question_answer

 

Explain any three environmental concerns in global politics.

Or

Explain the concept of globalization and any two reasons for resistance to it.

Answer:

The growing focus on environmental issues within the arena of global politics was firmly consolidated at the United Nations Conference on Environmental and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. This was also called the Earth Summit. Major three environmental concerns in global politics are:-

(a) Throughout the world, cultivable area is barely expanding any more, and a substantial portion of existing agricultural land is losing fertility, Grasslands have been over-grazed and fisheries over-harvested, Water bodies have suffered extensive depletion and pollution, severely restricting food production.

(b) Natural forests which help stabilise the climate, moderate water supplies, and harbor a majority of the planet?s biodiversity on land are being cut down and people are being displaced. The loss of biodiversity continues due to the destruction of habitat in areas which are rich in species.

(c) A steady decline in the total amount of ozone in the Perth?s stratosphere (commonly referred to as the ozone - hole) poses a real danger to ecosystems and human health. Certain gases like Carbon dioxide. Methane, Hydro-fluoro carbons etc. are considered at least partly responsible for global warming - the rise in global temperature which may have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth.

The relevant part of the Rio Declaration says that ?States shall cooperate in the spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth?s eco system. In view of the different contributions of global environmental degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities.

Or

The worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration is Globalization. In fact it is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of life. It is not always positive; it can have negative consequences for the people. Indeed, there are many who believe that globalization has more negative consequences than positive. Globalization need not be only about the economic issues, nor is the direction of influence always from the rich to the poor countries.

At the most simple level, globalization results in an erosion of state capacity, that is, the ability of government to do what they do. All over the world, the old ?welfare state? is now giving way to a more minimalist state that performs certain core functions such as the maintenance of law and order and the security of its citizens. However, it withdraws from many of its earlier welfare functions directed at economic and social well-being. In place of the welfare state, it is the market that becomes the prime determinants of economic and social priorities.

Economic globalization usually involves greater economic flows among different countries of the world. Some of this is voluntary and some forced by international institutions and powerful countries. This flow or exchange can take various forms: commodities, capital, people and ideas. Globalization has involved greater trade in commodities across the globe.

That is why the concept of globalization is not accepted worldwide and it is resisted in many countries.