Poverty and Pollution - Essay Example

 Poverty and Pollution Introduction The concern for environment all over the world has increased in the past 30 years. People all over the world have become more aware of the environmental problems and governments are taking actions against environmental pollution. Global institutions like United Nations have become more active and many global programs have been initiated to restrict environmental pollution. Developing countries are more affected from environmental pollution because their industrial infrastructure is weak. Moreover, governments in developing countries are also not strong and therefore cannot environmental regulations. Industries in developing countries also do not have the technology to combat environmental pollution which is why they are suffering the most because of environmental pollution. In this paper, the issue of environmental pollution will be discussed and the role of developing and developed countries will be discussed. Moreover, discussion will be made on ethical implications of polluting in a third world country. Also a uniform global plan for pollution control will be proposed. Ethical Implications of Polluting in a Third World Country for Businesses The ethical implications of polluting in a Third World country are severe, to say the least. Businesses cannot make life miserable for people of third world countries because everyone has a right to live his or her life in a healthy environment. There cannot be any ethical justification of businesses polluting in Third World countries. When businesses pollute the land, air, and waters of developing countries, they hurt and endanger the lives of the people who live there, and this cannot be justified. It is also not ethical for businesses to damage the natural resources of third world countries in the name of economic progress. Even if businesses that are polluting in developing countries are actually creating jobs and contributing to the economy, their actions are not ethically justified because their practices will make life difficult for future generations. The argument that businesses in the Third World provide employment to otherwise unemployed people of the country is not valid because the same businesses are making the environment worse for the future generations. It is important to take into account the good of both the present and future generations, and in this regard practices of businesses that are polluting in the Third World countries are unethical. Reasons for Disregarding Standards of Pollution Control It is clear from abovementioned arguments that pollution of businesses in the Third World is unethical. But there are also many reasons why firms in developing countries are enticed to ignore pollution control standards. One of the reasons why firms tend to ignore standards for pollution control is that the cost of environmental friendly technology is very high. Firms do not wish to sacrifice on their profits and, therefore, they tend to ignore standards for pollution control. There exist significant cost benefits for firms that do not use environmental friendly technology. It is very costly to dispose of waste in a manner that is friendly to the environment. Investing in such methods means increase in cost and lower profits, which is why firms in the developing countries tend to ignore pollution standards. Another reason why firms disregard pollution control standards is because of the weakness of regulations and enforcement agencies in developing countries. Environmental regulations are usually not very strong in developing countries and therefore firms tend to ignore pollution standard controls. Enforcement of these regulations is even weaker which is why firms have no danger of getting caught (Ravindranath & Sathaye, 2002). This is why firms are attracted to ignore pollution control standards in the developing countries. Firms also ignore pollution control standards in the Third World because inhabitants of these countries are mostly unaware of their rights, and therefore they do not protest against environmental pollution. When people of the developing countries do not say anything against pollution then firms do not pay any attention towards environment. Pollution: The Price of Progress? It is commonly argued that developing countries have to ignore pollution control standards in order to develop their industrial infrastructure. Most developing countries have only limited industrial base and in order to flourish industries, developing countries cannot be very strict about environmental friendly means of production. It is commonly argued that the pollution that is resulted from expansion of industries in the developing world is the necessary price of progress. This argument, however, is not very strong because it confuses economic progress with development. Economic progress cannot guarantee development because development is a wider concept that takes into account living standards and other factors. Ignoring pollution in the developing countries might bring economic progress to one country but this does not lead to development. This important difference is ignored in the argument and therefore it is not strong argument. Pollution cannot now be considered as a price of progress as it is now an outdated notion (Pojman, 2011). Also it is important to understand difference pollution control and environmental protection. Many developing countries focus on pollution control but they fail to understand that environmental protection should their ultimate goal. It is argued that developing countries should set up pollution control mechanism in order to restrict pollution in the country but this measure will never be successful because pollution control and environmental protection are different. Environmental protection takes into account a variety of factors that are necessary to preserve in order to make environmental healthy. The Moral Right to a Livable Environment Every human being regardless of his or her country has a right to a livable environment that is free from environmental pollution (Hancock, 2003). This is one of the most basic rights of human beings that cannot be ignored quite easily. People who support pollution in developing countries fail to understand that if pollution is condoned, then people of those developing countries are being deprived of their basic moral right. Right to a livable environment is universal and therefore everyone in the world should be allowed to live in a healthy environment. Divisions like developing and developed have no meaning when it comes to basic human rights. Inhabitants of developing countries are no less human being than people of the developed world. They both are equal in every possible way and, therefore, all of them have a right to live in a livable environment. Obligation of Wealthy Nations to Help Poorer Nations Environmental concerns of the developing countries can only be resolved if they are provided with cleaner sources of energy, and this is not possible without the help of the wealthier nations. It is the responsibility of the developed world to focus on the issue and help poorer nations to develop their industries without polluting their environment. Wealthy nations have an obligation to help poorer nations with environmental problems because wealthy nations too went through the same phase through which developing countries are now going. At the start of industrialization, the world was less aware of the environmental problems and therefore developed countries were able to flourish their industrialization process without paying any concern towards the environment. By the time the world became aware of the problem developed countries had already built a strong industrial base, and therefore it was easy for them to shift to environmentally friendly technology. Poorer countries do not have such a chance to ignore environmental pollution and therefore it is an obligation of the wealthier nations to help them in whatever way it is possible in order to curb environmental degradation in the developing world. Plan for Uniform Global Pollution control Standards A global plan for uniform global pollution control standards must include provisions which should provide incentives for the developing countries if they reduce their pollution levels. Also a global plan will realize its true objective when developed world and the developing world are measured with different metrics. Developing countries that improve their pollution emission should be given trade incentives by developed countries. Otherwise, no developing country will be willing to bear the extra cost of environmental friendly means of production. This should be the basis for a plan for uniform global pollution control standards. The enforcement of such standards should also be done by global watchdog authorities because it is a serious problem. These authorities should have power to enforce these pollution control standards on all countries. Any country that fails to meet the standards should be fined significantly and the money should be used for environmental protection in the developing countries. This is the only way in which pollution standards can be successfully implemented in all over the world. Conclusion Environmental pollution has become a point of concern for all countries globally. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable to environmental pollution because they do not have the resources to implement and enforce pollution control standards. This situation can be changed if wealthier nations are able to contribute to developing countries with regards to environmentally friendly technology. Also the argument of pollution being the price of progress is not very valid in today’s world because economic progress is very different from human development. This is why pollution in the developing world cannot be condoned. References Hancock, J. (2003). Environmental Human Rights: Power, Ethics, and Law. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd Pojman, P. (2011). Food Ethics. London: Cengage Learning. Ravindranath, N & Sathaye, J. (2002). Climate Change and Developing Countries. New York: Springer Read More