COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
By
BOI BAINDU ROBIN

INTRODUCTION
Environmental problems have become key political discourse among development practitioners, World leaders and scientists since the United Nations conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm (1972) and the earth summit on Environment and Development held in Rio (1992). During these conferences, Environmental issues affecting developed and developing countries were identified and escalated for scientific and political discussions at a Global level.
Generally, though developed countries and third-world nations are both victims and perpetuators of global environmental problems, it would be necessary to know whether there are profound differences between the ways each contributes to and are affected by such degradation. It is however fair to say that there exist profound differences between industrialized countries and developing countries in terms of their standard of living, consumption patterns, institutional capacity, and environmental sensitivity.

This paper looks at whether the environmental issues facing developing countries are essentially the same as those facing developed industrial countries; or whether there are substantial differences between the nature of environmental issues and the appropriate policy responses for these two country groupings. In the quest to achieve this objective this paper would be divided into four sections. Section 1 introduces the concept. Section 2 discusses the environmental problems and its causes in developing countries. In section 3 the environmental problems and its causes in developed countries are also discussed. Section 4 outlines the appropriate policy approached for these two countries groupings and finally, the last sections makes relevant conclusions on the issues discussed.


Environmental Problems in Developing countries

The basic comforts of life that are distinctive of industrialized societies are in scarcely distributed in the developing countries. These amenities such as modern houses, good roads, good health and sanitation, continuous power and water supply, adequate staple foods and wages, are basic human needs that are in short supply in third world countries. In struggling to acquire these basic facilities and in other to raise their standard of living with the limited resources available, developing countries in the interim destroy their environment.

Environmental problems in developing countries are mainly concern with pollution and natural resource degradation which has become an obstacle to economic development. There has been a growing opinion on the issue that population increase and poverty is the key explanation for the occurrence of environmental problems in developing countries. Jalal (1993), strongly support this view in his argument, that environmental degradation, rapid population growth and stagnant production are closely linked with the growing acute poverty in many developing countries. This was also supported by Todaro and Smith (2009) stating that because of ignorance or economic necessity, communities may inadvertently destroy or exhaust the resources on which they depend on for their survival. In an effort to discuss the environmental problems facing developing countries the issue of population growth, economic activity and consumption patterns is needed to be recognised as the fundamental reasons in this discuss.

Population Growth

The population of developing countries is seen to be growing at an alarming rate over the last decades. This increase in population growth rate has brought about extensive pressure on the marginal land available. It has led to the scarcity and overuse of land (especially arable land), water, and other crucial natural resources in the bid of satisfying human needs.

Economic Activity

Additionally, the economic activities of developing countries are mainly agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and mining. They embark on these economic activities for consumption purposes and also as a source of income for individuals and the economy as a whole. Because of the increase unsustainable exploitation of these resources it has resulted to serious environmental problems in developing countries.

Consumption Pattern

Moreover, the consumption pattern of developing countries is largely subsistence. They primarily consume raw products rather than manufactured once as in the case of developed countries. This explains that developing countries mainly use the environment (land and water) for their survival.

The occurrence of environmental problems is stemming from the factors highlighted above. These problems are deforestation, land degradation, water pollution and air pollution all been the product of starvation, hunger, ill health and poverty.

Land Degradation

In other to meet the expanding food need of the growing population in developing countries, developing countries would have to increase their productivity by using more land for agricultural purposes. However, agriculture in these regions are not highly mechanised hence resort to crude methods such as slash and bush burn agriculture which resultantly leads to the destroying of reserved land with large acres of land been exposed to erosion and depletion of volatile soil nutrients.
The environmental problems caused by crude farm practices destroy the plant cover that protects the soil from erosion. The top soil may be blown or wash away by heavy wind or water further reducing the land productivity.

Additionally, in animal husbandry the overgrazing of land by cattle rearing give rise to the loss of productive farm lands hence reduces productivity. It is also often the case that the manner of grazing animals is unproductively done which renders a large amount of land infertile. The effect of land degradation reduces the productivity of the land and also result to the persistent decline in local food production which may eventually lead to desertification and hence starvation. Todaro and Smith (2009) states that 60% of deforestation is said to be done by small farmers.

In developing countries, the exploitation of natural resources has been unsustainable and occurred in a manner that often bypasses the poor and marginalised. Mining is one of the major economic activities for some developing countries which have brought about huge land degradation. In Sierra Leone, the mining of Rutile and Diamond has resulted to a massive loss of land in East and South regions of the country. As a consequence of the unsustainable use of land the productivity of agricultural crops is undermined this eventually terminates into hunger and starvation in these societies.

Deforestation

In most developing countries, firewood and charcoal is used as the main source of fuel which has consequently led to the massive cutting of trees. The outcome in the growing demand of these resources has led to the sale of wood and charcoal which has grown to be a major economic activity and a means of livelihoods for the poor and marginalised. Furthermore, the massive urbanisation experienced by developing countries has resulted in the use of reserve land for the construction of houses.

The heavy exploitation of the forests for economically valuable timber trees and for wildlife has also led to an irreplaceable loss of natural resources and of genetic material that otherwise might be used in the future to improve the breed of native cultivated crops and domesticated livestock. It is said that trees help mitigate the destructive impact of heavy winds, rain, and drought by the sun. The cutting down of trees thus increasingly exposes the soil to these destructions which result in the washing away of the top soil through erosion hence reducing the soil nutrients and productivity. It also results in the pollution of drinking water since these soil and chemicals washed away are deposited in them. It is estimated that deforestation alone accounts for roughly 25% of carbon dioxide emission world wide since trees consumed carbon dioxide and emit oxygen during photosynthesis makes trees a very important mechanism in the ecosystem (Todaro and Smith 2009).

The loss of vegetation reduces the rate at which ground water is replenished. The subsequent drop in water level leads to the death of plants and young trees which causes drought, landslides and flooding (Todaro and Smith, 2009). Moreover, the occurrence of drought may cause the fishes to die and hence extinct their species. Additionally the use of dynamite in fishing would also destroy and extinct the fishes in the water.

Air Pollution

In developing countries, due to congestion, vehicular, stove and industrial emission of green house gases contributes to health hazards and global warming. High levels of lead primarily for vehicle emissions have been indentified as the greatest environmental danger in cities in developing countries Estimates for Bangkok suggests that the average child lost four or more IQ points by the age of seven because of the exposure to lead (Meier and Rauch, 2005). Indoor air pollution caused by smoke and fumes from wood, straw and dung pose much higher health risk than any out door pollution. Women and children are seen to suffer the most from this form of pollution and affect the health commensurate to smoking several packs of cigarette.


Improper Sanitation and poor waste management

The growing population in urban areas with the limited supply of health care services such as water, toilets, and waste disposal facilities has account for the high morbidity and mortality in most developing countries. Most urban households dispose of refuse by dumping on roadsides, in drainages or heaping it in backyards and allowing it to rot. The garbage eventually finds its way to the seashores, or rivers causing marine and ground water pollution.

Refuse disposal from houses and its collection from the street dumps has caused environmental stress to city dwellers in developing countries .This problem of refuse disposal and collection has become more serious due to the increased population pressure and the inadequacy of resources to cope with the problem of collection. The main cause of this has been inadequate vehicles and hired manpower to remove the daily build up of refuse that accumulates and overspills into gutters, thereby serving as breeding grounds for rodents, cockroaches, mosquitoes and other insects which result malaria, sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, and river blindness.

The major challenge of these environmental problems caused is that of health related hazards and the treats of global warming. Many people living in developing countries especially the poor are seen to be highly vulnerable to these prevailing diseases and outcomes of environmental problems.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Environmental problem of concern in developed countries are quite different form those in developing countries. Unlike developing countries, environmental problems facing developed countries are caused by their excessive discharge of hazardous substances, through high rate industrialisation which affect not only themselves but also their neighbours, thus ultimately threaten other regions of the world. Moreover, misguided industrial development and over-consumption by developed countries are the main causes of the greenhouse effect. Notwithstanding however a substantial part of developed countries consumption is seen to be uneconomical. Food production in developed countries through large-scale mechanized systems, involves the use of pesticides and fertilizers which causes air pollution. These pesticides and fertilizer emit dangerous gases in the air that affects human health.

It is interesting to note that while developed countries request that developing countries preserve their forest, developed countries were seen to deplete their own stands of forest in the process of industrialisation which makes such request hypocritical (Kingsbury 2004).

The over exploitation and mismanagements of the natural, biophysical environment causes environmental problems in developed countries. They are however not faced with the problems of population growth because of their high awareness level in the use of contraceptive as compared to developing countries. The major pressure on the developed countries is the stipulation of waste management (recycling and disposing of non recycling materials), preventive measure to environmental related diseases and control of the emission of dangerous gases through their high industrialised activity.

Developed countries are thus said to be the main air and sea polluters but developing countries are seen to receive the hardest hit from these air and sea pollutions because they lack preventive measure to these environmental problems.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY APPROACH OF BOTH DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Because of the increasingly rate of environmental hazards in developed as well as developing countries, governments of these countries are making tremendous efforts to minimise these environmental problems and one most critical challenges is putting sustainable policies in place so as to solve these environmental issues. As discussed previously, environmental problems in developing countries are different from those occurring in developed countries this could explain the difference in the policy approach of these two categories of countries.

Appropriate policy approach for developing countries

In developing countries the pressure of poverty and rising population make it enormously difficult for developing countries to pursue environmentally sound policies even in the best circumstances. It would be correct to say that the environmental problems of developing countries are mostly poverty oriented rather than affluence.

In other to enhance a sustainable environment, developing countries should embark on reform policies that promote sustainable methods of production. It should be realistic and enforceable. Hence many developing countries have set unrealistic targets that were difficult to enforce which resulted in the waste of resources, corruption and undermining the credibility of all environmental policies

Additionally, the policy formulation and implementation must involve the grassroots in the country. Grassroots effort has been seen to be cost-effective since they generally involve the use of low cost alternative. Community involvement in development projects guarantees sustainability. In Haiti the top-down approach in reforestation program was unsuccessful until when farmers became involved by choosing the kind of tree to be planted. The initial target of 3 million trees on 6,000 family farms increased to 20 million trees planted on 75,000 farms (Meier and Rauch, 2005).

Proactive policies help developing countries helps protect the environment from disastrous effects such as reforestation, restoration of the natural ecosystem. Moreover the use of alternatives helps reduce the pressure on the resources.
Improving the educational status of women may delay child bearing age. It may also increase the knowledge in the use of contraceptive which will help reduce the number of children per woman. This will as such reduce or slow the rate of population growth in the country.

Developing countries must levy taxes on industries because of the high emission of green house gases which helps to mitigate industrial pollution.
In developing countries there is no clear distinction of property right thus natural resources such as land and water are seen to be owned by all. This free ownership result in the over use of land. As such policies makers but put policies in place that clarify property rights.
Additionally, the use of alternatives in the economic activity, consumption patterns of developing countries e.g. the use of gas for cooking mechanised farming etc.

Appropriate policy approach for developed countries

Developed countries remain to be the main polluters of air and sea and based on their high rate of industrialisation. In developed countries however the emission of green houses gases is controlled by taxation on the emission of these gases. Industries are taxed based on the quotas i.e. how much gas an industry is expected to emit over a period. This controls the emission of these dangerous gases into the atmosphere.

Developed countries high need for raw material put undue pressure on developing countries that in turn degrades the land. Thus it is but appropriate that developed countries put policies in place that will reduce the emission of harmful gases, developed clean technologies for themselves and developing countries and alter their environmentally harmful pattern of demand (Todaro and Smith, 2009).


CONCLUSIONS
It could be stated without doubt that environmental challenges arising in developing countries is largely due to poverty and lack of development. Thus as Kuznets environmental curve states that certain environmental problems tend to increase as income increases, whilst other worsen but increases as income increases and others worsen steadily with income increase. Majority of the problems experienced by developing countries could be better of with the rise in income e.g. sanitation, urban pollution etc. Environmental problems in developed countries would worsen with the rise in income e.g. emission of carbon dioxide though massive industrialisation (Meier and Rauch, 2005). Because poverty is the major cause of environmental problems policy makers must first try to address the problem of poverty. Consequently it has been observed that developed countries, are the major perpetrator of environmental problems but developing countries duffer the most from these effects.

In response to the decision taken at the Environment and Development summit held in Rio (1992) governments of both developed and developing countries must put and enforce policies that enhance the sustainable uses of the environment without jeopardising that of future generation.


References


Meier, G.M. & Rauch, J.E. (2005) Leading Issues in Economic Development, 8th edn, Oxford University Press, New York


Todaro, M.P. & Smith, S.C. (2009) Economic Development, 10th edn, Pearson Education Limited, England.


Duraiappah, A.K (1988) Poverty and environmental degradation: A review and analysis of the nexus, Elsevier Science Ltd.

Walter, I.W & Ugelow, J. Environmental policies in developing countries Document No 792532

Myers (1992) suggests that there has been an 89 percent increase in tropical deforestation rate during the 80s.

THE CHALLENGES OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

EDWIN M. KAMARA
MSc.ED, MPH CANDIDATE, BSc. (Hons.)

Sierra Leone has gone through a decade old rebel war which forced a large number of rural inhabitants to migrate into the urban centers for relative safety. This massive rural-urban migration coupled with changes in life styles and consumption patterns has pushed the urban environment beyond its carrying capacity. There has been changes in the composition and increase in the amount of solid waste generated at household levels in urban settlements, yet the requisite collection and disposal services remain rudimentary.

A number of solid waste management projects have been carried out in the country, in collaboration with external support agencies like the German Development Organization (Gtz), DFID etc. A balance sheet of implementation of these projects shows successes and failures. The majority of these projects could not support themselves or expand further when the external agencies discontinue their support.

Personal observation shows that a number of technical, financial, institutional, economic, and social factors contribute to the failure to sustain the projects. As the country continues to urbanize, the management of solid waste is becoming a major public health and environmental concern. The concern is serious, particularly in Freetown the capital city, which is gateway to the country for foreign diplomats, businessmen, and tourists.

The poor visual appearance of the city will have negative impacts on official and tourist visits and foreign investment. The solid waste management system in the country displays an array of problems, including poor urban planning, low collection coverage and irregular collection services, crude open dumping, water pollution, the breeding of flies and vermin, to name but a few. In addition to the above, lack of adequate waste management system and endemic corruption have been identified as major storming blocks.(Richardson, 2003, Zerbock, 2003 ).

However as urban solid waste management problems worsen in the country, alternative approaches to planning urban waste management have to be adopted. These include but not limited to the invovlement of households in solid waste management process. Households should be sensitzed on how to sort domestic wastes before transporting them to communual collection sites.

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR RICH WESTERN AREA FOREST OF SIERRA LEOENE?

Forests have been identified as one of the richest ecosystems in the World because of its high diversity of floral and fauna. The Western Area Forest which historically covers the hills of the Freetown Peninsula and is the westernmost area of closed-canopy forest was documented in Sierra Leone. It is separated by about 160km from the nearest area of closed canopy forest, at Bo.

In order to conserve the forest, soil and water, the first part of the Western Area Forest Reserve was designated in 1916. Subsequent additions between 1916 and 1973 brought the total area of protected land to 17482 ha. Since the Wildlife Conservation Act 1972, the area was designated a non-hunting forest reserve. However, as shown in the figure, the area is steadily shrinking due to increased pressures from human encroachment.

Independent investigation on the management and administration the Western Area Forest Reserve revealed that it is under the administration and responsibility of the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Forestry. Land in Western Area outside the Forest Reserve is privately owned, in contrast to the situation elsewhere in Sierra Leone where most areas outside reserves are under chiefdom control.
Vegetation

Conservationists describe the Western Area Forest as Guineo-Congolian rainforest of the hygrophilous coastal evergreen type. It had a closed canopy at about 30 m or more with emergent trees rising above this canopy. The drier rocky slopes and summits support low scrub forest. The areas inland of the Peninsula are a mixture of farm-bush and scattered grassland with small remnants of Lophira savannah. Neighboring coastal areas support mangroves. Tacugama Forest Reserve was covered with primary and/or mature forests in the past. However, most of this area is now covered with secondary forest and farm bush, as a result of the heavy deforestation by shifting cultivation, charcoal burning and lumber extraction for building. More than 100 different species of birds have been identified in and around the Tacugama Forest Reserve.

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary which was established in 1995 is located in the beautiful Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve, close to Freetown - the capital city; the sanctuary covers 100 acres of important rainforest and watershed. It was established as a home to rehabilitate confiscated, orphaned and abandoned chimps. Sierra Leone has signed many international environmental conventions including CITES which makes it illegal to hunt, capture, kill or keep chimpanzees.

The sanctuary now takes care of over 90 chimps that were confiscated from individuals. Though much work has been undertaken towards stopping the illegal trade of these endangered species, and supporting the protection and conservation of chimpanzees in the wild through education, communication, the implementation and legal enforcement of national laws governing the protection of biodiversity remain problematic.

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WHO WILL SAVE THE HILLSLOPES

Hill-slopes can have considerable development potential because of the views and attractive setting they provide. Historically, construction on hill-slopes had been conceived on short-term benefits with the rights of the individual prevailing. However, there are rising community expectations concerning the maintenance of visual values, natural habitat and biodiversity around urban and growth centres. Hill-slopes are often prone to hazards such as soil erosion and landslide as is evident from past incidences, resulting in loss of lives and property. Development in these areas can compound such hazards and render them highly visible and costly to deal with. There is, therefore, a need to better manage and control construction activities on hills to reduce environmental impacts and to reduce loss of lives and property. Future management decisions on hill-slope development should also be based on the principle of sustainable development because of the unique values associated with them, which makes them a natural resource in their own right. In this context, sustainable development means that resources should be used in ways that do not jeopardize future use of the resource. Strategic planning, which recognizes visual, conservation and recreational values, can provide clearer directions for future uses and management.

Environmental Impacts
The major adverse environmental impacts of hill-slope development are:
Slope erosion- Site clearing during earthworks result in the removal of vegetation and the creation of cleared surfaces, which become vulnerable to the erosive action of rain and surface runoff. Erosion on exposed slopes starts with rain splash leading to sheet, rill and gully erosion creating badlands if the site is left exposed for too long or abandoned altogether. Cuts and fills change the slope angle, often creating steeper slopes. The steeper the slope, the faster the surface runoff flows and the more force it will have to remove material down-slope.

Slope stability- Landforms are the product of the local balance between weathering, erosion and deposition and are continuously evolving. Natural slopes that have been stable for years may suddenly fail because of development activities on hills. Changes to the terrain and hydrology through construction or earthworks may cause erosion, which create conditions conducive to mass movement if exposed surfaces are not protected within a short period. Exposed rocks will be weathered at a faster rate and the weathered material is susceptible to movement especially when saturated with water. Over cutting of slope or over steepening of the slope gradient can induce instability. Slope cutting changes the slope topography and releases residual horizontal stresses and cause expansion of the slope. Joints or weak zones may be exposed along which sliding may occur. Placement of fill will also lead to increase in shear stresses acting on slopes and may lead to slope failure. Drainage patterns of an existing terrain may be altered as a result of construction. The change in groundwater flow patterns may cause changes detrimental to the stability of the newly constructed slopes of the existing in-situ slopes that were stable prior to construction.

Landscape impacts- The impact on landscape is the direct physical change to existing landscape features such as vegetation, topographical, geomorphological features and recreational facilities as well as buildings and structures. Visual impact is a change to the appearance of the landscape and the subsequent effect on the views of groups of people at particularly sensitive viewpoints. Visual impact can vary from overall improvement to degradation. Construction on hills will bring about a change in the landscape and will thus have a visual impact on landscape quality.

However, all is not doom and gloom, the solution to most of the environmental problems lie in our hands. If only every Sierra Leonean can opt to plant at least one tree on the hill-slopes, we will be sure of preventing major environmental problems. Finally, environmental problem anywhere is an environmental problem everywhere. Environmental problems do not obey physical geographic boundries.