A Chilean Case Study

1
Sustainability with Globalization

• A Chilean Case Study
• Daniel Reader John All

Presented at Association of American Geographers
(AAG) Conference Boston, April 2008
2
Sustainability

• Jha Murthy (2003) publish the Environmental
  Degradation Index (EDI), ranking 174 countries
  across a composite (by PCA) of six indicators
• Fresh water withdrawals/capita/annum
• Fresh water withdrawals as pct. of water
  resources
• Printing and writing paper consumption/capita
• Carbon dioxide emissions/capita
• Share of world total CO2 emissions
• Rate of deforestation

3
Globalization

• Foreign Policy (2004) publishes ranked list of 62
  countries across 14 globalization indicators
• Trade Portfolio Capital Flow
• Foreign Direct Inv. Investment Income
• Intl Phone Traffic Intl Travel Tourism
• RPT Internet Users
• Internet Hosts Secure Servers
• Intl Org Membership UN Peacekeeping Cont.
  
• Intl Treaties Ratified Government
  Transfers

4
Globalization vs. Sustainability

• Intersection of two indices is 61 countries
• How to compare ranked data? PCA is out
• Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) is the answer
• Heady Lucas (1995) introduce PerMap, an MDS
  analysis tool available for (free!) download
• PerMap ordination generates a display of a
  non-metric best fit between the order of
  dissimilarity and the order of distance contained
  in the point-attribute matrix, similar to
  hierarchical cluster analysis.

5
Environmental Degradation with Globalization
6
Within-Group Variability

• Initial values for coefficients of determination
  (Rsq) ranged widely from .056 to .850
• Within-group test of globalization variables
  disclosed four indicators with Rsq values below
  0.333 Treaties, RPT, Trade, and Government
  Transfers
• Of the remaining 10 globalization variables, four
  indicators had the highest regression strength
  (Rsq values all gt .910) Telephone, Internet
  Users, Internet Servers, and Secure Servers all
  related to communication

7
Between-Group Variability

• All four communication indicators had very high
  regression strength (Rsq gt.840) with respect to
  the EDIr
• With high regression strength, both within
  communications indicators, and between them and
  EDI, identity is approached
• Four communications indicator values are summed,
  on the basis of assumed minimal stochastic
  variability CIR results

8
Environmental Degradation with Communication
9
Socioeconomic Conditions in Chile

• Copper, lumber, and farm-raised salmon top
  exports, with produce worthy of note
• Population growth is leveling, but GDP is on the
  rise
• Emerging industrial economy transitioning to
  service economy
• Per capita consumption and waste production on
  par with advanced industrial nations

10
Anticipated Environmental Effects

• Deforestation, with attendant soil erosion, and
  perhaps desertification
• Diminished soil quality due to monocropping
• Diminished or depleted water sources
• Diminished water quality due to agricultural
  fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide runoff
  mining runoff and industrial and domestic
  effluents
• Eutrophication along shorelines due to
  aquacultural feeds and fecal matter from fishstock

11
Cities Observed
12
Desertification
13
Effects of Monocropping Tree Farms
14
Agricultural Runoff
15
Phytoplankton Blooms
16
Economic Destabilization/Marginalization
17
Environmental Vulnerabilities

• Market-driven pressure to continue to export raw
  or minimally processed materials is
  unquestionably the greatest single threat to
  Chiles environment.
• Losses in fisheries, due directly to overfishing,
  and to aquaculture indirectly, destabilize
  ecosystems.
• Biodiversity is further threatened by
  deforestation and massive tree plantation
  efforts losses have already been devastating,
  and irreparable in the foreseeable future.
• Soil degradation due to monocropping,
  salinization, and desertification are already
  beginning to be problematic, and the trend is
  increasing.

18
Economic Vulnerabilities

• Globalization has fed a resource extraction
  economic ethos.
• Chiles resource base (copper, wood chips, fish,
  and produce), in conjunction with its open-arms
  policy regarding global trade, render it a prime
  target for environmental exploitation.
• Natural copper deposits seem inexhaustible, but
  Chile does little more with this resource than
  auction it off. Liquidation cannot be a sound
  strategy for long-term economic stability.

19
Conclusions

• Globalization is having marked effects throughout
  Chile
• Most anticipated effects were observed in at
  least moderate degrees some were quite severe
• Chiles medial positions with respect to both the
  globalization indices and the environmental
  degradation index appear to be valid
• It may be concluded that globalization has a
  negative impact upon the potential for
  sustainability in Chile.