GO131:International Relations

Professor Walter HatchColby College

Environment, Population, Health

Global Interdependence

An obvious benefit: growing trade

An obvious cost: negative spillovers

Example: Acid rain

Example: Water pollution

Tragedy of the Commons

Public good (example: open pasture)

How to maintain the public good?

The Global Commons: Oceans, Space

Approaches to the Problem

Liberal: establishing regimes via interstate bargaining

Revolutionary: challenging capitalism by restricting growth

Background

1972: first UN conference on international environmental problems and policies. Stockholm, Sweden.

1982: second UN conference. Nairobi, Kenya.

1992: third UN conference (and first “Earth Summit”). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2002: fourth UN Conference (second “Earth Summit”). Johannesburg, South Africa.

Case One: Global Warming

Global temperatures on riseCause: emissions from burning of fossil fuelsResult: carbon dioxide, methane gas, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and nitrous oxide.“Greenhouse gases” act like glass in a greenhouse

Greenhouse Gases

Climate Change

Real-Life Effects

Human health

Water supplies

Ecosystem

One visible example

States as Problem-Makers

CO2 emissions, 1995

Rest of the World35%

USA21%

China15%

EU14%

Russia6%India

5%

Japan4%

1,890MtC

1,349MtC

1,286MtC

524MtC

501MtC

364MtC

Obstacles to a Solution

Domestically, political costs are high: reduced profits, fewer jobs

Internationally, political costs are high

States as Problem-Solvers

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Rio 1992)Kyoto Protocol (1997)

Binding Target: To reduce emissions in industrialized countries

• 5% below 1992 levels by 2012

Set national ceilingsComplicated market mechanismGive break to developing countries (for now)

Kyoto without the U.S.

Treaty needed support from states totaling 55% of global emissions

With U.S. opting out (36%), progress stalled

But protocol took effect anyway in 2005Thanks to Russia

Case Two: Ozone Depletion

Ozone layer in the atmosphere shields earth from harmful ultra-violet rays

Chemicals (primarily CFCs used in refrigeration and aerosol spray) float into the stratosphere

The Ozone Hole

1988 2000

Real-life Effects

Higher rates of skin cancer

Threat to vegetation, and thus crop yields

Eco-system

Obstacles to a Solution

Another collective action problem involving a public good

Short-term costs for long-term benefit

Free-riders gain by allowing the use of CFCs

States as Problem-Solvers

US (1978) unilaterally banned the use of CFC propellants in spray cans

Canada, Norway, Sweden followed

From Unilateral to Multilateral

The Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985)

The Montreal Protocol (1987)Reduce production of CFCs by 50% by 1998

London Amendments (1990)Eliminate CFCs by 2000 (later: by 1995)

A Relative Success

Case Three: Biodiversity

When species become extinct, they stay extinct

More than 15,000 species of animal and plant species are now threatened

CostsEcosystem (loss of microorganisms -> loss of arable land)

Hurts pharmaceutical industry

Jeopardizes food supply

Global Efforts

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (1973)Treaty on Biodiversity (1992)

Signatories agree to protect habitatWealthy states pay poor states for rights to use products extracted from rare species in protected habitatsU.S. opted out (along with nine other small countries)

Marine Mammals

InternationalWhaling Commission

Established in 1946 to regulate whaling

Became conservation agency, setting quotas for hunting certain whales

Voluntary participationNorway and Japan continue whaling

Inter-AmericanTropical Tuna Commission

Established in 1950 to regulate tuna fishing industry

Became an agency to help conserve dolphins

Agreement on international dolphin conservation (1999)

Rain Forests

The earth’s lungs

Concentrated in global south (Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar)

ODA to encourage preservation

“debt for nature” swaps

Oceans

Global commons70 percent of earth’s surface

Problem of free-ridingDrift nets

EnclosureUNCLOS

UNCLOS

A decade of treaty negotiations (1973-1982)

Rules on territorial waters

US refused to sign until 1994

Antarctica

A common resource

Antarctic Treaty (1959)

Global Population

Out of Control?

From 6.2 billion today to as much as 8 billion in 2025

75 million new people each year

Global south will contribute 97 percent of this population growth

Can economic growth be sustained?

Exhausting Mother Earth’s “carrying capacity”

Agenda 21 (1992)

Commission on Sustainable Development (1992)

HIV/AIDS

Global South

Southern AfricaSwaziland: 38.8 percent of the adult population

Life Expectancy:“Demographic fatigue?”

Botswana: from 61 years in 1990 to 44 in 1999 to 39.7 in 2004

Zambia: 32.4 years

Turning it Around

Other diseases

Tuberculosis: 1.5 million die each year

Malaria: Up to 1.5 million die each year

Water Shortages

1.1 billion people now lack daily access to clean drinking waterWASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for All)