Chapter 10: Environmental Issues Study Notes
Chapter 10: Environmental Issues Multiple Choice Questions
1. Global Commons
The term "global commons" refers to the resources shared by the international community.
2. Environmental Best Practice
The internationally agreed-upon compendium of environmental "best practice" regarded as a failure but still impactful is known as Agenda 21.
3. Globalization's Impact
Globalization has stimulated the relocation of industry to the Global South, contributed to urbanization as people migrate from rural areas, and caused an increase in consumption with corresponding emissions of effluents and waste gases.
4. Framework Convention
A framework convention signals concern and establishes mechanisms for developing and sharing new scientific data related to a specific issue.
5. Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol was established for thirty-seven industrialized countries and the European community to set binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Sustainable Development
The term "sustainable development" was introduced to the public through the Brundtland Commission in 1987.
7. Recognition of Globalization Importance
The recognition of the importance of globalization and the dire state of the African continent arose during the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
8. Tragedy of the Commons
The model that explains why communities may over-exploit shared environmental resources against long-term interests is known as the "tragedy of the commons."
9. Climate Change Knowledge Community
The term describing a type of epistemic community focused on producing knowledge related to climate change is Environmental regime.
10. Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol (1987) was established to deal with the overuse of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
11. Realist Perspectives on Environmental Politics
After the Cold War, realist international relations specialists argued that:
Environmental change contributes to internal conflict and interstate war.
Realism may not adequately analyze environmental politics due to instances of international cooperation (e.g., Antarctica).
Environmental degradation was linked to many wars and conflicts of the 1990s.
State security can be linked to environmental concerns.
12. Consequences of Warfare
One of the immediate and persistent consequences of warfare is the destruction of ecosystems.
13. Herbicides as Weapons
Agent Orange, used during the Vietnam War, was one of the herbicides employed as a weapon.
14. Factors Influencing International Commitments
Academic advocates of international regime theory believe four factors explain when countries create a formal commitment in an issue area:
Security
Knowledge
Interest
Context
15. Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
The chemical with the most significant impact on stratospheric ozone depletion is CFCs.
16. Response to CFC Concerns
Developed countries, in response to developing countries' claims that CFCs were a developed world problem, allowed a grace period for developing countries and established a fund to finance alternative CFC technology.
17. International Governance Regimes
States must establish international governance regimes to regulate transboundary environmental problems due to:
Many environmental issues not being constrained by borders.
18. Cartagena Protocol Concerns
The United States and other potential GMO exporters worried that the Cartagena Protocol might be a form of protectionism in disguise.
19. Precautionary Principle
The precautionary principle asserts that where there is a likelihood of environmental damage, an activity can be banned without needing definitive scientific proof.
20. Principle 21
Principle 21 states that sovereignty over national resources comes with state responsibility for external pollution.
21. State-based Policies
The two varieties of state-based policies include structural mandates and mechanistic regulations.
22. Emissions Trading Market
Emissions trading creates a market based upon the right to buy and sell carbon emissions.
23. Mechanisms for Emissions Credits
The mechanism whereby a developed country receives credits against its emissions reduction target by financing projects in another developed country is called Joint Implementation.
24. Kyoto Protocol Acceptance Challenges
The acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol faced challenges because it benefitted developing countries over developed ones.
25. Structural Division in Climate Cooperation
A prominent structural division hindering cooperative climate change solutions is the division between the Global North and Global South.
26. Countries Investing in Carbon-Reduction
China has invested heavily in carbon-reduction projects elsewhere in the world.
27. Emissions from Least Developed Nations
The thirty-five least developed nations emit virtually 0% and account for nearly 29% of the world’s population.
28. Free Rider Problem
When some countries cut costs and benefit from another's environmental actions, this is referred to as the free rider problem.
29. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities
A key principle of the climate change regime in the 1992 UNFCCC is known as common but differentiated responsibilities, requiring all nations to acknowledge their share of responsibility for the changing climate.
30. Torrey Canyon Disaster
The Torrey Canyon disaster occurred in 1967 and drew attention to the danger of oil tanker wrecks.
Essay Question
Choose one issue area discussed in class (Global Security/Military Power/Terrorism, Human Rights/Security, Global Trade and Finance, Poverty/Development/Hunger, or the Environment) and identify three ways globalization has impacted that issue area in three to five paragraphs.