Technological Fix 2. How far does technology determine development and resource use ? a) Link between economic development and technological change b) Implications of technological ‘leapfrogging’ c) Unforeseen costs and benefits of technological innovation d) Issues of externalities of technology Learning Objectives: Appreciate the externalities of technology use are not always taken into account Describe, with examples, the two different approaches of implementing the Polluter Pays Principle

Starter - Externalities What are they? Glastonbury Festival Identify a positive and negative externality Positive = you could sit in a field next to the event and hear the music Negative = Local people could be disturbed by the music

Pollution sink Many technologies produce externalities that are not accounted for e.g. Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels The atmosphere is treated as a ‘pollution sink’ as it was assumed that it was large enough to cope. Issues of the hole in the ozone layer and reducing ‘Living Planet Index’ suggests it cant

Polluter Pays Principle Those that cause the pollution should bear the economic cost of the damage they are doing to the environment 1)Command and control – new technologies are introduced to limit pollution e.g. Catalytic converter 2)Market-based – governments introduce pollution taxes, carbon trading permits and produce labelling

The Car industry Many governments have imposed penalties on polluters e.g. Car drivers have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands based on the amount of C02 a vehicle emits. This is expected to increase from £110 to £115 for an Audi A3 next year How much impact will an increase in VED in the UK have on car ownership, or reducing C02 emissions?

Indian Car Sales Boom The Tata Nano sells for £1250 and is the cheapest new car in the world Demands for up to 1 million cars each year Indian car ownership expected to more than in Japan by 2017 Problems?

Externalities In 2004 India released 266 million tons of carbon = 4 th largest C02 emitting country Concerns as the new Tata Nano does not meet current European emission standards and will increase the C02 emissions into the atmosphere If increased car ownership in China and India lead to higher C02 emissions, is there any point in European governments trying to reduce their own C02 emissions?

Plenary – Polluter Pays? Should those who pollute the environment bear the financial cost of the damage they are causing?

Homework Research an example of a city in Europe that is tackling C02 emissions. Produce a brochure/fact file to include -Issues the city faces -Environmental standards -How it is trying to tackle issues -How successful?