Essay Sample on Global Environmental Policy: G8's Role in Environmental Protection

Introduction

Global environmental policy is of great importance in modern times given the rising rate of globalization. Many environmental issues go beyond national boundaries, meaning the only way to resolve them is through international cooperation. For a long time, the environment has always been an agenda for the G8. Member countries are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. It is only fair for them to come up with policies aimed at protecting the environment. This paper examines the role of two G8 member nations:-Germany and the united states- in coming up with a global environmental policy.

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The UN founded its program for the environment UNEP as far back as 1972. Since then, several environmental agreements have been put in paper under the UN umbrella. The Kyoto protocol is the most significant of these agreements. According to Wallace (2017), the G8 has an environment-related agenda whose aim to spread awareness on ongoing environmental issues such as biodiversity, climate protection, handling environmental crime as well as protecting the world's forests and oceans. In 2007, the G8 laid the foundation for a long-term global strategy for environmental protection. It involves trying to reduce by the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere by the year 2050.

Over the last several decades, Germany has put in place various environmental policies that have enabled it become a green leader in the industrialized world. German green industries have enjoyed a lot of success thanks to an overwhelming support from the government. In 2011, the German government with the general support of citizens decided to do away with nuclear energy and embrace renewable sources. All the nuclear power plants operating in the country are set to be closed by the year 2022. In 2014, the German Renewable Energy Act underwent a drastic update. It now stipulates that renewable energy sources have priority over fossil fuels. The Act also offers sufficient funding to those who invest in renewable energy to ensure their investments are protected irrespective of other factors such as price of electricity (Wallace, 2017).

While the US has a federal policy framework on renewable energy, it is evolving fast enough to pave way for sustainable growth. At the moment, the policy mainly depends on offering renewable industries a short-term support system. For instance, there are certain government incentive directed towards research and development of wind energy. A problem occurs in that they frequently expire, causing fluctuations in the number of wind turbines installed over the years. If the US is to attain more consistent growth, it has to adopt more long-term policies like those applied in Germany (Fraune, 2016).

A notable difference between German and American environmental efforts has to do with public perception. According to Fraune (2016), German citizens are quite conscious about the environment and its conservation. While the country's recycling system is quite complex, it is perceived in a positive way by most Germans. People are more likely to scold those who don't go about recycling the proper way. In contrast, most Americans are not enthusiastic about recycling despite a concerted effort to encourage the practice. This is just an example of how public opinion impacts environmental conservation policies. All in all, it implies that a top component of future policymaking in the US involving getting the general public to be enthusiastic about protecting the environment. Also, the UN needs to borrow a leaf from Germany on going green.

References

Fraune, C. (2016). The politics of speeches, votes, and deliberations: Gendered legislating and energy policy-making in Germany and the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 19, 134-141.

Wallace, D. (2017). Environmental policy and industrial innovation: Strategies in Europe, the USA and Japan. Abington, UK: Routledge.