JUST 357 Final Watkins

"Indicators of the Anthropocene in recent lake sediments differ markedly from Holocene signatures."

Include unprecedented combinations of plastics, fly ash, radionuclides, metals, pesticides, reactive nitrogen, & consequences of increasing GHG concentrations.
Sediment core from west Greenland (69 ̊03'N, 49 ̊54'W), glacier retreat due to climate warming has resulted in an abrupt stratigraphic transition from proglacial sediments to nonglacial organic matter, effectively demarcating the onset of the Anthropocene (Waters et al. 2016).
Fossil record dominated by remains of cattle, pigs, & especially chickens (65.8 billion slaughtered in 2016).

Welcome to the Anthropocene?

Welcome to the Anthropocene? ◦ Earlier human influences?
◦ Massive large-mammal extinctions ◦ 50,000 - 12,500 ybp
◦ Major changes associated with spread of agriculture
◦ 11,000 ybp
◦ Spread of domesticated crops & livestock, land clearance, forest cutting, habitat transformations, irrigated rice paddies, soil erosion, & anthropogenic emissions of CO2 & CH4 to the atmosphere.

Questioning? the Anthropocene

◦ What is behind epochal shift in relations?
◦ Anthropos - humanity as a whole is the source of the current ecological age / crisis?
◦ Ignores social difference:
◦ Malrecognition of inequality, commodification, extractivism, imperialism, patriarchy, racism, etc

Capitalocene?

◦ What is behind epochal shift in relations?◦ Moore proposes a Capitalocene that begins
with the Columbian encounter (1492)◦ Externalization, binarism, hierarchization, exploitation,
appropriation presupposes conquest & extraction◦ Strongly interrelated with & reproductive of coloniality ◦ Capitalism has re-ordered the global web of life

Plantationocene

Roots the current ecological crisis in the colonial-racial legacies of the plantation
Crisis rooted in logics of environmental modernization, homogeneity, &
control, which were developed on historical plantations (Davis et al. 2019)
Devastating transformation of diverse farms, pastures, & forests (agroecosystems) into extractive & enclosed plantations, relying on enslaved, exploited, &/or alienated labor
Slave plantation system was the model & motor for the carbon-greedy, mechanized industrial systems fundamental in the Anthropocene
(Haraway 2015; Haraway et. al 2016)
Modern relationships to environments, land, race, class, gender, labor, extraction, & profit all began on the plantation

Plantationocene

o Common root of the inter-relationshipsbetween climate change, ecological collapse, capitalism, systemic racism/white supremacy, hierarchical labor relations, & structural inequality.
◦ These relationships underlie environmental racism, environmental injustices, & the global climate crises & our responses to it

Plantationocene

◦ Basis for colonialism:◦ Export plantation monocultures
◦ Enslaved labor, mostly African following indigenous population declines
◦ Production system based on ecological (monoculture), social (stratification), & economic (inequality) transformations
◦ Coloniality: social, ecological, & economic patterns persist in many ways

Climate Science

◦ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ◦ Prominent scientists from 195 countries:
◦ Anthropogenic Global Climate Change is unequivocal
◦ Human influence the dominant cause since the mid-20th century
◦ Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, already at levels not seen in at least 800,000 years, will persist for many centuries
◦ "Limiting climate change requires substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."

Politics of GCC in the US

◦ Disconnect between science & electoral politics in USA
◦Why the refusal to act?

Politics of GCC in the US

◦ US climate change counter-movement (CCCM) (Brulle 2014 & Brulle 2019): ◦ Efforts focus on continued justification for unlimited use of fossil fuels◦ Attempting to delegitimize the GCC science
◦ Manipulate & mislead the public regarding GCC science & threats posed by GCC
◦ Large number of organizations, e.g. conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, trade associations, & conservative foundations, with strong links to sympathetic media outlets & conservative politicians
◦ Some prominent groups, e.g. Koch & ExxonMobil Foundations, recently decreased public funding, shifting to "dark money" through untraceable sources
◦ With shift to dark money, amount of funding has increased dramatically

Politics of GCC in the US

Internal corporate documents: fossil fuel industry has known about the reality of human- caused climate change for decades (1950s -80s). Frontline report
◦ Response was to orchestrate & fund campaign of denial & disinformation to stifle political action & protect its status quo business operations.
◦ As scientific consensus on GCC emerged, the industry & its political allies attacked the consensus & exaggerated uncertainties.
◦ Offered no consistent alternative explanation for changing climate— goal was to undermine public support for climate action.
◦ Strategy, tactics, infrastructure, rhetorical arguments, & techniques used to challenge GCC science—i.e. cherry picking, fake experts, & conspiracy theories—come straight from tobacco industry's playbook for delaying tobacco control.

Country-level social cost of carbon

◦ Combines climate models, empirical climate-driven economic
damage estimations, & socio-economic projections
◦ US (US$48 / tCO2) 2nd only to India (US$86 / tCO2 ) in anticipated costs
◦ Russia dominates in anticipated gains

Politics of GCC in the US

McKibben's Climate Math
565 more gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere by 2050 before 2° increase
2,795 gigatons of proven in fossil fuel reserves
◦ 5 X allowance of 565
◦ WorthUSD$27Trillion;alreadypartofbottomline/shareprices; companies can borrow against proven reserves
◦ "Economicallyaboveground"
5 largest FF companies profited $135 Billion in 2013

Response to GCC

What to do about it?
◦ Mitigation:◦ Reduce further climate changes ◦ Reduce emissions
◦ Adaptation◦ Adapt to / live with a changing climate ◦ Agriculture, infrastructure, etc.
◦ Both rely on lots of money / efforts

Climate Action

Mitigation = avoid the problem
Geoengineering = fix the problems
Adaptation = live with the problems

The Politics of Global Climate Change: International Debate on Limiting Emission

◦ Recent timeline:◦
1. Earth Summit 1992 Rio de Janeiro
◦ 2. Kyoto Protocol 1997
Carbon inequity—differences between developing
& developed countries
Climate justice
◦ 3. December 2011 Durban Agreement
Kyoto extended to 2015
New agreement must include all countries
$100 Billion Green Fund for developing countries
REDD program to counter deforestation & finance preservation (counterproductive)
◦ 2014: US - China climate deal: A bilateral U.S.-China agreement set targets forCO2 emissions out to the year 2030
◦ 2015: Pope Francis warns of an "unprecedented destruction of ecosystems" & "serious consequences for all of us" if humanity fails to act on climate change, in his encyclical on the environment.

2015 Paris Agreement

◦ Nations should "pursue efforts" to "well below 2°C" ◦ A balance between sources & sinks of GHGs should
be reached by 2050.◦ "Stocktaking" (mitigation & adaptation) every five years—report transparently.
◦ Opportunities for "ratcheting," allowing countries to ramp emissions cuts (if newly possible) every decade.
◦ Trillions of dollars of capital ($100 B annually) to be spent adapting to the effects of climate change—including infrastructure (e.g. sea walls & programs for poor soil) & developing renewable energy sources e.g. solar & wind power. (vastly underfunded)

Climate Justice

◦ UNFCCC signatories & enshrined in Paris Agreement
◦ CBDR+RC: Should act to protect the climate (& economic) system "on the basis of equality & in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities & respective capabilities"

2021 COP26

◦ The Glasgow Climate Pact (Nov. 2021):
Limitglobalwarmingto1.5°C(insteadofParis"wellbelow2°C")
Establishesframeworkfortrackingcommitmentsagainstreal-worldprogress
◦ Reality: 1.5°C is on life support - has a pulse but it's nearly dead ◦ Newcommitmentsmovedfrom2.7°Cto2.4°C
Coalshouldbe"phaseddown"(insteadof"phasedout")
EU&UScontinuedtoignoreanyhistoricalresponsibility
◦ Vetoed"GlasgowLoss&DamageFacility,"forvulnerablenations,despitesupportfrommostcountries
Some progress on ending FF subsidies, but final deal fell short◦ IntlEnergyAgency:Noroomin1.5°CcarbonbudgetforanynewinvestmentsinFF◦ 25countries&dev.bankscommittononewintlfinanceforFFprojectsbyendof2022(inc.US,EU,Cana

2021 COP26

◦ Related "race to zero" initiatives
Series of announcements by states, cities, & businesses on decarbonization approaches
Non-binding declaration halting deforestation - 135 countries & 1.7b pledged for indigenous comms.
More countries announced long-term net zero goals (no agreed on definition or measurement)
◦ Among most important: India's by 2070; Nigeria by 2060 (USA = 2050)
Multiple pledges to boost EVs
Multiple pledges to collaborate on innovative tech (e.g. low carbon steel & concrete, biofuels, C0 drawdown) 2
◦ Central problem: many discussions / commitments based on unproven tech (e.g. nuclear small modular reactors, hydrogen, & carbon capture & storage)

2021 COP26

◦ Related "race to zero" initiatives
◦ The South Africa Deal (Just Energy Transition Partnership)
$8.5 billion in grants & cheap loans over next 5 years
Funded by US, UK, France, Germany, & the EU
Designed to achieve 1.5°
3 goals:◦ Early retirement of coal plants◦ Building cleaner energy sources◦ (Just?) transitions for coal-dependent regions
Loose model for just transitions more broadly?

2022 COP27

◦ "Loss and damage" fund for developing countries◦ Breakthrough or empty promise?
◦ Compensates vulnerable countries for costs of rising seas, stronger storms, etc. ◦ US had long resisted, finally agreed
◦ Agreement only to create fund (housed in EU), details to be worked out (make or break)

What should we call this political dilemma?

◦Global warming or global heating ◦Global climate change◦Climate disruption or crisis or breakdown◦Climate emergency
◦Human-caused destabilization of Earth's biophysical processes
◦What others?◦How do the semantics relate to the political response?

Anthropocene? Capitalocene? Plantationocene?

◦ Theoretical frameworks to comprehend & communicate relationships between people, other biota, ecosystems, & the Earth
◦ Varying perspectives on our current ecological relationships & interactions & the crises they generate

Food Regime

-Rule based structure of production and consumption of food on a global scale
-Global, national, and local, governance of food and agriculture

-Not only embedded in capitalism, but is a central mechanism that drives it
-Particular relations of food production and consumption are central to the functioning and reproduction of global capitalism

Food Regime over time:

1st global regime
- late 1800s -- Great Depression
- Food imports from Southern and American colonies fed European industrial expansion

2nd global food regime
- Post WWII
- Reversed flow of food from Northern to Southern Hemisphere to fuel Cold War industrialization in Global South (Green Revolution)

Todays corporate food regime (1980s)

- All encompassing agri-food industrial complex
-based on fossil fuels
-monopoly market power
-mega-profit of agrifood MNCs
-GMOs and privatization
-Globalized meat production
-Concentrated land ownership
-Links between food and fuel
-Growing opposition (food movements)

Todays corporate food regime (1980s) cont.

-All encompassing agrifood industrial complex
e.g. Monsanto, ADM, Cargill, and Walmart

-Influence gov'ts and multilateral orgs. that control rules for trade, labor, property, and technology

-Supported by public and private institutions
e.g. World Bank, IMF, World Food Program, USAID, the USDA, and big philanthropy

Counter-movements to the CFR

Food justice and food sovereignty

Rise of the Corporate Food Regime

◦ Colonialism / Imperialism, 1500 — mid-19th c. ◦ Plantation monocultures & slave labor regimes
◦ Green Revolution 1960-80s◦ Weakened peasant ag. & empowered large landowners ◦ Deepening of class, gender & regional inequalities in ag.
◦ Structural Adjustment Policies 80s-90s ◦ Non-food export crops
◦ Neoliberal Free Tradism, 1990s-present ◦ WTO, FTAs (NAFTA, CAFTA, etc.)◦ Subsidies, Surplus, Dumping

Food Regime Management

◦ Polanyi's "double movement" & "self-regulating" market
◦ Liberalization period of unregulated markets & capital
expansion, followed by surpluses & devastating busts
◦ Reformist period of regulating markets, supply, & consumption to re-stabilize the regime
◦ Appear politically distinct, but are actually two complementary sides of the same system

Countering hunger in the CFR

◦ Government, industry, big philanthropy, & global FR institutions
◦ Institutions, programs, & campaigns for food aid & agricultural development
◦ Neoliberals see hunger & poverty as a business opportunity
◦ Neoliberal strategies (privatization & free trade), public-private partnerships, corporate efficiency & competitiveness
◦ Reformers seek to hold government & industry accountable for policies or enterprises that undermine the human right to food
◦ Call for reinvestment in agriculture & revival of the Green Revolution
◦ Often accompanied by calls for GMOs, & occasionally reforms
◦ Often apply a discourse of food security

Dominant neoliberal trend in the CFR

◦Food Enterprise:
◦Dominant, corporate-driven food enterprise discourse anchored in neoliberal ideologies of privatization & free-market trade

Counter-Movements to the CFR

CFR's persistent social & environmental failures have spurred tens of thousands of local, national, & international social movements concerned with food & agriculture
Land reform & food sovereignty
Sustainable & agroecological agriculture
"Good, clean & fair" food, or food justice
Fair trade
Local food
Slow food
Community food security
◦ Alternative agriculture-agrifoods wing of the New Social Movements; the Transnational Social Movements; the World Social Forum's "movement of movements," & parts of labor & class-based "Old Social Movements"

Counter-Movements to the CFR

◦ Food justice
"The struggle against racism, exploitation, & oppression taking place within the food system that
addresses inequality's root causes both within & beyond the food chain" Hislop (2014: 19).
Fair distribution of benefits & risks of production, transport, distribution, access & consumption, without disparities or inequities.
Work within the CFR to reform the mechanisms of production & consumption (progressive politics)
Associated (more or less) with the Global North

◦ Food sovereignty
People's right to healthy & culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound & sustainable methods & & their right to define their own food & agriculture systems
Radically disrupt the global system through anti-antiimperialist, anti-corporatist, and/or anti- capitalist movements & reforms (radical politics)
Associated (more or less) with the Global South

Food (In)Security

◦2020: 1 in 6 US children (13 M)
◦ 2021: 1 in 8 US children (9+M or ~12.5%)
◦ 22% of Black children; 18.5% of Latinx children

Food Justice, Distribution, & Procedure

◦ A few salient FJ issues:
Farming & land as a Civil Rights issue & here
Food security
◦ Distribution of food to whom?
Food "deserts"
◦ Access to what food?
Food & farming regulations
US Farm Bill
◦ Lobbying effort - CFR
Farm subsidies
SNAP (food stamps program)
Food vs. fuel
◦ Ethanol, biodiesel, & food

The Green Revolution

◦ Outline:
◦ Green Revolution
◦ Fallout
◦ Second Green Revolution
◦ Paths Forward

Climate Justice

◦ Climate justice guides politics grounded in climate science
◦ How are the effects & projected effects differentiated across Earth?
◦ What are the effects & projections for less powerful places, peoples, or countries? The Global South?
◦ Debates: What can we do about it? What should we do about it?

Climate Justice

◦ Triple Inequality of Climate Change ◦ Responsibility
◦ Which nations are most responsible? ◦ Vulnerability
◦ Which nations will suffer the effects most profoundly?
◦ Response (mitigation & adaptation)◦ Which nations will / should bear the cost?

Climate Justice

◦ Impacts of climate change ◦ Unevenly distributed
◦ Poorest countries & most vulnerable people will be most adversely affected despite having contributed least to climate change
◦ Climate justice◦ Links human rights, development, & GCC◦ Safeguards the rights of the most vulnerable
◦ Distributing the burdens & benefits of climate change & its resolutions equitably & fairly

Climate Justice

◦ Variable physical geographies
◦ Seal-levels, coastal erosion
◦ Aridity, drought, & disruption of precipitation patterns
◦ Perpetually shifting geographies
◦ Alpine glacial environments ◦ All continents
◦ Variability of impacts
◦ Variable histories
Centuries of fossil fuel emissions &
associated development
Lowest emitters often most vulnerable
◦ Uneven development◦ Between & within nation-states◦ Unequal access to wealth & resources◦ High HDI = increased adaptive capacity?

Climate Justice

◦ 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) & enshrined in Paris Agreement
◦ CBDR+RC: Should act to protect the climate (& economic) system "on the basis of equality & in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities & respective capabilities"

Human Response to GCC

◦ What to do about it?
◦ Mitigation:◦ Reduce further climate changes ◦ Reduce emissions
◦ Adaptation◦ Adapt to / live with a changing climate ◦ Agriculture, infrastructure, etc.
◦ Both rely on lots of money / efforts

Climate Action

◦ Mitigation strategies
◦ Low-carbon economy
◦ Solar, wind, etc.
◦ Energy efficiencies
◦ Reduce emissions
◦ Carbon markets
◦ Internalize carbon pricing ◦ Sequester emissions
◦ Window for action closing fast!

Climate Action

◦ Adaptation strategies ◦ e.g. Infrastructure
◦ Water control (drinking, irrigation, flood)
◦ e.g. Agricultural
◦ Agroecology
◦ Drought & pest resistant crop varieties
◦ e.g. Land tenure
◦ Forest biodiversity management

Climate Action

◦ Geoengineering◦ Adaptations that mitigate
◦ Deliberate, global-scale intervention in Earth's climate
◦ Uncertain, unproven, risky

Climate Coloniality vs. Climate Justice

◦ "Historical differences position colonial & imperial countries at greater advantages over post-colonial &
presently-occupied countries." Creates need for climate justice. ◦ Climate coloniality maintained through:
◦ Colonial logics of extractivism continue through neocolonial & development interventions & general hegemony of extractive capitalism
◦ Ecologically unequal exchange between the Global South & Global North (ongoing colonial plunder of resources & labor from the Global South to North) (distribution)
◦ The imperial structures of global trade (distribution)◦ Domination in setting policies & ideologies (procedure)
◦ Results: the production of historically-exploitative overdeveloped economies, whereby geopolitical & economic processes continue various colonial patterns of extraction & dispossession. [Scholars have] argued that the Global North owes the Global South a climate debt due to historical climate colonialism & the ever- increasing colonization of the atmos

Governance Challenges of Climate Justice

◦ Climate change as "perfect moral storm"◦ How to deal with widespread & unequal effects?
◦ Past emissions◦ Prospect of responsibility or "blame"◦ Financial burdens of climate action◦ Need for economic development, esp. in Global South

Philosophies of Climate Justice

◦ Climate change as "perfect moral storm"◦ How to deal with widespread & unequal effects?
◦ Polluters pay?◦ Challenges: Identifying polluters—diversity of actors over many centuries
◦ Beneficiaries pay?◦ Challenges: How to locate benefits?
◦ Ecological debt / climate debt◦ Challenges: Connect global economic system with colonialism & inequality
◦ Ability to pay principle◦ Challenges: Inequality as fulcrum of justice; present & future instead of past

Climate Justice as a Social & Political Movement

◦ According to Hall, climate justice includes:
◦ A focus on the root causes of climate change
◦ Making the systemic changes that are therefore required
Addressing the disproportionate burden of the climate crisis on the poor & marginalized
A demand for participatory democracy in changing these economic & political systems
Climate justice lies at the intersection of social, economic, & environmental justice

Climate Justice as a Social & Political Movement; JUST TRANSITION

◦ First proposed by global trade unions in 1980s promoting "green jobs" as essential
component of a transition away from fossil fuels
Now a labor and socioeconomic policy facet of / incentive for decarbonization policies
Potential for integrating economic, climate, energy, & environmental justice
Provide a comprehensive framework for fairness & equity throughout the transition away from fossil fuels

Climate Justice as a Social & Political Movement

◦ Just Transition
◦ Framework for a fair shift to an economy that is ecologically sustainable & equitable & just for all
◦ Argument that an economy based on extracting resources from a finite ecosystem faster than the capacity of that system to regenerate will eventually come to an end—either through collapse or intentional reorganization.
◦ Transition is inevitable. Justice is not.
◦ Argument for & processes of systemic (radical) social-ecological-economic change (disruption)
◦ Concept & movement that calls for policy-based shifts (incrementally but radically) away from unhealthy relationships; from an extractive economy to a living, healthy, regenerative one

Climate Justice as a Social & Political Movement

◦ Just Transition
◦ Movement forging coordinated strategies to transition whole communities toward thriving economies within their own control & that provide dignified, productive, & sustainable livelihoods, democratic governance, & ecological resilience
◦ Policies that incentivize shifts from: fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, waste creation to resource regeneration, industrial food systems to food sovereignty, gentrification to land reform, extractive development to ecosystem restoration, et al.
◦ Social movements and political structures based in ideals of justice:
◦ Deep democracy, cooperation, care, well-being, & healthy relationships
◦ Center community, rather than profit;
◦ Bolster the rights of women, indigenous communities, & communities of color;
◦ Led by workers & communities impacted first & worst ("fenceline" or "frontline communities")

Climate Justice

◦ Complex challenges requiring complex solutions forged in cooperation & collaboration
◦ A global challenge◦ Nation-states inadequate
◦ A local challenge◦ All communities have value, roles to play
◦ A Social-economic-biological- physiochemical-climatic problem
◦ Reductive sciences & disciplines inadequate

Climate Justice

◦ Local, Global, Interdisciplinary solutions integrating:
◦ Communities◦ Nation-states◦ Corporations & markets◦ Supranational organizations
◦ Social sciences◦ Physical sciences ◦ Biosciences

Climate Justice

◦ UNFCCC signatories & Paris agreement
◦ Should act to protect the climate system "on the basis of equality & in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities & respective capabilities."
◦ Mitigate? Adapt? Geoengineer? ◦ Justice for who? all?
◦ Moral, ethical, & economic arguments:◦ Justice? Equity? Human Rights?◦ Climate risk, public funding, & public policy ◦ Markets & investments thrive on stability

Climate Justice Discussion

◦What are some of the conditions necessary for achieving climate justice? A just transition?
◦How do those conditions intersect with:
◦Distribution justice? ◦Procedural justice?◦Recognition justice?

Human Response to GCC

◦ What to do about it?
◦ Mitigation:◦ Reduce further climate changes ◦ Reduce emissions
◦ Adaptation◦ Adapt to / live with a changing climate ◦ Agriculture, infrastructure, etc.
◦ Both rely on lots of money / efforts

Climate Justice

◦ UNFCCC signatories & Paris agreement
◦ Should act to protect the climate system "on the basis of equality & in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities & respective capabilities."
◦ Mitigate? Adapt? Geoengineer? ◦ Justice for all?
◦ Moral & economic arguments:◦ Justice? Equity? Human Rights?◦ Climate risk, public funding, & public policy ◦ Markets & investments thrive on stability

Climate Action

Adaptation strategies ◦ e.g. Infrastructure
◦ Water control (drinking, irrigation, flood)
◦ e.g. Agricultural
◦ Agroecology
◦ Drought & pest resistant crop varieties
◦ e.g. Land tenure
◦ Forest biodiversity management

Mitigation & Energy & 1.5

◦ 1) Radically increase energy efficiency
Energy intensity of global economy must fall 2/3 by 2050
Electricity, transportation, buildings, & industry
◦ 2) Radically increase renewable energy◦ Renewables(primarilywind&solar)mustcometodominateelectricity&fast
◦ Must grow 6X faster than current rate, supplying 85% of global electricity by 2050
◦ 3) Radical electrification◦ Movefossilfuelstoelectricity,esp.vehicles,homeheating&cooling,&lower-intensityindustry
◦ 4) Negative emissions
BECCS: bioenergy with carbon capture & sequestration (burning plants to generate electricity)
Growing plants absorb carbon; when burned, carbon captured & buried
Electricitygenerated&carbonremovedfromtheatmosphere
Alongwithafforestation,reforestation,&soilcarbonsequestration
◦ Problem:Reinforcesplantationmonocultures

Agroecology as Climate Action

◦ (Agro)biodiversity fortifies resilience to GCC & other shocks
◦ Thus, an important form of adaptation◦ Agroecology as mitigation to GCC
◦ Agroforestry within polycultures integrates trees into productive landscapes
◦ Enhance afforestation & lower rates of deforestation◦ Protects soils from erosion, sequesters carbon, provides fruit &
other non-timber products
◦ Gendered development increases agricultural output & community resilience

Mitigation & Adaptation

Sustainable Intensification (SI)
= Productive agricultural systems enhancing environmental outcomes
Without expanding land
No net environmental cost
Develops synergies (agroecological systems)
Emphasizes outcomes rather than means
Applicable to any size of enterprise
No predetermined technologies, production types, or design components

Agroecology & Food Sovereignty

A fork in the road forward:
◦ Co-opt agroecology into the Green Revolution (conventional ag. & the corporate food regime)
◦ Agroecology without justice
◦ Or... center agroecology within a politically transformative peasant movement for food sovereignty (Holt-Giménez & Altieri 2013)

Food Sovereignty & Climate Justice

◦ Food sovereignty implies:
◦ Human rights & autonomy◦ Food security◦ Economic stability◦ Biodiversity conservation◦ Climate adaptation & mitigation
◦ Too good to be true?

◦Mitigation Policies

◦ Carbon Credit: permit to legally emit one metric ton of CO2 or equivalent GHG
◦ Tradeable in cap & trade programs
◦ Carbon Offset: one metric ton of GHG under protection through a voluntary scheme or initiative
◦ Offsets an emission made elsewhere (e.g. REDD+)

Conservation, Livelihoods, & Mitigation

◦ Studies show that community-managed forests consistently out perform "protected" forests
◦ Landscapes managed by indigenous, traditional, & local communities experienced lower & less variable annual deforestation rates than "protected" forests (Porter-Bolland et al. 2012)
◦ Higher levels of plant & animal biodiversity (Schuster et al. 2019)
Yawanawa of the Brazilian Amazon: Stewards of the Forest

REDD+

◦ National-level initiative
UN deals with state actors
Payments for intact or regenerated forests in the Global South
Recognizes (to a degree) indigenous communities as vital
stakeholders
Distributional & procedural justice in doubt
Commodifies forests & their "ecosystem services"
Restricts access & economic activity
Exacerbates inequalities within communities
◦ Resistance from many or most indigenous groups

Mitigation <---> Justice

◦ Policy idea: Formalized land tenure (land rights) of indigenous & other ancestral communities
◦ Climate finance to support tenure-related issues
◦ Safeguards CO2 in forests & other critical ecosystems

Policy ideas; RRI consortium

1. Significantly scale up recognition of land & forest rights by increasing support to implement existing laws & advance legislation recognizing rights. Includes recognition of the rights of communities to govern their lands.
2. Grant rights to free, prior, & informed consent (FPIC) within a continuous cycle of engagement for any activities taking place on or affecting customary lands.
3. Prioritize bilateral & multilateral investments in indigenous- & community-led initiatives to reduce emissions from deforestation, strengthen community-based conservation & restoration efforts, & sustainable land use. Ensure intl finance for climate mitigation reaches communities on the ground who can put it to best use.
4. End the criminalization & persecution of Indigenous peoples & local communities defending their lands, forests, & natural resources.
5. Develop partnerships that allow our traditional knowledge & practical experiences with land & forest management to inform efforts to combat climat

Climate Action

◦ Geoengineering◦ Adaptations that mitigate
◦ Deliberate, global-scale intervention in Earth's climate
◦ Uncertain, unproven, risky

◦ Geoengineering

◦ Converting airborne CO2
to liquid fuel
◦ No new CO2◦ Combined with carbon
capture & sequestration ◦ Potential transition

Policy idea

◦ 1. Gradually Increasing Carbon Fee (Tax) ◦ Begins at $40 / ton
◦ 2. Carbon Dividends for all Americans◦ Family of four: $2000 / yr (set to grow)
◦ 3. Border Carbon Adjustments◦ Adjustments for CO2 content of imports / exports
◦ 4. Regulatory Simplification
◦ Phase-out prior CO2 policies; indemnify historical emissions

PI: American Energy, Jobs, & Climate Plan

◦ 3 GOP Senators propose a climate plan to reduce global
emissions 40% by 2050
◦ "Worker-oriented" energy & climate plan
◦ "All of the Above" approach to energy that funds renewables & fossil fuels
◦ Expand domestic manufacturing, mining, natural gas, & nuclear energy
◦ Environmental deregulation ("permitting reform")

PI: Green New Deal

◦ Decarbonization, jobs, & justice ◦ Decarbonize the economy
◦ Beginning with the electricity sector◦ Federal jobs guarantee & large-scale public investments
◦ Address inequality, socioeconomic transformation ◦ Just transition
Sunrise Movement
◦ Protections for "low-income communities, communities of color, indigenous communities, [&] the front-line communities most affected by climate change, pollution, & other environmental harm"

Sustainability & Climate Justice

If "sustainability" = long-term strategy for proliferating life & livelihoods on Earth
◦ No sustainability without climate justice ◦ No lasting social & environmental justice
without climate justice◦ Justice > mitigation, adaptation > sustainability > Justice

Climate Solutions

◦ Complex challenges requiring complex solutions forged in cooperation & collaboration
◦ A global challenge◦ Nation-states inadequate
◦ A Social-economic-biological- physiochemical-climatic problem
◦ Reductive sciences & disciplines inadequate

Climate Solutions

◦ Global, Interdisciplinary solutions integrating:
◦ Social sciences◦ Physical sciences◦ Biosciences◦ Communities◦ Nation-states◦ Regions◦ Corporations & markets◦ Supranational organizations

Green Revolution

◦ Philanthropic beginnings
◦ Rockefellers, Fords, USAID◦ Funded agricultural scientists led by Norman Borlaug
◦ Rockefeller Mexican Agricultural Program (MAP) 1943◦ Cold War Green Revolution opposed to Red Revolutions
◦ US national security issue
◦ Intensify production of world's principal cereals: ◦ Maize, wheat, rice

Green Revolution

◦ Based on:
◦ High-yield varieties (seeds)
◦ Intensive irrigation
◦ Synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides
◦ Mechanization
◦ Privatization
◦ Fossil fuels

Green Revolution

◦ High Yield Varieties (HYVs)
◦ Costly inputs reliant on fossil fuels
◦ Pesticides, herbicides made from petrochemicals ◦ Energy-intensive irrigation infrastructure
◦ Energy-intensive mechanization
◦ Wider transport networks
◦ 1945-1994, global agricultural energy inputs up 400%, crop yields up 300%

Green Revolution

◦ High Yield Varieties (HYVs) ◦ Expensive, linked to
price of oil, & unsustainable
◦ Increased cost to farmers
◦ Mostly higher yield (for a single crop under controlled conditions), but lower profit margin per acre

Yield variations associated with the GR

24 - 39% of harvested areas (depending on the crop) saw yields plateau or decline from 2004-2008
Areas of concern include vast swaths of China & India
• 2 most populous countries

Food justice

Struggle against oppression taking place within the food system that addresses inequalities root cause both within and beyond the food chain
Fair distribution of benefits and risks of production, transport, distribution, access & consumption, without disparities or inequalities
Work within the CFR to reform the mechanisms of production and consumption (progressive politics)

1° C = declines in yields of:

Maize: 7.4% Wheat: 6% Rice: 3.2%

Consequences of GR

◦ Reliance on costly inputs, fossil fuels
◦ Irrigation, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides
◦ Soil degradation (salinization) & erosion
◦ Chemical pollution
◦ Soil & water
◦ Water depletion
◦ Blight susceptibility
◦ Increases in pests & weeds

Consequences of GR

◦ Mechanization displaces labor◦ Rural-to-urban migration
◦ Weakens peasants & smallholders
◦ Favors those with concentrated land & capital
◦ Deepening of class, gender, & regional inequalities
◦ Erosion of (agro)biodiversity
◦ Soil & "landraces"
◦ Erosion of indigenous knowledge, TEK

Second Green Revolution

◦ Genetic engineering, rather than conventional plant breeding
◦ Genetically modified (GM) crops (GMOs)
◦ Potential to again increase global harvest
◦ Potential to exacerbate GR's negatives
◦ Increased reliance on costly & unsustainable inputs

Second Green Revolution

◦Genetically modified -
GMOs or biotech crops
◦ Roundup ready:Modified to resist herbicides

Second Green Revolution

Reliance on purchased seed & inputs
◦ Energy, pollution, soil, equity concerns
Empowers MN seed & pharma corps.
Erosion of biodiversity (landraces)
Privatize seeds
◦ Limit farmer breeding rights◦ Proliferate across farms inadvertently
Toxicity to humans?◦ Contentious, emergent research
Reliant on fossil fuels, contemporary agroindustry remains unsustainable

Second Green Revolution

Reliance on purchased seed & inputs
◦ Energy, pollution, soil, equity concerns
Empowers MN seed & pharma corps.
Erosion of biodiversity (landraces)
Privatize seeds
◦ Limit farmer breeding rights◦ Proliferate across farms inadvertently
Toxicity to humans?◦ Contentious, emergent research
Reliant on fossil fuels, contemporary agroindustry remains unsustainable

Food (In)Security

◦ UN agencies 1970s
◦ Focus on general food supply &
theoretical availability
◦ Production oriented policies & incentives
◦ Yet famine & malnourishment continue despite ample food availability
◦ Problem of food distribution & access

Many Green Revolutions

GR as conventional agriculture
GR as erasure of indigenous knowledge
GR in historical context - 1 of many leaps
◦ Worldwide domestication of plants◦ European agricultural revolutions 18th c.
◦ Chinese improved rice varieties 1000 CE
◦ Ongoing process rather than a single event
GR enabled food production to exceed rapid
population growth in Global South after 1950
Increases yield, but not distribution to poor
◦ Alternative scenarios?

Ways forward?

◦ GMOs unnecessary
◦ Do not raise intrinsic yields
◦ Unable to fully address climate resilience
◦ (IAASTD, USDA, Union of Concerned Scientists)
◦ Global governance tilted against small farms
◦ Current forms of liberalized trade, subsidies, tariffs, all detrimental (IMF; WGDEA; Oxfam)
◦ > World spends $700 b per yr. on ag. subsidies; hidden costs of corporate, conventional agriculture = $12 trillion per yr. — $16 trillion by 2050 (Food & Land Use Coalition 2019)
◦ Transformative potentials of agroecology & local food systems & economies (IAASTD; IPES)
◦ Diversified agroecological systems could increase global food production by 50% to 4,381 kcal/person/day
◦ Easily support a population peak of 10-11 billion people by 2100 (Badgley et al. 2007)

A Greener Revolution

◦ Viable alternative to agroindustry? ◦ Agroecology
◦ The application of ecological concepts & principles to the design & management of sustainable agricultural ecosystems (Altieri 2009)
◦ A scientific discipline that uses ecological theory to study, design, manage & evaluate agricultural systems that are productive but also resource conserving (Altieri's agroeco.org)

Agroecology

◦ Combines (agro)ecological science with indigenous & other traditional knowledge systems
◦ Led by thousands of farmers, social movements, NGOs, & (increasingly) some government & academic institutions
◦ Enhances food security while conserving natural resources, biodiversity, & soil & water throughout countless rural communities across all world regions
◦ (Altieri 2009)
◦ Knowledge intensive (rather than capital intensive), tends toward small, highly diversified farms, & emphasizes farmer- to-farmer research & collaboration within local communities
◦ (Holt-Giménez&Altieri2013)

Agroecology

◦ Unlike uniform monocultures, diversified agroecological systems replace chemicals with organic inputs, optimize biodiversity & stimulate symbiotic interactions between species, as part of holistic strategies to build & manageproductive & resilient agro-ecosystems
◦ Resulting farms:
◦ Support biodiversity, rebuild soil fertility, & sustain yields
◦ Provide secure farm livelihoods, food security, diverse diets, & improved health for farmers & their consumers

Some Principles of Agroecology

◦ Crop Rotations◦ Crop nutrients & breaking the life cycles of
several insect pests, diseases, & weeds
◦ Polycultures
◦ Complex cropping systems of multiple crops
◦ Competition or complementation, thus enhancing yields
◦ Animal integration◦ High biomass output & optimal recycling
◦ Agroforestry Systems◦ Trees cultivated in integration with annual
crops and/or animals
◦ Complementary relations between plants & other components (soil, atmosphere, markets)
◦ Cover Crops◦ Legumes & other annual plants under trees
grown for fruit, timber, etc.
◦ Improving soil fertility, enhancing biological control of pests, & modifying microclimates

Agroecology

◦ Conventional wisdom (based on modernity & coloniality):◦ Small family farms & peasant agriculture =
backward & unproductive
◦ Evidence: Small farms can be & often are much more productive than large industrial farms
◦ Esp. considering total output rather than yield from a single crop (IAASTD 2008)
◦ Outperform under environmental stress
◦ Benefits:
◦ Food security
◦ More sustainable energy inputs
◦ Efficiency: reduced emission, pollution, & waste