ENVS195 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: United Nations General Assembly, North American Free Trade Agreement, Intergenerational Equity

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Environmental Studies
• Course: ENVS195
• Professor: Erin Joakim

Document Summary

Mitchell: average canadian uses 250l per day. 2nd largest per capita of water consumption after us who uses 300l of water per day. 50l per day is sufficient for an average person. International: worlds human population tripled during 20th century, water consumption multiplied six fold. In many places, current consumption levels cannot be maintained from existing sources with present efficiencies: nearly 800m people lack access to potable water. 2. 6b people do not have adequate sanitation: ecosystems are under increasing stress, a host of water contamination sources remain, water related diseases are leading contributors to illness and death, particularly in less developed countries. 1. 5m children under 5 years old die annually from water illnesses. For water issues, any satisfactory ethic must extend beyond human relationships at the individual level. It must involve obligations: among communities and nations, between humans and non-human species and ecosystems, and, between us today and the generations to come (our grandchildren)