COMMENTARY: CONTINENTAL COLLISION - REFLECTIONS ON GLOBALISATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Geologists tell us that the earth's continents were once joined in a single land mass. We can imagine that many species of plant and animal ranged widely across the super-continent. When the continents that we now inhabit began to move apart, we can likewise imagine that the separation of different populations led eventually to the evolution of distinct species. The unique flora and fauna of the world's islands is eloquent testament to the power of separation.

Suppose that human societies existed in that remote time, with much more limited means for travel and communication than we enjoy today. We can imagine that a long physical separation due to continental drift would likewise lead to the emergence of diverse human communities, with different languages, cultures, religions, political and economic institutions. In fact, that is more-or-less what actually occurred, as large human populations were separated for millennia by oceans, mountains and deserts, combined with a lack of modern communications and transport technology.

So what would happen if the continents were suddenly brought together again? Plant and animal species that had evolved separately would spread out and compete. Some species might disappear while new hybrids would emerge. The process might be chaotic and destructive but it would also be dynamic and creative.

Colliding continents may be a melodramatic metaphor for globalisation, but it may convey some sense of the scope and scale of change that we are undergoing or, should I say, the change that we are perpetrating upon ourselves.

What happens when long-separate human societies are brought suddenly together is not so different. Recent history offers a sad record of human conflict arising from the so-called "clash of civilizations", although it also records new forms of cooperation, hybridisation and innovation that have emerged from social interaction.

"Globalisation" is short-hand for global integration. Most people focus on the economic dimension -- namely increasing international trade and investment -- but globalisation includes many other forms of integration: social, cultural, linguistic, political, technical and also environmental.

The wide scope of globalisation naturally evokes interest from many quarters.

The trade and investment community wants to make sure that globalisation's promise of market access and non-discrimination is fulfilled.

The development community wants to ensure that the poorest countries benefit from globalisation, and that no one is left behind.

Labour unions are concerned that the process of globalisation should not result in a dilution of labour standards, or slow progress towards fair and equal treatment of workers -- what some people have called "social dumping".

And of course the environmental community wants to ensure that globalisation does not result in a "race to the bottom" -- as countries compete to attract or retain industry and jobs by lowering environmental protections. In addition, environmentalists have many other concerns about globalisation, such as:

- The spread of human disease and invasive alien species, through increased travel and trade. The West Nile virus has spread throughout the United States, just a few years after appearing on the East Coast in 1999. The costs of invasive alien species are not well documented but are estimated at billions of dollars a year from pests and disease, with some estimates as high as 5 percent of global economic output lost (Pimental et al. 2001).

- The integration of agricultural markets and the adoption of energy and chemical-intensive technologies. While this has improved food security, it has also resulted in ecological simplification. Farmers around the world increasingly rely on the same few crops and cultivars, while many thousands of traditional local varieties have all but disappeared. Putting all our agricultural eggs in so few baskets puts us all at risk in the event of pest or disease outbreaks.

- The rapid expansion of trade in biological resources. Globalisation has been very effective at boosting demand and increasing the flow of goods and services. Unfortunately, our governance systems are no match for markets (or the mafia). In the case of forests, for example, trade booms have frequently led to ecological busts, as high-value timber is harvested, often illegally, and sold to the highest bidder with no consideration of long-term sustainability.

- New, global environmental challenges have emerged which require a global response. Climate change is the best-known example but other issues include over-exploitation of marine fisheries, nitrogen deposition, persistent pollutants, etc. Most of these problems are getting worse, fast, with increasingly obvious consequences for human populations.

The problem, of course, is that our institutions have not kept pace with the problems we have created for ourselves. Global cooperation on environmental management is not exactly the best advertisement for the human race!

Looking on the bright side, globalisation has engendered real strengths that we can bring to bear on global environmental challenges. For example:

- Communication is pretty much instantaneous now -- if anyone finds a solution, we'll all hear about it quickly.

- Industrial production and distribution is increasingly integrated at a global scale -- if we really need to produce something -- a vaccine for bird flu, for example -- we can do it on a massive scale and get products to people everywhere more quickly than ever.

- Science has gone global. Basic breakthroughs and new applications are shared and copied with increasing speed. Although technical expertise is unevenly spread around the world, and concerns about intellectual property still impede the flow of products and information, the fact remains that science is increasingly a global endeavour, no longer the preserve of a tiny elite in a handful of rich countries.

- Public awareness of global environmental problems is far better than it was (perhaps partly because the problems themselves are worse). More importantly, public expectations of politicians and the business community with respect to the environment have also risen, making it more difficult to continue with narrow-minded or self-serving policies.

Globalisation is not going to stop and wait for us to get our act together. The immense reservoir of under-employed humanity in China and India alone is sufficient to power the engine of global economic integration and market growth for decades to come (provided of course that politicians and their electorates continue to support the process of poverty reduction through trade).

The real question is what the environmental community can do to influence the process of globalisation in ways that support rather than undermine sustainable development. Some priorities include:

- Strengthen the capacity of developing countries to anticipate the impacts of globalisation on their environments, and respond in a timely fashion;

- Strengthen the capacity of international institutions to assess and address new global environmental challenges, such as invasive alien species, climate change, over-fishing on the high seas, etc.

- Increase public awareness of global environmental problems but also practical solutions that work with the logic of globalisation rather than against it;

- Build consensus within the scientific community on global environmental priorities and effective policy responses; and

- Engage and enlist the full power of business to support the greening of globalisation.

By Joshua Bishop, IUCN