Neoliberalism and Global Environmental Governance - Essay Example

? Neoliberalism and Global Environmental Governance Neoliberalism and Global Environmental Governance Although there is an increase in global wealth, the environmental situation world-wide is deteriorating steadily. Neoliberalism is an economic and social approach whereby the control of economic factors is transferred to the private sector. It supports the privatization of state corporations and promotion of the activities of the private sector in the society. Neoliberal policies seek to free up the markets by removing restrictions and barriers to what participants can do. Environmental governance is a concept of environmental policy that defines elements needed for sustainability. Human activities whether political, economic, or social have to be managed as subsets of ecosystems and the environment. Environmental governance involves the government, business society, and the civil society and necessitates the incorporation of alternative governing systems such as the watershed based management (Kutting, 2004). The global community has proven incapable of meeting these requirements, which has led to environmental degradation and the emergence of new environmental problems. The international community is experiencing several problems due to globalization. Globalization has led to the improvement of the logistic systems, changes in business and demographic trends and rapid technological progress. This process, however, has led to social and environmental marginalization, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and increasing the gap between information and technology in the rich and poor countries and social groups. Sustainable development calls for the governance of globalization by applying international laws, civil sector domain, and the private sector. The global community has participated in several summits for sustainable development in order to address these issues. Institutions acting on all sectors have to analyze available opportunities for designing organizations that can deal with the challenge of sustainable development. These institutions have to meet the needs of the present generations and protect resources for future generations. Sustainable development requires integration of economic, social, and environmental aspects into the developmental process. Resource depletion and environmental degradation could undermine the economy and have to be addressed by all sector actors. Neoliberal institutions argue that international institutions have considerable power to mobilize policymaking towards sustainable environmental governance. Some actors argue that a body high up in the UN hierarchy has to be established in to deal with global environmental and developmental problems. This body would have a mandate and funds to coordinate and centralize environmental and developmental problems within the UN. Economic governance was developed by the UN to promote economic prosperity. The World Bank was established to lend capital to governments for development and poverty alleviation. The GATT agreement promoted global prosperity through the establishment of free markets. The World Bank together with donor governments promoted the idea of liberal market themes, which would also govern resource allocation. UNEP has enacted several laws in the areas of marine pollution, disposal of hazardous wastes, and depletion of the ozone layer. This body linked development and environmental depletion, which forced developed nations to reduce its budgetary allocation. The developed framework has established several institutions in various countries that deal with environmental issues. Developed nations have in the past used environmental laws to limit innovation, intellectual property protection, and macroeconomic management in developing countries. Several developing countries have acquired development loans from the World Bank and other developed nations. These loans have increased the national debt of these countries, making poverty levels unmanageable. These governments spend most of their resources clearing loans, expanding economic markets, fighting poverty. Developing nations operate under small budgets, fragmented mandates, poor leadership, and lack financial independence. These constraints make these countries reluctant to participate in activities for environmental conservation against different threats. The economic sphere lacks provisions for environmental provisions or the precedence of economic institutions to take over environmental mandates. This status quo shows that environmental governance can only occur as a side-show of economic institutions. Current economic organizations or regimes are concerned with the intrinsic mechanisms rather than environmental concerns. These institutions only use the environment or external forces to explain intrinsic mechanisms that exist within the organization. Global governance institutions such as the WTO and IMF impact environmental governance through their economic, investment, trade, and development policies. However, these organizations do not form a coherent whole when it comes to environmental issues. This has led to the side-lining of environmental considerations and a lack of an understanding of environmental-social relations. This means that global governance does not understand the social dependence on ecological foundations. The world trade organization is mandated to oversee the development of markets and facilitate trade among countries. However, this organization does not have environmental priorities within its main system of global economic governance. Some environmental agreements are drafted according to its economic framework, but the organization itself does not prioritize environmental governance. Other institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank have environmental policies high on their agendas. These policies are based on the sustainable development framework that assumes unlimited growth, but denies the realities of environmental equity and resource allocation. Global economic governance has led to integration that has reduced the authority of the sovereign state. The power and authority of the sovereign states has been channeled to industrialized systems that represent them on the international level. Economic globalization points towards a single integrated world economy that leaves little room for the participation of the sovereign state. These states have in the past championed the campaign towards environmental governance and losing their mandate will slow down environmental conservation (Kutting, 2004). The global economic framework allows for the efficient transfer of resources from the periphery to the core of institutions and states. These resources are channeled towards sustainable development amid the increasing environmental rhetoric. Economic organizations have not taken a real attempt to rectify the strained nature of environment-social relationship. Consequently, there lacks a framework that can accommodate both social and environmental needs. This disillusionment has led to the emergence of international and non-governmental actors within the civil society and corporate fields. These actors have created additional and alternative forms of global governance and ethics. They contribute to and shape the international or the transnational governance. Corporate governance has increased the liberalization of trade and finance through international organizations. Multinational corporations involved have set up certain rules amongst themselves that govern globalization. Self-governance delays or avoids the enactment of other rules that are considered stricter or less convenient to business processes. Corporate codes of conduct are part of self-governance that limits the enactment of other rules and standards. The ISO has developed environmental and procedural standards that govern the working conditions and environmental conservation by different organizations. These organizations must change their rules and standards in order to accommodate standards set by the ISO. The global civil society has been involved in the establishment of the global corporate climate and market-based governance. The western state has given up its social welfare role and has become a guardian for global market interests. Non-governmental organizations are increasingly involved in the formulation of international environmental agreements. These organizations are also involved in the advisory policy-making processes. These institutions are radical and do not participate in shaping the global governance due to the existence of several systemic shortcomings. The increasing role of these institutions has led to a questioning of their legitimacy in policy making. These institutions are economic driven and place little emphasis on environmental issues. The number of institutions working in the environmental arena operates in subordination to the global economic governance. These institutions interpret what is environmentally feasible but fail to address what is environmentally necessary (Kutting, 2004). Modern capitalism and globalization forms a social organization that produces global pollution and environmental degradation due to its global structures. The rise of fossil fuels and the decreasing distance of time and space in relation to different parts of the world are responsible for global environmental degradation. The environmental degradation experienced globally can be attributed to the current technological advancements. Industrialized countries participate in technological inventions and production that utilize different forms of fossil fuels. Most of the energy utilized in industries comes from these fuels, which increases global environmental degradation. The international society has limited infrastructures that define the nature-society relations, which are also far from universal. This relationship varies from each society and is experienced through productive and consumptive relations. The ecological and environmental aspects of this relationship are not perceived by international actors, and their contributions to environmental degradation are de-contextualized. Industrialization and associated actions separate environmental preservation from other types of policy, which results to the deformation of the environment-society relations. The environment-society relations cannot be integrated with the global economy due to their complexity. The diversity of the relationship between the environment and globalization make it difficult to alter the nature-society relationships at the beginning of modern capitalism. The productive and consumptive relations and the economic performance are affected negatively by environmental degradation. Resources are utilized in production of industrial and other types of products for utilization by consumers. Most of these resources are natural or rely on natural some aspects of nature for their existence. The current production approaches focus on the social relations of production and neglect the relationship between nature and production. The social relationship with production targets consumer behavior, which is the main target for most global businesses. Modern capitalism has changed the production-environmental relationship and aims at satisfying consumers. This leaves little room for the protection of natural resources, some of which are used in production (Kutting, 2004). The rise of trading relations has led to a neglect of the interaction between natural resources and the material basis of production. From history, the fall of large empires was caused by a decline in natural resources due to over-exploitation. The decline in forest cover led to the slump of local economies in Germany and Sweden. This pattern has been reproduced over time in various parts of the world and ties the environment strongly to economic development. The ecological system does not narrowly associate environmental degradation with one type of production but on an accumulation of production methods present in modern capitalism. The current global production integrates resources available from different countries without a consideration of their replenishment. The global market experiences stiff competition, which forces key players to engage in resource outsourcing and different production methods. This outsourcing is attributed to regional and local environmental degradation, and the predominance of a fossil fuel economy leads to the globalization of environmental degradation. The increased demand and extension of consumption has led to the development of better methods of production and advancement of technological and scientific knowledge. These advancements are related to the social relations of production and consumption. The social relations have led to the vast expansion of trade and consumption of resources and increasing the globalization of production forces. This globalization and trans-nationalization of the economy has led to the internationalization and globalization of environmental side effects of the extended production base. The current capitalism experiences global environmental degradation while the previous form of capitalism only experienced local and regional degradation. The global structure of production can directly linked to this type of degradation. The current reliance on fossils and the increased importation and exportation of goods increases carbon emission to the atmosphere. Increased demand leads to over exploitation of natural resources and continuous encroachment on natural resources. The government and other institutions targeting environmental degradation have to address the tense relationship between the economy and the environment. This will serve as the starting point for any remedial action targeting the environment (Brown, Aradau and Budds, 2008). The excessive consumption of the current population has led to overconsumption of the environmental natural resources. Neoliberal policies assume that the current living standards enjoyed by the richest 20 percent of the world population are applicable to the whole world. Global institutions try to extend consumption experienced in developed nations to other countries. This leads to questioning the environmental equity due to uneven distribution of resources. The current institutions view consumption as the last stage of the production chain, rather than the disposal of the consumed product. Waste disposal is a significant environmental problem, which is not addressed by several global institutions. The accumulation of waste products on the surface of the earth affects its capacity to act as a sink. This waste is a global problem and global business actors do not address the issue of waste management. Excessive waste production also affects the availability of certain natural resources necessary for production (Kutting, 2004). The current consumerism is based on human needs and not wants, which makes consumers want more and more products. Current institutions do not consider what people really need for a fulfilled life but concentrate on what consumers want in their life. This has led to the ideology of unlimited economic growth facilitated by the rising living standards. Individuals who have achieved high levels of living standards still demand more and improved products. Unlimited economic growth has put a strain on the available natural resources, which multiply at a much slower rate than the economic growth. An increasing world population has increased in the demand for food, which has resulted to the development of new agricultural technologies such as genetically manipulated crops. The rising demand for fossil fuels has led to the exploration of new oil fields and the introduction of more energy sufficient technologies. These inventions address the problem of distribution and availability of resources rather than availability (Kutting, 2004). The neoliberal economic order considers the environment to have an unlimited supply of natural resources. Economists externalize natural resources since they are not priced unlike capital goods owned by suppliers. Economic valuations usually take natural resources for granted due to their free occurrence in the environment. Pricing environmental goods can turn them to luxury goods, which are only available to those who can afford them. This makes economists consider them to be free goods and energy sources. The limited capacity of natural resources and the continued strain exerted on them has resulted to environmental degradation. The lack of a balance between the environmental and societal needs has led to over exploitation of environmental resources and over production of waste (Kutting, 2004). Environmental equity is a subject that requires each generation to pass a planet that can generate the means of survival to the next generation. This equity should be applicable to all members of the current generation as part of their human rights. Equal access to resources requires a reconstruction of power and market economies by rethinking the approaches to environmental equity and justice. The current emphasis on consumer markets targets groups rather than individuals making it necessary to consider societal rights. Policies for integrating developing countries into the global economy aim at creating a consumer class in these countries. This class would attract more investments and offer more markets for consumer products. Developing countries experience foreign direct investments from developed nations in order to increase their trade capacities. These policies benefit individuals involved in the trade and create economic circumstances that benefit the society. However, these policies do not address poverty issues in these countries, which are left to the sole responsibility of the government. The individualization of environmental problems leads to the development of social institutions that solve these issues. This leads to the inclusion of the consumer in the global economy as a power entity (Brown, Aradau and Budds, 2008). Environmental degradation and issues of social justice cannot be separated due to implications of the uneven global consumption pattern. The current consumption in developed countries cannot be extended to the global population, which requires redistribution of resources to ensure environmental equity. This requires discrediting the notion that the environment can support unlimited economic growth with the current natural resources. Consumer products have a limit to their life span and have to be cleared before they expire. Expiry of consumer products adds to the current waste products available in the environment. Waste products are unintended consequences of the production process, which are not incorporated within the commodity chain analysis. Therefore, these wastes are not reflected in the ecological impact and the environmental cost of products. Economical waste disposal removes unwanted by products from the consumer especially toxic and nuclear wastes. This disposal alienates the consumer from the social and economic impact of his/her actions. This also helps preserve the environment where these wastes would have been dumped (Kutting, 2004). Consumers face a limited framework through which they can exert their choices on industrial products. They depend on the supply chain, which is controlled by institutions such as manufactures, retailers, and suppliers. Market liberalization enables global institutions target consumers around their globe, which increases their control upon consumers. Most problems associated with excessive consumption occur at the production chain before the products reach the consumers. Some of the products available at the global market do not advocate for ethical consumption. Effective global environmental governance must consider the needs of consumers and the participation of the current institutions. Overstretching natural resources through uncontrolled consumption is responsible for the current contention of resources by different institutions. Global organizations serve a greater market and therefore, require a larger supply of natural resources for production. This is responsible for inventions of alternative technologies, and over exploration of resources both of which are harmful to the environment. Environmental equity refers to the control and access to environmental resources and a clean environment. Individuals at the lower end of the social strata suffer more from environmental degradation and experience more health and deprivation problems. Natural resources involved in the manufacturing process are not equally distributed around the globe. Some regions have more resources than others, which leads to competition between powerful global actors. Weaker individuals in the social strata cannot afford to live in areas unaffected by pollution. Most of these individuals are workers in industrial estates, which experience high levels of pollution. Individuals residing in the northern countries are more affected by industrial pollution than those in the south. These individuals also experience environmental restraints through the purchase of healthier goods. Accumulation of industrial resources in some parts of the globe leads to different levels of pollution experienced by different populations. Developed countries outsource dangerous practices that might harm their environment and dump their toxic wastes in other areas likely to minimize pollution in their country. These countries have environmental regulations that allow organizations to trade in waste products. However, not all citizens in the world have access to the same environmental rights. Trade in waste occurs in regions where there are less stringent environmental rules. These discrepancies in environmental regulations are used to profit the global political economy. Most of these inequalities are generated by institutions participating in the global market, although others are caused by environmental differences in different geographical regions. Residents of different regions have different abilities to control their respective environments due to different global institutions involved. In some regions, the local residents are not aware of the environmental regulations operating in their countries due to lack of natural resources that can attract global actors (Kutting, 2004). The agenda-setting capacity of various institutions in the global economy has set different phrases of the climate change debate. This is mostly considered as a rift between developed and developing countries. Different countries have different energy production and consumption quantities, and they are affected by global warming differently. Several developing nations view global warming as a historical problem and past emissions should be incorporated in the emission reduction strategies. Developed nations want to consider and control future emissions disregarding the past emissions. These differences in agenda setting powers of developing and developed countries have caused a backlog to emission control strategies. Developed countries have the highest energy production and consumption rates compared to developing countries and have contributed more to climate change. Developed nations want this issue to be treated as a contemporary and future problem by avoiding the past contributions to climate change. The different agendas available in environmental debates are major determinants in environmental conservation and emission control. Global actors in the international scene have experienced violent conflicts within the environmental resource dimension. Global actors have experienced financial and political coercion, which has contributed to neocolonialism in the economic sector. Most states are independent and sovereign in the political sense but are not independent in the economic position in the global economic. Economic colonialism is based along the historical social relations between different countries. This has given developed countries power over developing countries, which hampers problem resolution exercises. This can be demonstrated by the withdrawal of USA from the climate change negotiations. The exercise of power by global economic institutions determines the usage of environmental resources and sinks. These countries focus more on production, but environmental degradation is caused by production as well as consumption. This focus has derailed the implementation and formation of several environmental and climate change regulations and control strategies (Kutting, 2004). The freeing of global markets has made countries and international actors to concentrate on production at the expense of the environment. Natural resources are over exploited to maximize production to cater for the rapidly world population. This has led to the strain on natural resources, which has resulted to technological innovations that are also harmful to the environment. International monetary institutions such as the World Bank were established to provide governments with development loans. These loans strain government resources due to repayment, which leaves little resources for environmental conservation. Energy consumption due to industrialization has led to overreliance on fossil fuels, which has increased the emission levels leading to climate change. Developed countries are reluctant to participate in climate change debates. These countries continue to seek economic dominance over developing countries at the expense of environmental conservation. References Brown, W., Aradau, C., and Budds, J., 2008. Environmental issues and responses. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Kutting, G., 2004. Globalization and the Environment: Moving Beyond Neoliberal Institutionalism. International Journal of Peace Studies, 9 (1), pp. 29-46. Read More