GEOG 352: Day 8

1. GEOG 352: Day 8

2. Table Missing From Your Edition

3. Housekeeping Items • We have two presenters today: Matt and Shaunda. • The rest of the schedule is as follows: on February 2- David, Bob, and Shallice (we may not get through all of you); February 4- Dan, Alan, and Tracey, and February 9- Craig, Ian, Chelsey, and Angus. I believe Julian is not accounted for. • We also need to set a date for the debates. • I will also try to get through Chapters 5 and 14. • Dan recommends the following web site about Bellingham's local economy initiative: http://www.sustainableconnections.org/

4. Porritt- Chapter 5 • I will only be able to hit the highlights in this and the next chapter. • A main focus is the debate on economic globalization. Porritt outlines the two very different views that exist on it, and cites Naomi Klein's point that those who are part of the 'anti-globalization' movement are, in fact, part of a global phenomenon. • He then mentions a debate between in The Ecologist George Monbiot and Helena Norberg-Hodge as to whether the solution is to reform globalization or to go back to more localism.

5. Porritt- Chapter 5 • Much of the rest of the chapter goes into how the global economic order created by the Washington Consensus has increased the wealth gap between the richest fifth and poorest fifth from 1:30 to 1:100, and the alternative vision for how that order could function to benefit of poor countries and peoples. • He also talks about the debate over corporations and whether they are reformable (for a good brief history of corporations, see Wikipedia), and cites the view of some that that it's more important to change the environment in which they operate.

6. Porritt- Chapter 14 • This is a fairly long chapter and Anielski covers some of the same ground in his book. • Here he cites his work with the Prince of Wale's Business and the Environment Programme, which tries to educate business leaders about environmental problems and responsibilities, apparently with significant effect. It does so about making the “business case” for sustainable development. • He reviews contrasting shareholder value models, while remaining critical of the figleaf of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

7. Porritt- Chapter 14 • He cites the Global Compact established by former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, and various efforts to evaluate and rate the CSR of individual companies. • He introduces the '5 capitals' framework that we will be discussing in greater depth later on: natural, social, human/ intellectual, manufactured/ technological, and financial. • He cites the Joseph Schrumpeter doctrine of 'creative destruction' that may now apply to the sustainability revolution [note it's potential applicability to the issue of bailouts!]

8. Porritt- Chapter 14 • He cites the efforts of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to promote best practices, and mentions two positive case studies – Vodacom in South Africa and Cemex in Mexico – that engage with the 'base' of the pyramid: the world's poor. • He finishes up by discussing how environmental accounting – a potential tool for the tool presentations – works and how some companies evaluate how their customers' commitment to ethics has contributed to their profits, along with satisfaction with service.