Globalization Essay (Final)

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