POL 32700 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Global Environmental Politics, Westphalian Sovereignty, Overconsumption
10 Jan 2020
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Lecture 5: The Debate Begins, The View from the South: Developing Countries in Global
Environmental Politics, The Case of the Developing Countries
1. Explain the institution of national sovereignty
. Does the institution of national
sovereignty help or hinder the effort to construct international responses to global
environmental problems?
a. National Sovereignty is the idea that each nation may use resources as they see fit,
each has its own right to decide its own affairs. National sovereignty hinders the
ability to work together, as people need to give up control for the greater good.
2. Is global pollution mainly a problem of poverty or a problem of affluence?
a. Both - Old inefficient technology (poverty), and over-consumption + technology
(affluence).
3. In what ways do the North and South view environmental issues differently?
a. “South” never had a monolithic view of how to solve the environmental problem,
but perceives it’s the North’s fault for creating the crisis, and that the North,
having reaped the fruits of industrialization, now aims to close the door on the
South. Problems of poverty =/= problems of affluence, and environmental
problems facing the North are not the same for the South. North wants long-term
solutions
4. What is the balance of responsibility between the countries and societies of the North and
those of the South in global environmental degradation?
a. Address the South’s poverty concerns while putting the planet on a more
ecologically sustainable footing.
5. What type of solutions does the North favor? What about the South?
a. North wants to find long-term solutions but acknowledges that its culprit for
pollution and says the South should take on some restrictions. The South wants to
continue to develop + sees the North as inhibiting it and sees pollution as the
North’s fault.
6. From the perspective of the South, what was the significance of the Rio Conference?
