The Role of the International Community - Research Paper Example

The Role of the International Community In recent times, there have been major concerns over the rate of environmental degradation and how this affects the current existing ecosystems, as well as means through which the environment can be salvaged from the destructive nature of man’s activities. Some of the concerns raised do not fall short of wiping out the entire existence of man, animals and plants, as we know them, but also the current world order. This brings about the question of how different organizations and governments come together to create a sense of awareness towards the environment in order to protect it from global environmental issues. Some of these issues to be discussed include genetic engineering, global warming, loss of diversity, population and planning among others, where there is major concern that this issues will come to haunt the world in time. In addition, the impact of these issues is assessed albeit narrowly, but with major focus on efforts to overcome them. Efforts, in this case, put a spotlight on how non-governmental organizations and the international community and what they have dome in order to eliminate tis problems or rather slow down their progress as some have progressed beyond control. As a result, the role non-governmental organizations and the international community cannot be sidelined as they both allow access to environmental information to all, where the international community is painted as the go between for non-governmental organizations and the rest of the world. It is following the above mentioned issues that the global environmental situation is discussed in relation to the presence of NGOs and the international community and what they have done, as well as what they can do in future to protect the environment. Genetic engineering is a common global environmental issue that faces the world over and acts both in an advantageous and disadvantageous aspect for all that are involved. This is involves those that know how genetic engineering affects the world and those that do not as the impact is both direct and indirect for all parties, which is what makes it a global issue. Because of this, genetic engineering is a global environmental issue in that they affect agricultural production on multiple levels as is seen in the case of livestock and crops. Consequently, globally, the world is facing the question of accepting these genetically modified organisms with safety concerns over consumption and use of their products. On matters relating to consumption and use, genetically modified organisms affect humans and other animals as well as plants as the environment comprises numerous aspects of which humans are a part, which is because they are part of human environment, while plants are part of vegetation. A deep look into the machinations of genetic engineering on the environment is the lack of genetic diversity following the large extent of use in mass production of highly specialized animals (“Environmental Issues”). This translates in the world having animals working the same humans and machines do by having animals created for wool production only. This is because of modifying the genetic make-up of animals to have increased production with low levels of input. Another issue still on global environmental problems lies with the ethics of the process of genetic engineering, which is obviously a hot topic for debate worldwide. This is especially with the inclusion of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, which is of the view that this adversely affects the environment by cheating it in ways from which it may never recover. From an ethical perspective, the longevity of animal and plant life is affected by either extending it or shortening, an aspect that is not entirely beneficial for the environment. Due to genetic engineering, the world is facing a dilemma on whether to progress with these genetic projects or scrape them altogether following the possibility of destruction or cross breeding of plants meant for animals and others for humans. The human food is not meant for animal consumption despite being natural, while animal food is genetically modified is exclusively fed to animals to prevent spread of undesirable conditions to humans. Because of this cross breeding between different crops, the ethics question rises due to the possibility of interference, meaning that this should not happen at all if the human environment is to survive conditions brought about by genetic engineering. Further, there are environmental fears that genetic engineering may affects existing disease on plants and animals to become more dangerous than they currently are. This is because crops and animals are in the process of alteration by scientists to make them resistant to diseases and pests, which could lead to further mutation of these diseases, mainly viruses and retroviruses, could lead to dangerous drug resistant strains of diseases (“Environmental Issues”). This still raises issues of ethics on the viability of genetic engineering to the environment as it causes grave problems that could be avoided. Other common global environmental issues are population pressure and redistribution of different species of plants and animals following new introduction and depopulation. As such, there are major problems around the world with some of the animals moved from their natural environment to new lands that do not inhibit or support their existence. The main issue at hand here is the areas that do not inhibit their spread and life, which means that the population of these animals can only increase and not reduce as they are put out of their natural environment. Consequently, this has led to concerns around the world over introduction of new species to new lands where they should not be as can be seen in the case of the cane toad in the Australia, where it was introduced to control the sugarcane beetle from ruining the produce of cane farmers (“Cane Toads”). As a result, it was brought in from Latin America, where the life span of these creatures was controlled by a natural parasite that regulated their population so that they could not increase out of control. Instead, they have spread to areas that were not part of the initial plan ruining the plans and bringing about a new environmental problem. In addition, there are similar problems around the world amongst tourists, where there is the proliferation of animals and plants in the south Antarctic islands after ships and boat dock for tourists to explore. This has led to the destruction of diversity found in these places as the introduction of new species of both plants and animals lead to their thriving beyond expectation choking the existing flora and fauna (Shah). This further destroys the balance of nature in a delicate ecosystem as is found in these islands and other following the presence of stiff competition for much needed life supporting resources such as recycling services offered by bacteria and scavengers. Another well-known issue of global concern is global warming, which is the latest environmental issue receiving plenty of attention from the media and the world as a whole. It is following the presence of pollution, which is an issue that works hand in hand with global warming leading to adverse environmental changes affecting all in the world. The first issue on global warming has been the melting of snow glaciers at both the north and the south poles leading to increased volumes of water in oceans and seas (“Linking climate change and water” ). Consequently, island nations have been feeling the pressure, which has in turn been directed to the rest of the international community to ensure that the problem is addressed prior to the immersion of their countries into a state of non-existence. The above phenomenon is following the rapid rise in sea level leading to massive flooding and reduction in areas that can be inhabited by humans and animals, as well as support plant life for both aesthetic and productivity. In addition, global warming being a hot topic has led to spread of concerns over availability of seafood for populations that are highly dependent on seafood as their staple source of nutrition and source of livelihood. With this in mind, the growth of planktons and phytoplankton to support marine life is dependent on the presence of appropriate temperatures. Lower production of planktons translates into lower fish populations and other marine life affecting the delicate nature of marine ecosystems, as they cannot handle a state of imbalance, which further affects human life, as humans seek to find alternative sources of food. In addition, global warming has also led to increased temperatures in other water bodies, which affects the rates at which evaporation occurs (Linking climate change and water ). This is following prolonged dry spells and wet seasons interfering with climate and weather patterns. This rapid evaporation has affected local ecosystems of areas that have large inland water bodies as they are drying up rapidly. The above problem is compounded by deforestation occurring indiscriminately around the world, where it has affected water catchment areas, especially in the countries with lax environmental laws and regulations (“Impact of Global Warming…”). This affects food production, the ability to support plant and animal life, as there is reduced access to water, and some areas experiencing flooding, which is bad for animal and plant life due to low yield of crops and deterioration in plant quality. Role of international community and NGO In light of the above global issues on the environment, there are different actions and steps that have and can still be taken by the international community and non-governmental organizations to curb and conserve the environment. As such, the international community and NGOs serve to create leadership opportunities, as well as partnership programs in protecting the environment, where the main role of NGOs and the international community act as facilitators (Vadaon). This can be observed in the case of the United Nations Environment Program, which serves to inspire and inform people on the importance of the environment, and what is likely to happen should there be failure to conserve that, which is already provided. With this, the role of NGOs is to provide the highest level available of awareness towards environmental conservation so that the people take the initiative themselves rather than wait for those in authority to pass legislation (Rockefeller). This is following the high amount of demands placed on leaders by their subjects such that governments have turned into reactors rather than preventers, which has made environmental disasters common. The above is to an extent that after the environment is degraded, only then do governments kick in to pass legislation and provide regulations, as well as punitive measures against violators. NGOs are there for this reason to put governments in check in relation to the environment so that protection takes priority rather than running repairs on already done damage that could have been averted. NGOs and the international community also have a key role in setting the pace for the rest of the world towards conserving the environment for future generations and better life quality of the present generations. The implications of the above statement is that these two bodies which further entail the civil society, is that they provide a framework from which governments and the society at large can work from in ensuring that the environment is not degraded beyond recovery (Vadaon). This can again be observed in the case of the United Nations Environmental Program, which serves to work with civil society and NGOs by providing policies to govern then relationship between the two bodies. This way, all worthy causes are supported by the UNEP through funding and receive backing from the same body. This is because NGOs are mainly localized and they understand the environmental issues affecting people at the grassroots as opposed to the international community. This that brings about information to the reach of the rest of the world as can be seen in remote areas, where there would ordinarily be no news of the impact of environmental issues such as global warming, pollution and deforestation. Following the presence of these NGOs and the international community, they have played a major role in conserving the environment by mirroring the actual situation on the ground and bringing it to ten attention of the rest of the world to learn from. This issue can be evidenced by the presence of policies that exist with the UNEP, which is part of the international community, where it plays a key role in funding NGOs based on the importance of their mission (Vadaon). This is as opposed to what is done by most governments, waiting for catastrophic events to occur before taking action. Another key role of the international community towards environmental conservation, and one that is working well so far is providing encouragement for ordinary citizens who serve to protect the environment. This is done by issuance of awards by different bodies such as governments and NGOs, as well as the international community, which has served to increase participation in protecting the environment (Vadaon). This is in addition to mobilization of more people to look into matters that affect the environment such as energy issues for people in areas that rely on timber and other natural sources of fuel. These awards led to innovativeness of ordinary citizens and even outstanding ones to serve the world better and protect the environment. In addition to the above-mentioned roles, NGOs enhance the understanding of environmental issues through novel ways that can only be conducted by such organizations. This is done through research into deep issues that affect local communities before the issues are brought forward to the rest of the world to address and prevent from occurring in new areas. Evidence of this can be observed in research on populations, how different aspects affect them, and this research creates a legal framework in formulation of policies. A good example of such research efforts lies with the role of research and development departments in different organizations of a non-governmental nature as the TATA Emery Research Institute (TERI) (Agarwal 936). This serves to find solutions to energy issues facing the world, especially in relation to depletion. It is such efforts of NGOs that raise awareness to the environmental issues that affect the world collectively and show how they can be addressed without having to sacrifice greatly and by offering novel solutions. In some cases, NGOs and the international community do not have an option on how to deal with certain environmental issues as the damage is done and can only serve to provide humanitarian support rather than actual prevention (Neba). Because of this, this assists in collection of data relating to how environmental issues can be dealt with, especially in global warming and its consequences in flooding and drought. Data collected in such events and occurrences is crucial in determining the severity of environmental damage and how best this can be dealt with in future as is evident with population issues, especially human populations. This draws attention to the need for planning in creating living quarters for humans as well as leaving adequate land to support their economic activities, as well as agricultural land for food production. Some of the successes of the roles played by NGOs and the international community can be seen mainly in the events of the mid and late 20th century, where general and intuitive research was done into specialized areas that came up showing how the world was at risk from self-inflicted environmental issues (Neba). Consequently, they came together to formulate institutions of cooperation that allowed for sharing of information for all interested parties. This cooperation brought about improved understanding of how the world works and what it is most vulnerable to especially in the human situation, where rapid urbanization affected the quality of life and provision of basic services to urban dwellers following high population pressure faced by the resources allocated to them. This drove NGOs to push for improved planning to prevent the pressure from getting to natural resources such as forest and water towers as human population sought to find alternative sources of a livelihood and living grounds. Moreover, efforts by the international community and NGOs have a strong role in pushing for change amongst governments concerning how they view different aspect of the environment, which apply mainly to the industrialized world and even the scientific. It is in these worlds that they raise ethical concerns on the delicate nature and features of the environment, and how little care has been taken to save it from man’s destructive nature. In light of this, it is these two institutions that provide information to show how current ecosystems support life and ways of life, and any little change to these ecosystems could upset the balance destroy world order as it is known (Rockefeller). NGOs and the international community have another role in the fight to conserve the environment in relation to global environmental issues, which is the reflection of ethical values belonging to different cultures (Rockefeller). It is from this that these organizations present the needs of people who would otherwise be voiceless to the rest of the world by giving a platform to air their concerns. This way, locals get an opportunity to provide solutions to environmental problems affecting them and give headway to innovators who could perfect on their ideas to make comprehensive solutions to cater for any future issues of a similar nature. Altogether, in the face of the numerous global environmental challenges facing the world, several bodies act within their specifications to take care of the environment. As such, this is done on the watch of these organizations, namely non-governmental organization and bodies created by governments coming together in cooperation to form the international community. These bodies play a critical role in the conservation of the environment as seen in the identification of problems and encouraging global citizens to take care of their surrounding as these affect all animals and plants both directly and indirectly. It is therefore in the role of NGOs and the international community to look after the environment by conducting awareness campaigns as discussed, as well as running research and development projects while at the same time developing frameworks for environmental protection. Works Cited Agarwal, Anjali. "ROLE OF NGOs IN THE PROTECTION." Journal of Environmental Research And Development (2008): 933-938. "Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries." Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council. 26 December 2007. Web. 6 July 2013 . “Cane Toads”. NSW Government. 26 February 2011. Web. 6 July 2013 . “Environmental Issues”. Oracle think Quest. n.d. Web. 6 July 2013 . "Linking climate change and water." IPCC. n.d. Web. 6 July 2013 . Neba, Ndenecho. "NGO Involvement in Environmental." Codesria. 25 September 2008. Web. 6 July 2013 . Rockefeller, Steven C. "Principles of Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development: Summary and Survey." earthcharterinaction. April 1996. Web. 6 July 2013 . Shah, Anup. Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares? Global issues. 6 April 2011. Web. 6 July 2013 . Vadaon, Sundar. “Role of NGO’s in Environmental Conservation and Development”. Mother Earth Consultancy Services. n.d. Web. 6 July 2013 . Read More