As most of us know (I think) energy consumption is one of the main reasons why that there is a exploitation of the world's natural resources.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iealf/table11.xls
As seen in this data, the world consumption of fossil fuels have been steadily increasing to meet our daily needs. In this map it shows that most of the energy consumption comes from most of the developed countries, due to their high standards of living, and it not only energy, but also other resources such as paper. For example, the average European uses 130 kilos of paper a year -- the equivalent of two trees. The average American uses more than twice as much -- a staggering 330 kilos a year.
map from http://atlas.aaas.org/index.php?part=2However, in this comic the people living in the first world countries, blame the energy consumption on the billions of people living in the third world. This is not true(as can be seen from the map above) as many of the people living in the third world countries are too poor to even afford something as cheap as a radio and a fridge while the people living in the first world countries can afford to buy many electrical appliances.(this can be seen in the other cartoon) and while the average African consumed natural resources from only 1.36 hectares out of the 1.55 available on the continent, the average West European used the product of 5.0 hectares -- 2.84 hectares more than the region has.
figures from http://www.hempfarm.org/Papers/Natural_Resources_Report.html
comics from: www.cartoonstock.com and www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Entitled "Living Planet Report 2002," the study said there was so much pressure on water supplies, forests, land and energy sources that within 150 years the planet's riches could be exhausted and temperatures pushed inexorably upwards.
Therefore how do we reduce energy consumption?
not by this way...
or this way.....
so then how do we conserve the natural resources?
Due to globalization, there has been many negative impacts on the environment such as greater consumption of natural resources and pollution to improve the country's economic development.
However, it is through globalization that we can actually save the planet that we live in, when we pull the economic resources of all the countries together.
For example, under the Kyoto protocol the governement of Canada is committed to the development and implementation of a Made-in-Canada plan for reducing greenhouse gases and ensuring clean air, water, land and energy for Canadians and focus on achieving sustained reductions in emissions in Canada while ensuring a strong economy. For example,
The Government has already announced a number of initiatives that reduce emissions in the transportation sector. Initiatives included significant new investments in public transit infrastructure and a tax credit for public transit users, as well as a commitment to require 5% average renewable content in transportation fuels by 2010.
source from: http://www.ec.gc.ca/climate/home-e.html
Another example would be China, even though it is not under the Kyoto Protocol, it was under pressure by other countries to change its laws to protect the environment.
A report released in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that of the ten most polluted cities in the world, seven can be found in China, therefore as an attempt to reduce air pollution, the municipal government in 1999 ordered city vehicles to convert to liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas. By 2002, Beijing had the largest fleet of natural gas buses in the world - a total of 1,630 vehicles. Subway and light rail systems in Beijing also are being expanded.
source from: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/chinaenv.html
In conclusion, globalization has damaged the environment. Barriers and borders does not matter anymore when it is OUR environment that WE must save and that the countries of the world must work together to save the environement . The Kyoto Protocol has been desgined for countries to work together and now it depends on each country to play their part
~Liewxun~ - Half economical half environmental and health expert :P
2:58 AM
I have read an article (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E7D81E3EF93AA1575BC0A9629C8B63)
that did not really focused on globalisation, but it mentioned this:
"On the plus side, it is becoming clear that the heedless polluting that accompanied 20th-century industrialization is unlikely to be repeated by today's industrializing countries. Globalization, often portrayed as an environmental villain, may help, some experts say, because multinational corporations, setting up factories in poor countries, tend to set higher environmental standards, prompting local communities to demand similar standards for home-grown industries. China, far and away the most important of the developing economies, is already pushing to reduce sooty emissions.
Increasing urbanization should also help the environment. Almost all of the extra three billion or so people expected by midcentury will live in or around cities, according to studies by the United Nations and the National Academy of Sciences. City dwellers tend to use energy and other resources more efficiently, and have less direct impact on untrammeled landscapes like forests.
Much depends, however, on how those urbanites live, and think. ''An end to growing population pressure in rural areas could be good for protection of the environment,'' said Dr. Joel E. Cohen, the director of the Laboratory of Populations of Columbia and Rockefeller Universities. ''But only if the people who live in the cities understand that it's of interest to preserve watersheds, agricultural lands and wildlife areas.''
Reflections:
I am not that sure of how substantiated is the statement "it is becoming clear that the heedless polluting that accompanied 20th-century industrialization is unlikely to be repeated by today's industrializing countries". It seems that countries like China and India is perpetually and perennially ridiculed for causing pollution. 16 out of 20 polluted cities are said to be found in China. However, China is indeed motivated to do more now. I think while globalisation MAY "help because multinational corporations, setting up factories in poor countries, tend to set higher environmental standards", we can also notice that sometimes its not within the control of external influence to do much. We can look at the case study of Hong Kong, it has for the past years suffered from severe pollution partly due to pollution from mainland, although "a local nonprofit group, Civic Exchange, shows that most of the pollution in the densely populated heart of [Hong Kong] comes from local sources."
"Donald Tsang has called on Hong Kong companies to do more to limit pollution from companies they own on the mainland." This is quite in congruent with the statement made, about MNCs (although very much bigger in scale) , foreigners to introduce more environmentally friendly measure. However, the environmental problem in China still persists. MNCs, the result of globalisation may be able to help more of a motivation as suggested by the statement rather than directly reducing the emissions directly, in cases like China, i think that the second part of the statement, "prompting local communities to demand similar standards for home-grown industries." is resulting. The demand for better and cleaner air can now be observed in china, when I was in Beijing, there were news reports daily on the number of days blue skies were observed, targets for clear skies were also set! Of course, besides factors like MNCs, the Beijing Olympics is also a main reason for striving for better air. I feel that environmental problems however will ultimately be only resolved with stringent regulations and implementation of these laws. Cases of pollution of both air and water, for instance the Taihu lake, which was reduced to a polluted cesspool are still prevalent.
Wee Zhen Yi
8:56 AM
Well-known is it that the Environment is a pressing concern in the world today. Firstly, the Impact of Globalisation on the Environment. Globalisation as most people realte it to, results in greater pollution and natural resource depletion due to increasing consumption and economic activity. Though there are benefits of globalisation, but the impacts on the environment are almost always negative. The widely publicised "Ozone Layer Depletion" can probably be attributed to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
This Hole in the ozone layer has largely caused the world to work together to remedy it. Though the hole is still present to this day, efforts made by countries like the Montreal Protocol, have actually increased the connectivity of economies and the ways of life across the world. The environment also has its impacts on globalisation. Global environmental performance have international impacts on the world, whether good or bad.
Generally notorious is the problem of excessive green-house gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol, designed to combat such a problem, requires countries to reduce gas emissions. There is thus a need to bring countries together to make the Kyoto Protocol work. Exceptions would reduce the success of such a Protocol, for example, the United States of America's refusal to participate in this.
Transboundary pollutions also bring about globalisation. Oil Spills which spread miles over oceans and saes cost millions to clean up. Many countries would be affected as the oil washes up on shores in the region of the spill. Thus these countries also have to take action and chip in to clean up the spill. In the present world, the environment in a country comes under the jurisdiction of other nations.
Waste disposal is also an act which comes under much judgement from the global community. The status of the environment affects the entire globe, and because of this, the world is linked together in a quest to protect as much of the environment as possible.
And thus, as this introduction to Environmental Globalisation implies, the environment contributes to globalisation and vice-versa.
~Sean~
10:58 AM