Assess The Positive And Negative Effects Of Globalisation On People And The Environment

Examine the positive and negative effects of globalisation on people and the environment.

The international monetary fund (IMF) defines globalisation as ‘the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross border transactions in goods and services, freer international capital flows and more rapid wide spread diffusion of technology. Globalisation can only work if a country embraces it. The world is divided in 2 at the moment. The ‘core’ and the ‘periphery’. It appears that countries who are in the ‘core’ are ‘switched on’ and have prospered, the majority of whom have embraced globalisation, whereas those in the ‘periphery’ are ‘switched off’ and have not prospered and therefore the
It seems that there are social and environmental advantages and disadvantages of globalisation. To start with the positives. According to Norberg, “the diffusion of globalisation in the last decades has lowered poverty rates and created opportunities for individuals all over the world. It effects people’s social condition as living standards and life expectancy has risen in most places. World hunger, infant mortality and inequality have diminished. This is because of economic and technological development, a result of free trade. We can see from this that globalisation is improving people’s lives. It only works if the whole country embraces globalisation and to show this in 1953 Taiwan and Kenya were given exactly the same amount of money and both were equally as poor as each other at the time. Taiwan embraced globalisation whilst Kenya threw its money away. 50 years later, Taiwan has become 20 times richer than Kenya. The people of Taiwan now have a better quality of
The overuse of natural resources due to increased demand and also the removal of ecosystems due to population growth have had a large negative impact on the environment. Extensive deforestation has occurred world-wide with the logging industry being fuelled by the need for disposable products. 11 million acres a year are cut for commercial and property industries. In Australia 90% of native forest wood are exported, destroying Australia’s natural heritage. About one half of the forests that covered the Earth are gone. Each year, another 16 million hectares disappear. Deforestation is expanding and accelerating into the remaining areas of undisturbed forest. In Indonesia, powerful families allied with the government rulers control large and highly valuable timber concessions. These forests are being rapidly logged, at enormous