The Challenges In Addressing Contemporary Environmental Problem

The main challenges in addressing contemporary environmental problems can differentiated into 3 main aspects namely Economic, Political and Social.

Economic aspect represents the big corporations and the industries who are a major factor in controlling the economy and are focused on making profits and not worried about the repercussions or the effects that are caused by their actions in the long term on the environment. When considering the problems observed globally like Global Warming and Climate change, the commitment from 1 person, 1 company or even 1 country is not enough to solve the issue. Every corporation, nation and its people should commit to solve such major issues and only then changes will be made for the better.

For example, in 2015 Exxon oil company was accused of manipulating the information about climate changes where it was said that the company tried to downplay the effects of fossil fuels towards the environment to avoid stricter rules and regulations to be put in place which would become unfavorable for their growth and profit. “The decisions that were made in order to protect their profits even after realizing the possible increase in global temperature that could occur in the future according to their own research conducted in the 1970s well before global warming was even a concern have caused major implications in the present times”. It is unfair to implicate them for all the climatic calamities that have occurred and are existing at present, but we can presume that they are particularly one of the major contributors of fossil fuel usage in the US. This unchecked practice over the decades have played a significant role in causing floods, droughts, heat waves and other climatic changes not only in the US but also all over the world. And allegedly these kinds of tactics have been used by many of the major corporations with having only one goal in mind i.e., to make profit. This shows that economy plays a huge role in addressing environmental problems.

Political aspect represents the leaders and the governments of all the nations. Leaders and the governments have the power to set rules and regulations that impact these environmental issues in a positive manner. But due to different national status, resources and governments there are limitations to the rules that are being put in effect.

For example, Sweden is among the world leaders in renewable energy usage system, this is because of the culture of recycling and use of renewable and sustainable energy that is imparted in its people from a long time and also being a developed nation, it has the ability focus on such issues efficiently and effectively. But, comparing between India who are among the leaders in using non-renewable resources to meet the energy requirements, they cannot focus on such issues in an effective manner even with having rules and regulations in place to mitigate the environmental issues. This disparity between nations is among the major challenges in addressing such issues.

Social aspect is represented by the community, the people. Even with regulations and processes set in place to tackle these environmental issues, it is not effective until and unless everyone (people and the community) buys into it. Until we take up the responsibility and make the conscious effort to save our environment, any policies set in favor of our welfare will be pointless.

For example, in 2013 the community leaders in my area were planning to overhaul the street lighting system, they had the option of using LED or CFL lights. They knew that using LED system is an eco-friendly option compared to CLF bulb and were less power hungry and more efficient. But people in my community were still hesitant in buying the LED lights because of their slightly higher costs and the lack of LED products from the big companies that ruled the market. Even though LED’s were marginally expensive they did not prioritize the environmental safety and they tried to save pennies on the dollar when we look at the big picture. This mentality of gaining short term profits over the long-term effects of their actions is still one of the most challenging issue that is rampant all over the world.

When considering all these 3 aspects the complexity of the problem increases exponentially as we are considering a large geographic scale and all the different types of culture, community and resources that it encompasses. And the only way to successfully solve this problem to help each other to help ourselves in the end.