The negative effect of industrialization on the environment has been known for years. The danger associated with lead, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and other toxic materials was discovered and several measures have been taken to stop the damage done to the environment by these agents. It will not be far fetched to blame industrialization as the main cause for the situation we humans find ourselves in today. The developed nations, being the main promoters, sponsors, and profiting bodies of industrialization, were the prominent victims. They were also the first ones to put a system in place in attempt to counteract the harm done to the environment. Government agencies such as the EPA, strict laws set to protect the environment in most Scandinavian countries, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), etc. are examples of the new environmental-friendly trend being exhibited in developed countries. The fact that such agencies and organizations work towards cleaner technologies and methods that are less stressful on the environment is an encouraging news, the issue of industrialization and the environment is taking a new spin. As the poor and developing nations are experiencing an Industrial Revolution of their own, and the spread of Globalization is being facilitated by the increasingly efficient information technology, the fight to reduce the damage done by industrialization is getting a lot harder and messier. The actual progress made by these poor nations and the resulting move towards industrialization, the exodus of ‘dirty’ industries from developed nations where the environmental laws are stricter to the poor nations where such laws do not exist or hardly reinforced (as facilitated by globalization), and the illegal export of hazardous materials to these nations are few examples that show the new challenge associated with minimizing environmental destruction that is caused by industrialization.
The developed nations dominate the industrial world, as 74% of the world’s industrial output takes place in these nations (1). Today, second and third world counties are striving to get a bigger portion of the world’s total industrial output. Between 1990 and 1995, the rates of industrial growth in China, East Asia, and South Asia were 18.1%, 15%, and 6.4%, respectively, while this number for North America was only a little above 2.5% (2). The cities of such developing countries are going through a similar phenomena as the early European nations during their transition from a mainly rural, agrarian society to an urban one. “Widespread social and economic disruption, unemployment, homelessness, pollution, and increased exposure to health hazards both at work and at home” are evident in these nations (3). The rate at which these countries are going through their Industrial Revolution is also startling. For example, Thailand and Indonesia have been undergoing similar changes in a couple of decades that took the early Europeans 200 years to accomplish.
Furthermore, the nature of these industries tends to be more polluting than the industries in the developed nations. Developing countries specialize on the conversion of raw materials to industrial products such as steel, paper, and chemicals which have more pollutants associated with them compared to the industries in the developed nations where the industries have shifted towards service sector (e.g., education, entertainment, defense, and finance) and communication sector (e.g., computers, cellular phones, and electronics), which obviously are less polluting.(4). For example, between 1990, the production of industrial chemicals annual rate of growth was 5.6 percent in developing countries, compared with 1 percent in the developed world (5).
In addition, the uneven environmental protection laws and attitudes around the world along with globalization have created ‘pollution havens’ in developing countries in Asia, South America, and Africa. The current production and communication technologies enable companies to locate their production sites anywhere in the world (location will not be solely determined by the availability of raw materials and markets locally). As a result, some companies choose developing nations as their production site where labor costs, environmental and work place standards are significantly lower. For example, in 1992, the hourly wage in Malaysia's manufacturing sector was five times lower than in the United States. For the Philippines and Mexico, it was eight to ten times lower, respectively (6). Consequently, between 1988 and 1995, multinational corporations invested nearly US$422 billion worth of new factories, supplies, and equipment in developing countries. Even though, this investment benefits the developing host country, the point in focus is this shift of industrialization from developed nations to developing nations. For example, the production of asbestos has shifted from countries like the Unites States to developing countries such as Brazil, India, and Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Republic of Korea where the consumption of this product is actually increasing (7).
The export of hazardous wastes (both legal and illegal) to developing countries is also part of this new spin associated with industrialization and its effect on the environment. The legal export of such wastes is traded through OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) to countries (obviously poor ones) for treatment and disposal. However, the U.S. EPA estimates that illegal shipments of hazardous wastes outnumbers legal ones by 8 to 1 (8). This number of illegal shipments is bound to go up as the costs of safe disposal of hazardous wastes is constantly increasing in countries such as the United States. For example, to safely dispose 1 metric ton of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), it can cost up to $2,300 (which provides companies “significant financial incentive to resort to illegal practices” (9).
In conclusion, this relatively recent shift of industrialization to developing countries either due to the fact that some poor countries are going through their version of the Industrial Revolution, or due to globalization, is shown to continue the damage industrialization is doing to the environment.
top
Footnotes
|
| |
| 1) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/002-ndus.htm |
| 2) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/002-ndus.htm |
| 3) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/002-ndus.htm |
| 4) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/002-ndus.htm |
| 5) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/impacts.htm |
| 6) http://www.wri.org/wr-98-99/002-ndus.htm |
top
