EG1471 Assignment 1

Discuss the positive and negative consequences of using an integrated approach to limit climate change.

Combating climate change has long been viewed as limiting the usage of resources and reducing carbon emission, however recent studies have shown that this alone is insufficient in halting the damage caused to the planet. In the recent UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has brought up the issue of integrating natural ecosystem and biodiversity into the fight against climate change.

The natural ecosystem controls carbon and other global biogeochemical cycles, just by reducing deforestation and forest degradation alone, we can slash more carbon emission than the emission of all passengers’ cars in the world combined. Not only is this approach effective, it is also cheap and requires little or no emphasis on technology to ensure that it works. Given the scale and complexity of global warming, protecting our forestation remains the only realistic operation in the coming years.

Another benefit of conserving natural resources is that it acts as a buffer during natural disasters, keeping safe the communities and their possessions. Along the coastline in United States, healthy mangroves have been built to fortify the defence of residents against the wrath of nature. In 1999, a cyclone would probably have taken three times the lives of coastal residents if not for the mangrove forests. By maintaining the abundance of nature ecosystem, it also provides an alternative source of income during unexpected events which may disrupt current source of income.

On the hindsight, such an idealistic approach does not come without negative consequences. In order to limit the amount of carbon produced, a carbon market is set up to keep track on it. This inevitably opens opportunities for corporations to make use of and creates discord amongst nations. Corruption will then take place as individuals abuse the system for personal benefits. Another potential landmine is that countries with more natural resources are likely to make use of this opportunity to raise the price of natural resources. The remaining few nations without natural resources, such as Singapore, will therefore be less supportive of this approach as it provides no benefits for their economy.

Although the integrated approach brings about certain possible problems that countries might face, with the factor of deciding the correct amount of environmental conservation by individual countries as the main concern. But these issues are temporary and as pointed out by REDD, can be ironed out through conferences among nations. Moreover, the contributions from this approach far outweigh the possibility of discord. The state of declining climate condition has reached a point that only a drastic integrated approach can reverse the effect.