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Globalization and the EnvironmentGlobalization is an umbrella term for a complex series of economic, social, technological, cultural, and political changes seen as increasing interdependence, integration and interaction and interaction among people and companies in disparate locations.
• Positive-As an engine of commerce; brings an increased standard of living to developing countries and further wealth to First World and Third World countries.
• Negative-As an engine of “corporate imperialism"; tramples over the human rights of developing societies, claims to bring prosperity, yet often simply amounts to plundering. Negative effects include environmental destruction.
Global Environmentalism
• Increasing international scientific collaboration (WMO, IUCN).
• Increasing global consciousness of environmental problems and disasters (Bhopal, Chernobyl, burning of the Amazon)
• The chipko movement.• Chico Mendes and the rubber tappers in
the amazon
Chico Mendes (1944-1988)• He fought to stop the logging of the
Amazon Rainforest for cattle ranching, and founded a national union of rubber tappers in an attempt to preserve their profession and the rainforest that it relied upon.
• He was murdered in 1988 by ranchers opposed to his activism.
• Led to establishment of “extractive reserves”.
Environmental Gatherings of Nations
• 1972-Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, Sweden)
• 1992- UN Conference on Environment and Development-Rio de Janeiro (the “Earth Summit”
• 2002-World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa)
•
Multilateral Organizations and TNCs
• The World Bank- large scale development loans. Now trying to be more environmentally friendly
• WTO-World Trade Organization. Promotes free trade among nations (and environmenteal protected frequently regarded as a “restraint on trade” (originated as GATT)
• TNCs-10 largest businesses in the world had revenues larger than the 100 smallest countries in the world
Barrier to Free Trade?
• Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972- prohibits, with certain exceptions, the take of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas, and importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S.
• The US banned imports of tuna from Mexico countries which did not impose controls on tuna fishing boats to minimize the incidental kill of dolphin.
•GATT ruled that the MPPA provisions were an unfair trade barrier, i.e, the US could not restrict imports on that basis
• The World Wildlife Fund produced initial analyses arguing the need for the GATT to permit discriminatory restrictions on trade to protect the environment.
• They popularized the slogan “GATTzilla kills Flipper.”
Environmental Impact of TNCs
• TNCs have fostered environmental disasters in oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon a “Rainforest Chernobyl”.
• But manufacturing plants in LDCs normally conform to first world environmental conditions-they are low polluting and pay comparatively high wages
Emergence of Global Civil Society
• Government (Political Society), Markets (Economic Society), and Non-Governmental Organizations-NGOs (civil society).
• 100,000 environmental NGOs around the world.
• environmental NGOs in China
Toward a Greener Global System
• Treaties- document of intentions signed by nations-may or may be ratified by their legislative bodies.
• Regimes-resulting systems of action and organizations that monitor compliance.
• Conventions-binding obligations on parties
• Protocols-more specific and detailed conventions.
Examples
• 1973 Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna-complete convention with protocols.
• Montreal Ozone Protocol-initially a framework convention then protocols
• Rio Declaration on Environment and Development- a Framework Convention.
Three Problems in forming Global Environmental Regimes
• 1) Veto states and Veto coalitions-Japan, Iceland and Norway on whale hunting; The US and China on global climate change.
• 2) Competition, conflict and overlapping jurisdictions among public agencies.
• 3) Changing priorities of major multilateral agencies-World bank for example, started in environmental reforms in 1987.
What is to be done?
• Stabilize human populations.
• Reduce excess material consumption.
• Change damaging technologies into environmentally more benign ones.
Business and the Environment
• Role of NGOs in applying pressure to TNCs.
• The case of McDonalds and EDF
In 1987, Modern Plastic described McDonalds as the largest
single user of polystyrene, the chemical used to produce foam food
packaging
United States Environmental Protection Agency report released in
1986 ranked the polystyrene production process generates the 5th largest
amount of toxic waste of any single chemical production process.
McDonald’s and the Environment
Environmental Defense Fund
Created in 1967 by a small band of lawyers seeking to ban DDT
the premier advocate or market-oriented solutions to
environmental problems.
. EDF convinced McDonalds in 1991 to reform its solid-waste
disposal practices and to move from Styrofoam to paper
packaging."
Threatened boycott if McDonalds didn’t cooperate
Budget: $25.4 millionStaff: 160
Members: 300,000Salary of CEO: $262,000, including
benefits
• Unlikely allies set example for sustainable society• With a little help from the Environmental Defense
Fund, McDonald's has taken steps to be conscientious about reducing waste.
• December 29, 1999
• Web posted at: 2:12 p.m. EST (1912 GMT)• By Environmental News Network staff• They may seem like strange bedfellows, but McDonald's
USA and the Environmental Defense Fund last week celebrated 10 years of an alliance aimed at reducing the food giant's adverse impact on the environment.
• The cooperative approach pioneered by the Environmental Defense Fund and McDonald's laid the foundation for an entirely new approach to solving environmental problems," said Richard Vietor, professor of environmental management at Harvard Business School. "Their landmark project showed both business and environmental activists that sometimes they can share the path toward a more sustainable society."
• In the past 10 years, McDonald's has saved 150,000 tons in packaging by reducing the thickness and size of items such as sundae cups and napkins, and by converting to thinner, lighter and more efficient bags, trays and sandwich wraps.
• Since 1989, the retail food giant has spent nearly $3 billion on recycled products through its "McRecycle USA" initiative. Now, almost 50% of McDonald's packaging is recycled material.
A Green Ronald McDonald?
• Our Supply Chain., we are incorporating socially responsible practices into our supply chain.
Working two leading nonprofit experts, Conservation International and The Natural Step, launched an initiative to integrate a broad range of socially responsible practices into our worldwide food supply chain. This is a significant strategic advance in our established responsible purchasing programs.
•We have opened the world's first HFC/HCFC/CFC-free restaurant, in Denmark, to test the feasibility of using various types of equipment that use no refrigerants associated with global warming.
McDonald’s: Animal Rights Activist?
• On Thursday, May 15th, McDonald’s Corporation announced its collaboration with The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB) to begin providing fish from sustainable sources beginning with its European locations.
•
Four days later McDonald’s Four days later McDonald’s issued a press release issued a press release touting its year-long animal touting its year-long animal welfare assessment of 500 welfare assessment of 500 beef, pork and poultry beef, pork and poultry processing facilities by its processing facilities by its independent Animal independent Animal Welfare CouncilWelfare Council
The Third Revolution
• An information revolution-the emergence of the “global brain”, the internet.
• Interdependence revolution.
• A Sustainability revolution.
Good Planets are Hard to FindGood Planets are Hard to Find
• “Economists would Economists would conclude from an lifecycle conclude from an lifecycle perspective, that the earth perspective, that the earth is not worth savingis not worth saving” – Don Osborne, SMUD
• Perspective from space:– Dead Mars once had an
atmosphere and water…– Earth: High stakes
atmospheric experiment– Taking care of our home is our
fundamental responsibility
