Managing environmental change

1. Managing environmental change • Learning objectives: • Understand environmental change and be able to categorise change • Appreciate the dependence of environmental management on good physical geography • Understand basic environmental management tools and management processes • Evaluate problems and processes involved in implementation of environmental interventions

2. Introduction • Physical geography is studied for intellectual curiosity but also because to manage the way we impact on the environment • Environmental management is the practical application of physical geography • Silent Spring 1962 – Rachel Carson • Communicating dangers of DDT • Warning that finally awoke the world to the significance of the environment • However, the environment is the focus of more talk than action • Johannesburg conference of 2003 is the most obvious evidence • Arguably, the management of environmental change is one of the most important areas of science and management today • Full of uncertainty • Requires precautionary principle • However this involves risk

3. Table 23.1

4. Characteristics of change • Definitions: • Manage – to direct or control the use of • Environment – the combination of external or extrinsic conditions that effect the growth and development of organisms • Change – a transition from one state, phase or condition to another • Change is however not a single or simple concept • Unreversible, quick and unstable • Reversible, slow and stable • Linear, nonlinear or contain hysteresis • Management decision has to be aware of the complexities of change so as not to exacerbate it

5. Table 23.2

6. Figure 23.1

7. Rate of change • Rate of onset is vital because if slow… • It offers opportunity for species to adapt or shift range • Provides time for the manager to devise and implement remediation strategy • Offers politicians sufficient time to perceive damage • May also be problem because politicians look on shorter scales • Non linearity and rapid alteration in rate = very concerning • Catastrophe theory • Non-linear shift between stable states without the prospect of reverse • Example: • Very slow warming climate trend may cause catastrophic shutting down of the thermohaline circulation • Sends the N Hemisphere system into a cold phase with further positive feedback (e.g. rapid ice sheet growth)

8. Figure 23.2

9. Environmental tolerance • Environmental tolerance = valuable concept • Every species has a range of environmental conditions within which it can operate e.g. temperature etc • Law of limiting factors – when conditions fall outside any one of these the organism cannot survive • Same concept appears as ‘bottleneck theory’ and ‘threshold theory’. • In reality this relates to more than just the ecological definition • All Earth surface-ocean-atmosphere-biosphere environments • Merges with the concept of Gaia (James Lovelock, 1979) • Different scales of tolerance • Individual species within an ecosystem have tolerance ranges • Entire ecosystem as a whole has a tolerance range • Scale of environmental change has to be greater to destroy ecosystem than individual species • Diverse ecosystems tend to be more tolerant

10. The ‘duty’ and need to manage change • Economic and political imperatives always appear to have the highest priorities – except under ‘environmental ethics’ • ‘Environmental ethics’ does not place humans at the top of decisions • We have a duty to care for other species and the Earth itself • Tragedy of the commons (Hardin, 1968) • we must think of the actions of others and not just our own • Analogy – farmers seek to maximise personal profit by adding cattle to common property until environmental degradation ensues • Applies to allowing people the freedom to pollute the atmosphere and oceans • We have a finite resource and we must therefore manage those resources • Need to identify alternatives to over-exploitation

11. Figure 23.4 Source: Photo courtesy of Joseph Holden

12. Types of change to be managed • 3 types of environmental change: 1. Responding to natural environmental change 2. Controlling anthropogenic environmental change 3. Implementing local change • ‘Coping strategies’ • necessary response to natural change – we cannot alter or reverse it. • ‘Sustainable development’1987 World Commission on Sustainable Development • ‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ • Applies to long term management • Anthropogenic change is usually more rapid than natural • Usually unidirectional rather than cyclical and broadly irreversible • Management options – (1) coping strategies or (2) limit the drivers • Requires political, legal and economic will to curtail the activity

13. Table 23.3

14. Tools for management • The manager needs to be able to identify the nature, scale and timing of the impact of any actions • Hazard assessment • Especially slope, solute and tectonic processes • Often spatial in approach • Justifies acquisition of funds for difficult management strategies • Impact assessment • EIA’s, HIA’s, Environmental Technology Assessment, Social Impact Assessment • Manager seeks to identify, quantify, aggregate impacts • All assessments have generic similarity (e.g. include a scoping study and should be prospective) • Driven by checklists and matrices

15. Figure 23.7

16. Table 23.4a Source:Environment Agency

17. Table 23.4a cont. Source:Environment Agency

18. Table 23.4b Source:Environment Agency

19. Table 23.4b cont. Source:Environment Agency

20. Table 23.4c Source:Environment Agency

21. Table 23.4c cont. Source:Environment Agency

22. Life costing • Combining impact assessment and forecasting allows life cycle analysis • Life cycle analysis • Evaluation of all the environmental impacts of a product from the time the raw materials are taken from the Earth to when the product is thrown away and added to the ecosystem (inc manufacture, use, disposal) • Ecological footprint • The areas of biosphere required to sustain an individual, company/organisation or country • Requires detailed physical geography science – use of the environment • Environmental economics • Managers have to justify the resources for actions that need to be taken • Therefore express environmental impacts in monetary values to promote communication with decision makers • Whole life costing • LCA merged with the financial expression of the consequences

23. Implementation: stakeholder involvement • Need to build a consensus for action by all those with an interest in the issue (often a great deal of people) • Stake holder analysis - identifies stakeholders (brainstorming) • Adequate identification is the foundation of consensus building • 2003 Chinese government paid compensation for ignoring protestors over the development of the Hong Kong harbour • Consensus on a single inflexible approach is very unlikely, it causes: • Legal process for resolving is expensive and lengthy • Create ‘martyrs’ • Future opposition to similar projects will be stronger/more organised • International disagreement can result in stalemate e.g. US - Kyoto • Alternative dispute resolution – avoids winners and losers • Propose a range of options through options analysis • Participatory analysis – involving stakeholders in the decision process

24. Table 23.6 Source: From van Ast and Boot, 2003

25. Project management • The delivery of an agreed objective to an agreed timescale, requires 1) clearly specified feasible objective 2) the resources to reach the objective • Involves the sub-division of the project into a series of tasks • Each having a clear specification, resource allocation, time duration • Need identification of the relationships between tasks • Tasks might not be in sequence or at the same time • Large projects usually require a network of tasks • Large projects require definitions of milestones and deliverables – key stages • When managing environmental change there will be a large element of uncertainty • Need to monitor outcomes throughout the project • Problem - there are often too many outcomes or many members of the monitoring group may not be familiar with the science • How does a non-technical project manager or oversight group measure progress? • Need indicators to improve ease of communication

26. Summary • Environmental management is about the management of change • Stop a detrimental change or encourage responsible change • Change is not simple and predictable • Linear, nonlinear, hysteric, reversible, irreversible • Environmental impact assessments are important environmental tools allowing determination of the merits of management options • The money to pay for environmental management will only be provided if politicians are willing to provide finance. Requires consensus of support for a given action by all stakeholders involved. • Monitoring of environmental management techniques put into practice is vital