Why is globalization potentially damaging to the environment

The increased economic activity leads to greater emissions of industrial pollutants and more environmental degradation. The pressure on international firms to remain competitive forces them to adopt cost-saving production techniques that can be environmentally harmful. That means multinational corporations with clean state-of-the-art technologies can transfer their green know-how to countries with low environmental standards.

The rise of anti-globalization forces also means less specialization in sectors in which countries have comparative advantages. This can create an inefficient allocation of resources that leads to the dissipation of scarce economic and natural resources. If every country has to produce to meet its domestic demand, in other words, it could result in duplication in production processes and therefore an increase in local emissions.

Since some countries have weaker environmental standards than others, this could possibly worsen global emissions. A good example of this is Iran, which has been slapped with economic sanctions, making the country less integrated in the world economy. As result of import bans of crude oil, for example, Iran started refining its own crude oil that contains 10 times the level of pollutants of the oil it used to import.

Read more: Why the world needs more global citizens. The success of this environmental public awareness has resulted in consumer preferences evolving. Producers are therefore able to build their customer base by producing eco-friendly products. Without international trade, consumers would have limited choices, and could be forced to purchase only domestic goods that may have been produced under lax environmental standards.

There are several WTO trade-related measures that are compatible with environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources. This has led to increased use of plastic, causing widespread environmental pollution. It has made so many changes in our lives that reversing it is not possible at all.

The solution lies in developing effective mechanisms that can check the extent to which it can impact the environment. Researchers are of the view that the answer to this problem lies in the problem itself, that is, globalization itself can lend support to building a better structure which is economically feasible and environment-friendly. Globalization is about competition, and if certain privately owned companies can take the lead in being environment friendly, then it will encourage others to follow suit.

It is important that we put in some efforts to maintain harmony with the environment. The survival of human race on this planet is dependent on the environment to such a large extent that we cannot afford to ignore the consequences of our own actions. While there is a lot of debate and discussion on this issue, the need of the hour is to have effective policies in place, and implementation of those policies.

The people that we have chosen to represent us have the responsibility of ensuring that the extent of damage on environment is curtailed, if not totally prevented. We hope this article helped you in understanding globalization and its impact on the environment and the importance of taking concrete actions against it. So who is Enviro Editor? Well I am a simple person who got involved in fighting environmental issues some 17 years ago.

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