Explain the meaning of ’Global Commons’. How are environmental concerns becoming important in global politics?
Meaning of Global Commons: Global commons are those areas, objects, or resources of the world that are not part of the exclusive jurisdiction of any one state or individual. Examples of Global Commons are park or river, earth’s atmosphere, the ocean floor, air space, outer space, Antarctica. Global Commons and global environment are also called world heritage because they are passed on by the present generation to the next generation and so on. Environmental concerns are becoming important in Global Politics: The issues related to global environmental protection have become the priority concern of states since 1990 due to the following reasons:The fertility of the agricultural land is significantly being reduced, due to overgrazing the grasslands have been depleted and the overharvesting has reduced the supply of fish. Due to excessive pollution, the water bodies have been adversely affected. According to Human Development Report, 2006 of the United Nations Development Programme about 1.2 billion people in developing countries have no access to safe drinking water and about 2.6 billion people have no sanitation facilities. Natural forests are being cut down as large-scale and have people being displaced thus leading to the loss of biodiversity. There is a constant reduction in the total amount of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere posing a risk to ecosystems and human health. Coastal pollution is increasing globally. The coastal waters are becoming polluted due to land-based activities.
