Globalization – threat to the global environment Essay
Globalization – threat to the global environmentGlobalization and its byproducts are the main threats to global environment. Globalization is occurring increasingly at the expense of social, environmental and labor improvements, and is causing rising inequality for most of the world. Localization, by contrast, is a process that reverses the trend of globalization by discriminating in favor of the local.
The policies bringing about localization are those which increase control of the economy by communities and nation states. The result should be an increase in community cohesion, a reduction in poverty and inequality, and an improvement in livelihoods, social infrastructure and environmental protection, and hence an increase in the all-important sense of security (Hines, 2003).Global environmental change is altering terrestrial and marine food systems. An expanding global market for a food product may lead to dramatic changes in land-use (deforestation) which is considered an important driver of global environmental change. If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world’s rain forests will vanish within 100 years-causing unknown effects on global climate. The Tropical Forestry Action Program (TFAP) was the most ambitious, internationally coordinated effort to address deforestation to date.
Yet, TFAP is considered to have been a failure. Because a weak leadership was provided by FAO and it was donor-driven and lacked adequate grassroots participation. Because the effects of deforestation are not felt in the short term, countries are not committed to address this threat. The US and EU combined subsidizes are US$ 13 billions annually to its formers. They can not cut the subsidies as it would increase the burden on its formers. This would indirectly make developing countries like Brazil to increase deforestation and make the land available for agriculture.Industrialization is affecting global climate. It has lead Beijing and neighboring areas of northern China to the worst levels of sulphurdioxide pollution on the planet, after a 50% increase in emissions in the past 10 years.
It could add the results of a survey by the World Bank, which found that China is home to 16 of the world’s 20 cities with the worst air pollution. In the past 10 years, China has lost 6m hectares of arable land to cities, roads and factories due to urbanization. Total U.S. emissions — now more than 7 billion tons a year — still are projected to rise 14 percent from 2002 to 2012. However it is difficult for developed countries like US and UK or developing countries like china and India to follow the policies that would deal with this threat because their economic growth would decline if they follow these policies. Due to industrialization, goods production has become more mechanized.
This has resulted in cheaper cost of commodities and services in US. This means more profits to the companies. On the other hand, in this competitive world, the international community especially developing countries can not fully implement policies to affectively deal with this threat because their economic growth will be hampered. With their growing population they can not do that. Countries like India have come forward to follow these policies to a certain degree only if all the developed countries agree to take the initiative.
Not only US but all the countries in the world have become addicted to using fossil fuels. US consume 25% and EU consumes 19.1% of the total oil produced in the world.
Developed countries depend more on these. Though the international community wants to reduce the consumption, there is a price which they can not afford. It is slowdown of economic growth.
But, without a consensus driven globalization, progress towards combating threats to the global will be thwarted.Reference:Hines, Colin “Time to Replace Globalization with Localization” Global Environmental Politics – Volume 3, Number 3, August 2003, pp. 1-7
