Liberal Capitalism and Environmental Challenges - Term Paper Example

LIBERAL CAPITALISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES Name of Student Institution affiliation Date Liberal capitalism and environmental challenges Introduction The current global economic system is generally capitalistic (Lovins & Cohen, 2011). The liberal capitalism that is practiced is not only an economic, but also a moral and social philosophy in which the market is valued in itself, and little attention is given to other relationships within the production process (Baer, 2012). Market operations are considered an ethic that can guide human action at the expense of any other ethical beliefs, and this has only worsened the environmental degradation that began during the Industrial Revolution (Newell & Paterson, 2010). While the capitalist system encourages excessive exploitation of the environment for profit, the international grouping that it creates enables joint efforts in adapting to environmental issues even though inadequate. This paper discusses how the world system tries to adapt to environmental challenges within a liberal capitalist context. Liberal Capitalism and the Environment Modern liberal capitalism dates back to 1776 when Adam Smith produced his work named The Wealth of Nations. According to Harvey (2005), this recommended minimal state interference in economies, although retaining the providing of basic public services and goods. It argued that individual economic freedom would create a more equal, prosperous and harmonious society. After the Great Depression in the 1930s, John Maynard Keynes would however suggest government regulation and intervention for greater equity. As profits reduced however, the earlier liberalism was revived by Friedrich von Hayek, followed by Milton Friedman, and eventually spread throughout the world. After World War 11, there was an increased emphasis on trade liberalization, opening up of markets and promotion of private enterprise efficiency. The private sector’s role was also magnified, making it a major component of globalized trade. The current system rejects control by government and encourages openness to international investment and trade. Price controls are also lifted and wages suppressed while freedoms of movement, press and speech are strengthened. There is privatization of firms and social service expenditure is cut down (Plehwe et al., 2007). According to Pelling et al. (2012) everything that can diminish profits is deregulated hence environmental factors suffer. Individual contracts and private property rights are upheld, and powerful financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are instrumental in ensuring that the system is spread everywhere. The unfortunate outcome however is that the system undermines environmental conservation, social welfare and ethics in favour of profit. Environmental Challenges in a Globalized System Extreme environmental degradation is partly a result of capitalist production. In it, there is intensive use of the Earth’s resources to maximize profits which often benefit only a minority. Environmental challenges facing the planet are great. About a half of the temperate and tropical forests in the world are gone (Newell & Paterson, 2010). There has been a lot of deforestation within the tropics, and about half of wetlands have also disappeared, in addition to almost a ninth of large predator fish varietiest. Three quarters of marine fisheries have either been overfished or depleted. Toxic chemicals contaminate livelihoods and the ozone layer has been greatly depleted by carbon emissions arising from human activity (Vidas et al., 2011). Climatic disruption and global warming have therefore become a serious environmental challenge. The planet’s ice fields have been melting, posing a lot of danger to human sustainability. In addition, industrial processes have fixed nitrogen into nature, producing biological activity that rivals nature, leading to the creation of numerous dead zones within the oceans due to overfertilization (Lovins & Cohen, 2011). Water shortages are now a norm in many areas of the world while many rivers are currently unable to reach oceans during dry seasons. Under the capitalist system, the global economy has grown more than four times since 1960. It is expected to grow a further four times by 2050, meaning that the value of the world economy by 1950 that had taken the entire human history can now be achieved in one decade. The unfortunate part is that humanity is faced with serious environmental deterioration at a time when the opposite is required (The OECD, 2013). Ways through Which Nations are Adapting World nations have taken a variety of measures in order to deal with the challenges. According to Baer (2012), one of these has been the search for alternative energy sources, particularly shifting from natural gas, oil and coal to wind, solar, bio-fuel, geothermal and hydro energy. This has mostly been achieved in the smaller liberal and social democratic nations in Europe. However, the major industrial nations have maintained their emission of greenhouse gases. According to Pelling et al. (2012) for instance, China is currently the largest per annum emitter of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere. It is setting aside the largest amounts of money and resources for green energy production. However, the impact remains minimal. The United States is on its part still the largest cumulative source of atmospheric poisons. Nations have had to come together and act on environmental challenges in an integrated manner. According to Vidas et al. (2011), there has been the realization that issues relating to the environment are interconnected hence no isolated approach by one nation can be truly effective. Governance has therefore been approached only at the international level.In top-down, environment-related goals are presented at the international level then restructured for implementation within the national setting. In bottom-up, the nations formulate their policies and allow for international inputs in implementation. Governments when marshalling joint action often use international bodies. They help in identifying the principles and norms, chanelling of resources for awareness creation and offering training whenever needed. For instance, According to Chomsky (1999), the United Nations General Assembly identified environmental challenges as a priority area and through its Resolution 2398 (XXIII) of December 1968, drew attention to the matter and henceforth delegated it to the United Nations Environment Programme. There has been a change in the way stakeholders are engaged in environment-related issues. Newell & Paterson (2010) explain that there is of late for instance the inclusion of the civil society in the effort at the international level. Initially, such stakeholders would only be consulted or at best assigned the role of partners with the state. This has however had to change, so that at present they implement environment-related initiatives themselves as practitioners. There is recognition that in an increasingly globalized world, any policy or strategy will have to include the involvement of a variety of stakeholders. Through their participation for instance, the civil society has the opportunity to communicate the issues raised by a broader variety of stakeholders, considering that they are in contact with local communities, local and even international organizations. World nations have adopted policy and legal frameworks to deal with the environmental challenges. Lovins & Cohen (2011) observe that for instance at both global and regional levels, there are environmental treaties that guide the adaptation process for both local and international communities. Countries have had to enact environmental laws which are legally binding. While acting with reference to such guidelines, it becomes possible to guide communities towards tackling environmental issues and avoiding their worsening. This is with the realization that the environmental aspect is just as important as human rights, property rights and other aspects of law. There are currently over 500 environment-related agreements and treaties. The international system has taken up capacity building as a way of ensuring commitment. According to Bhargava (2006), there are institutions that are devoted to ensuring attitude change and improvement of skills towards the attainment of international environment-related objectives. They seek participative approaches to ensuring ownership of conservation strategies and an appeal to cultures so as to ensure change. There is further the improvement of access to the knowledge, technology and finances required. The globalized international system has sought to ensure greater availability of financial support for environmental issues. For instance, the United Nations has always tried to seek more donor-funding while ensuring that it is more accessible and available. Tremendous growth has been witnessed since the initial financing of environmental management through the Environment Fund that was established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 2997 of 1972. Presently, financing occurs as multilateral and bilateral aid, and is at times from dedicated environment-related bodies such as the Montreal Fund which supports activities related to reversal of ozone depletion (Newell & Paterson, 2010). Overall, much has been done in trying to adapt to environmental challenges. However, success can only be achieved if states extend beyond the traditional approach to environmental conservation. Subsidies need to be eliminated and prices pegged on environmentally honest factors. Most importantly, there is the need to challenge the consumerism that drives economic growth, as this will help to address both environmental and social problems in the capitalist system. The excessive focus on ensuring economic growth in terms of profit is probably minimizing growth in social and environmental capital. Industrialized nations should especially therefore value the public sector, work-life, jobs, community and the environment. Conclusion Modern liberal capitalism is basically about the easing of trade among nations. It involves freedom of movement for goods, enterprise and resources so that cheaper ones can be accessed and a continuous effort to maximize efficiency and profits. This is however at times achieved at the expense of the environment. Adaptation to the challenges arising has been pursued through different approaches. These have mainly included the effort to replace environmentally harmful energy sources with renewable ones and establishment of institutions, rules and laws to govern the tackling of environmental challenges. International organizations have been set up to act as the main authorities in dealing with the challenges. However, even though much is being done, there remains the need for greater effort as the achievements so far are not adequate. References Baer, H. (2012). Global Capitalism and Climate Change: Lanham: AltaMira Press Bhargava, V. (2006). Global Issues for Global Citizens: Washington, D.C.: World Bank Chomsky, N. (1999). Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order. New York: Seven Stories Press Harvey, D. (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press Lovins, L and Cohen, B. (2011). Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Newell, P and Paterson, M. (2010). Climate Capitalism: Global Warming and the Transformation of the Global Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Pelling, M, Manuel-Navarrette, D and Redclift, M. (2012). Climate Change and the Crisis of Capitalism: A Chance to Reclaim Self, Society and Nature. London: Routledge Plehwe, D, Walpen, B and Neunhoffer, G. (2007). Neoliberal Hegemony: A Global Critique. New York: Routledge The OECD. (2013). World Social Science Report 2013: Changing Global Environments. Paris: OECD Publishing Vidas, D, Schei, P and Nansen-Stiftelsen, F. (2011). The World Ocean in Globalisation: Climate Change, Sustainable Fisheries, Biodiversity, Shipping, Regional Issues. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Read More