Environmental Management Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms, theories, legislation, multilateral agreements, and conservation frameworks from the lecture notes on Environmental Management.

Sustainable Development

The organizing principle for meeting human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depend.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A set of 17 universal, integrated, and transformative goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to be achieved from 2016 to 2030.

Environmental Ethics

A field concerned with moral relations holding between humans and the natural world, determining human duties, obligations, and responsibilities with regard to the Earth's environment, animals, and plants.

Single-Use Plastics

Plastic products that degrade very slowly due to strong intermolecular bonds, tend to float in water due to low density, and make up an average of 49% of beach litter.

Bioplastics

Plastics manufactured from renewable resources such as vegetable oil, corn, or pea starch that are biodegradable and serve as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics.

PlasTax

An environmental tax on single-use plastic products introduced in Ireland in 2002 to reduce plastic consumption.

Ecological Modernisation

A social science school of thought arguing that the economy benefits from moves towards environmentalism while operating within capitalist dynamics without needing to challenge existing relations of production.

Strong Ecological Modernisation

A broad approach to ecological modernisation involving changes in production and consumption through increased democracy, redistribution, social justice, and active awareness of social processes.

Weak Ecological Modernisation

A narrow, techno-corporatist approach to ecological modernisation characterized by the economisation of nature, focus on industrialised countries, and reliance on scientific management.

Sustainability Science

An interdisciplinary discipline probing interactions between global, social, and human systems, examining mechanisms leading to system degradation and risks to human well-being.

CAPE Project

The Cape Action Plan for People and the Environment, an initiative delivering a long-term strategy and 5-year action plan for biodiversity conservation within the Cape Floristic Region (CFR).

Working for Water (WfW) Programme

A South African government programme launched in 1995 to control invasive alien plants, increase catchment water production, provide local employment, and alleviate poverty.

Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)

Legally binding agreements between three or more states concerning environmental issues, predominantly produced under the auspices of the United Nations.

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

An international environmental treaty adopted in May 1992 and ratified by South Africa in 1997 aimed at stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate interference.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

An international treaty adopted in 1992 aimed at conserving biological diversity, ensuring the sustainable use of its components, and promoting fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources.

Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD)

A convention adopted in Paris in 1994 to combat desertification and mitigate drought impacts, particularly in Africa, through integrated action and international cooperation.

CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, adopted in 1973 to protect endangered species from over-exploitation through an import/export permit system.

Ramsar Convention

An international convention adopted in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 to stem the progressive loss of wetlands and promote the wise use of global wetland resources.

National Environmental Management Act (NEMA)

Core South African environmental legislation post-1994 enacting statutory frameworks to uphold constitutional environmental rights established in Section 24 of the Constitution.

Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs)

Mapped priority conservation areas representing the most efficient landscape configuration to protect regional biodiversity, guide land-use planning, and direct biodiversity offset receiving areas.

Biodiversity Offsets

Conservation measures aiming for no net loss relative to conservation targets to retain enough of each ecosystem to prevent declines below endangered status.

Ecofeminism

A theoretical perspective positing that women are intrinsically linked to nature through biological reproduction, making them both highly vulnerable to environmental degradation and key agents of conservation.

Climate Change Act, 2024

South African climate legislation enacted in February 2025 providing statutory backing for mitigation, adaptation, carbon emissions regulation, and the Presidential Climate Commission.

Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS)

A strategic framework submitted by South Africa in 2020 outlining the national pathway to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Ecosystem Offset Ratio Framework

A South African conservation hierarchy establishing offset ratios based on ecosystem threat status, requiring 5:1 for Vulnerable ecosystems, 20:1 for Endangered ecosystems, and 30:1 under exceptional circumstances for Critically Endangered ecosystems.

Spatial Biodiversity Planning Framework

A strategic approach for spatial biodiversity planning structured into three primary action branches: avoiding further loss, protecting ecosystems through area expansion, and restoring degraded ecosystems.