The Price of Globalization is Environmental Pollution

Running head: THE PRICE OF GLOBALIZATION IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
THE PRICE OF GLOBALIZATION IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
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THE PRICE OF GLOBALIZATION IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Introduction
The phenomenon of globalization has transformed the world in ways that was not
possible to imagine a century ago. The effects could be visible in all aspects of life starting from
economic, cultural, social and political. However, the one aspect that has been affected
negatively is the environment. This aspect is often neglected in the discourses involving
globalization. In the recent years only, some focus is given to the negative effects of
globalization on environment. The Guardian published a report last year in October where it
stated the fast approaching dangers of climate change (Watts, 2019).
The main argument of this essay is that the price of globalization is actually
environmental pollution despite its various benefits.
Discussion
Globalization has been a great boon to trade and commerce as countries across the globe
are now exporting and importing goods at a higher rate. This has in turn helped increase
employment opportunities with multinational companies being established throughout the world.
As the OECD report finds, globalization has helped trade grow substantially in the past few
decades and the annual growth rate of world trade was 5.7% between 1951 and 2004 (Oecd.org,
2019). At present, the growth rate is 7.4% as per the OECD report (Oecd.org, 2019). These facts
reveal the positive economic impact of globalization. However, when it came to assessing the
impact of globalization on environment, initial researches posed questions such as what are
environmental regulations’ impact on trade. This shows that initially, environmental impact of
globalization was not given enough consideration. In the sections that follow, globalization’s
impact on environment shall be discussed in details.

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THE PRICE OF GLOBALIZATION IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Environmental pollution and global economy
Brimblecombe (2005) highlighted the impact of global economy on air pollution in his
study titled The globalization of local air pollution. The author states that the modern day
pollution is not limited to local boundaries as global pollutant emissions are based on “people’s
choice of transport, agriculture and industry” that has become increasingly global due to
globalization (Brimblecombe 2005). According to Newell, (2012), the environmental pollution
such as air pollution, acid rain and increasing global warming have become the major reason of
concern in the global economy. There is an increasing global impact due to economic
development and increasing problems of the global “externalities”. They are considered to be
hazards over the national borders and affect the environment especially the ocean, air and
climate. The health risks in the global economy threaten and disrupt the world’s physical
environment. The countries are making higher regulatory standards at some stage of the
countries development. As stated by O'Brien, Leichenko, (2000), there are growing consumer
concerns about the health in many countries. Emergence of new technology and economic
development contributes to increase in emission. The economy needs to set an emission limit
values for air pollutants. This has proven to be an effective tool to reduce environmental
pollution in global economy. Reducing emission is a long term investment in the global economy
contributes to development goals. Various technologies in the global economy illustrate the
distribution of the environmental pollution. Utilization of pesticides, related chemicals have
increased the rate of environmental pollution on a global scale.
Impact of globalization on global scale