3.5 Drivers of ecosystem change
3.5.1 Indirect drivers of change
In third world countries, human well-being is compromised by lack of basic needs of life such as food, shelter and clothing which is related to poor health of ecosystems (Benson, 2013). These aspects among others have become a priority for global leaders through the Millennium Development Goals (Elliott, 2012). The high rate of poverty exacerbated by a population lacking skills and high unemployment rate affects human well-being both in rural and urban areas (DEAT, 2006). These factors push populations in search for livelihoods into urban areas with the hope of employment.
However, when urban areas cannot absorb immigrants into its structures, people turn to the natural environment for shelter, food, fuel and employment (DEAT, 2006). This usually causes conflicts as people encroach onto private or public land demarcated for environmental conservation (Leon, 2007).
Monkman, 2014). Despite its origins, the definition of the term ‘globalisation’ has evolved and the current understanding of the term is further from its original use (Held, 1999, cited in Lawal, 2006:
66; Namjam et al., 2007). Since the 1980s, globalisation of transportation, information technology, and clean energy has transformed the urban landscape (Fisk, 2012). According to Lawal (2006), since the end of the cold war, global economies have been growing and getting closer to each other due to the need for trade in information, goods and services and, more importantly, natural resources.
Globalisation can therefore be deemed to be the “internationalisation, liberalisation, universalisation, modernisation and deterritorialisation of cross-border relations, regulations, social structures and social spaces” (Namjam et al., 2007: 5). It refers to interdependencies, integration, interactions and interconnections of world economies socially, politically, economically and technologically (Lawal, 2006; Martens and Raza, 2010). This relationship implies that what happens in one economy has a significant impact on the other world economies. According to Pierre (2013), the major influence that globalisation has had is on financial systems during financial crises. A good example is that of the USA’s (and later the Euro Zone) 2008 economic recession (Verick and Islam, 2010; Martin, 2011).
The recession, which started in the USA, escalated impacting the whole globe which is interlinked through money and commodity markets. Verick and Islam (2010) assert that globalisation permits movements across geographical boundaries, interactions between nations as well as transfer of information, natural resources and knowledge. Above all, in the context of environmentalism, globalisation has highlighted environmental problems facing the world today despite it being an instigator (Jean-Yves and Verdier, 2013). Thus, globalisation implies that environmental issues have no geographical boundaries and so global collaboration in managing global natural resources is viewed as the best practice (Namjam et al., 2007).
There are many ways in which globalisation has been defined however, there still exist contentions as to what it really is and the exact positive and negative impacts on global economies (Dauvergne, 2005; Namjam et al., 2007). Nevertheless, dynamics defining globalisation are understood to be composed of three main themes and they include governance, knowledge and economy (Lawal, 2006;
Namjam et al., 2007). Esty and Ivanova (2004) state that globalisation of governance targets elimination of geographical boundaries through liberalisation of laws and regulations in order to allow easy access to economic activities. Governance in a global world is shared and it is no longer reliant only on national-states but also on various global interest groups and other global states (Namjam et al., 2007). Despite this assertion, Pierre (2013) states that globalisation still allows for significant autonomy in domestic governance, for instance in domestic reform, globalisation is only viewed as a facilitator of reform. Namjam et al. (2007) reiterate that it is because of globalised governance that global institutions and governance emerged and collaborations in managing environmental resources are made possible through multilateral agreements. This is because environmental resources are
global assets and quandaries are global, therefore the need to incorporate global participation (Namjam et al., 2007). Ecosystems distribute their services globally unrestricted by geographical boundaries and in the same way, disturbance of ecosystems will affect all inhabitants of the globe (Namjam et al., 2007). Thus, global governance through global institutions and regulations makes it easy to manage environmental resources (Namjam et al., 2007). The Global Environmental Outlook 5-GEO5 (2012) highlights internationally agreed goals and themes on biodiversity and include:
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992); Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (United Nations 1973); Millennium Summit (2000) Millennium Development Goal 7; and, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI), among others.
According to Pierre (2013), globalisation has made the flow of information and knowledge easy while Muradian (2005) and Namjam et al. (2007) assert that globalisation has increased social interaction of nations through amalgamation of knowledge and this is expressed through the streaming of information, ideas, ethos and technology. With the growth in global shared knowledge and reduced time and space through which the exchange occurs, environmental management is enhanced (Muradian, 2005; Namjam et al., 2007; Jean-Yves and Verdier, 2013). Rapid information flow makes it possible to organise global action and awareness on environmental issues while technological advancement and flow can be beneficial to finding efficient methods of natural resource use (Namjam et al., 2007; Pierre, 2013). Concomitantly, technological advancement and flow can have adverse effects on the environment, that is, when technologies in question pertain to resource abstraction (Namjam et al., 2007).
Pierre (2013) states that globalisation has contributed significantly towards economic growth. This implies that national economies become integrated into one global economy through trade, technology, investment and movement of capital and employment opportunities (Namjam et al., 2007;
Martens and Raza, 2010). This clearly implies many collaboration opportunities by national-states that are able to take advantage of globalisation (Namjam et al., 2007). Global environmental collaboration can also benefit from increased income by channeling the resources towards environmental conservation (Esty and Ivanova, 2004; Muradian, 2005; Namjam et al., 2007). Young et al. (2006) and Namjam et al. (2007) assert that the main concern with economic globalisation is the increase in consumption of natural resources which in conjunction with technological advancement would induce increased resource abstraction. In addition, increased resource abstraction can have negative ramifications on the sustainability of the environment in the long-term (Young et al., 2006).
Economic globalisation has caused some concerns around the world such as “job losses due to offshoring, attacks on the unfair practices of foreign trading partners, and calls for protectionist trade policies” (Margalit, 2012: 484). In addition, Muradian (2005) asserts that globalisation provides
opportunities for economic integration and at the same time it breeds social inequality as is the experiences of some regions and countries such as Africa and North Korea. Countries like North Korea took advantage of the opportunities created by globalisation to create national wealth but by doing so created disparities between the rich and the poor, with the poor in the majority (Muradian, 2005). A study by Dreher and Gaston (2008) shows that globalisation has aggravated income inequality for Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development countries. According to the MEA (2005), social inequalities drive the poor to rely on ecosystems for their livelihoods which can induce environmental problems due to unsustainable use practices. Besides localised consequences of globalisation, economies that fail to compete on the global markets are ostracised by the practices of globalisation (Muradian, 2005).
Jean-Yves (2014) asserts that globalisation emasculates environmental regulations due to the need to standardise policy globally thereby hindering the development of appropriate context sensitive environmental policy. In addition, globalisation has the potential of causing differences in environmental sustainability between hemispheres, from one region or country to another (Martens and Raza, 2010). Many multinational companies rely on the developing world to invest in agriculture, mining and other industries in order to produce goods for global markets (Nepstad et al., 2006;
Renaud, 2012). Africa and the Amazon are two of the other regions that bear the aspirations of multinational companies for achieving global food security, however, the need for agriculture produce has caused high rates of deforestation (Nepstad et al., 2006; Renaud, 2012).
Globalisation has not just opened up economic opportunities but also the movement of goods from one hemisphere (region or country) to another (AEO 2, 2006; Pierre, 2013). Such movements of goods occur as trade, aid or simply food for those on transit (MEA, 2005). The AEO 2 (2006) cautions that the movement of goods can lead to introduction of alien species which may become invasive and destructive to the environment. Further, globalisation and the environment impact on one another, for instance, globalisation affects the state of ecosystems and their ability to produce services sustainably while ecosystems drive globalisation through the supply of ecosystem services on which economic activities are dependent (Namjam et al., 2007). Martens and Raza (2008) assert that there is need for policy makers to constantly understand the changes occurring at various scales while globalisation should aid sustainable policy development which integrate social, economic and ecological aspects. In addition, it is important to understand and control the dynamics of globalisation if ecosystems are to be managed sustainably since globalisation will only flourish if ecosystems are managed sustainably (Namjam et al., 2007). All in all, Jean-Yves and Verdier (2013: 116) state that
“it’s partly up to national political decision makers to take pro-environmental measures to prevent or repair the environmental damage arising, in part, from globalisation.”