International Aspects of Environmental Questions

1. International Aspects of Environmental Questions ENVI 201 Version spring 2004 Steve Colt afsgc@uaa.alaska.edu

2. Three Perceived Problems • Growth, itself • Pollution Havens • Bad governance (environmental policy and institutions)

3. Four Real Challenges • Poverty • Consumption by the rich, not the poor • Protecting the Global Commons • Effective Global Environmental Governance (policy and institutions)

4. Story 1: Thank Japan for Clean Air • 1970 Clean Air Act mandated big drop in auto emissions • Detroit Big 3 said “can’t do it” – especially for California • Honda was ready with cars that met the standards, CA mandated them • CA was dominant consumer so it dictated standard practice to rest of US.

5. Story 2: Turtles and Trade • Asian shrimp boats catching endangered sea turtles • WTO (1998): US can’t discriminate against imports based on how shrimp are caught • US continued to press for Turtle Excluding Devices (TEDs) • Legal wrangling continues today

6. The Twin Environmental Crises • Poverty • 1.2 Billion people live on less than $1/day • Human-Dominated Ecosystems • 42% of Earth’s annual production of plant material is used by people (Pimm 2001) • Both Numbers Matter

7. Poverty and Environment • 1.2 billion people live on less than $1/day • In Ghana: • 60% of urban people have no sewers • 70% of energy from open wood burning • 40% of people drink contaminated water • Worldwide, waterborne diseases annually cause 11 million childhood deaths • 700 million people breathe smoke from open indoor fires (Todaro 2000)

8. Globalization is Not New

9. Three Perceived Problems • 1) Growth wrecks the planet Source: World Bank, “Greening Industry”

10. Three Perceived Problems • 2) Pollution Havens: Globalization causes competition for industry, causing (forcing?) some (all?) countries to live with dirty industry • 3) Bad Governance: Secret decisionmaking by the“unelected WTO” and corporations ignores environmental effects

11. Growth has Three Effects • How Much is Produced? • World CO2 emissions continue to rise with world economy • What is Produced? • Massages vs. Steel • How are things produced? • Carbon Monoxide down due to catalytic converters

12. Growth Example: China

13. Growth Example: China • Economic output doubling every decade, concentrated in urban areas • (how much / scale) • People switching from bicycles to cars and from rice to meat • (what / composition) • Slow switch from coal to natural gas, controls on particulates • (how / technique)

14. Switching from Coal to Gas has other Implications…

15. Growth in China: Effects Source: World Bank, Greening Industry

16. World Growth: How Much Source: World Bank, Globalization Growth and Poverty

17. World Growth: What?

18. World Growth: How? Source: World Bank, Greening Industry

19. World Growth: Good Newsl • Cleaner production is reducing air pollution (Antweiler Copeland Taylor AER sep 2001) • Little direct evidence for strong “Pollution Haven” effects (but debate continues )

20. Trade: Exporting Pollution? • “Freer” trade certainly allows rich countries to export pollution more easily than they perhaps could have. • But, corporations tend to build the same plant in China as they would in Indiana……Pollution control is more about learning new tricks than it is about brute effort.

21. Exporting Pollution or Technology? Compliance with standards in Indonesia manufacturing (green / blue / red / black scale) Source: Wheeler and Afsah 1996

22. Adoption of Clean Technologyin Rich Countries, Open LDCs, and Closed LDCs Source: World Bank, “Greening of Industry”

23. Trade Policy and Environmental Policy • Should Countries be able to exclude products based on how they are produced? • WTO saying “maybe” for Shrimp that harm turtles • Which products??? • Generally, When should one country intervene in affairs of another?

24. Global Action for Global Spillovers • Particulates from China drift to Alaska in four days (ADN 12/7/98) • US Demand for Shrimp kills Sea Turtles in Malaysia • Russian Fleet takes half the Pollock in the Bering Sea • Carbon Dioxide warms the Arctic

25. The Global Commons • Owned by everyone • Owned by No One • Crucial part of our Human-Dominated Ecosystem • Threatened by All • Who will safeguard the global commons?

26. Four Real Challenges • Poverty • Sustainable Consumption by the Rich • Protecting the Global Commons • Effective Global Environmental Governance

27. Responses: Treaties • Montreal Protocol (1987), amended throughout 1990s • Banned production of CFCs, most other ozone-depleting chemicals in developed countries by 1996, by 2010 in LDCs • Ozone layer still declining, but expected to stabilize and return to pre-1970 state by 2030

28. Responses: Treaties • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (1973) • “Red Book” contains listings of species for which trade is restricted or prohibited • 162 signatories as of 2003

29. Treaties…. • Convention on Biological Diversity (1992-Rio Earth Summit) • Signed by 168 countries • Not signed by: • Iraq, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, a few others • Signed but not ratified by: • United States

30. Responses: Treaties • Kyoto Protocol (1997) • Developed countries negotiated an average 5% reduction of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels. • U.S. did not ratify the treaty • All Treaties must first be negotiated, then (in most countries) ratified by the legislative branch

31. Responses: Invest where Payoff is high for planet • UN Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Clean Development Mechanism • Protect the planet wherever it’s cheapest to do so, through prevention • 36 Rich countries funding $3 billion of GEF projects in poor countries (1998) • www.gefweb.org

32. Answers: End Perverse Subsides • UNEP estimates perverse subsidies – at $500 billion – $1.5 trillion per yr • Fisheries, forestry, agriculture • Promotes “too many boats chasing too few fish,” “mining the rainforest” • Puts huge pressure on the planet • WTO allows exceptions for “green” subsidies

33. Answers: Health-Led Development • Conventional wisdom: wealth causes health • New wisdom: Health causes wealth • (Bloom, Science 18 Feb 2000) • Productivity is the key link – it’s hard to work when you’re sick

34. Answers: Informed Investors and Consumers • “Know what you own” -- Peter Lynch, Fidelity Investments • AK Permanent Fund top 10 stocks??? • Microsoft, GE, Citigroup, Pfizer, American Int’l, Johnson&Johnson, ExxonMobil, Intel, Walmart, IBM • Shade-grown coffee – it sells • Home Depot now buys only certified lumber

35. Answers:Harmonization of Policies • 25 Environmental Treaties in 1960 • 250 today

36. Answers: Tradable Greenhouse Gas Permits • CO2 is not the only problem: • Methane is 25 times more potent • Choose a target level of GHG emissions for entire planet • Distribute permits to all (how?) • Free trade in GHG permits

37. Tradable Permits, cont. • Follows Pay-to-Play (Polluter Pays) Principle • Cheapest reductions (leaky gas pipelines) will occur first • Stimulates technical innovation • Start with equal numbers of permits per person? (Global Commons Institute) • Carbon is already being traded

38. Closing Thoughts

39. Globalization vs Industrialization • Industrialization was an unstoppable process – started in 1800 • The benefits were (are still) unevenly distributed • It took at least 50 years for the benefits to reach everyone, especially women • Let’s focus on making the lag time shorter for globalization

40. Take-Home Messages • Poverty and stress on our Human-Dominated Ecosystem (climate, oceans, biodiversity) are the real global environmental problems – regional pollution will largely take care of itself • Growth of poorest countries attacks poverty and helps environment without creating pollution havens • The Global Commons requires new forms of global management, such as tradable permits.

41. References Globalization, Growth and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy World Bank Policy Research Reports (2001) http://econ.worldbank.org/prr/subpage.php?sp=2477 Environment and Trade: A Handbook UN Environment Program, et al. (2000) http://iisd.ca/trade/handbook. Vanishing Borders: Protecting the Planet in the Age of Globalization. Hilary French, Worldwatch Institute. (2000) http://www.worldwatch.org/ Global Environment and Trade Study (GETS) Tufts University http://www.gets.org/

42. References Going Public On Polluters In Indonesia: Bapedal’s PROPER PROKASIH PROGRAM David Wheeler and Shakeb Afsah* World Bank Policy Research Dept (1996) http://www.worldbank.org/nipr/work_paper/proper/ Greening Industry World Bank Development Research Group (2000) http://www.worldbank.org/research/greening/ World Wildlife Fund (certification and ecolabeling programs) http://www.wwf.org Global Commons Institute http://www.gci.org.uk/main.html

43. Teaching and Learning Resources United Nations Global Environmental Facility (GEF) http://www.gefweb.org/index.html