Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTFigure 4: The fundamental differences between the‘green’ and ‘brown’ agendasNORTHGREEN AGENDABROWN AGENDAEcosystemicwell-beingKey concern Human well-beingForever Time frame ImmediateLocal to global Scale LocalFuture generations Concerned about Low income groupsProtect an work with Nature Manipulated and useUse less Services Provide moreAffluence and overconsumptionPoverty andunderdevelopmentOn the other hand, the so-called ‘brown’ agenda focuses onpoverty and under development. As such, it addresses theneed to reduce the environmental threats to health that arisefrom poor sanitary conditions, crowding, inadequate waterprovision, hazardous air and water pollution, and the accumulationof solid waste. It is generally more pertinent in poor,under-serviced cities or regions.Linking the MDGs to standardsThe link between the application of knowledge in engineeringand technology and the reduction of poverty through sustainableeconomic and social development is well understood.The importance of the exchange of knowledge in engineeringand technology transfer is also understood. What is notunderstood is the linkage of standards, indigenous engineeringpractice and economic development.The International Standardization Organization (ISO) has 157member countries. Developing countries comprise 65 per centof its member bodies, 94 per cent of its corresponding membersand 100 per cent of its subscriber members. One of ISO’sseven key objectives for 2010 relate to facilitating developingcountry participation in the development of internationalstandards. Yet the participation of such countries in ISO workinggroups and technical committees is generally very poor.Frequently standards are written without direct input fromany developing country.Standards are the tools of engineers. Engineering practice isaccordingly shaped by those who draft standards, yet very littleattention and investment is given to standards developmentin developing countries. Much is given to research andcapacity-building without considering the means of communicatingthe practical outcomes of research and the basis forpractice, namely standards.MDGs will only become an integral part of the standardsagenda when the role that standards play in economic developmentis understood, and developing countries have boththe capability and capacity to develop their own standardsand also to participate fully in the development of internationalstandards.SOUTH6.1.8Climate change: technology,mitigation, adaptationRajendra Kumar PachauriBackgroundScience, engineering and technology are of particular importancein the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.They are the knowledge basis on which policies and actions tomitigate and adapt to climate change are made. Science is vitalin the understanding of climate change and the complex interrelationshipbetween human activities and the environment.Engineering and technology are vital in providing solutions formitigation and adaptation. In terms of understanding climatechange, major findings of the IPCC Fourth Assessment reportindicate that the mean global temperature has unequivocallyincreased since the beginning of industrialization, by about0.74ºC, and that this increase has accelerated in recent years (Figure1). Another major finding is that the sea level has risen by17 cm in the twentieth century, most particularly over the last10–15 years. These effects are not uniform, the Arctic for exampleis warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world, with higherimpact on associated flora and fauna such as the polar bear.The Fourth Assessment Report also indicated that humanactivity is ‘very likely’ the reason for global warming over thelast fifty years (up from ‘likely’ in the Third Assessment Report).The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, one of the majordrivers of climate change, has increased over the last 650,000years (Figure 2). At the observable level, glaciers have beenin retreat for over a century. There are also changes in averageprecipitation, increasing on average in temperate regionswhile declining in tropical, sub-tropical and the Mediterraneanregions, with a significant increase in extreme precipitationevents. Changes in precipitation patterns, along with theincrease in extreme temperature conditions, will have obviousimpacts in terms of drought, flooding, heatwaves and fires.Urgent need for actionNegotiations are, of course, at an advanced stage to arrive atan agreement beyond the end of the first commitment periodof the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, and one important element orconcern with regard to how to develop a suitable and effectiveagreement is contained in Article 2 of the UN framework onclimate change. This Article essentially states as the ultimateobjective of the Convention our ability to prevent a dangerouslevel of anthropogenic interference with climate change,and this would focus on issues like food security and the abilityof ecosystems to be able to rebound once we create a certainlevel of damage through climate change. While understandingthat defining ‘dangerous’ is a value judgement, science cancertainly provide a basis by which the international communitycan come up with a definition of what would constitute adangerous level of climate change.266