Environment assignment - Essay Example

Question 1d) According to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Sachs, Africa needs US $10-20 billion a year to help it adequately combat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases (Beresford, 2001). This is an amount that African states cannot raise on their own especially when one considers their weak economies that are being crippled further by several disease pandemics. The developed countries would therefore be of help if they can support Africa by granting it money to combat HIV/AIDS. And when we say grant, we do not mean concessionary loans, we mean outright grants.

Question 2) The precautionary principle has the following four central components: taking preventive action in the face of uncertainty; shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity; exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions; and increasing public participation in decision making (Kriebel et al., 2001). We are of the opinion that anyone who wishes to introduce a new product or process, be tasked with proving that their new proposition will not harm the environment before proceeding.

The first component of the precautionary principle if simply put states that it is better to be safe than sorry. With the world still unable to combat several “big” problems such as ecosystem degradation, resource depletion and climate change, and with environmental and health problems continuing to grow more rapidly than our ability to find solutions, Kriebel and Tickner (2001) state that it would be foolhardy to go ahead with new propositions that may create more problems in the future.

The second and third components of the precautionary principle, shifting the burden of proof to the proponents of an activity and exploring a wide range of alternatives to possibly harmful actions, have the effect of making investors stop and reflect deeply before proceeding with their new propositions. This means that it is up to the investor to research, bear the risk and come up with convincing data before launching a product or process. This would go a long way in arresting the quick money syndrome that is often the root cause of launching of untested products or processes.

Also, increased stakeholder participation as proposed by the precautionary principle makes it even more difficult for investors who may have fudged data to support their new offerings from launching their products or processes without a prior independent audit from the public. Question 3) The proposition that warmer weather translates into longer and better life, less energy consumption, and reduced outlays for clothing is too simplistic. For starters we need to define what is or is not warm.

Of course the arguments put forth by “What Are the Benefits of Global Warming?” (n.d.) such as increase in land for farming and living due to the acreage of ice on earth reducing, less money spent on heating and so on have their merits. However, these merits are only true to the extent that global warming leads to a rise in temperature to a level that can be defined as “warm”. Any deviation to this would lead to heat waves such as those experienced in Europe in 2003. A comprehensive study done by the World Health Organization (WHO) examined the correlation between climate change and the global burden of disease especially in the underdeveloped nations. The