ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on environmental and natural resource problems with remedies that involve international cooperation, and discusses the organizations, policies, and agreements that govern resource allocation and the environment. It explores the contentious paths of cooperation, homogenization, and exploitation that stem from the growing trend of globalization. The term “globalization” itself is seemingly innocuous and straightforward, and generally refers to commerce taking on a global scope. In terms of its implications, however, globalization means different things to different people. Globalization is both feared and revered for the exports and influences that extend across regional boundaries. The share of global income received by the poorest 20 percent of people remains at or 1 percent. It is increasingly convenient for profit-maximizing firms to shop across countries for production sites where labor or environment standards are low. The elements of successful policy initiatives are somewhat different at the international and global level than at the national or local level.
