Neo-Liberalism and Global Environmental Governance Essay

Neo-Liberalism and Global Environmental Governance - Essay Example Human activities whether political, economic, or social have to be managed as subsets of ecosystems and the environment. Environmental governance involves the government, business society, and the civil society and necessitates the incorporation of alternative governing systems such as the watershed based management (Kutting, 2004). The global community has proven incapable of meeting these requirements, which has led to environmental degradation and the emergence of new environmental problems. The international community is experiencing several problems due to globalization. Globalization has led to the improvement of the logistic systems, changes in business and demographic trends and rapid technological progress. This process, however, has led to social and environmental marginalization, widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and increasing the gap between information and technology in the rich and poor countries and social groups. Sustainable development calls for the go vernance of globalization by applying international laws, civil sector domain, and the private sector. The global community has participated in several summits for sustainable development in order to address these issues. ... Resource depletion and environmental degradation could undermine the economy and have to be addressed by all sector actors. Neoliberal institutions argue that international institutions have considerable power to mobilize policymaking towards sustainable environmental governance. Some actors argue that a body high up in the UN hierarchy has to be established in to deal with global environmental and developmental problems. This body would have a mandate and funds to coordinate and centralize environmental and developmental problems within the UN. Economic governance was developed by the UN to promote economic prosperity. The World Bank was established to lend capital to governments for development and poverty alleviation. The GATT agreement promoted global prosperity through the establishment of free markets. The World Bank together with donor governments promoted the idea of liberal market themes, which would also govern resource allocation. UNEP has enacted several laws in the areas of marine pollution, disposal of hazardous wastes, and depletion of the ozone layer. This body linked development and environmental depletion, which forced developed nations to reduce its budgetary allocation. The developed framework has established several institutions in various countries that deal with environmental issues. Developed nations have in the past used environmental laws to limit innovation, intellectual property protection, and macroeconomic management in developing countries. Several developing countries have acquired development loans from the World Bank and other developed nations. These loans have increased the national debt of these countries, making poverty levels unmanageable. These governments spend most