Stephanie Adams
President of the Pakistan Economy Watch, Dr. Murtaza Mughal and his fellow members agree that The World Trade Organization’s push towards free trade is only going to hurt our environment and use up fossil fuels. Their opinion is based on increasing transportation of goods. Dr. Mughal sees the environmental policies made by the WTO and their desire to expand free trade as one big contradiction.
The Pakistan Economy Watch estimates that about 65% of the world’s energy sources are used for transportation and that almost all of fossil fuel resources are used for the purpose of transportation. They also estimate that around 70% of environmental problems are caused by industrialized nations.
The desired form of transportation of goods from one nation to another is by air, because it is a lot quicker than using ships. The use of airplanes for transporting goods is expected to increase 2 and ½ times by 2015 according to Dr. Mughal. The issue with air travel is the amount of fuel that airplanes use is so much greater than what is need to fuel ships. The cost of shipping food raises the prices of food for the consumers. Dr. Mughal estimates mark up of 3 to 5 times the amount of the food actual value. They believe that only Western countries are the ones who value and benefit from free trade. They suggest the West and the WTO rethink its stance on world trade and look at how it negatively affects the environment. The Pakistan Economy Watch believes that countries and organizations that are at fault for hurting the environment should take responsibility and put forth the financing needed to improve the environment. They feel that the developing countries will suffer from the pollution caused by free trade and the spread of disease will increase.
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=134418
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