POV #3: To what extent does globalization contribute to sustainable prosperity for all people?6/13/2017 Globalization has had many impacts on many different cultures and people. Some negative and some positive, but without globalization we wouldn't be where we are today. There's many different topics and events that have shaped what exactly globalization is. But globalization can take so many resources, and if we keep taking these resources there will be no more left for future generations. Globalization could ruin our sustainable prosperity. For example our ecological footprint, resource gap, Kyoto protocol and water privatization. The first topic is ecological footprint. Ecological footprint is the area of the earth’s surface necessary to sustain the level of resources a person uses and the waste she or he creates. Canadians have a much larger footprint than most other countries - if everyone consumed as much as Canadians, four more planets like Earth would be needed to meet their needs. Our ecological footprint is the area of the earth’s surface necessary to sustain the level of resources we use and the waste we create. Bangladesh has one of the smallest ecological footprints in the world. Consumption of resources is far lower than that of Canadian - so they Bangladeshis produce less waste. Bangladesh also has a footprint of 0.6 hectares per person compared to Canada’s 7.25 hectares person (Note: most sports fields are about one hectare in size.) There are many different perspectives of ecological footprints. The ecological footprint of 70% of the world’s people is smaller than the 1.89 hectares available for each person. The remaining 30% of people take much more than their share - in fact this remaining 30% consume about 90% of the world’s ecological capacity. The next topic is the resource gap. Which is the gap between the resources the earth can reasonably supply - 1.89 hectares per person - and what the people of the world now consume - 2.8 hectares - presents a challenge. People are using up resources that could be left for future generations and at some point the earth will not be able to sustain - provide the basic necessities needed to support life - actions like this. Over the next 4-5 decades, the world’s population is expected to grow by 2-5 billion, the earth's resources are fixed, but an ever-increasing # of people will need to share them. Many of the world’s people are striving to improve their material well-being by consuming more goods and services, but he more they consume, the bigger their ecological footprint is. This increasing consumption will affect sustainability. Individuals and groups, such as the United Nations are promoting the idea of environmental stewardship - this involves accepting responsibility for ensuring that the earth’s resources remain sustainable. The next topic is the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the fact that (a) global warming exists and (b) human-made CO2 emissions have caused it. At a 1997 conference in Kyoto, Japan, 141 countries, including Canada, signed an agreement that became known as the Kyoto Protocol - The Kyoto Protocol called on countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some people believed that meeting the Kyoto targets would mean huge job losses - by 2007, the federal government had taken no decisive actions. The last topic is water privatization. Water privatization is a practice used by the IMF and World Bank where once a country owes them some money they send in private companies to take control over the public water system. In some developing countries, governments are encouraged to privatize water utilities. This can result in high costs and affect the sustainable prosperity of the very people who can least afford to pay for water. With water privatization, water becomes more expensive fro everyone. Some say that the next wars won't be over oil but over water. In conclusion, globalization has a huge impact on sustainable prosperity, in a negative way. It takes resources like water, and destroys the environment for future generations. Large companies are taking advantage of this and charging everyone for water and air to make a profit! With the point we're at right now, the earth won't be sustainable for much longer.
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