The Link between Globalization and the Environment - Report Example

Globalisation and the Environment Executive Summary A coordination of national policies from various countries and collective action by the international community are essential for ecological and economic interdependence. Increasing globalization results in new perspectives towards handling the importance cooperation in international environmental matters. This covers the existence of environment as well as integration of the environment in the mainstream economy of the world. The government of the United Kingdom believes that coordination of natural resource management policies and pollution control measures requires the highest level of political pragmatism and idealism. According to the UK government, efforts will come from across various nations and political divide. This is because gains from such bold step will spread beyond the domain of environment. International trade for instance, benefits a lot from coordinated efforts to minimize pollution and maintenance of natural resources. Contents 1 Globalisation and the Environment 1 Name: 1 Institution: 1 GLOBALISATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT 2 2 Executive Summary 2 GLOBALISATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT 16 3 Introduction 4 The Link between Globalization and the Environment 6 Policy Statement 9 Effects of globalization on the Environment 10 Appropriate Measures 10 Optimising positive influences of the relationship 12 The Effects of Environment on Globalization 13 Conclusion 13 Bibliography 15 Introduction Scholars define globalization as an engagement where people from various communities witness a common effect at an alarming rate emanating from social, economic, cultural, as well as political environment. The scholars posit that such a process has impacts on everybody across the globe. The relevance of what the society refers to today, as globalization has remained important to the supportive factors of environment even before experts coined the terminology globalization. Realization that national boundaries do not limit ecological processes led to the emergence of global concerns regarding the environment in addition to the fact that problems arising from poor management of environment go exceed national boarders and influence the world negatively (Afsah, 2000, p. 71). People get additional responsibilities because of their abilities to think globally. This means that people do not only think of resources on Earth but also the fairness of the same. They think of striking a balance between usage of the resources and the stability of the environment where they extract the resources. Through such thoughts, the world started thinking in terms of environmental dynamism in the mid twentieth century (Bauman, 1998, p. 43). Following the same, professionals coined the concept behind having a sustainable environment that facilitates development in the last two decades of the same century. Globalization is the source of the current era of contrasts where sometimes people engage in meaningless debates on the having a sustainable world. This is because the discussions do not result in any beneficial actions towards finding solutions to the problem. The current contrasting era constitutes persistent problems and fast-paced changes within the globe (Antweiler, 2001, p. 901). Globalization entails an increasing level of interdependence in various aspects of social, political, as well as economic engagements. This takes place through exchange of information, fast advancing technologies, development of new concepts, goods, capital, services, movement of people, and finance. The powerful interplay of these factors makes it difficult for national government to control and regulate development of issues. The most important force facilitating globalization is the fast growth of integration of national economies (Basu, 2005, p. 234). Economic integration results in connecting world economies and markets that require synchronization of development policies of various countries on different issues. One of the issues under consideration by different government is policies relating to the environment. The environment puts together numerous issues including biological diversity, fisheries constituting natural resources, across boundary effects of pollution contaminating air, soils, and water (Baumol, 1988, p. 179). Through, national governments and agencies comprehend that pursuing the traditional knowledge of handling issues by restricting themselves to national boundaries cannot protect individual states from environmental threats coming from the global perspective (Anderson, 1999, p. 17). This explains why this discourse discusses the connection between globalization and environment covering what the government of the United Kingdom holds about this social issue. In real sense, UK holds that responding to the challenges by the relationship between globalization and environment requires enhanced thinking, new perspectives from the international community, as well as redefined strategies towards reacting to these challenges effectively. The Link between Globalization and the Environment The world enjoys more benefits with minimal problems by examining the relationship between the environment and globalization in an integrated way (Bhagwati, 1993, p. 42). This is because such a viewpoint tilts the balance of political, economic, as well as cultural power among individuals, communities, and across countries. This enhances and restricts people’s rights and freedom. The nature of the work of social workers shapes them in the sense that they often encounter most people with damaging effects following different aspects of globalization. Therefore, they tackle globalization from the angle of human rights. This appears in the International Ethics Document drafted by the International Federation for Social Workers. Social workers are at the most vantage point of explaining the merits and demerits of globalization concerning the most vulnerable communities across the globe. However, professionals examine the relationship between globalization and environment based on the environmental and economic effects in view of the connections with social and personal opportunities (Chertow, 1997, p. 31). Different definitions of globalization from different scholars, agencies, and disciplines put into perspective the link between the same globalization and the environment. As international, globalization entails across boarder relationships among different governments. This defines the expansion of exchanges across nations emphasising of the value and degree of interdependence. The liberalization perspective eliminates government-imposed limitations that attempt to curtail movements across nations. Universalization on the other hand, deals with exchange of information and ideas to people in different disciplines covering experiences as well as aspirations and in the process harmonization knowledge. Scholars use the terminology modernization in viewing the relationship between the environment and globalization to refer to the same definitions applied under westernization. This covers industrialism and capitalism social frameworks of the present society. The two, capitalism, and industrialization continue to permeate traditional aspects of different communities destroying cultural values and beliefs. The most important argument in assessing the relationship between globalization and environment is utilising the potential carried by globalization to benefit the world using primary reforms in the structures of governance as well as refining international cooperation (Allen, 1999, p. 23). Globalization of governance emphasises on present patterns of managing issues arising from globalization considering time and available opportunities. This includes among others the ever-increasing role of non-state actors as well as the complexity of interactions among nations. The only way to handle the global nature of environment is by applying global environmental governance, which constitutes a complete overhaul of global infrastructures including agreements by world bodies. Traditional policies drafted to address global issues can no longer manage the problems because of the complexity and dynamism of the problem. Set institutions struggle to cope with the contemporary nature of the challenges posed by globalization. Furthermore, the institutions came into existence following constrained principles designed by states under the traditional hospice of territorial boundaries. However, the effect of globalization is now trans-boundary (Auty, 1993, p. 92). Currently, the link between globalization and the environment is essential to offering solutions to emerging problems irrespective of the nature of complexity. First, the environment if inherently global that entails cross-boundary watersheds and ecosystems designed to sustain life naturally. Air pollution cuts across continent and water masses within one atmosphere shared by the whole world. The world expects the single atmosphere to protect it from effects of UV rays. Effective response to issues in the environment as well as subsequent monitoring demands a coordinated approach from both global and regional governance. An intrinsic relationship between economic development and environment exists because the environment offers the natural resources necessary to spur economic growth and development in addition to services of ecosystems that set the foundation for livelihoods and life. This explains why environmental experts posit that economy is a full-fledged constituent of ecology. The irrelevance of the debate on globalization arises from the fact that it covers general discussions without delivering concrete solutions (Dua, and Daniel, 1997, p. 21). As much as globalization affects the environment, the environment also influences globalization covering direction, pace, and quality. Policy and social responses to the environmental challenges compound the ability of the environment to facilitate economic globalization. Policies drafted by world organizations and states influence and limit the contest within which globalization takes place. The economy for instance, moves into the global world integrating into the global economy through trade apart from short-term flows of capital, foreign direct investment, global movement of people, and workers. This leads to the development of new opportunities for many people but does not satisfy everybody. Just as the global economy produces global externalities, it also generates global inequities. Global issues can benefit from decisions made locally and regionally the same way environmental problems from part of the world affect other parts of the world by spreading either fast or slowly. The growth and development of knowledge can also go viral and spread through the globe. The process of opening economies results in most people engaging in process of integrating knowledge as well as expanding non-market links. This includes among other features expansion of technology, exchange of information, ideology, as well as integration of culture (Auty, 1993, p. 151). New concepts can apply in finding solutions to old problems with the capacity to develop other challenging problems. Technologies involved in the care of the environment spread across borders fast and easily with the ability to extract more from the same environment. The exchange of information enhances the relationship between employees and other citizens cutting across water masses and boundaries. Examples of these types of relationships in this context include global social movements such as the International Labour Organisation and efforts by different organizations to engage in outsourcing. Policy Statement Various international and national organizations appreciate the fact the globalization is a process in continues growth. In the same breadth, the bodies understand that in spite of the numerous benefits brought by globalization through growth of technology as well as development of communications, it influences the economy negatively besides cultural and political restructuring across communities and individuals. The International Federation for Social Workers is one of the global organizations viewing and working with factors that influence globalization. The pains as well as the effect of the social fabric covering the education and health sectors coming from structural policies lead to negative effects for all designed social undertakings and social work activities in the world (Abbott, 2001, p. 57). The government of the United Kingdom ratifies recommendations on economic and social development regarding the environment from all international conferences provided they fall under the United Nations Charter because it is always party to such developments. Among the related issues are; Awareness on the relationships between environment and globalization through lifelong as well as education programmes, undertaking social and environmental protection exercises to enhance sustainability of positive relationship between the two, and working with both local communities and international agencies to have a sustainable environment that supports growth and development. Effects of globalization on the Environment The environment experiences mixed effects from globalization. In almost equal measure, globalization results in the development of new chances and generation of new tensions and issues. Liberal trade for instance, spurs economic growth for many nations but is a recipe for increased pollution across the globe including those of trans-boundary externalities. This is in addition to excessive utilization of natural resources (Annan, 1999, p. 31). The growth of the economy of individual states results in the economic integration, which increases competitive pressures disregarding national boundaries. This is essential in the sense that it exerts pressure on prices forcing them to drop, facilitates improvement in the quality of service delivery, and avails more goods and services giving citizens a variety to choose from when on the market. With these developments come the restrictions on the ability of governments to regulate and control excesses of liberal trade. Therefore, it becomes difficult for national government to protect their citizens from adverse negative effects of liberalization and economic integration. It is important to note that international entrepreneurship requires coordinated efforts by various governments because people come from diverse cultural backgrounds (Dua, and Daniel, 1997, p. 33). Liberalization interferes and inhibits this coordination making the management of global commons impossible. Globalization has the potential of causing serious harms when international-scale governance is weak and regulatory measures and institutions are inefficient. Appropriate Measures Economist and other experts in financial and economic matters posit that a free market creates a perfect environment for necessary for balanced use of resources as well as welfare distribution. This environment also gives room for efficient production, supply, environmental protection, and consumption if and only if the prices of raw materials, commodities, and services, include the entire social costs as well as benefits for use (Charnovitz, 2002, p. 127). Similarly, there would be market failure if private costs that constitute making of market decision branch from social costs. In this case, allocation of resources and maximum utilization of the same would be inefficient apart from increased levels of pollution. Environmentalists hold that market failures represent the epitome of environmental domain. Increased international trade together competitive pressures interfere with the quality of the environment leading to extremely negative effects. This threatens the survival of humanity on Earth. The world market under prices important resources including timber, water, fish, oil, and coal. On the other hand, services from the ecosystem do not have price values. They encompass retention of water, processes of preventing flooding, provision of oxygen, processes that involve sequestration of carbon. Economic actors exacerbate environmental costs spilling the same to others because of either under pricing or un-pricing critical resources while exploiting them at the same time. Free trade leads to increased competitive pressures pushing the standards of environment down. When authorities and agencies charged with the responsibility of maintaining high standards of environment become complacent, the world is likely to witness a rat race towards the bottom in terms of having a sustainable environment. The world experiences diverse effects of the relationship between globalization and environment. This means that having uniform standards response to the effects is ambiguous. Operating response procedures should be tailored to suit the diversity experienced across the globe. Divergent standards would culminate to the race to the top referred to as upwards harmonization because such standards would impose transaction costs on the movement of goods among continents. Goods affected in this case would only be those exceeding appropriate benefits. The biggest advantage of such action would be maintenance of standard requirements. Optimising positive influences of the relationship Scholars subdivide the growing economic growth as well as international business into four subdivisions. First, there are scale effects. These are increases in the pollution of environment as well as continued depletion of natural resources because of related increase in economic practices leading to high rates of consumption (Anderson, 1992, p. 112). The second subdivision entails technique effects. They emanate from efforts aimed at having cleaner processes of production in the process of increasing wealth together trade expansion. Such efforts target attain continued development using technology but at the same time maintaining the best environmental practices. The wealth or income categories of effects are because of the increased in investment in policies and practices that protect the environment and support improved awareness on the value of having quality environment that supports growth and development. This is only possible if responsible organs and institutions allocate sufficient financial capital to implementing branches. Composition effects constitute the last category of subdivisions. A turnaround in economic models in a way that shifts the same towards producing clean goods sums up the last category of the subdivision. The four effects of environmental growth determine the overall environmental influence that the relationship between globalization and environment exerts to the Earth (Barrett, 1997, p. 354). The society experiences a positive net effect if the income, technique, as well as composition effects overpower the negative scale effects resulting from the expansion of environmental activities. Proponents of continued advancement in technology hold that the world enjoys gains far much more than the losses experienced. There are numerous social and economic effects of economic integration. A sense of community develops because of increase in interdependence. This creates a foundation of values shared by different people across the globe. It is through this, that people from one part of the world demanding that others in other parts or receive adequate treatment. Commitment to environmental protection benefits from such developments (Chayes, 1995, p. 166). Standards demands for humanity grow at the same rate with growth and expansion of economic integration. Professionals understand that there will not be a smooth integration of both parallel political and economic factors. On the contrary, countries need a strong sense of community to maintain strong economic ties. The Effects of Environment on Globalization Choices made by people in the environment affect the course followed by globalization. The most common environmental actions include trade liberalization and flows in investment. Two extreme ends of a continuum exist on the matter (Abbott, 2006, p. 211). Harmonizing policy methods rigidly and standards of regulation can compete at equal rates with the differences in environmental situations, likes, as well as endowments. The other end of the continuum constitutes unplanned national policies on environment turning out as barriers to efficient trade that hinders the development of open markets. It is common for countries to be selective concerning partners work with depending on commonness of their policies, which is a product of increased economic integration. Conclusion Improved global governance appears as central to the management of the relationship between environment and globalization. The environmental and globalization processes are interrelated and broad. However, they are influential in their different capacities as such; they are not immune to plans of actions. Processes of globalization and environment take shape because of policies put in place by humankind. Policy decisions on issues relating to both globalization and the environment will continue to determine the direction the relationship between the two will take. Therefore, this paper concludes that the most important route to shaping actions by people in authority is governance. Governance needs to consider challenges posed by globalization and environment to the present systems of managing their relationship. Bibliography Abbott, C., 2006. Global Responses to Global Threats: Sustainable Security for the 21st Century. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Research Group. Abbott, W., 2001. Why States Act Through Formal International Organizations. In The Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent World. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Afsah, Shakeb. 2000. How Do Public Disclosure Pollution Control Programs Work? Evidence from Indonesia. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future. Allen, J, 1999. Biospheres and Biosphere 2, Mission 1 (1991–1993). 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