Environmental Dumping Essay

The natural resources that a country controls are integral factors in one’s growth and success. If these natural resources are translated into something useful and are properly appropriated while being maintained in a healthy state, can bring in so much revenues and benefits to a country. Thus, it is of great importance that nation’s leaders take massive measures of protecting the natural resources that their countries possess. More so, international leaders should make it a point that the awareness for harnessing sound environmental policies is being enforced. This however, if not done, might impede the growth not only of a certain country’s national economy, but may turn in international economic losses as well. However, given this considerably enormous importance that the environment plays in a nation’s success, more often than not it is one of the most neglected areas in a country’s development. The past two decades, the calls for environmental justice grew louder and louder. Most of the injustices done against natural resources are mostly hastened by human’s aggressions. In search for various ways of generating economic prosperity, humans, in particular nation’s leaders have overlooked the necessity to maintain proper environmental precautions that shall keep natural resources in a fine state (Adeola, 2000, p. 687). In a globalized world wherein the human consumption is reaching far end level in all countries especially the more advanced ones, international waste dumping poses a great problem. More than the issue of high rate consumption there is, dumping of wastes has been more critical than ever. It reaches far more issues in the aspect of environmental justice and human rights. The issue of environmental justice and human rights are interconnected. Leaders of more advanced and powerful nations have used their superiority to manipulate international policies related to environmental issues in such a way that they get the upper hand and the benefits from the weaker states’ natural resources. In most cases, environmental policies are maneuvered in such a way that it rather serves as genocidal acts to legally drive away minority groups so that their natural resources and lands may be appropriated in accordance to the wants and wishes of wealthy nations (Adeola, 2000, p. 687). Accordingly, given that industrialized nations have a greater share in the world consumption, hence they should be the first entities who are ought to be responsible for cleaning their wastes. But nonetheless, weak nations suffer the blunder of having to become dumpsites for advanced countries against their will. With the fact that advanced countries can manipulate rules to satisfy their needs, weak countries can be legally forced to receive industrial wastes from first world countries (Adeola, 2000, pp. 688-689). Powerful nations have seized the privilege of gaining economic benefits, while they have successfully and painstakingly avoided the responsibility for their own wastes (Adeola, 2000, pp. 688-689). Strong countries would usually use their influence over the international economic arena to forcefully use other countries as dumpsites of the waste generated in industrialized nations. And given that most of the countries worldwide have adhered to the tenets of globalization, most of the poor nations voluntarily submitted to the idea that they have to willfully succumb to the calls of more industrialized nations, thus accepting the idea to serve as industrial dumpsites. Thus giving weak nations the brunt of bearing the dismal effect for their environment and natural resources, that at most times have not been generated int heir countries. Though there are certain conventions/policies which have been set up to control this alarming irresponsible dumping of wastes, still, there are blunders that can be pointed out. In addition to waste dumping, another issue that should worry the international community is the trading of recyclable wastes. Although the Basel Convention is bound to formulate policies geared towards setting a standard on trading of wastes, more often than not, these policies favor richer nations. In effect, the Basel Convention has not been so successful in regulating waste trades. The definitions that it has set out are vague and often do not coincide with the nation’s own set of definitions. For example, a hazardous waste according to the Basel Convention may not be considered hazardous for a particular country, therefore completely not abiding with it. Thus, these inconsistencies make these definitions and policies unfit for use (Alter, 1994, pp. 109-110). In addition, different countries have opposed the Basel Convention to its use arguing that the possible banning of waste trade can harm their economy. Most of the countries, both the developed and developing nations, that halting the trade will serve grave effects on their economy. First, developed nations could lose an ample amount of economic profits if they lose the chance of dumping their wastes on poorer countries. And on the other hand, the claim of less developed nations that they can only afford second hand materials to be used in their industries, rather than generating raw materials of their own which are more extravagant to produce (Alter, 1994, pp. 111-112). Moreover, recent data and statistics are able to show the manner at which waste dumping has been proven to serve distinct harsh effects on the economy, health and well being of the nations that have been brought up to serve as dump sites. This matter has put the issue of social inequity in the light. The problem of the distribution of environmental hazards has been lopsidedly pushed towards the weaker nations, whilst leaving richer nations away from the problem that they have created. Given the ill conditions of their consumption patterns – their poor economic abilities render the people residing in such area the tendency to consume less than the population in rich countries – they bear the brunt of having to accommodate industrial wastes which have been ironically not produced and consumed within their countries (Anderton, 1994, pp. 29-248). Thus, in such matters, cleaning your own mess does not count. Racism and the logic of whoever stays stronger gain the upper hand (Anderton, 1994, pp. 29-248). Thus, the more powerful a state can be, the easier they can get to bend laws against the will of weaker nations and their inhabitants not mindful of the harmful effects it might render them. Much of the contradiction and irony lie in the fact that as much as human beings benefit largely from the blessings that the environment and its natural resources has bestowed upon them, humans are the first to be blamed from the hastening process of its depletion. More than an issue of high consumption in industrialized nations, the powerful leaders of the world have not devised a way towards proper disposal of their wastes. Industrial wastes have been dumped haphazardly, thus contaminating the environment and gravely affect natural resources. Environmental injustice is even more highlighted with the fact that the country who generates more wastes, is generally the country who gets away with it by dumping their wastes somewhere else as a form of a â€Å"recyclable wastes† which in any way generate more environment toxins. In the guise of economic prosperity and austerity measures, environment suffers a lot. Rich countries dump industrial toxins as a form of generating more profit for trading their wastes. While developing and poor countries accept these wastes and use scrap materials because they are cheaper, unmindful of the harmful emissions they may release that can endanger their environment. Thus, though high-end consumption in industrialized countries may pose a threat to the environment, irresponsible dumping of the wastes generated through these consumptions serve more dangerous as the former. And if the international community does not make regulations on proper disposal of these wastes, environment is off to suffer gravely than ever. References Adeola, Francis. January 2000. Cross-National Environmental Injustice and Human Rights Issues. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 43 No. 4. Alter, Harvey. August 1994. Controlling International Trade in Wastes. Anderton, Douglas. et al. May 1994. Environmental Equity: The Demographics of Dumping. Demography. Vol. 31, No. 2.