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Flashcards

Globalisation 9

Ethan Molloy English 32 cards

Cards in this deck (32)

  1. 1Natural ResourcesA material source of wealth, such as timber, fresh water, or a mineral deposit, that occurs in a natural state and has economic value. Natural resources may be renewable (sustainability managed forests, wind power and solar energy) or non-renewable (fossil fuels).
  2. 2Consumer SocietyA society in which the buying and selling of goods and services is the most important social and economic activity.
  3. 3Ecological FootprintA crude measurement of the area of land or water required to provide a person.
  4. 4Water FootprintA measure of the amount of water used in the production and transport to market of food and commodities (also known as the amount of 'virtual water' which is 'embedded' in a product.
  5. 5Carbon FootprintThe amount of Carbon Dioxide produced by an individual or activity.
  6. 6Food MilesThe distance food travels from a farm to the consumer. The journey may be short and direct for some local produce, or may take longer, with food often crossing entire continents via a string of depots.
  7. 7Transition TownA settlement where individuals and businesses have adopted 'bottom up' initiatives with the aim of making their community more sustainable and less reliant on global trade.
  8. 8Ethical PurchaseA financial exchange where the consumer has considered the social and environmental costs of production for food, goods or services purchased.
  9. 9What is Sustainability?Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
  10. 10SUSTAINABILITY Economic Social EnvironmentalIndividuals and communities should have access to a reliable income over time.
    All individuals should enjoy a reasonable quality of life.
    No lasting damage should be done to the environment. renewal resources must be managed in ways that guarantee continued use.
  11. 11Introduction Globalisation is associated with a range of rising environmental stresses. These include growing food, water, energy and climate insecurity. As a result of global trade and rising prosperity in emerging economies, almost 1 billion people in Africa, Latin America and Asia have attained new global middle class status in the last 30 years; 2 billion more are on the cusp of it, inevitably this puts increased pressure on natural resources.The average US citizen has an ecological footprint 20 times larger than a subsistence farmer in Sub-Saharan Africa. In other words, the same areas of land that supports ten US citizens with high-impact lifestyles supports 200 low-impact lifestyles. Increasingly, this 'US lifestyle' is an aspiration for people in developing and emerging economies. The combined power of TNCs, media corporations and new technology drives global consumerisation. As a result globalisation has become linked with a series of interconnected and thus far irresolvable 'twenty first century challenges'
  12. 12Links between Globalisation and Rising Environmental Insecurity FoodBy 2050, food demand is likely to double worldwide. Middle-class diets are characterised by their consumption of meat and dairy and have a larger ecological footprint.
  13. 13Links between Globalisation and Rising Environmental Insecurity WaterFood production also depletes water supplies. Animal husbandry and crop production can be water-intensive activities. Many increasingly popular global commodities, such as chocolate, coffee and wine, have a high water footprint. Additionally, as societies develop economically and urbanise, everyday household water use increases significantly.
  14. 14Links between Globalisation and Rising Environmental Insecurity EnergyA 50% increase in global energy is predicted by 2035. Unless significant innovation in renewable or nuclear energy is achieved, increased use of fossil fuels inevitable, including 'dirty fuels' like oil shale. Their extraction scars local landscapes and threatens the transition to a clean energy economy.
  15. 15Links between Globalisation and Rising Environmental Insecurity ClimateThe global diffusion and adoption of manufactured items, from energy-hungry televisions and fridges to throwaway plastic pens and bottles, has increased the average carbon footprint size of the Earth's population. In 2013, global concentration of carbon dioxide reached 400 parts per million. As a result a harmful global temperature rise in excess of 2 degrees now appears invevitable.
  16. 16The 'Local Sourcing' Solution Low price of containerised transport has helped TNCs with whatThe low pricing of containerised transport allied with cheap labour and material costs in developing countries, has helped TNCs to develop extensive global production networks. This strategy maximises profits, but it maximises carbon footprints too. Fiji water is a notorious example: this brand of bottled water is transported 20,000km to the UK supermarkets. Critics of global capitalism say environmental costs should be accounted for in the pricing of products (carbon tax). In the absense of this, some people adopt ethical consumption strategies by purchasing local goods. Local pressure groups play a big role in promoting local sourcing.
  17. 17The 'Local Sourcing' Solution The Eden ProjectThe Eden Project is a popular tourist site in Cornwall that houses plants from all over the world, in two enormous biomes. For the 600,000 meals that are provide annually for visitors, 90% of the produce is bought from local suppliers in Cornwall and Devon.
  18. 18The 'Local Sourcing' Solution ExpensiveMore expensive than globally produced items. From an economic viewpoint, it is not 'rational' behaviour to purchase expensive items when there are cheaper items available. Pressure groups and NGOs such as greenpeace counter this argument by saying cheap imports are not really that cheap. This is because rising greenhouse gas emissions will generate long time costs to society (argument from 2006 Stern Review of climate change's long term predicted impact on GDP). For many people on low incomes, however, this is not necessarily a compelling argument. They may view local sources as upper class luxury.
  19. 19Costs of Local SourcingConsumers - Local sourcing of everyday meat and vegetables can be very expensive, especially for young people on low incomes.
    Producers - Less demand from UK consumers for food from producer countries, means arrested economic development for places such as Ivory Coast
    Environment - Tomatoes in the UK are grown in heated greenhouses and poly-tunnels during winter, resulting in a larger carbon footprint than imported Spanish tomatoes.
  20. 20Benefits of Local SourcingConsumers - Many small producers in the UK have adopted organic farming methods. Crops are grown using fewer pesticides, which could have health benefits.
    Producers - UK farmers have moved up the value chain by manufacturing locally sourced items, including jams, fruit juices and wine.
    Environment - The 1992 Rio Earth Summit introduced the slogan 'Think Global, Act Local'. Local sourcing sometimes helps people reduce their carbon footprint size.
  21. 21Ethical Consumption and Fair TradeWhile consumers benefit economically from global shift;s cheap goods, many have ethical concerns about the social costs of worker exploitation 'Optingout' of buying globally sourced commodities is very hard to do in practise. However, ethical purchases are increasingly available thanks to the work of NGOs, charities and a growing number of businesses with a social 'responsibility agenda'.
  22. 22Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes Fairtade ActionsThe Fairtrade Foundation's certificate scheme offers a guaranteed higher income to farmers and some manufacturers, even if the market price changes.
    Examples of Fairtrade produce include coffee, chocolate, bananas, wine and even clothing items such as jeans.
    The Waitrose Foundation has also embraced fairer trading principles by improving pay for farmers in its own supply chains.
  23. 23Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes Fairtrade EvaluationFairtrade goods let shoppers know that what they spend will find its way into the pay pockets of poor workers - but not all shoppers will pay more for it.
    However, as the number of schemes grows, it becomes harder to ensure that money has been correctly distributed.
    It is not possible for all the world's farmers to join a scheme offering a high fixed price for potentially unlimited crop yields.
  24. 24Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes Supply chain and monitoring ActionsLarge businesses increasingly accept the need for corporate social responsibility.
    The largest TNCs have thousands of suppliers which increases the risk of branded products being linked with worker exploitation.
    Apple investigated its iPhone touchscreen supplier Lianjian Technology, whose workers were poisoned by chemical cleaning agent.
  25. 25Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes Supply chain and monitoring EvaluationFirms such as Gap and Nike now prohibit worker exploitation in their own foreign factories, but it is hard to monitor the working conditions and pay for the workforce of every single supplier they buy from.
    It is especially hard to control what happens in the workplaces of their suppliers' suppliers.
  26. 26Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes NGO action ActionCharity War on Want helped South African fruit pickers as it flew a woman called Gertruida to a Tesco shareholder meeting in London.
    Gertuida explained there was no toilet for female workers at the farm she worked at.
    Tesco told the farm it would use a different fruit supplier unless the conditions improved.
  27. 27Evaluating Ethical Consumption Schemes NGO action EvaluationNGOs have limited financial resources. This can limit the scale of what they can achieve, or result in slow progress.
    Although NGOs such as Amnesty International work hard to raise awareness of ethical issues, many people remain unaware of, or unconcerned with, worker exploitation.
  28. 28The Rana Plaza CollapseThe Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is a significant recent development that shows Western retailers beginning to take responsibility for working conditions in their supply chains. It was introduces following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building Dhaka in Bangladesh in 2013. This led to deaths of 1100 textile workers. On the day of the collapse, workers were sent back into the building to complete international orders in time for the delivery. Walmart and other major TNCs regularly outsourced clothing orders to Rana Plaza. Since then many British TNCs have signed the Accord, promising to ensure safety checks.
  29. 29Recycling and Resource ConsumptionAt the end of their useful life, manufactured goods are often sent as waster to landfill. An alternative to recycle them. This reduces the rate at which new natural resources are used. However, the recycling process does itself require the use of energy and water.
    The carbon footprint of recycled materials emissions is potentially high because energy is required:
    For the treatment of waste.
    To transport waste to recycling sites (Much of the UKs plastic paper and glass waste is exported to China... cheaper labour costs).
  30. 30Beyond Recycling -Careful management of materials -Goals -Recycle, Reuse, RepairRecycling can be viewed as the first step towards the more ambitious goals of a circular economy. This approach to sustainable development calls for far more careful management of materials. The goal is to maintain or increase natural resource stocks by requiring manufacturers or retailers to do more to recycle, reuse or repair products that they ideally might lease, rather than sell, to consumers. Ultimately, this could result in a new global business model which will 'design out' waste all together. Products would be designed in ways that allow theme to be disassembled and reused or repurposed far more easily.
  31. 31Beyond Recycling GrapheneThe need to recycle could, in future, be reduced further through use of new substitute materials Graphene is on one newly invented 'super material' that is light and strong and may in time replace the need for older materials such as steel.
  32. 32Beyond RecyclingAssisting with progress towards a circular economy and new materials technology are countries like China and India. While the populations of the world's emerging economies has accelerate global consumption and waste production, they are also part of the solution. China especially is politically engaged with trying to tackle the sustainability challenges we now face. Emerging economies are becoming leaders in resourcing efficient technology and renewable energy. China is the worlds largest manufacturer of solar panels.

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Flashcards on Globalisation 9, created by Ethan Molloy on 11/04/2017.
Created by
Ethan Molloy · Apr 2017
Updated
Jun 12, 2017
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