ESS211 Rest of the Tutorial Structure

Please register for the following course:


Tutorial 3 Perspectives on “sustainable development” Due Date 13 April 2017

Neoclassical economists and ecological economists agree on the need for “sustainable development” but they disagree on the best way of realising and measuring it (i.e. they disagree on WHAT should be sustained). The neoclassical view of “sustainability” mentions two underlying assumptions: a) man-made capital and natural capital are substitutes and b) technological advances will uncover these substitutes as natural capital becomes more scarce. The neoclassical view therefore assumes that the world cannot “run out of resources.” Ecological economists disagree and being able to measure “how we are doing” becomes extremely important in this debate.

  1. There are many“problems” with gross domestic product (GDP) and of “quality of life”. The ND Gain does not actual use this Index as an indicator unless you use its adjustment utility and please read up on why it does not recommend its use. REVIEW this TED lecture Douglas Beal: An alternative to GDP as an alternative index that measures not just wealth but wellbeing.
  2. Use this web portal to assess and analyse your selected country and your comparison countries you used and assess their sustainable economic development.
  3. Explain how the concept of GDP developed and why it is not a good measure of real development. Explain Michael Green’s Social Progress Index using this link analyse your selected country and your comparison countries.

Tutorial 4 Some Basic EconomicsDue Date 28 April 2017

  1. Explain the two fundamental assumptions of human welfare from a utilitarian perspective in 200 words.
  2. Describe the difference between individual welfare and social welfare in 200 words. (Case Study: Ford's Pinto: Collective Welfare versus Rights and Freedom ( )
  3. Explain the difference between private goods and public goods in 200 words. Give an example from your experience. (
  4. Why do unregulated free markets tend to produce too much pollution? (200 words)
  5. Describe what is meant by “internalise negative externalities” in 200 words.
  6. Explain the difference between “open access” and “common property” in 200 words. Give an example of each from your own experience.

Tutorial 5: Assessing Human Impacts Environmental Performance: Using Yales EPI index(Due date 12 May 2017)

Watch the following video on Human Impacts then using the data from Worldmapper analyse the human impact of your selected country and your comparison countries. Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. There are nearly 700 maps with various data on each country. Some of the maps are also available as PDF posters. Worldmapper uses a novel gridded cartogram approach to present global data.I have downloaded the PDF maps and the Data for these measurements and they are available in this folder to assist you with your Analysis.

The 2016 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) a global view of environmental performance and country by country metrics to inform decision-making. Here is a link to a very short video explaining the EPI Launched at the World Economic Forum, the EPI is in its 15th year and more relevant than ever to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and carrying out the recent international climate change agreement. A more detail presentation of the 2016 EPI can be found at this link Review the EPI of your selected country and your comparison countries.

ESS211 Take Home Test: Due Date 5 May

Question 1 Assess the economic and ecological cost of rising sea-levels. To introduce the topic review the following video Which countries are most at risk of sea-level rise? Which impacted countries are making the most investments in ensuring sea-level rise does not compromise long sustainability of their economies and societies. Where can the most “bang for buck” investments to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise. Which countries have the least ability to deal with levels of sea-level rise and what global solutions could be offered to render assistance to these nations?

Question 2Although currently Climate Change seems to be an unsolvable problem, past global environmental problems have been solved through policy and economic interventions. The most notable success was the reduction of the “Ozone Hole over Antarctica. Review the following short video and study this article Using this example analyse how using this success story we can find “solutions” for climate change.

ESS211 Project – Power Point Presentation: Due Date 18 May