John Whitelegg | |
---|---|
Lancaster City Councillor for Bulk Ward | |
In office 3 May 2003 –5 May 2011 | |
Succeeded by | Tim Hamilton-Cox |
Personal details | |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Green Party of England and Wales |
Profession | Professor |
Website | John Whitelegg on Twitter (@John_Whitelegg) |
John Whitelegg is visiting professor of sustainable transport at Liverpool John Moores University [1] and professor of sustainable development at University of York's Stockholm Environment Institute. [2]
From 1990 to 1993 Whitelegg was head of department of geography at Lancaster University and director of the university's Environmental Epidemiology Research Unit. He has written books and over 50 papers,including Transport for a Sustainable Society:the Case for Europe (John Wiley,1993) and Critical Mass:Transport,Environment and Society in the 21st Century (Pluto Press,1997),and is founder and editor of the Journal of World Transport Policy &Practice.
Managing director of Eco-Logica Limited [3] and Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts,Manufactures and Commerce. Research interests encompass transport and the environment,definition of sustainable transport systems and a sustainable built environment,development of transport in third world cities focusing on Calcutta and the relationships between sustainability and human health,implementation of environmental strategies within manufacturing and service industry and development of environmental management standards. Discipline:Transport,Planning &Housing.
Whitelegg wrote a report on carbon emissions of the two parliament system in Europe for the then MEP Caroline Lucas of the Green Party. [4]
From 2003 [5] to May 2011 he was a Green Party local councillor in Lancaster. He stood down in Bulk Ward,and his successor held the ward for the Green Party. He is a former chair of the North West (of England) Green Party. [6] He has been the Green Party's Sustainable Development Spokesperson. [7]
Ecological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems, both intertemporally and spatially. By treating the economy as a subsystem of Earth's larger ecosystem, and by emphasizing the preservation of natural capital, the field of ecological economics is differentiated from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment. One survey of German economists found that ecological and environmental economics are different schools of economic thought, with ecological economists emphasizing strong sustainability and rejecting the proposition that physical (human-made) capital can substitute for natural capital.
Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that capital exists in nature as "natural capital" on which all wealth depends. Therefore, governments should use market-based policy-instruments to resolve environmental problems.
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Peter William Geoffrey Newman is an environmental scientist, author and educator based in Perth, Western Australia. He is currently Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University. He is best known for his contributions to the development of Perth’s electrified metropolitan rail network through both activist and official consulting roles since the 1980s.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent policy research institute whose stated mission is to "build a fairer, more sustainable world, using evidence, action and influence in partnership with others." Its director is Dr Tom Mitchell.
The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Virginijus Sinkevičius, who also serves as EU Commissioner for the Environment.
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Sustainability is a social goal about the ability of people to co-exist on Earth over a long time. Specific definitions of this term are difficult to agree on. They have varied with literature, context, and time. Experts often describe sustainability as having three dimensions. These are environmental, economic, and social. Many publications state that the environmental dimension is the most important. So in everyday use, sustainability often focuses on countering major environmental problems. These include climate change and loss of biodiversity. They also include loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution. The idea of sustainability can guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels. A related concept is sustainable development, and the terms are often used to mean the same thing. UNESCO distinguishes the two like this: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal, while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."
Green urbanism has been defined as the practice of creating communities beneficial to humans and the environment. According to Timothy Beatley, it is an attempt to shape more sustainable places, communities and lifestyles, and consume less of the world's resources. Urban areas are able to lay the groundwork of how environmentally integrated and sustainable city planning can both provide and improve environmental benefits on the local, national, and international levels. Green urbanism is interdisciplinary, combining the collaboration of landscape architects, engineers, urban planners, ecologists, transport planners, physicists, psychologists, sociologists, economists and other specialists in addition to architects and urban designers.
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"Over the past decades the European Union has put in place a broad range of environmental legislation. As a result, air, water and soil pollution has significantly been reduced. Chemicals legislation has been modernised and the use of many toxic or hazardous substances has been restricted. Today, EU citizens enjoy some of the best water quality in the world"
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