Social Imperative

There is a new metric when it comes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: the ‘spillover effects’ of each country on the world at large. These spillover effects include pollution, financial secrecy, and contribution to peace abroad. Since these effects are accounted for outside of a country’s borders, they are not represented by national statistics. A country might rank very highly when judged only by its own statistics (such as the US and Switzerland), but this is a lopsided view when looked at in a global context.

Right now is the perfect time to share feedback with our federal government, especially when it comes to basic income. To identify poverty reduction strategies in Canada, they are calling on the public to submit ideas on how our various levels of government can address this issue. They are also encouraging Canadians to join the conversation by sharing personal experiences with social support programs.

Blog by Joanna Chin, Doctoral Student, York University-Environmental Studies 

Robert Hart, a pioneer of forest gardening in the UK, had a vision of forest gardening:

“Obviously, few of us are in a position to restore the forests. But tens of millions of us have gardens or access to open spaces such as industrial wasteland, where trees can be planted and if full advantage can be taken of the potentialities that are available in heavily built up areas, new city forests can arise…”

As the Trump Administration announces their plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, other countries are set to take the lead in reducing global carbon emissions.

In 2008, Norway established a lifeline for humanity to ensure the survival of our precious food supply. On the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, the Norwegian Government built a “failsafe” freezer vault in a permafrost mountain located in the Arctic circle. Intended as insurance for the world, it was filled with nearly a million packets of seeds, each containing an important global food crop.

The Guardian recently published an article called, “Freeing up the rich to exploit the poor—that’s what Trump and Brexit are about”. While the title certainly speaks for itself, the author delves into what the term “freedom” often entails. He suggests that the propaganda of freedom promised by the Trump Administration and Brexiters is really “the freedom of the very rich to exploit us”.

Public transit may not be as green as you think according to this Star article. In addressing climate change, many consider “robust networks of transit lines” as key to lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Fast Company recently interviewed the CEO of Illy and learned how the world renowned Italian coffee company does things a little different. While they work with dozens of countries worldwide, they do not work within the standard fair trade system. Instead, they cultivate their own relationships with coffee producers. This ensures superior product, fairness, and better quality of life for those employed by suppliers.

Global wealth has become increasingly concentrated, according to one alarming report released by Oxfam. Published in January 2017, it reveals that just 8 billionaires control the same amount of wealth between them as 50% of the world’s poorest population. Of the $255 trillion total global wealth, more than half of this wealth ($426bn in US dollars) has been in the hands of the richest 1% since 2015.

Pollution from industrial processing, tanning, lead smelting, and other toxic operations cause three times as many deaths in developing countries as malaria, and 35% as many deaths as from smoking. Not only do the workers suffer debilitating effects and shorter lifespans from days spent in toxic smoke, spilled lead, or chemical runoff, but the soil, rivers, and air become contaminated in a manner that is harder to contain.