Globalisation has many implications in the
daily life of today’s society, including both developing and developed
countries. Recently, much of the attention is being paid to the environmental
problems of globalisation since it affects the entire global community, as the
name suggests. The rapid industrialization and international trade have caused
aggravated usage of raw material and natural resources, which worsen the
problem of deforestation and depletion of finite resources. Moreover, global
warming is also a serious consequence that stemmed from the need to meet the
demand of the global consumers who now have higher spending power. On the other
hand, globalisation itself has raised awareness of the situation worldwide,
urging organisations and authorities to assuage the problems all together.
There had been many concerted efforts made, such as the Kyoto Protocol and
Montreal Protocol. Unfortunately not all had been successful in achieving their
goals.
One major environmental issue raised is
rapid deforestation. Logging activities have increased greatly globally,
especially in the tropical areas where plantation is ample. The problem arose
due to the fact that globalisation has sped up commercialization and industrialization,
spurring the logging firms to engage in illegal logging. Over at the East
Kalimantan, extensive deforestation is carried out, ranking it the third
largest carbon emitter in the world (Mattangkilang, 2012).[1]
The authorities have attempted to impose moratorium and regulations on the
logging activity but it has not produced a convincing result. Corruption and
bribery still proliferate in Indonesia, thus it is not easy to effectively
control the logging activities. Instead, the inhabitants of the area should
co-operate with the authority and contribute to minimize the effect of
deforestation. For example, monetary incentives could be given for replanting
trees in place of the cut down trees. Otherwise, since the authority alone is
not efficient in control the situation, a mediator country or international
organization could assist the Indonesian authority to manage the problem
together.
The next major issue is global warming. It
is widely known that the ‘greenhouse gas effect’ is the cause of global warming
and has been causing climate change and rise in the sea level. Due to the increasing
deforestation, the greenhouse gases are not being regulated naturally, thus
remaining in the atmosphere, trapping the heat inside the globe of the Earth. The
Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, targeting reduction of emission of
greenhouse gases (United Nations Framework Convention For Climate Change,
2013).[2]
The Protocol essentially places more responsibilities on developed nations that
generally produce more greenhouse gases compared to the under-developed
countries. This treaty has not proven to be effective, especially due to the
fact that the United States did not ratify the Protocol. The negative impact on
the economy could be a factor that had deterred the United States to sign the
Protocol. By reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases, the United States
would have to curb its productivity substantially, which would impact its
economy adversely. Therefore, a more realistic solution to reduce global
warming has to be proposed that would cushion economic downturn. For example,
many environmentally friendly products are produced nowadays, which can
substitute the less environment-friendly ones. Such method favours environment
and still encourages consumption. An example of green products is solar-energy
water heater. Instead of depleting fuel and producing carbon, solar energy is
utilised to heat up the water. Although solar panels are still rather costly,
it is predicted that advancing technology and environmentally favourable
policies would progressively subsidise the cost.
As seen from the examples above,
environmental problems affect individuals, and the entire community ultimately.
Now that globalisation has also improved the technology tremendously, such problems
are shared and discussed widely online among people from every part of the
world. Individual awareness is the first
step to solving the problems effectively. It is also important that the
national authority advocates measures that are suited to the social fabric.
International approaches may not be suitable in the context of the local
community. For developed nation like the United States, it is also crucial for
it to maintain the stability of its economy since it affects the global
economy. Thus it has to implement a more economically favourable environmental
measure. South Asian countries could model their policies after Singapore,
which conducts strict maintenance of its carbon emission and amount of
plantation in the country.
Reference list:
1.
Mattangkilang, T. (2012) East Kalimantan Is Third Largest Carbon Emitter. Retrieved from http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/archive/east-kalimantan-is-third-largest-carbon-emitter/
2. United Nations Framework Convention For Climate Change (2013) Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php
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