Globalisation EQ3 - Consequences of globalisation for environment and development, players

Question 1

What is development?

Answer 1

Development generally means the ways in which a country seeks to progress economically and to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants

Question 2

What does a measure need to be valid and reliable?

Answer 2

Valid - broad agreement that it had relevance
Reliable - must use trustworthy data

Question 3

What is the informal sector?

Answer 3

Unofficial forms of employment that are not easily made subject to government regulation or taxation

Question 4

What is income per capita, and what is GDP?

Answer 4

Income per capita is the mean average income of a group of people
GDP is a widely used aggregate measure and is the final value of the output of goods and services inside a nation’s borders

Question 5

What is a country’s economic sector balance?

Answer 5

A country or region’s economy can be crudely divided into 4 economic sectors whose relative importance changes as a country develops

Question 6

What is the HDI?

Answer 6

The Human Development Index is a composite measure that ranks countries according to economic criteria and social criteria.
3 main indicators = life expectancy, income, education

Question 7

What is the Gender Inequality Index?

Answer 7

A composite index devised by UNDP, measures gender inequalities related to 3 aspects of social and economic development
3 aspects = reproductive health, empowerment, labour force participation rate

Question 8

What indicator is often used to display environmental quality?

Answer 8

Air pollution data (generally poor in developing and emerging economies)

Question 9

What are the changing spatial patterns of global wealth?

Answer 9

• Average incomes have risen in all continents since 1950, but only very slowly in poorest parts of Africa
• Great gains made by European and NA nations results in widening of average income gap between world’s wealthy and poor countries
• Absolute poverty fallen worldwide
• Many countries have advanced from low-income to middle-income status since 70s

Question 10

What are the major environmental issues linked with globalisation?

Answer 10

Climate change and biodiversity loss
40% of Earth’s terrestial surface transformed into productive agricultural land, leading to habitat loss and biodiversity decline
Negative impacts of large agribusiness operations - intensive cash-cropping, cattle ranching

Question 11

Who are the social and economic winners and losers in Africa and why?

Answer 11

WINNERS - North Africa, where large income gains have been made in coastal hubs which are ‘growth engines’. Strong middle class growth is expected here
LOSERS - Sub-Saharan Africa due to geographical isolation and political extremism, poverty remains. This has led to falling life expectancy due to conflict and human rights abuses

Question 12

What does nationalist mean?

Answer 12

A political movement focused on national independence or the abandonment of policies that are viewed by some people as a threat to national sovereignty or national culture

Question 13

What are post colonial migrants?

Answer 13

People who moved to European countries from former colonies during the 1950s, 60s and 70s

Question 14

What are some of the tensions in London surrounding foreign investment and migration?

Answer 14

Leaders of largest TNCs argue that migration restrictions threaten their own competitiveness and the UK’s role as a global hub
However other Londoners believe too much in migration has been allowed to take place - uncomfortable with some aspects of globalisation and/or immigration

Question 15

How do governments legislate against global flows?

Answer 15

• laws strengthened to limit numbers of economic migrants
• governments limit citizens’ freedom to access online information, censorship
• trade protectionism

Question 16

What is resource nationalism?

Answer 16

A growing tendency for state governments to take measures ensuring that domestic industries and consumers have priority access to the national resources found within their borders

Question 17

What are natural resources?

Answer 17

A material source of wealth that occurs in a natural state and has economic value

Question 18

What is a consumer society?

Answer 18

A society in which the buying and selling of goods and services is the most important social and economic activity

Question 19

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 19

A crude measurement of the area of land or water required to provide a person (or society) with the energy, food and resources needed to live, and to also absorb waste

Question 20

What is a water footprint?

Answer 20

A measure of the amount of water used in the production and transport to market of food and commodities

Question 21

What is a carbon footprint?

Answer 21

The amount of carbon dioxide produced by an individual or activity

Question 22

What are the links between globalisation and rising environmental insecurity?

Answer 22

Food - by 2050, demand likely to double worldwide. Middle class western diet characterised by consumption of meat and dairy
Water - many commodities such as chocolate or coffee have a high water footprint, household water use also increasing
Energy - 50% increase in global energy use is predicted by 2035
Climate - increased average carbon footprint size, rising CO2 emissions means global temp rise of 2 degrees looks inevitable

Question 23

What is sustainability?

Answer 23

Meeting the social, economic and environmental needs of the presents without compromising the ability of future generations to also meet their own needs

Question 24

What does the term food miles mean?

Answer 24

The distance food travels from a farm to the consumer

Question 25

What is a transition town?

Answer 25

A 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

Question 26

What are the costs of local sourcing?

Answer 26

Local sourcing of everyday meat and vegetables can be very expensive, especially for people on low incomes. Tomatoes and other exotic produce have to be grown in heated greenhouses and polytunnels during winter, resulting in a larger carbon footprint. Less demand from UK consumers for food from producer countries means halted economic development

Question 27

What are the benefits of local sourcing?

Answer 27

Many small producers in the UK use organic farming methods (fewer pesticides = health benefits). UK farmers have moved up value chain by manufacturing locally sourced items, such as jams, fruit juices and wine. Local sourcing sometimes helps people reduce their carbon footprint size.

Question 28

What is an ethical purchase?

Answer 28

A financial exchange where the consumer has considered the social and environmental costs of production for foods, goods or services purchased.

Question 29

What are some examples of different ethical consumption schemes?

Answer 29

• fairtrade
• supply chain monitoring
• NGO action

Question 30

How does Fairtrade work towards ethical consumption and how successful is this?

Answer 30

Fairtrade offers a guaranteed higher income to farmers and some manufacturers despite market price changes
Not all shoppers will pay the ‘Fairtrade premium’, and as the number of schemes grows, it becomes harder to ensure money has been correctly distributed. It reinforces longstanding power relations with big brands

Question 31

How does supply chain monitoring work towards ethical consumption and how successful is this?

Answer 31

Large businesses increasingly accept the need for corporate social responsibility
Which firms such as Gap and NIke prohibit worker exploitation in their own foreign factories, it is hard to monitor the working conditions, especially in the workplaces of their suppliers’ suppliers

Question 32

How do NGOs work towards ethical consumption and how successful is this?

Answer 32

They represent the workers who are exploited in bigger companies such as Tescos
However NGOs have limited financial resources, limiting the scale of what they can achieve or result in slow progress. Many people remain unaware or unconcerned with worker exploitation

Question 33

How does recycling contribute to a ‘circular economy’?

Answer 33

Recycling can be viewed as the first step to a more ambitious goal of a circular economy, where natural resource stocks are maintained or increased by requiring manufacturers to do more to recycle, reuse or repair products - in a global business model that could ‘design out’ waste altogether