clearly define terms like green. That we are moving toward a time when companies will have to transparently label their products on environmental fronts is good news. Some companies have even already begun to do so, including Timberland which includes an energy “nutrition” label on its footwear. However, a lot of work is still needed in this area.

Ultimately we need measurement tools which easily allow us to compare products based on their entire life cycle. This means being able to ascertain whether that organic apple from New Zealand has a smaller impact on the environment than the local one that was grown using conventional methods. An example of such a system would be the Sustainable Business Achievement Ratings (S-BAR) which is currently under development. S-BAR touts itself to be “the first comprehensive system with a market-based, broadly applicable, and transparent means of assessing a company’s environmental, economic and social performance”. Hopefully such a system will soon be on store shelves, making it easier to determine how green a product really is.

Posted in: Blogs | Shopping the Talk

Alberta Tar Sands documentary airs on CBC tonight

Published by

Published March 13, 2008

by dbazely

A new documentary "Tar Sands, The Selling of Alberta" commissioned by the CBC, will be on channel 5 Toronto, tonight at 9 pm. In an interview on The Hour last night, the filmaker, Peter Raymont, pointed out that Fort McMurray, in Alberta, is the third largest Newfoundland city in Canada (that's an indication of the extent of within-Canada migration!).

For those of you who haven't paid much attention to exactly what the fuss about the Tar Sands is, imagine that you take a can of motor oil, walk over to your child's sand box (or the local park's kiddie sand box!), pour the oil into the sand, and mix it around. Then, someone tells you that you need to get that oil off of that sand and back into the can! That is the challenge with the Tar Sands - it's a huge fossil fuel reserve, but the oil is very difficult and energetically expensive to extract. When it comes to carbon emissions, the cost of extracting the oil is huge. The documentary explores the social impacts and geopolitics of this issue, moreso than the environmental aspects. But, all of these aspects are directly linked when it comes to sustainability. Highly recommended viewing.

Dawn Bazely

Posted in: Blogs | Events | IRIS Director Blog

Green Labour Alliance builds in the US

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Published March 12, 2008

by iris_author

According to Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello and Brendan Smith, reinvestment in US workers through so-called "green collar jobs" is playing an unlikely but important role in the US presidential campaign. All the major candidates are taking up the call of the new Blue-Green Alliance, a group of environmental organizations and unions that are holding their first conference in Pittsburgh on March 13-14. This initiative hopes to see the creation of millions of green jobs to help the US transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this alliance, is the putting to rest the entire "jobs vs. environment" myth that has been perpetuated to stifle past environmental legislation. Instead, a green future has now become a rallying cry for US labor, starting with the much touted Apollo Alliance that takes up the cause of energy independence, and with the approach of a new administration in 2009, its potential translation into reality.

Posted in: Blogs

British Columbia leads the way

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Published March 11, 2008

by iris_author

When British Columbia's finance minister Carole Taylor introduced the continent's first ever carbon tax in her provincial budget this February, her actions were greeted with almost unanimous praise in environmental circles. The news out of BC was particularly encouraging, as many felt that it would set off a chain of dominos that would see the rest of provinces and territories follow BC's lead.

The carbon tax has been a particularly tough nut to crack given the widespread antipathy towards introducing new taxes in general. With oil prices reaching record highs, any hike would be considered political suicide. However, with gas prices so high, a new levy could also be more palatable in much the same way that fair trade organic coffee has been successful due to consumers getting used to buying expensive coffee.

In perhaps a similar vein to China where the upcoming Olympics are sending various bureaucrats and administrators into massive overdrive to clean up the city, environmentalists may indeed have the Vancouver Winter Games to thank for this forward leap in thinking.

The flip side with the tax and why some have critiqued it is that it will be offset by tax breaks and credits elsewhere. As William Rees, the economist who invented 'eco-footprint' analysis notes in the alternative BC weekly Tyee:

In effect, neither business nor the average consumer will feel much financial bite from the tax and is free to spend his/her tax savings and credits on alternative forms of consumption. This amounts to "impact neutrality." (No wonder the Vancouver Board of Trade called it a "smart carbon tax" and gave the budget an 'A' grade.)

The problem is, that redirected consumption may have negative ecological impacts equivalent to those of any carbon emissions avoided. Keep in mind that climate change, while important, is only one of many symptoms of what has become rampant human ecological dysfunction.

- BC's Carbon Tax Shell Game (Tyee, February 28, 2008)

Another argument over the tax is that it may be regressive, amounting to a flat tax on gas consumption. As Tom Barrett notes in the Tyee:

Problem is, the rich are also the ones who can most easily afford to pay carbon taxes -- taxes like the ones in Tuesday's budget, which are intended to stop people from spewing out greenhouse gases.

-- How Fair Is BC's New Carbon Tax? (Tyee, February 20, 2008)

However, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives thinks the budget has "done a reasonably good job of considering economic fairness." In fact, the progressive think tank contradicts Rees in that it praises the credits as making the tax more affordable for low income families.

Indeed, debate around the carbon tax gets very complicated very quickly, bringing into contention the universal need to reduce consumption vs. the need for a fair tax policy that cushions the blow on the poor. At the very least, British Columbia has brought the debate into the realm of actual government policy!

Posted in: Blogs

US Candidates on Eco Issues

Published by

Published March 10, 2008

by iris_author

Grist Magazine as a handy chart that outlines the positions of the major US presidential candidates on environmental issues. However, on the Democratic side, the chart won't help that much given the almost identical platforms of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the chart ignores minor candidates and parties such as Mike Gravel (still in the race) and the Green Party who are environmental giants in comparison.

Interestingly enough, the journal continues the troubling trend of collapsing all environmental issues along the climate change-energy continuum. Although they are obviously important in themselves, both civilizational level challenges lie (or are treated as such) in the domain of economic and technological fixes. More complex and far reaching issues such as biodiversity conservation are conveniently ignored in Grist's chart, even with habitat loss, species extinction, and dislocation of traditional livelihoods exacting their increasingly grim toll.

Beyond the usual laundry list of pledges, political will and a working green majority will be vital for the passage of any far reaching legislation, particularly in the US where entrenched interests have demonstrated their unyielding strength in both houses of Congress.

Posted in: Blogs

China’s environmental struggles

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Published March 8, 2008

by iris_author

There's some encouraging news from China where the judiciary is moving to ban plastic bags and go just a little bit greener. It goes without saying that the fate of any global efforts towards sustainability will depend heavily on the actions of countries like China, now home to much of the manufacturing capacity of the world. However, the country has a long way to go to rein in Western-style consumerism unleashed by its economic transformation and emergence of an affluent middle class. Moreover, the enormous demands of its industries for power and resources, are only eclipsed by the titanic levels of pollution that are prompting hundreds of protests throughout China's countryside. As such, China's fate will very much depend on whether the tattered regulatory mechanism of its state can effectively implement environmental policies and safeguards, and whether its leaders will have the foresight and resolve necessary to struggle with these issues beyond simply cleaning up Beijing for the Olympics this fall.

The Toronto Star also carries a detailed article on China's green leap forward. Despite the ginormous challenges, China seems to be on the move.

Posted in: Blogs

March 8th – International Women’s Day

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Published March 8, 2008

by dbazely

When I spent time in Tromsø University, Norway, in 2005 and 2006, developing a joint International Polar Year project with my colleagues there, I was very lucky to have my office in the Peace Studies Centre. While this very modern building reminded me of a Dalek from Dr. Who, simply sitting there, got me thinking about and paying attention to recent Nobel Prize winners (this is me with the bust of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Centre - ironically, he never won the Nobel Peace Prize, though he was nominated. I was so inspired by this bronze bust that I wrote an essay about Busts of Gandhi in Toronto and Norway).
[photopress:dawn_gandhi.jpg,full,centered]
I was particularly inspired by the story of Wangari Maathai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work on women’s rights and environmental protection in Kenya. Wangari Mathai is a feminist, environmentalist and human rights activist, who has, in the past, been jailed for speaking out. Her autobiography, Unbowed, is a fascinating read, and I highly recommend it. Women’s rights - access to education, political office, and simply basic human security - are as much an issue today as when I was learning about them, while growing up, attending all-girls schools, and reading authors like Germaine Greer. I am delighted with the support that the Nobel Foundation gives to women - visit their web site today.

Posted in: Blogs | Events | IRIS Director Blog

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