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 the Gini Coefficient and what does a high/low value mean

Answer 4

A measure of the distribution of income across a population - higher Gini index indicates greater inequality as high income individuals receive a greater proportion of the population’s total income

Question 5

What are the economic measures of globalisation?

Answer 5

• income per capita
• economic sector balance

Question 6

What is income per capita, and what is GDP?

Answer 6

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 7

What is a country’s economic sector balance?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What are the social measures of globalisation?

Answer 8

• HDI
• Gender Inequality Index

Question 9

What is the HDI?

Answer 9

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 10

What is the Gender Inequality Index?

Answer 10

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 11

What indicator is often used to display environmental quality?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What are the changing spatial patterns of global wealth?

Answer 12

• 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 13

What are the major environmental issues linked with globalisation?

Answer 13

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 14

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

Answer 14

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, conflict,poverty remains. This has led to falling life expectancy due to conflict and human rights abuses

Question 15

What are the social, political and environmental tensions associated with the rapidity of change from globalisation?

Answer 15

• open borders, deregulation and encouragement of FDI has created culturally mixed societies/migrant diasporas. This results in social and political tensions.
• environmental damage due to exploitation of physical environment associated with globalisation
• tourism leading to clashes of culture

Question 16

What does nationalist mean?

Answer 16

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 17

What are post colonial migrants?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

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

Answer 18

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 19

How do governments legislate against global flows?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What is resource nationalism?

Answer 20

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 21

What is the First Nations in Canada, how are they threatened by globalisation?

Answer 21

6 groups of indigenous people whose lifestyle is based on subsistence fishing, hunting and trapping
Globalisation means global oil companies have begun extracting oil barrels in the area
Social impacts = alcohol and drugs on young people’s lifestyles
Environ impacts = death of trout and other fish in oil polluted lakes
First Nations are opposing attempts by global companies to exploit oil resources

Question 22

What are natural resources?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is a consumer society?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 24

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 25

What is a water footprint?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What is a carbon footprint?

Answer 26

The amount of carbon dioxide produced by an individual or activity

Question 27

What are the links between globalisation and rising environmental insecurity?

Answer 27

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 28

What is sustainability?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

What does the term food miles mean?

Answer 29

The distance food travels from a farm to the consumer

Question 30

What is a transition town?

Answer 30

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 31

What is an example of a transition town?

Answer 31

Todmorden in the South Pennines
Food grown locally, ‘Incredible Edible Todmorden’ created 40 public fruit and veg gardens and educational talks/events

Question 32

What are the costs of local sourcing?

Answer 32

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 33

What are the benefits of local sourcing?

Answer 33

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 34

What is an ethical purchase?

Answer 34

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

Question 35

What are some examples of different ethical consumption schemes?

Answer 35

• fairtrade
• supply chain monitoring
• NGO action

Question 36

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

Answer 36

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 37

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

Answer 37

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 38

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

Answer 38

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 39

What is an example of an NGO working towards limiting the environmental consequences of globalisation?

Answer 39

FSC = forest stewardship council
Uses FSC logo on products that are sourced from sustainable forests to help consumers ensure that they are not contributing to environmental degradation (globally known)

Question 40

How does recycling contribute to a ‘circular economy’?

Answer 40

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