SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A CHALLENGE IN A GLOBALIZED ENVIRONMENT

CREATED 2007 April 19th
 

INTRODUCTION

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There is available, in many sources (internet based and non-internet based) commentary criticizing the major corporations and leading nations in their drive for competitiveness. This drive for competitiveness (through harvesting practices) has created vulnerable situations for water management  (river and lakes drying up) agriculture  soil erosion (caused by lareg sclae mining and tree harvesting) soil depletion requiring excessive use of fertiliers and other chemicals forestry  trees being cut down at a rate faster than replanting and regrowth It is hard to be objective on this issue since some people claim we have reached a point in the history of the planet where the existence of the human species is at risk!! The topic of sustainable development, by 2005 and certainly 2006 and 2007, has become increasingly "public" as a news topic and therefore important for students in international business. WTGR

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a Definition

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"'Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." these exact words come from an Australian website  www.environment.gov.au/esd/ but the phrase is repeated worldwide in various forms by companies and government agencies that deal with this topic. WTGR

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Globalization and Sustainable Development

you may find it interesting to read  http://www.icsea.or.id/sea-span/0998/RG1020LL.htm "Is Globalization Undermining the Prospects for Sustainable Development? "  by Martin Khor - written 10 years ago in 1997 !! "The ecological crises that threaten the survival of Earth continue to unfold at breakneck speed under the influence of commercial interests, driven even further by the competitive pressures of globalization. At the same time, the globalization process pits company against company, country against country and individuals against one another.... five years after Rio Summit, the process of globalization linked to liberalization has gained so much force that it has undermined and is undermining the sustainable development agenda. Commerce  and the perceived need to remain competitive in a globalizing market and to pamper and cater to the demands of companies and the rich have become the top priorities of governments in the North and some in the South" "The major reason is that in the five years after Rio, [1992] the process of globalization linked to liberalization has gained so much force that it has undermined and is undermining the sustainable development agenda. Commerce and the perceived need to remain competitive in a globalizing market and to pamper and cater to the demands of companies and the rich have become the top priorities of governments in the North and some in the South"

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Forestry trade Deforestation Globalization Sustainability

"China's illicit trade in tropical lumber" - Sustainability was the title of a Globe and Mail report 2007 April 18th  by journalist Geoffrey York York writes   "the smuggling will soon lead to the extinction of the last stocks of merbau, a slow-growing tropical hardwood tree that has become one of North America's most prized sources of luxury wood products, especially hardwood flooring. Merbau trees, which reach a height of 50 metres, can take up to 80 years to mature. Their richly textured reddish-brown timber can contain yellow specks that make it seem to be flecked with gold. Even at official rates of logging, the merbau will be largely gone within 35 years, but the illegal logging will drastically accelerate its extinction" pic from http://www.universalfloors.com/tree.JPG York describes "After a dramatic rise in illegal logging in the late 1990s, Indonesia banned the export of raw logs in 2001. But the report found that Chinese importers are evading the ban by importing "squared logs" -- logs with a small amount of superficial trimming -- and declaring them as "sawn timber," which is legally permitted. In other cases, China simply imports the Indonesian logs in clear violation of the ban, without even trying to conceal the fact. "

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Indonesia Sustainability

"Indonesia's forests are being destroyed faster than any on Earth. A forest area the size of six football fields disappears every minute, In total, Indonesia has already lost more than 72% of its large intact ancient forest areas and 40% of its forests have been completely destroyed." posted on  www.asiafinest.com 2007 April referencing www.eia-international.org/files/reports67-1.pdf

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Globalization, some specific examples of the consequences for the Environment
 

Mining for large amounts of cobalt - a metal used in making cell phones and other high tech devices, has caused extreme damage to the environment in centra Africa and effected thousands of lives. There are many articles in newspapers and magazines, online and offline that explain the effect of unsustainable mining on the jungle and how the conflict has resulted in many Africans being killed by violence, or poisoned by pollution from the mining of cobalt. WTGR

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Madelaine Drohan www.madelainedrohan.com wrote an article in The Star 2004 Nov 21 about the environmental consequences of the cobalt mining in the Congo.

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"Poisoned water, poisoned air" "Congo is in the grip of a massive, unregulated cobalt rush. Demand from China, in particular, has quadrupled the price of cobalt in the last year, prompting anyone able to wield a pick and shovel to join in the frenzy. In a country still devastated by war, there are few other ways to earn a living. So, dressed in T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops, an estimated 60,000 people go out each day to mine the fabled riches of the Congo by hand. ...In their desperation, they go wherever they think they can find cobalt, even if that means digging the radioactive soil at Shinkolobwe, where it is found in combination with uranium. An estimated 7,000 miners work at the mine. In its recent report, Rush And Ruin: The Devastating Mineral Trade In Southern Katanga DRC, the London-based activist group Global Witness said the cobalt trade is ruining the Congo's economy and environment, and the livelihoods of its people....It is not just the miners who are in danger. Transporting radioactive cobalt ore in open trucks spreads the dust along the roadside..." journalist Madelaine Drohan is the author of Making A Killing: How Corporations Use Armed Force To Do Business. Madelaine Drohan emailed Richardson Nov 23rd 2004 to say "...I'm really pleased you found the article useful and I'd be happy if you shared it with your students...."  www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/articleCongoCobalt.htm

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What is cobalt   What is cobalt used for

"Cobalt is a brittle, hard, transition metal with magnetic properties similar to those of iron."  http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Co/key.html "Cobalt is a naturally occurring element found in rocks, soil, water, plants, and animals. Cobalt is used to produce alloys used in the manufacture of aircraft engines, magnets, grinding and cutting tools, artificial hip and knee joints. Cobalt compounds are also used to color glass, ceramics and paints, and used as a drier for porcelain enamel and paints."  http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts33.html "high cobalt prices, caused predominantly by China’s huge demand for the metal for use in mobile phone batteries"  http://www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=253 "most of the world reserves lie in Congo"  http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/uganda/link-9902.html commentary on the violence and war in the Congo region as a consequence of the competition for access to mining Colbalt  http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/Africa/DRC.asp " It is a key component in the batteries developed for new fuel-saving hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic...The Cobalt Development Institute in the United Kingdom estimates that global demand for cobalt, which was 43,000 tonnes in 2003, will soar to 130,000 tonnes by 2020." MADELAINE DROHAN, SPECIAL TO THE STAR 2004 Nov 21

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Globalization, some specific examples of the consequences for terrorism and nuclear proliferation
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Todd Pitman ASSOCIATED PRESS Congo ban doesn't end work at old uranium mine site Pitman wrote a story in June 2004, which was widely carried in many newspapers, about the old uranium mines in the Congo that are being exploited by people trying to sell to international buyers

Pitman writes "Business is booming in the mining zone that supplied uranium for the atomic bombs unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – despite a decree by Congo's president banning all mining activity here. President Joseph Kabila ordered the zone closed three months ago amid growing concerns that unregulated nuclear materials could get into the hands of so-called rogue nations or terrorist groups. Yet 1,000 miles away from the capital, Kinshasa, thousands of diggers are still hacking away at a dark cavity of open earth in this southeastern village, filling thousands of burlap sacks a day with black soil rich in cobalt, copper – and radioactive uranium."

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Pitman says "The illegal mining provides stark evidence of how little control Africa's third-largest nation has over its own nuclear resources, highlighting the government's lack of authority beyond the capital in the aftermath of Congo's devastating 1998-2002 war. "They're digging as fast as they can dig, and everyone is buying it," John Skinner, a mining engineer in the nearby town of Likasi, said of the illegal freelance mining at Shinkolobwe. "The problem is that nobody knows where it's all going. There is no control."

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