Introduction to Environmental

Management

Lecture 1: Environmental Management

Nusrat Ehsan
 System & Environment
A part of universe under consideration is known as System,
Rest of system is called Environment.

 Environment can be defined as the physical, chemical and biological world

that surrounds us as well as the complex of social and cultural conditions
affecting an individual or community.
 Includes all factors living and nonliving that affect an individual organism or
population at any point in the life cycle;
 set of circumstances surrounding a particular occurrence and all the things
that surrounds us. It includes the conditions under which any individuals or
thing exists, live or develop
 Lithosphere

Environmental Factors
Hydrospher
Physical
e

 Physical
Atmosphere
Land, water, atmosphere, climate,
sound, odors and taste.
 Biological Flora
Fauna (animal life of a region or
geological period)
Flora (the plants of a particular Environment Biological Fauna
region or geological period)
Ecology,
Microbe
bacteria and viruses; and all those
social factors which make up the
quality of life. Social
 Socioeconomic
Sociopolitical
Socio-
Cultural economical
Political
Economical
Economical
 Environment Explained

 What is Surrounded? Types of Environment

 By what Surrounded?  1. Natural environment
 Where surrounded?  2. Man-made environment
Major Environmental Problems
 Global Warming
 Ozone Layer Depletion
 Deforestation
 Loss of Biodiversity
 Water pollution
 Waste generation
 Food and water shortage
 Development
 Development is a process of planned changed from small
to big, from efficient method to more efficient method,
from worst conditions to better conditions, and from poor
quality to higher quality.
Sustainable Development
 Sustainable development can be defined as a way to meet
the human needs while protecting the environment.
 Sustainable development is based on 10 main principles,
which are derived from three main areas
 Triple Bottom line(Economics, Social and Environmental)
 Ecological Social/ Ethical Political
Principles Principles Principles
Principle 1: Principle 5:
Principle 8:
Dependence intergenerational
Participation
equity
Principle 2:
Biophysical Limits
Principle 6: intra- Principle 9:
generational equity Cooperation
Principle 3: living
Within Limits

Principles
Principle 4: of Sustainable Development
Principle 10:
Principle 7:
Addressing the Root
Ecological Justice
interdependence cause
Dependence
 The life of man here on earth completely depends on the
natural environment for its existence.
 It is from the environment that man ultimately obtains
food or cash.
there are two major elements in managing the
environmental resources
Criticality:
The estimate of importance of resources.
Scarcity:
The estimate of availability of resources.
Biophysical limits of resources
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) Model
1. Resources are scarce in absolute terms. That is,
humanity is endowed with a finite amount of material
resources.

2. If uncontrolled, the tendency of human populations is

to grow exponentially.

3. Technology should not be perceived as the ‘ultimate’

escape from the problem of resource scarcity.
Living within limits
Intergenerational equity
 The sustainable development is an equity between the
economic growth and environmental protection.
 The natural resources available in the environment should be
equally available to every individual regardless of their
economic background.
 The main purpose of intergenerational equity is to manage
the environmental resources within the same generation
equally to decrease the social problems like poverty, crime.
Intra-generational equity
 Management of environmental resources in such a way
that they remain available for the future generations with
the same extend that they are present now.
 The decision of resources use and conserve is a necessity
of society for longer duration of time.
Ecological justice
 Environmental justice is the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race,
color, national origin, or income with respect to the
development, implementation, and enforcement
of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
 The resources are common for every species and their
rights are conserved.
Participation
 Participation of different political parties within or outside the
country helps to reduce the environmental problems.
 The principle of participation is a key governance principle
that is highly relevant for conservation and
sustainability. Participation is essential for ensuring
accountability.
 Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development states that environmental issues “are best
handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the
relevant level” and that each individual should have “the
opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.”
Cooperation
Give and take relationship between different political parties for protecting, conserving,
restoring and rehabilitating the environment.
Addressing the root cause