Background on Energy and Resources Strategy

Abstract

This chapter sets the scene for the series of lectures on energy and resources provided as part of the environmental leader course. Many of the individual lectures (chapters in this book) focus on specific resource or energy issues or technical challenges but these have also to be seen as part of an overall picture, where human activities have reached a scale which can no longer be supported in a sustainable way. This chapter provides some of the background to placing these individual fields in this wider perspective by looking at some of the history of environmental problems in Japan, as well as some key current international issues including global warming and climate change, social issues including poverty, threats to biodiversity and sustainability’s limits and balances.