Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P.

Lumanlan

 Collective learning led humanity in changing the environment for survival.

 Cities consume natural resources, create wealth and innovation which improve living
conditions, but it is changing the environment rapidly today because the rate of
consumption from the Industrialized nations and The High Population nations which are
catching up to become industrialized.
 Advancement of technology increased the abu ndance of food, most specially in the late
1970’s. The 3 rd Green Revolution led by the scientist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug saved millions of people from starvation
and death. We enjoy abundance in areas of Food, Energy, Water, and Materials but at
the cost of the natural world.
 Human Activities such as the use of fossils for fuel and electricity for cities and
industries, coupled with accumulated deforestation have led to higher greenhouse gas
concentrations, increased global warming. Global warming is leading to changes in the
earth’s climate patterns and the impact are more dramatic this past two decades.
 Climate Change is affecting many species which may lead to extinction.
 Climate Change is enhancing the spread of infectious diseases.
 Climate Change is a threat to human existence and survival, and the world’s economy.
 Technological solutions are already available. Innovation in the field of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy sources are now widespread and becoming more affordable.
 A circular Economy will be created by technologies and industries that are efficient in the
use of materials. This will reduce the environmental impact of industries.
 Social, Political changes will be valuable for a safer and more secure future where there
is a greater quality of life for everyone, including millions of species which we share life in
this planet.

KEY ISSUES FOR THE SURVIVAL OF HUMANITY

 Urbanization: Resource Use  Waste and Pollution (Air, water, Land)

o Related to Urbanization is Population Growth and Poverty
o Solid waste and how to manage it
o Wastewater and how to prevent water pollution
o Emissions from Energy Resources, Landfills, Industrial Farms, Croplands = Air
pollution  Global Warming & Human Health
o Minerals (as Raw Materials for cities) and its impacts: the significance of recycling
 Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change.
 Food Security (and safety).
 Water Security and Life in water
 Sustainable Cities: Innovation and Lifestyle Change
 Human Health and Technology (including mental health)

The Following are collated from the WEF: World Economic Forum.

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and one in eight urbanites reside in one of
the 33 “megacities” (those with more than 10 million inhabitants). While urbanization creates
many challenges that threaten the quality of life, it also represents our best hope of solving these
challenges; that’s because the density of cities enables innovation, by readily providing testbeds
to gauge the effectiveness of related solutions. Through the collective effort s of governments,
the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and the public, and through the harnessing
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

of transformative technologies and enlightened urban policies, we can realize the true potential
of the cities of the future.

Urban Environment and Resources: Entirely new cities are being built from scratch in order to
address environmental challenges

The ecological footprints of cities, or the productive areas required to supply them with
resources while also absorbing their waste, need to be reduced. Cities consume more than
75% of the world’s energy, and are expected to generate more than 2 billion tonnes of waste
annually by 2025 - compared with 1.3 billion tonnes of waste in 2012. The urban environment
faces multiple threats: air pollution; climate change; and the rapid loss of green space and
biodiversity. As they grow, they must therefore become more resource efficient, and protect the
environment (including air and water quality) from the negative impacts of urbanization .
Overstretched infrastructure plagues many cities, and authorities should implement policies that
optimize the use of fresh water, electricity, and fuel. World Bank statistics have shown that
electricity loss during transmission is about 5% for developed countries, while in less developed
countries, such as Myanmar, that figure reaches as high as 20%; investment in overhauling
power grids is therefore urgently needed. In addition, the World Resources Institute has
estimated that the number of people living in water-scarce regions will grow from 1 billion
presently to 3.5 billion by 2025.

Urbanization is also connected to the degradation and loss of forests, grassland, and marine
areas (it is estimated that 90% of the wastewater in developing countries is discharged directly
into bodies of water). These ecosystems, both within cities (such as urban parks), and near cities
(such as watersheds), are vital for sustaining urban areas, as th ey can improve air quality,
provide for recreation, and moderate the effects of flooding and drought . Cities should better
integrate both natural and constructed environments in order to form urban ecosystems ,
supported by related resource-planning and infrastructure policies. There are serious
challenges in retrofitting existing cities to meet these goals ; as a result, there have been radical
attempts to build resource-efficient, green cities from scratch. One example is the proposed
New Clark City, which is being constructed about 100 kilometres north of Manila. Two-
thirds of this planned urban area would be reserved for parks, farmland, and other green space,
and all of its buildings would make use of the latest technology to reduce energy and water use.
Other, similar projects include Songdo, a smart city that features waste disposal via pneumatic
tube in South Korea (though criticisms of that city’s vibrancy have surfaced), and Dholera, a
utopian experiment in India.
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

Can you see the connection between Cities and Nature in this graphic?
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

The global population is expected to increase from roughly 7.6 billion to nearly 10 billion
by 2050, and demand for cereals to be used as food for both humans and animals may
grow to roughly 3 billion tonnes by that point from about 2 billion tonnes as of 2009. The
world's agricultural systems must better address climate change, water and land
resources that are becoming scarce, and increasingly volatile food prices. Meanwhile food
companies must adapt to shifting consumption patterns, and play a greater ro le in
promoting health and wellness.

Environmental Footprint

Agriculture and climate change are having severe impacts on water

supply and forest cover
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

Increased demand for food, due to a rapidly growing global population, will
only worsen the negative environmental impact of food systems. Water
availability, climate volatility, and deforestation are among the most pressing
related issues. While the global population increased by 340% between the
years 1900 and 2010, global water withdrawal grew by 630% over the same
period, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. In 2018, the Water Resources Group estimated that, under a
business-as-usual scenario, global water requirements would increase by
2030 to a level that is 40% above current accessible, reliable supply.
Optimizing the efficiency of water use in production and distribution is critical.
Climate change will increasingly affect food systems; rising temperatures and
shifting rainfall patterns will put crop production at risk, leading to yield losses
and higher food prices. A 2013 World Bank report, Turn Down the
Heat, argued that 2°C of global warming above preindustrial levels could
reduce total crop production by 10% (current temperatures are about 1°C
above preindustrial levels), though some crops will be more affected than
others - just 1.5°C of warming by the 2030s could result in a 40% loss of
areas for growing maize in sub-Saharan Africa, for example.

Climate change-related extreme weather events like drought, flooding, and

heat waves increase agricultural price volatility, trigger food crises, and disrupt
global supply chains. The implications of this are more severe for less-resilient
countries; drought in the Horn of Africa in 2011 exposed 13.3 million people in
the region to extreme food insecurity, for example, resulting in high levels of
malnutrition and a high risk of infectious disease. Agriculture can also be a
major driver of land degradation, deforestation, and greenhouse gas
emissions. According to a 2016 World Resources Institute working paper, the
production of animal-based foods (such as dairy products and meat) was
responsible for about two-thirds of production-related greenhouse gas
emissions in 2009 (a 2014 study found that halving meat and dairy
consumption in Europe could reduce emissions from agriculture by as much
as 40%). Meanwhile an estimated one third of all arable land is degraded, due
to the overuse of agrochemicals, soil mismanagement, and poor farming
techniques, while deforestation has emerged as an issue of growing
importance. Industrial agriculture accounted for 80% of the deforestation in
tropical and subtropical countries between 2000 and 2010, according to Yale
University’s Global Forest Atlas.
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

Global Food Systems

Food systems are inefficient, leading to significant waste even as chronic

hunger affects millions

The world’s population is projected to increase from about 7.6 billion as of

2017 to more than 9.7 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations’ World
Population Prospects: the 2017 Revision. This increase, coupled with an
expanding global middle class that is demanding higher-quality food, will
require a near doubling of current food production levels, according to the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO. As global
food systems become increasingly interconnected, effective coordination
among a diverse set of stakeholders will be required.

There are significant inefficiencies in food systems. About one third of all the
food produced in the world is lost or wasted post-harvest, according to the
FAO, while about 815 million people the world remain chronically
undernourished. A lack of storage and infrastructure, and a dearth of market
information for small farmers, are key reasons for food losses that occur
before goods can reach consumers. The potential to craft new, systemic
approaches to food systems that include a diverse array of stakeholders
presents opportunities to help sustainably feed the world well into the future.
One related effort, a US government program called Feed the Future, has
appealed to businesses and universities to get involved; according to Feed
the Future, it has enabled more than 3 million children to live free from
stunting, and helped farmers to generate more than $10 billion in new
agricultural sales between 2011 and 2017.
Sustainable Consumption

Consumers need encouragement to make more sustainable choices

There were about 3.2 billion people in the middle class as of 2016, already
spending a total of roughly $35 trillion annually - and roughly 140 million
people are now joining the middle class every year, according to a 2017 report
published by the Brookings Institution. Nearly 90% of these new entrants are
in Asia, according to the report. Consumers in emerging economies in Asia
and elsewhere aspire to high-consumption, western lifestyles. Efforts to
encourage sustainability therefore need to expand beyond a focus on
production, and pay greater attention to this growing consumer group. Only
about 13% of consumers are willing to pay more for green products, according
to the results of a study published in 2017 by the Network for Business
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

Sustainability. Meanwhile about one third of the food produced for human
consumption is lost or wasted globally (or about 1.3 billion tons per year),
according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Companies must try to shift consumer behaviour towards greater

sustainability. The World Economic Forum’s Engaging Tomorrow’s Consumer
project spawned the “Collectively” digital platform, which featured founding
companies including Coca-Cola and Unilever and was designed to inspire
young people with stories about a more sustainable future. According to data
published in the Forum’s Engaging Tomorrow’s Consumer Project Report
2015, 93% of millennials say they would buy a product because it is
associated with a cause. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is being
fuelled by converging strains of rampant technology innovation, is enabling
business models that can better drive sustainability - such as the so-called
sharing economy model exemplified by Uber’s ride-hailing service, or Airbnb’s
rental service. The sharing economy is expected to grow in value from $14
billion as of 2014 to $335 billion by 2025, according to the Brookings
Institution.

Nutrition and Health

As global obesity rates increase, many developing countries are

simultaneously dealing with undernutrition

There has been a growing focus among businesses and governments on

quality rather than quantity when it comes to agriculture and food systems.
This is at least in part a response to rising rates of obesity (even as hunger
persists in many parts of the world). More than 672 million adults in the world,
or one in eight, are now obese, according to the 2018 edition of the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s report the State of Food
Insecurity and Nutrition in the World. While the problem is most significant in
North America, according to the report, it is worrying that Africa and Asia are
also experiencing an upward trend. Meanwhile the number of undernourished
people in the world is also increasing, to 821 million by 2017, according the
report; undernourishment, coupled with severe food insecurity, appears to be
increasing in nearly all subregions of Africa as well as in South America.
Poverty remains the main underlying cause of malnutrition. In many countries,
nutrient-rich foods are significantly more expensive than unhealthy foods, and
there is a lack of understanding about the components of a healthy diet. In
Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

developing countries, this can trigger “nutrition transition,” where populations

simultaneously face rising obesity levels and undernutrition.

A broad shift towards western-style diets high in calories, protein, fats, sugars
and ultra-processed foods has resulted in unbalanced, unhealthy diets and an
increased incidence of micronutrient deficiencies; a report published by the
Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition in 2015 noted that
this affected more than 2 billion people worldwide. The report warned that if
current trends continued, the number of overweight and obese people would
reach 3.28 billion by 2030, or about one third of the projected total world
population for that year. Extensive research on the potential health effects
associated with being overweight or obese point to higher risks of cancer,
cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and diabetes. A related study published
in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice in 2011 found that the number of
adults with diabetes in Nigeria would likely double between the years 2011
and 2030, to 6.1 million. There is also a financial cost to consider - a 2014
report published by the McKinsey Global Institute estimated the global
economic costs of overweight and obesity to be roughly $2 trillion per year, or
equivalent to about 2.8% of annual global GDP.

What are the solutions presented by G. Tyler Miller in his book Environmental Science?

What are the opportunities in recycling food wastes to produce Food? What is composting?

The world may be going back to its roots: composting of wastes to grow food. With new ways of
composting, this will become part of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Summary

The shift from a “take, make and dispose” economic model to a more circular
approach that involves the regenerative use of materials is gaining ground.
The so-called circular economy offers significant opportunities to boost
economic growth, job creation, and innovation. Waste to Wealth, a book
published by Accenture in 2015, projected that as much as $4.5 trillion in
economic value could be created by the year 2030 through encouraging
corporate leaders to “go circular” and rethink their business models in ways
that eliminate waste.

Urbanization and Circular Practices

Cities are playing a key role in the transition to a circular economy

Notes Prepared By Neil Ian P. Lumanlan

The global urban population has grown rapidly; more people now live in urban
rather than rural areas, and a report published by the United Nations has
projected that an additional 2.5 billion people will be living in urban settings by
2050. This increased urbanization brings many challenges, but also many
potential benefits - particularly in terms of the broad shift towards a circular
economy (that is, an economy that is based on reusing materials for
production, in order to reduce waste and benefit the environment). For
example, urbanization enables the more efficient deployment of integrated
systems for recovering materials after they are used, such as household food
waste. The Belgian startup Cirkle delivers seasonal produce directly to
customers’ homes, then takes back waste including recyclables and used
cooking oil - which is later used to produce biodiesel. Circle Economy, an
Amsterdam-based non-profit, provides a Circle Cities Programme, to help
cities transition to a circular economy by tapping related knowledge at
universities and research organizations which is then put into practice by
member companies. The non-profit notes that two-thirds of global energy is
used in cities, as are 70% of all global resources.

Cities play a central role in the global economy (Circle Economy also
estimates that 80% of global GDP is generated in cities), and present
intriguing opportunities for the implementation of circular principles. The
centralization and concentration of demand within an urban area can enable
more efficient and cost-effective logistics, for example; that is because high
population density can facilitate increased collection frequency, and shorter
travel distances. So-called reverse logistics in particular, which involves the
collection of used products in order to reuse or dispose of them, could better
thrive in an urban setting, according to a whitepaper published in 2018 by the
World Economic Forum in collaboration with the consultancy PwC. The ability
to better centralize the collection of used items like clothing and household
goods in a city could provide a boost to such practices, according to the
whitepaper, and related models should be relatively inexpensive to test. The
same principle can be applied to medical waste; according to the whitepaper,
a voluntary group in Coimbatore, India has used a collection box where
people can drop off their unused or unopened medicines for later
redistribution to people in need at facilities for the elderly.