Source: thehindu.com
One of the most critical issues of the 21st century has been (and will continue to be) environmental awareness and resource conservation, and one of the most critical areas to address these issues will be in the developing world. There is an extremely controversial argument raging between developed and developing nations regarding international pollution rights. Historically, developing countries have no done so in an environmentally friendly way. The United States is a poster child for this, especially considering the environmental impacts of the Industrial Revolution. Now, as new countries begin to expand and develop themselves, they feel restricted by outside parties which argue that they cannot afford to be as environmentally careless as past development arcs have been.
From an ethical standpoint, it seems extremely unethical to hold currently-developing countries to a different standard than already-developed nations--its almost like class-warfare on an international scale. Industrializing while also maintaining environmental diligence may not be impossible but it is certainly more difficult and expensive. Developing nations argue that they are wasting resources on trying to be environmentally friendly, which by default slows their economic growth. Therefore, many people in developing nations believe that they should be able to pollute just as much as past developed nations already have and should not be held to a stricter international standard for pollution.
However, many also claim that newly-developing nations simply cannot afford to be as environmentally careless as past nations, and that the greater good would be to preserve the environment of the world which we all live in. Also, developing nations may have external incentives to be environmentally-friendly in their development, as it will help them to thrive in a world which is almost certainly heading in a sustainable direction.
Hopefully, these two groups will be able to come to an agreement that will allow for individual nation growth and the conservation of the environment, because such an agreement is the only viable, sustainable solution going forward.
Your post brings up a good point about the complicated nature of the situation with pollution in the developing world. I thought your point about the fact that developing nations now might have environmental incentives now which did not exist before is a good one; it is something I hadn't thought about before. This article talks about another related issue, which is that global warming won't affect every country equally. In fact, it will likely be less developed nations which bear the largest burdens. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/asia/facing-rising-seas-bangladesh-confronts-the-consequences-of-climate-change.html?_r=0
ReplyDelete