International Agreements - Assignment Example

International Agreements Discuss the need (if any) for international environmental restriction and the constraints that international agreements are subject to. Use the cases of the Montreal Protocol, the Basel Convention, and the Kyoto Protocol to illustrate aspects of success and failure. Introduction The need for environmental restrictions on the way trade takes place and the way international bodies enter into agreements is certainly there (Dernbach, 2002). However, this need is based on environment, ethical and moral factors rather than political, legal or economic factors. That in itself is the main problem why it is difficult to enforce environmental concerns on a political/trade agreement between various countries. It can be argued that if environmental concerns are brought out of their current green image and established with economic rules, the will to enforce them and the ability to accept them could be far greater than it is at the present moment. Accepting Agreements Undoubtedly, human beings have polluted and exploited the planet that we live on and while the effects of the pollution caused by human activity can be disastrous, it might not be recognized as such until it starts to affect the urban centers of the world that we live in (VonAncken, 2006). Of course there have been successful international agreements on what steps must be taken to prevent an all out attack on the environment and measures such as the Montreal Protocol have certainly met with a lot of success (Kruger, 1999). However, a lot remains to be done in a world where countries such as the United States and Australia have not fully agreed to the more advanced Kyoto Protocol. It would be useless to deny the facts as they stand since global warming and environmental degradation is a harsh reality. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) global temperatures have risen by 0.6 ± 0.2 Co in the last century. Most importantly, the cause for this rise is attributed to human activity (IPCC, 2001). However, there are those who contest the reason behind these facts and suggest that the global rise in temperatures is a natural phenomenon. At the same time, there are many who make dire predictions about the coming climatic changes. Global climate change has quickly become one of the most hotly contested issues in terms of science as well as politics. However, it is also becoming a topic for debate in terms of economics and international law where it may take center stage when new agreements are formed between nations as to how they control what they do to hurt or help the environment of the world. While some nations may be willing to accept a decrease in their economic output if it helps the global environment, unless all nations of the world come to an agreement, there is little chance that any international treaty on the environment could be successful. The method for preventing the world from getting more polluted is simple enough. All we have to do is prevent or reduce the activities which are polluting the environment. Activities such as driving automobiles, commercial flights, and industrial smoke stacks have to be stopped, limited or controlled. Undoubtedly, it would be impossible to simply force people to give up using automobiles or to stop using energy to heat their homes but it is possible to offer them viable alternatives. As noted by Dernbach (2002), future agreements could be more successful if an economic viewpoint is taken on the issue and rich countries decide to help poor nations in developing sources of alternative energy with solar power or wind turbines. The Need for New Measures Even in industrialized nations, checks and balances need to be created in order to ensure that the greenhouse gasses being emitted into the atmosphere do not exceed a certain level. Most importantly, the debate on the issue should be continued in both the political arena and the scientific circles so that more comprehensive solutions can be created for the problem at hand. Without understanding or being aware of the issue, it is unlikely that people would be able to make the choices that could help them in the future (VonAncken, 2006). Strangely enough, while America has not ratified the Kyoto protocol, the American government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the impact greenhouse gas emissions is having on the continent. In connection with the accelerating greenhouse effect, the EPA gives some interesting facts which state that the 10 warmest years on record occurred in the last 15 years of the 20th century and 1998 was the warmest year on record. The icecaps on the poles as well as the oceanic glaciers have decreased in size, global sea levels have risen by four to eight globally and even rainfall has increased by 1%. The United States itself experienced extreme weather patterns and increased rainfall in the past decade due to the shifting environmental balance (EPA, 2002). Of course the US has also entered agreements such as the Montreal Protocol which has been largely successful since there were alternative means available at nearly the same costs to provide the same services. Alternative chemicals for use in refrigeration and cooling had been available and making them in larger quantities only meant that manufacturing companies were able to give their product a ‘green’ image in competition with other companies who were simply out to destroy the global environment. Thus the success of the Montreal Protocol can be linked to the economic and business side of things which is simply not present for the United States when it comes to the Kyoto protocol. Clearly, countries will only enter into an international agreement on the environment when it can be beneficial for them in direct terms. This creates a problem for those individuals who would like to see more of these international agreements simply because the profits that can be gained from violating the contracts or not entering into them at all are quite lucrative. When we consider that exotic and endangered animals can fetch a pretty penny simply because they are scarce it is easy to see countries behaving the same way as smugglers. They would be very happy to exploit the environment and destroy the tundra if they are able to find black gold underneath it. Even knowing that there is a wealth of oil under the ice might cause them to retract from any agreements that they might have entered into in the past. In the final analysis, the situation with regard to international agreements on the environment and the way countries handle these international agreements is more or less a mixed bag. Some nations adhere to them and often enforce them as well with diplomatic measures and political pressure. Others simply ignore them or even refuse to ratify them after they have signed on as a party to the agreement. However, until the need for these agreements and the measures constrained within them is realized, it will be difficult to get nations of the world to accept them whole heartedly. Conclusion In conclusion, future environmental agreements can be made more acceptable to all nations of the world if the argument presented by them is connected with economics and politics rather than the environment and the morals of global concern. Undoubtedly, it may be difficult to convince nations such as Australia and America to play along with others and accept the protocols but if they are told that other nations might reduce or refuse to trade with them since they have not accepted the Kyoto Protocol, it would perhaps make them more willing to see the protocol in a different light. Of course this may be a very drastic step but as the environmental situation of the world changes, drastic steps and forced agreements might become necessary. Works Cited Dernbach, J. 2002, ‘Sustainable Development: Now More Than Ever’, Environmental Law Reporter, January. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). 2002, ‘Global Warming’, [Online] Available at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.html IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 200, ‘Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis’ [Online] Available at: http://www.ipcc.ch/ Kruger, J. 1999, ‘What’s to become of trade in hazardous waste?’, Environment, vol. 41, no. 9, pp. 11-21. Mastny, L and French, H. 2002, ‘Crimes of (a) Global Nature’, Worldwatch, September. VonAncken, E. 2006, ‘Our Impact on the Planet’, School Library Journal, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 67-69. Read More