A Rich Country's Problem...

Is environmentalism a rich man's/country's problem?  We noted this issue in passing, but I would like expound upon it briefly.  Every country should seek sustainable, environmentally friendly policies--that much is a moot point.  However, when we look at the international context for environmental policies, I have concerns that environmental initiative have problematic undertones.  

Dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan, Saugatuck, MI 
A friendly reminder that the world is still beautiful

The UN's Department of Social and Economic Affairs lists 17 goals for sustainable development.  Among them, there are several initiative specifically directed at creating environmentally friendly/sustainable lifestyles.  Goal #7, Affordable and Clean Energy; goal #11, Sustainable Cities and Communities; goal #12, Responsible Consumption and Production; and goal #13, Climate Action.  Each one of these is commendable in their own right, but there is a lot more to these issue than a simple rallying cry.  Take the sustainable energy goal, for example.    The UN's threshold for sustainable energy looks to increase the percentage of green energy production just 3% each year (see the infographic embedded in the page linked above).  While this seems to a minor threshold, it is problematic.  

We have to be careful.  We, the highly industrialized countries, account for the majority of carbon emissions.  We are the wasteful consumers.  We should continue to regulate and address environmental concerns by address the perpetrators--the developed countries.  While each individual country needs to eventually work towards creating a sustainable future, we have to recognize that developing countries often have other, more pressing priorities.  If one compares the Fragile State Index to the Environmental Performance Index, there is an inverse relationship.  In general, countries that are less fragile (meaning they are functioning, stable countries) rank better on the Environmental Performance ranking. All the leaders on the environmental index (Denmark, Luxemburg, Switzerland, UK, France) are all ranked relatively low on the Fragile index (175th, 170th, 176th, 149th, and 160th respectively).  Whereas many of the most fragile states are not recognized on the environmentalism index.  If we want to create solutions for environmental issues, those solutions ought to address the sources of the problem, developed and industrialized countries.  

I think that Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs explains the lagging progress in developing countries (see diagram below).  Many developing countries are struggling with the basic elements of the Hierarchy such as food and safety.   Continuing our example of the goal of sustainable energy, I would argue that sustainable energy falls into the higher tiers of self-actualization.  I recognize that sustainable energy offers solutions to the more basic needs, but the technological and industrial capacity needed to manufacture and incorporate these features are not typically found in developing countries.  Thus, the capacity to incorporate renewable energy is locked behind the gates of education and development of the country's intellectual capital.  

Post-colonization Global South has struggled since Global North has stepped down from imperialistic rule.  Despite hard imperialism being no longer in place, the Global South is still locked into a "soft" imperialist structure dependent on the Global North.  The Global South accounts for a large portion of natural resources, but these resources have "cursed" these struggling economies. Because developing countries are built around exporting goods, they depend upon foreign imports.  If we go back too the goal of sustainable energy, over half the worlds solar panels are manufactured in China (which is problematic in of itself).  These countries already struggle for industrial independence, so we would be locking these countries into one more deficit.  

This is the crux of my argument: environmental initiatives for developing countries are problematic for the following reasons.  1) They fail to address the main perpetrators of problematic industrial/social practices.  2) They exacerbate the problematic relationship between the Global North and Global South.  I want to see developing countries to reach a stable, sustainable state.  However, I think that we need to let these developing countries organically adopt these practices.  There is a growing body of literature that is discussing incorporation of renewable energy, and the conclusion is generally that it will take time.  The price of renewable energy has continued to drop and there are larger fish to fry. 

 

Semester total 49:

-Weekly essay for the week 11/2-4 (delayed)