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TEMTI Newsletter

Theme on the Environment, Macoeconomics, Trade and Investment
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
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TEMTI’s mandate is to provide practical and enabling information, as well as relevant policy options on issues lying at the intersection between economics and environmental and social sustainability.
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Contents

Message from the Commission Chair of CEESP
Message from TEMTI Chair
Activities and News from TEMTI Members
Commentary: CoP21: emerging framework and closing windows
Forthcoming events
EPGS Series

Obituary

TEMTI regrets to announce the sad news of Professor Sam Moyo's death in New Delhi last Saturday. A few days before this Newsletter was finalized, we learned the tragic news of Professor Sam Moyo's death in a traffic accident in New Delhi. Sam was the director of the African Institute of Agrarian Studies in Zimbabwe and had been attending a conference at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Everyone who knew him agrees that he was a giant thinker and a powerful advocate of social justice. I met Sam when he came to lecture in Durban at the OSISA Winter School for Economic Justice in 2013.I remember I took notes during his two lectures, like every student, because in the final analysis, when it came to Sam, we were all his students. I was impressed by the depth of his thought and his analytical approach and I learned so much about the role of colonization in Europe's capital accumulation that I still consider my experience a rare luxury for a Latin American economist.
But there was something else with Sam Moyo. He was a humble person, never one to think arrogantly or to use his intellectual authority to impress others. He was a fine example of a classic gentleman and I only regret I didn't have the opportunity to work more with him. He was a key member of TEMTI and we will miss him dearly, for he was the best example of the way in which knowledge and scientific responsibility can blend with a deep commitment for social justice.
Alejandro Nadal
Chair, TEMTI
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter p. 2

Planet at the crossroads
“We live in a time of tremendous change, the nature and extent of which is the subject of intense debate around the world. At the heart of this debate is the clash of immediate human needs with their long-term impacts on the planet’s capacity to support life.”
TEMTI’s Working Paper Series:
Economic Perspectives on Global Sustainability
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Message from the Commission Chair of CEESP

Kia Ora members of the CEESP Theme on the Environment, Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment (TEMTI). Thank you for your interest and contribution to the work of the Theme. TEMTI plays an important role in the overall work of the Commission as it covers the third pillar of sustainable development, economics, which is too often overlooked in conservation and environment policies. Your contribution to CEESP’s endeavours allows us to analyse with rigour both the economic dynamics of sustainable development, as well as new avenues for policymaking.
Both TEMTI and CEESP remain committed to the vision of a world where equity is at the root of a dynamic harmony between humankind and nature, as well as among peoples. This vision involves a world of diversity, productivity and integrity of natural systems where production and consumption are sustainable and where cultural diversity is intertwined with biological diversity capable of generating abundant and sustainable livelihoods.
The Steering Committee of CEESP has just finished drafting the new mandate for the Commission. This will be sent to you soon for comment. As well as retaining analysis of economic drivers of environmental policies, one of the new areas CEESP intends to devote attention to is examining diverse values and valuations of nature. Within this area approaches such as Natural Capital and market-based responses to climate change will be explored as well as the social, environmental and economic assumptions that underpin them.
The future work of TEMTI will continue to be vital in ensuring that CEESP provides a balanced, environmentally and socially responsible approach to sustainable development
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the World Conservation Congress. CEESP will be holding a CEESP members meeting on September 1st so please note the date.
Thank you again for your contribution to the expertise of the Commission.
Aroha Te Pareake Mead
Chair
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter p. 3

Planet at the crossroads
“We live in a time of tremendous change, the nature and extent of which is the subject of intense debate around the world. At the heart of this debate is the clash of immediate human needs with their long-term impacts on the planet’s capacity to support life.”
TEMTI’s Working Paper Series:
Economic Perspectives on Global Sustainability
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Message from TEMTI Chair

In the 87th IUCN Council meeting in Haikou, province of Hainan, China, I had the privilege to give a talk on our work on the economic drivers of environmental degradation. Here are some highlights of that presentation.
In recent years, a number of organizations and publications have mentioned economic growth and population dynamics as the main drivers of environmental degradation (UNEP 2007 and 2012; IPCC 2007 and 2014; UN 2012; IPBES 2015). But these are very general categories that encompass a multitude of different types of events, in differing scales and with very dissimilar transmission chains. Thus, there is a clear need to unbundle this discussion about economic drivers.
Economic growth does translate into an increment of production and consumption of goods and services and, from this point of view it does have implications for the use of natural resources or for the way the economy impacts the environment. But growth is not a harmonious and uniform process. It has different rates between sectors (and at a more disaggregated level, between branches) in an economy and between regions. It is not a steady process and economic history shows that growth rates vary radically in time. For example, between 1945-1975 the average yearly growth rate of the world economy was 5.7%. In the period 1975-2000 that rate was almost cut in half. Today the world economy has slowed down as a result of the global financial and economic crisis.
The global economy has started to rely more and more on periodic episodes of asset inflation (commonly known as 'bubbles'). But these episodes lead to chronic crises that bring about serious disruptions in economic structures: inequality, bankruptcies and fiscal deficits. Today the world economy may be facing a future of secular stagnation or, in the best scenarios, under par growth. A high level of unemployment for the near future is a regular forecast today. The scars left on public accounts will have important fiscal policy implications for years to come. How will this affect the footprint that economic growth leaves on the environment? It's hard to tell, but one thing is clear: a crisis and its aftermath of a stagnant economy does not necessarily spell good news for the environment.
Population growth is the other factor frequently mentioned as key driver of environmental degradation. There is no doubt that the prospect of having a total population of 9 billion by 2050 is something that should retain our attention. But there are also some interesting facts that need to be taken into account when thinking of population as a driver of environmental degradation. For example, most countries/regions have entered or are entering their demographic transitions. Global population growth rate peaked in 1963 and has been declining ever since: 1.2% today but probably be <1% in 2020 and <0.5% by 2050. Perhaps the main demographic phenomenon today is urbanization and has critical implication for consumption patterns and markets. International migration is without a doubt the second most important demographic event.
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter p. 4
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
Email to:
TEMTI’s Working Paper Series:
Economic Perspectives on Global Sustainability
The Political Economy of Africa’s natural resources and the ‘Great Financial Crisis’, by Bram Büscher
/ Demand for more goods and services is of course the implicit element when talking about population growth as a driver. But here we need to take into account that demand and the formation of preferences is not a static or rigid structure that remains unaffected by marketing and a myriad other forces. The concept of endogenous preferences is highly relevant here. In addition, there are deep disparities in the use and access to raw materials: per capita consumption of raw materials in OECD countries is 18-20 times more than in developing countries.
The key message here is that both economic growth and population dynamics need to be examined in disaggregated terms. These categories involve a complex set of disparate forces that work in different dimensions. There is a clear need to disaggregate and examine these dimensions in detail. Unbundling these categories will allow us to refine our vision on the nature of the drivers and the ways to control them in the context of robust conservation strategies. Using adequate analytical instruments is an essential requisite in the study of economic drivers of environmental degradation.
The work of our colleagues in the TEMTI network is an important contribution to the research agenda on economic drivers. Our analysis of the economic forces behind the degradation of the environment is a key element for the design of better and more resilient conservation strategies, as well as for the development of policy alternatives.
Alejandro Nadal
Centro de Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México
Chair of TEMTI
References
IPBES (2015), “The IPBES Conceptual Framework: Connecting Nature and People”, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Vol. 14 . ScienceDirect.com
IPCC (2007), Fourth Assessment Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland. Available at: www.ipcc.ch
IPCC (2013), Fifth Assessment Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland. Available at: www.ipcc.org
MEA (2003), Millennium Ecoystem Assessment: A Framework for Assessment. Island Press. Available at: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Framework.html
UN (2012), The Future We Want. Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Conference
UNEP (2007), Global Environmental Outlook 4. Environment for Development. United Nations Environment Programme. Available at: http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4.asp
UNEP (2012), Global Environmental Outlook 5. Environment for the Future We Want. United Nations Environment Programme. Available at: http://www.unep.org/geo/geo5.asp
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter p. 5

Planet at the crossroads
“We live in a time of tremendous change, the nature and extent of which is the subject of intense debate around the world. At the heart of this debate is the clash of immediate human needs with their long-term impacts on the planet’s capacity to support life.”
TEMTI’s Working Paper Series:
Economic Perspectives on Global Sustainability
/

Activities and News from TEMTI Members

Recent activities by TEMTI members reflect the priorities and new developments in our network. The following examples of work in research, consultancy and advocacy by new and old members of our team illustrate the wide array of fields we are covering today. We welcome those new members that share our enthusiasm and eagerness to further develop TEMTI's priorities.
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TEMTI sends a message of sympathy and solidarity to Sam Moyo’s colleagues and friends at the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS), of which he was Executive Director. AIAS is an independent policy research institution committed to the development of agrarian systems that enhance equitable land rights and sustainable land uses throughout Africa. AIAS does research based policy mediation and advocacy through five core strategies: research, policy dialogues, training, information dissemination and networking.
/ AIAS has been active in the producing policy documents, training courses and policy dialogues in Zimbabwe and the region as a whole. The institute also hosts the Agrarian South Network and edits the Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy (www.ags.sagepub.com).
AIAS launched a Call for submissions for its VIII Agrarian South Summer School – 2016, “Progressive Social Forces, Social Movements and Collective Actions in the Contemporary Agrarian Transformations in the South.” The aim of the Summer School, to be held in January 18 to 22, 2016 in Harare, Zimbabwe, is to bring together a variety of social forces that have been able to challenge and influence processes of land and agrarian reforms and transformations in the South.
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Leontief Prize to Amit Badhuri
TEMTI congratulates Amit Badhuri for receiveing the 2016 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, awarded by the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE, Tufts University). This year's award (shared with Diane Elson), is titled "Development and Equity," recognizes the contributions that these researchers have made to economic understandings of development, power, gender, and human rights.
“As the free market and waves of globalization have left some peoples behind, Diane Elson and Amit Bhaduri demonstrate why the current theories of development have excluded the poor and disenfranchised from the growth process,” said GDAE Co-Director Neva Goodwin. “Their cross-disciplinary work and profound understanding of economic development is appropriately recognized in an award that bears Leontief's name.”
November 26, 2015 / TEMTI Newsletter p. 6
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
Email to:
TEMTI’s mandate is to provide practical and enabling information, as well as relevant policy options on issues lying at the intersection between economics and environmental and social sustainability.