Effects and Facts of Climate Change - Literature review Example

Climate Change Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Introduction Climate change is one of the most hotly debated issues in contemporary society. Climate change refers to permanent change in weather patterns, which are significantly different from historical weather patterns. In most cases, Climate change is manifested as extreme weather condition or shifting of seasons. For example, it might become too hot in summer or too cold in winter. In some cases, areas that have never experienced snow have to deal with an unexpected blanket of snow; in other places winter becomes very severe. In the tropics, Climate change manifests itself in excessive rains that cause floods and mudslides (Hull 2008). Although there are a number of factors that contribute to climate change, human induced alteration of the natural world are among the most profound contributors. One of the most profound effects of human action is global warming. Thus evidence of climate change are everywhere you turn , whether it is prolonged droughts, heavy and unpredictable rainfall, severe hailstorms or typhoons, the earth’s climate has changed significantly in the last 100 years. Climate change is an issue of common good and social justice as everybody depends on the environment for survival. Actions that cause climate change benefit a small minority while they bring untold suffering to the least privileged and most vulnerable communities. Those who pursue social justice have an interest in ensuring that present and future generations have a safe environment that can continue nourishing them. According to Hull (2008), climate change is turning the world into a pathetic place to live. Effects of climate change like floods and droughts lead to resource scarcity, and consequently civil unrest and armed conflict. Social justice calls for a more equitable share of wealth created out of actions that cause climate change. It also calls for greater responsibility by stakeholders whose activities cause climate change. Finally, it calls for reduction of economic activities that cause climate change like lumbering and burning of fossil fuels. Stakeholder’s perspectives The Government From the Government’s perspective a number of issues concerned with Climate change arise. First, social justice demands the government of Australia to take equal responsibility in managing the climate change problems as other national governments. According to Hollenbach (2002), each government among the over 200 sovereign territories is competing for development. In most cases, development means engagement in activities that consequently result in climate change. Like most other governments, the Australian Governments believes climate change should be tackled by a corroborative approach by all national governments. As with other Government’s the Australian government is apprehensive about sacrificing development in order to slow-down the rate of climate change around the world. The Australian government stand on climate change benefits a number of parties. First, the business community is beneficiary of Government’s reluctance to take decisive actions to combat climate change. For example businesses in the Australian mining industry are more comfortable with a lenient government stand on environmental issues. Mining businesses burn tones and tones of fossil fuels in their operation and are thus one of the main contributors to climate change. However, other stakeholders including farmers and aboriginal communities are losers from the government’s stand on climate change issues. The government of Australia has tried to take the option of Carbon trading and Carbon taxation as possible solutions to the Climate change problem facing Australia. Carbon trading refers to a system where business and association that remove more carbon dioxide from the environment. Carbon taxation refers to a scheme that taxes businesses that emit above threshold limits. The Fisheries and the Agricultural Sector Business sectors as stakeholder in the climate change issue believe they have a greater role to play in tackling climate change. Sectors that are most heavily affected by climate change have led the way in incorporating principles aimed at slowing down the rate of Climate change. Agriculture and Fisheries are some of the sectors which have invested in research towards finding solutions to climate change problems (Hull 2008). According to Hull (2008), most sectors are now engaged in the generation of sector-specific knowledge that may be crucial in tackling climate change issues. Fisheries and agricultural sector use a network of agencies to take knowledge about tackling climate change to the community level. Despite this noble consideration for climate change, most sectors still consider such issues as food security, income and productivity a greater priority than issues of Climate change. Thus, knowledge that is researched and shared is mainly applied in efforts to optimize production rather than mitigate climate change. Furthermore, efforts to contribute to climate change mitigation are limited by the limited scientific understanding of the Climate change phenomenon. According to Hull (2008), the approach adopted by fisheries and agriculture are characterized by short term thinking and specificity of action. The Fisheries and Agriculture sector approach is likely to result to them benefiting more from climate change initiatives (Hall, 2008). On the contrary, other groups like food consumers may suffer as they may be forced to pay extra prices in an effort to recoup the cost of effort in the Agricultural and fisheries sector to mitigate Climate change. The community/individual as Stakeholder According to Gleeson (n.d), most individuals believe that they should participate in Climate change initiatives if they will get immediate financial benefit. According to Hull (2008), climate mitigation practices among individuals are at a supplementary level. He further argues that individuals are motivated to engage in practices that mitigate climate in order to market their products to a niche of climate change conscious consumers and enjoy premium prices. However, communities are now more aware of the effects of climate change due to occurrences of drought and severe heat wave problems in Australia. According to Hull (2008) , community participation in climate change initiatives can be improved by provision of knowledge and funding from external sources. According to Hull (2008), the community is likely to experience some short-term losses if they decide to adapt sustainable practices. According to Barnes (1982), some communities are not willing or are unable to shoulder the economic risk of sustainable practices. Provision of technical information on how to tackle and adapt to climate change are the foundation to positive attitudes towards climate change issues at the individual level. However, most institution in Australia do not offer individual support to engage in sustainable practices as focus is still on the growth and productivity agenda (Hull 2008). Common Good For common good to be served the principle of flourishing that states that every human being has equal value and dignity must be observed (Bishops of England and Wales, 1996). The government perspective of prioritizing economic growth over Climate change concerns however does not observe equal value and dignity for all Australians (Herr 1991). The government favours businesses and those who own them over poor communities that are disproportionately affected by economic activities that lead to climate change (Boyle, 1996). For example, if the government was to allow individuals to cut down trees in protected forest and game reserves, the corporate bodies granted such privileges would benefit. On the other side of such an action all Australians will suffer from any adverse climate change effect that can be linked to decreased forest cover in Australia. Due to a recent drought, Australians have had to undergo a period of water rationing. Water is obviously a requirement for human life to be dignified, and this is an indication of how the government reluctance to come up and enforce policies that combat climate change fails to ensure common good and observe one of the principles of human flourishing (Garvey 2008). Another principle of human flourishing that result in the realization of common good is freedom with responsibility (Ki-moon 2008). In the issue of climate change individuals, nations, institutions and businesses are free to pursue capitalistic ventures as long as they do not interfere with the rights of other individuals. This idea may be interpreted to mean that people should refrain from engaging in activities that cause climate change. According to Sobrino (209), this is not a realistic option. Instead, all stakeholders in the climate change debate should contribute toward mitigating the harms they cause, according to the amount of harm they cause to the environment and the amount of benefit they gain from any harmful economic activity (Sobrino 2009). Therefore, the government of Australia as a stakeholder in the combating global climate change should be ready to play a greater role in initiatives to combat climate change. The government should not wait for international resolution to tackle climate change. Since, Australia as a country can access it contribution to climate change along such metrics as greenhouse gas emission, it should be willingly undertake responsible measures to address climate change (Brown, Hintermann and Higgins 2009). As a developed country, Australia is among the top emitters of green house gases in the world. Therefore, Australia should be actively involved in international initiatives to assist communities suffering from the effects of climate change such as drought and flooding. In so doing the Australian government would show it interest in ensuring common good prevails over Australia’ own selfish development interests. According to Herr (1991), developed nations should abandon the notion that they are not responsible for the suffering and oppression that occurs in third world countries as a consequence of climate change. According to Sobrino (2009), most people in developed countries think that drought and famine in third world countries are caused by internal causes. It is common to think that corrupt regimes and oppressive governments are the root cause of problems in third world countries. The solution to this social problem is often exertion of pressure on the rulers. However, the global causes that prevent people in the third world from advancing are ignored. One of these causes of poverty and oppression is the role the industries in developing countries play in climate change. More than two thirds of the world’s green house gases are emitted in third world countries in their effort to produce wealth (Ki-moon, 2008). This wealth is enjoyed by citizens of developed countries who also make profits on imports of their finished good to developed country. However, the consequences of climate change like floods and famine touch citizens of both developed and developing countries. The effect is more devastating in developed countries because of poverty and poor disaster management policies of their governments (Ki-moon 2008). In effect, third world citizens suffer from the industrial activities of developed countries that are of insignificant benefit to them. Common good would be more effectively served if the developed countries were more responsible for the effects of their industrial activities on the global climate. By helping poor countries deal with social problems arising out of climate, developed countries like Australia would be compensating third world countries for their role in bringing about adverse climate change (Glenmarian 2011) Common good when it comes to climate change means nations have to be ready to subvert development goals to save the world from adverse climate change. In so doing, they can preserve the dignity of the world’s underprivileged most of who live in developing countries. Conclusion This essay reviews the various beliefs the government, fisheries and agriculture sector and individuals as stakeholder in the climate change issue have adopted. In the discussion it is discovered that the Australian government main initiatives to curb climate change are carbon taxation and carbon trading. Secondly, the government’s reluctance to come up and adopt effective strategies to tackle the climate change problem is noted as an effect of an international blame game which seeks to shift responsibility for climate change. These indicate a major fault in the way the Government deals with climate change issues. To promote common good, this paper recommends the government should observe the principles of human flourishing. The first of this principle requires the government to prioritize the value and dignity of human beings above that of commercial and development goals. Secondly it calls for the governments in the developing world to be more responsible for the adverse effects of climate change in developing countries. References Barnes, J 1982, Aristotle. 78-81. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bishops of England and Wales 1996, The Common Good and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching, n.70. Boyle, J 1996, Catholic social justice and health care entitlement packages, Christian Bioethics, vol. 2, pp. 280-292. Brown, ME, Hintermann, B, & Higgins, N 2009, Markets, climate change, and food security in West Africa. Environmental science & technology, vol 43, no. 21, pp. 8016-8020. Garvey, J 2008, Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World, Continuum International Publishing Group. Glenmarian JR 2011, Preferential Option for the Poor. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdSG0X7ocok&feature=related on 16 October 2013. Herr, T 1991, ‘Subsidiarity’ and ‘Human Dignity and Work’ in, Catholic Social Teaching: A Textbook of Hollenbach, D 2002, ‘The Global Common Good’ in, The Common Good and Christian Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 212-244. Hull, K 2008, Climate Change, Growth, and Poverty, Cengage, London. Ki-moon, B 2008, Securing the Common Good in a Time of Global Crises" Speech, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA. Sobrino, J 2009, Humanising a Sick Civilization, In Evil Today and Struggles to be Human, Concilium 2009/1, Edited by R.A. Quinn et al, SCM Press, London, pp. 61-70 Read More