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 led to environmental problems such as worsening global warming which
refers to an increase in the average global temperatures, due to a rise in the
emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is crucial for
solutions such as signing of international agreements and participation in carbon
reduction programs to be implemented to alleviate the problems caused by global
warming to contain the situation.
With globalization, there has been a
rise in the demand of goods, leading to an increase in the resources needed to
meet the needs of the consumers, increasing the amount of carbon emissions due
to human activities. 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 that worsens the
situation is due to the transportation of goods. It is thought to considerably
contribute to global warming via emissions from planes, ships and other vehicles.
Shipping is responsible for 3.5% to 4% of all climate change emissions (Vidal, 2009). Thus, globalization
helps to attribute to global warming through deforestation and the 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 was limited. For instance, the United
States did not agree to the treaty as China and other developing nations did
not agree to limit their emissions (Schiermeier, 2012). However, the treaty does not include
the developing countries (Huwart, 2013), even though it has been proven that
developing countries can also contribute to a high amount of emissions. For
instance, China has resulted in an increase 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. This shows the importance for developed and
developing countries to understand that all has a part to play in reducing
carbon emission 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 the environment, the
effectiveness of international agreements is limited. It may be more effective
if countries are given incentives for following the agreements to encourage
nations to sign the agreements.
Another possible solution is through participating
in programs to reduce carbon emissions such as the 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 (Clark, 2012).
Once deforestation has been proven to be lowered, nations that participate in
the program can claim and sell carbon pollution credits. After adopting
UN-REDD, there has been a significant slowing in deforestation by 40% in Brazil
which aims to achieve reduction of 80% by 2020 (Vale, 2012). However, effectiveness
is limited. The problem of corruption hinders the protection plan due to signs
of massive fraud, bribery and informal deals around the world (Vidal, 2010). Often, 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 (Vidal, 2010). 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). In response to the problems, laws can
be designed to tackle with the corruption and informal deals while the
indigenous group can be educated to be aware of the benefits of the program to maximize
the effectiveness of the solution.
In conclusion, globalization has
brought about many benefits such as the increase in the variety of goods and
services and improvements in technology. However, it has also caused problems
such as the worsening of global warming. Some solutions to alleviate the
problem are international agreements and carbon reduction programs. 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 in
ameliorating this problem are different, and it is important for everyone to be
responsible for the environment so that the solutions can 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
