Vulnerability of environmental systems to globalization

Nature

The vulnerability of environmental systems to globalization refers to the increased susceptibility of ecosystems and natural resources to degradation due to global economic integration, trade, and cultural exchange. Globalization accelerates resource extraction, pollution, and habitat loss, often outpacing local environmental protections. It can disrupt traditional land use, introduce invasive species, and intensify climate change impacts. These pressures threaten biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the resilience of natural systems, particularly in regions with weak governance or limited adaptive capacity. Addressing this problem requires international cooperation, sustainable development policies, and strengthened environmental regulations to mitigate adverse effects on global ecosystems.

Background

The vulnerability of environmental systems to globalization emerged as a global concern in the late 20th century, as rapid economic integration and transnational trade exposed ecosystems to unprecedented pressures. Landmark reports in the 1990s, such as the UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook, highlighted how global supply chains, resource extraction, and pollution transcended borders, intensifying ecosystem fragility. Since then, international forums have increasingly recognized the complex interplay between globalization and environmental degradation.

Incidence

By 1997, 44 percent of the original natural habitats of Indonesia were converted to other uses, and even larger portions of its lowland tropical rain forests were lost. Several key coral reefs were decimated by dynamite and cyanide fishing. Indonesia had more types of animal threatened with extinction (600) than any country in the world. All the rivers in Jakarta were dead, choked by acids, alcohol and oils, and a thick smog cloud enveloped the city. Environmental degradation, due to mining in outer Java islands and quarrying for building materials in Java, was constantly increasing, exposing Indonesians to erosions, forest fires the size of Belgium and landslides.

Claim

The developed, northern nations, who have been polluting for years, have no right to lecture Indonesians, now that they are trying to develop, too.

It is hard not to feel a sense of a tragedy in the making, and those Indonesians who have reached an income and education level where they can afford to think about the environment share this sense of being overwhelmed by global capitalism.

For a developing country like Indonesia, plugging into the global market often means a brutal ultimatum: Jobs or trees? You can't have both. This is globalization's dark side. There is a problem with unemployment, so any developer who can sell promises of employment will get support. Environmentalists get labeled as against employment and get treated as outsiders.

In developing countries environmental laws are rarely enforced and polluters can easily bribe inspectors.

Counter-claim

The same growth that is polluting its environment is also producing a middle class with an environmental awareness, as happened in the West. The question is whether that middle class reaches critical mass before the environmental degradation does.