Globalization Essay (Draft 1)

Globalization refers to the free flow of goods, services and capital across countries. It has increased the accessibility of goods from all around the world, encouraging consumption, but has also leads to problems on the environment such as worsening global warming. It refers to an increase in the average global temperatures, primarily due to a rise in the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is crucial for solutions to be implemented to alleviate the problems caused by global warming in order for the situation to be contained.  Some solutions that have been implemented to tackle the problem of global warming are the signing of international agreement and participation in carbon reduction program.

With globalization, there has been a rise in the demand of goods, leading to an increase in the resources needed to meet the demands of the consumers, increasing the carbon footprints of human activities on the environment. The increased logging activities to meet the demand leads to climate change, worsening global warming as fewer trees are available to absorb greenhouse gases (Szalay, 2013). Another aspect of globalization that worsens global warming is the transportation of goods. It is thought to considerably contribute to global warming via emission from planes, ships and other transportation vehicles. Shipping is also responsible for 3.5% to 4% of all climate change emissions (Vidal, Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated', 2009). Thus, globalization attribute to global warming through deforestation and transportation of goods.

The signing of agreements between nations is one way to alleviate the problem of worsening global warming. One example is the Kyoto Protocol. It was the first agreement between nations to mandate country-by-country reductions in greenhouse gases emission, and it went into force in February 2005 (Kyoto Protocol, 2013). Under Kyoto, industrialized nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon by an average of 5.2% by 2012. However, the effectiveness of Kyoto is limited. The United States did not agree to the treaty as China and other developing nations did not agree to limit their emissions (Schiermeier, 2012). Furthermore, the treaty does not require the developing countries to reduce their emission (Huwart, 2013). However, it has been proven that developing countries can also contribute to a high amount of emissions. For instance, China has led to a rise in global carbon emissions to a record high in 2012 (Chestney, 2013). The world’s biggest emitters, the United States and China have emitted enough greenhouse gases to erase all the reductions made by other countries. It is important to differentiate the roles of developed and developing nations in reducing carbon emissions, and to weigh the importance between economic development and protection of the environment to ameliorate the problem of global warming. As long as nations continue to value profits over environment, the effectiveness of international agreement is limited. It will be more effective for nations to realize the seriousness of the situation and voluntarily commit to change.

Another possible solution is through the participation of program to reduce carbon emissions such as United Nation’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) program. It aims to reduce emissions by providing incentives to people who maintain rather than reduce forest cover (Duncan Clark, 2012). Once deforestation has been proven to be lowered, nations that participate in the program can claim and sell carbon pollution credits. There has been a significant slowing in deforestation by 40% in Brazil after adopting UN-REDD, and Brazil aimed to achieve reduction of 80% by 2020 (Mitchell Vale, 2012). However, the effectiveness is limited. The problem of corruption hinders the protection plan of forest due to signs of massive fraud, bribery and informal deals around the world (Vidal, 2010). Developing countries traded land for funds with rich countries, so that they can have more funds for development, while multinational corporations move to developing countries to avoid strict environment rules. Another problem faced is the refusal of developing countries to adopt the program. Some indigenous groups have rejected the plan as they view it as an attempt to colonize them, such as the indigenous people in Panama (Tuckman, 2013). Political regulations and education can work together to alleviate the problems, so as to maximize the effectiveness of the problem.

Globalization has brought about many benefits such as the increase in variety of goods and services and improvement in technology. However, it has also caused many problems such as worsening of global warming. Some solutions to alleviate the problem include international agreement and participating in programs that reduce carbon emissions. Who should be responsible for this problem? Is it the developed nations or the developing nations; the government or the people? The roles for different parties to ameliorate this problem are different, and it is important for everyone to feel responsible for the environment for the solutions to be effective.

References

Kyoto Protocol. (2013). Retrieved from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php

Chestney, N. (2013, June 10). Global carbon emission hit record high in 2012. Retrieved from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-iea-emissions-idUSBRE95908S20130610

Duncan Clark, G. R. (2012, December 19). What's Redd and will it help tackle climate change? Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/dec/19/what-is-redd-climate-change-deforestation

Huwart, J.-Y. a. (2013). What is the impact of Globalisation on the Environment. Retrieved from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/economic-globalisation/what-is-the-impact-of-globalisation-on-the-environment_9789264111905-8-en

Mitchell Vale, H. (2012, November 13). Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect on Global Warming. Retrieved from Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=deforestation-and-global-warming

Schiermeier, Q. (2012, November 28). The Kyoto Protol: Hot Air. Retrieved from Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/the-kyoto-protocol-hot-air-1.11882

Szalay, J. (2013, March 6). Deforestation: Fatcs, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html

Tuckman, J. (2013, May 24). Panama's indigenous people see Redd over UN forest conservation scheme. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/24/panama-indigenous-people-un-forest-conservation

Vidal, J. (2009, April 9). Health risks of shipping pollution have been 'underestimated'. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution

Vidal, J. (2010, October 27). Massive corruption undermines forest protection plan. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/oct/27/corruption-undermines-forest-protection-plan