Globalisation and responsibility in the ecological problems
Keywords:
consumption-based accounting, ecological problems, carbon footprint, material footprint, environmental load displacementAbstract
Most statistics, analyses and policies on environmental pressures take a territorial perspective. According to this, environmental pressures are assigned to the country (region or city) in which they are generated. However, the global economy is characterised by massive flows of goods between different territories. Therefore, it is also important to analyse the environmental pressures caused by domestic demands of a country, regardless of where they take place. This perspective is known as the "consumption-based" perspective and relates to the concept of environmental footprint. This article looks at some examples of this dual perspective, both in a case of a global problem, such as greenhouse gas emissions, and in other environmental indicators o more local or regional problems. The important differences between the indicators obtained with both perspectives reinforce the need to also take into account the "consumption-based" perspective in order to have better information on the different responsibilities in the different environmental problems.
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