Globalization describes the increasing interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and populations worldwide, driven by the flow of goods, services, capital, people, and ideas across international boundaries. Facilitated by technological advancements and economic integration, this phenomenon has brought significant changes. While offering economic growth and cultural exchange, globalization also profoundly affects the environment, from local degradation to global challenges like climate change.
Resource Consumption and Land Use Change
Increased global demand, a direct outcome of globalization, drives accelerated extraction of natural resources. This includes timber, minerals, and fish stocks, exploited to meet global market needs. The expansion of global supply chains significantly contributes to widespread land use changes, transforming natural landscapes for increased production.
Deforestation is a prominent example, often driven by cultivating agricultural commodities like palm oil and soy, or for cattle grazing. In Southeast Asia, vast tracts of rainforest are cleared for palm oil plantations. Cattle production also drives deforestation in Latin America and Africa. These land conversions occur for mining and infrastructure development, altering ecosystems to support consumption.
Transboundary Pollution
Globalization significantly contributes to pollution extending across national borders. Increased global movement of goods necessitates extensive transportation networks, particularly international shipping and air travel. International shipping alone accounted for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. These vessels burn heavy fuel oil, releasing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter, contributing to air pollution. Without intervention, shipping emissions could escalate to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Beyond air emissions, global maritime trade contributes to marine pollution through oil and chemical spills, plastic waste, and ballast water discharge. Ballast water, taken on in one region and discharged in another, can introduce invasive aquatic species. The transboundary movement of industrial pollutants and hazardous waste continues, often illegally, to developing countries despite international agreements like the Basel Convention. This illicit trade poses environmental and health risks in receiving nations.
Shifting Industrial Footprints
Globalization enables industries to relocate manufacturing to countries with lower labor costs or less stringent environmental regulations. This allows companies to reduce production expenses by operating in regions with lenient environmental oversight. This shift can lead to increased localized pollution and environmental degradation in developing nations, even as environmental standards improve in developed countries.
Offshoring production effectively externalizes environmental costs across borders. For example, a study revealed that two-thirds of emissions associated with UK clothing production occur overseas. Companies may increase their pollution footprint by moving production to less regulated countries and importing finished products back to primary markets. This can result in “carbon leakage,” where emissions shift from countries with strict regulations to those with weaker ones, undermining global efforts to reduce pollution.
Impacts on Ecosystems
Globalization’s direct consequences on natural ecosystems include widespread habitat destruction and fragmentation. Global resource demands and supporting infrastructure primarily drive this ecological damage. Habitat destruction is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide. Projections indicate up to 23% of natural habitat ranges could be lost by 2100 due to these pressures.
Globalization also increases the risk of invasive species introductions through intensified global trade and travel. Non-native species can be intentionally or unintentionally transported, often via ship ballast water or the trade of live plants and animals. These introduced species, such as the zebra mussel, emerald ash borer, or Nile perch, can severely disrupt local ecosystems, outcompeting native species, altering food webs, and reducing biodiversity.