Global Political Economics and Trade – ITC141
The environment is the foundation of a successful global
economy and Canada can be a leader
School: Seneca College – Newnham Campus
Submitted to: Peter Garcia-Sjogrim
Submitted by: Guanyu Zhao
Student #: 116148180
Course: ITC141NSS
Course Name: Global Political Economics and Trade
Guanyu Zhao – The environment is the foundation of a successful global economy and Canada can be a leader
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Can economic developments and environment protection co-exist harmoniously without
conflicts? Environment protection efforts cannot contribute directly to any apparent
economic growth, on the contrary, it predominantly increases manufacturers’ production
cost, renders lower profit, leads to weaker ability to enhance their reproduction capacity. As a
matter of fact, major global powers have all gone through some pain and sufferings of
pollution caused by developments and human activities. The severe air-pollution called
“Great Smog of 1952” in London, UK; the terrifying Minamata Disease occurred in
Kumamoto, Japan; and Los Angeles Photochemical Smog, etc. Today, to balance and
minimize the conflicts, developed and developing countries have gone with a different
approach. This essay will discuss and explore based on recent news and facts, how global
economic developments affect our planet and daily life, especially air and water pollution
associated with them, and why protecting and making the environment sustainable should be
a top priority state strategy for nations to implement and perfect, before it’s too late. Our
primary source of information will be from articles written by the Worldwide Fund for
Nature(WWF), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Gardiner Harris of the New York
Times, professor Yue Maggie Zhang from University of Michigan, and other information
from reputable sources.
Human beings have accomplished the most incredible developments that this planet has
ever witnessed since the very beginning of our existence. Our ancestors were smart and hard-
working, their devotions in the past contributed significantly to what we are seeing today.
Railways across continents, planes can go faster than sound, smartphones with jaw-dropping
Guanyu Zhao – The environment is the foundation of a successful global economy and Canada can be a leader
features, etc. It is undeniable that the economic developments have brought tremendous
changes in people’s life and improved our living standards greatly. It seems like an endless
debate whether the economics and environment can grow together and make the earth an
even better place to live, but it is not questionable that we do have serious environmental
problems caused by human activities and economic growth.
The harmful results that brought by economics developments are astonishing, they
caused countless sufferings and tragedies to our society and civilians, make them vulnerable
and cannot benefit from the advantages and convenience that come with economic
developments. It is not a recent phenomenon that individuals and governments around the
world are looking for solutions and ideas to balance the conflicts between the environment
and economics. But first we need to know and understand better what exactly are happening
around us locally and globally.
