The role multinationals play in Irish and global trade The global environmental issues of global...

The role multinationals play in Irish and global trade The role multinationals play in Irish and global trade

The global environmental issues of global warming,The global environmental issues of global warming,

deforestation and desertification deforestation and desertification

Asylum seeker and refugee issues in Europe Asylum seeker and refugee issues in Europe

7 7 Interdependent Global EconomyInterdependent Global Economy7 7 Interdependent Global EconomyInterdependent Global Economy

Multinationals

Directly invest in many countries by building factories and by employing workers

78,000 world wide Account for over 10% of global GDP Responsible for approximately one third of global exports

Chapter 7: Interdependent Global Economy


Multinationals (continued)

Employ an estimated 3% of the global workforce Important source of employment, export trade and economic

growth in many countries Economic difficulties can result if decide to move elsewhere Positive and negative economic impact

Irish trade and Multinationals

Irish government encouraged foreign-owned companies to establish operations in Ireland

Major source of employment Accounts for the majority of Irish exports Industrial Development Agency (IDA) responsible for the attraction and

development of foreign investment in Ireland Crucial role in Irish economy



Irish trade and Multinationals (continued)

IDA companies contributed €19 billion in direct expenditure to the economy while exports from IDA client companies account for over 70% of all Ireland’s exports

Information and Communications Technologies Medical Technologies Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology International Financial and Business Services


Irish trade and Multinationals (continued)

Seven of the world’s top ten information and communications technology companies operate in Ireland

Fifteen of the top twenty-five global companies involved in medical technology have a manufacturing base

Nine of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies are located here Irish economy is especially influenced by the global trading patterns in

certain economic activities

Multinational computer firm Employs over 100,000 people worldwide in more than 50 different countries

Dell in Ireland Limerick from 1989 2009 employed nearly 3,000 mostly assembly-line workers in Limerick 1,500 staff in the Dublin region involved in sales, marketing and support for

customers across Europe Contributed about 5 per cent to

Ireland's GDP by 2009


Multinationals and Ireland case study: Dell Inc.

Dell in Ireland (continued)

January 2009 announced that it was cutting 1,900 jobs in its Limerick operation

Transferred entire Irish production to a new plant in Lodz, Poland Labour costs in Poland were cheaper – workers in Lodz earn €3 an

hour compared with between €10 and €14 an hour in Ireland The Polish government had invested €52.7 million into providing new

facilities for Dell at its new plant in Lodz


Multinationals and China Case Study: The Textile Industry

Since 1995 China has been the largest exporter of textiles in the world Important sector of China’s economy Today 7.6% of China’s total trade volume is accounted for by textiles Growth has given rise to significant environmental concerns


Multinationals and Africa Case Study: The Tea Trade

Tea is a crucial commodity to a number of African countries Accounts for as much as 30% of Malawi’s foreign exchange In Rwanda, it is responsible for around 15% of its total exports In Kenya, the world’s leading exporter of tea, 10% of the population

are employed by the tea sector Most tea workers and farmers in Africa receive low and insecure

incomes Inappropriate laws and policies and poor farming practices Small holder farmers receive only a fraction of the price their produce

fetches at auction


Scientists have measured increases in global average air and ocean temperatures

The temperature increase is global but is greater at higher northern latitudes

Global average sea level rose at an average rate of about 8.1 mm per year from 1993 to 2003

Caused by the melting of glaciers, ice caps and polar ice sheets


Global environmental issues – Global Warming

The Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming and Climate Change

Causing climate change Precipitation declined in the Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and

parts of southern Asia Rise in ocean levels has resulted in a greater threat of flooding in low-lying

areas like Bangladesh Humans have caused climate change through their use of greenhouse gases

(GHGs) Created a global greenhouse effect –

trap heat from escaping back into the atmosphere


Solving Global Warming

Limit our use of greenhouse gases Kyoto Protocol – reduce emissions to below the 1990 level of emissions by

the years 2008 – 2012 Many countries believe that to develop they will have to industrialise – and

use more fossil fuels China/India did not sign the Kyoto protocol USA did not sign either in part because of the refusal of China and India to

commit to the reductions


Global environmental issues – Deforestation

Removal of the tree cover below a certain limit and converting the land to another use

Forests sustain the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally

Store more than one trillion tonnes of carbon and support a rich biodiversity

About 13 million hectares of forests are converted to other land uses every year

Result of the interdependent nature of the global economy


The Amazon Rainforest – Deforestation and the interdependent global

economy

Largest rainforest in the world, 800 million hectares Over the past 40 years, about a fifth of Brazil’s Amazon

rainforest has been deforested Cattle industry has been a major contributor to the

deforestation of Amazon rainforest


Global environmental issues – Desertification

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid (dryland) areas Results from various factors including climatic variations and human activities Dry lands cover up to 41.3% of the world’s land surface

Causes of desertification

Climatic – low soil moisture, changing rainfall patterns and evaporation levels Indirect causes are mostly

human and include poverty, over-exploitation of the land, and the local political situation


Global environmental issues – Desertification

The international dimension of desertification

Global Warming – Drylands store approximately 46% of the global carbon share

Internal and cross border migration – link between dryland degradation and food production. Such pressures can result in massive migration flows


Social and political decisions in an interdependent global economy

Asylum seekers and refugees Asylum seekers are people who look to live in another country because of fear

of persecution in their own country Movement of asylum seekers creates significant global migration patterns Impact on source and destination countries Human rights issues can also develop around the migration of asylum seekers

The EU and asylum Sharp decrease in the number of asylum applicants in the EU


Asylum applications in France

Overall decline in asylum applications in the EU since 2002, not the experience of every EU country

2010 there were 47,790 applications received for asylum in France Largest number of applications received by any EU country 13 per cent increase over 2009 (42,100 claims)


Ireland and Asylum seekers

In 1992 there were just 92 applications for asylum in Ireland In 2009 approximately 2,000 people applied for asylum The top five applicant countries for 2010 accounted for 49.3% of applications Nigeria 20% of all applicants China (11.8%) Pakistan (10.3%) Democratic Republic of Congo (3.7%) Afghanistan (3.6%) Currently (2011) 9,107 refugees in Ireland


Greek detention centres 1,000 reception places available for asylum-seekers 10,273 asylum applications were lodged in 2010. Hold detainees in conditions that do not comply with

international standards Detain unaccompanied children


Social and political decisions in an interdependent global economy – Human rights issues

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