Global trade in the Anthropocene : A review of trends and direction of environmental factor flows during the Great Acceleration
(2022) In The Anthropocene Review 9(1). p.71-110- Abstract
- Global trade is a neglected topic in debates on the Anthropocene, but plays an implicit role in several suggested definitions of it. Trade’s role in shifting environmental burdens around the globe differed substantially between the Columbian Exchange (1492−1800), the Industrial Revolution (~1800−1950) and the Great Acceleration (post-1950). However, this systematic state-of-the-art review shows that the more than 350 global studies of trade-embedded environmental factors all centre on the Great Acceleration. An underlying concern here is whether environmental factor flows are to the economic and/or environmental benefit of all, a case of the rich exploiting the poor, or merely the inadvertent consequence of differences in environmental... (More)
- Global trade is a neglected topic in debates on the Anthropocene, but plays an implicit role in several suggested definitions of it. Trade’s role in shifting environmental burdens around the globe differed substantially between the Columbian Exchange (1492−1800), the Industrial Revolution (~1800−1950) and the Great Acceleration (post-1950). However, this systematic state-of-the-art review shows that the more than 350 global studies of trade-embedded environmental factors all centre on the Great Acceleration. An underlying concern here is whether environmental factor flows are to the economic and/or environmental benefit of all, a case of the rich exploiting the poor, or merely the inadvertent consequence of differences in environmental efficiency. We point out similarities in the trends and direction of flows between major world regions and between developed and developing countries. Factors such as land, virtual water, HANPP and eutrophying pollutants that are related to the organic economy (or direct biomass flows), primarily flow from regions where population density is low to where it is high, and are only secondarily affected by affluence. Indicators such as energy, airborne pollutant emissions and greenhouse gasses that are related to the mineral economy (fossil fuel, metal and mineral use) tend to flow from developing to developed countries, and are explained either by higher consumption rates or greater environmental efficiency in affluent countries, which has similar consequences for net flows. We weave the shifting trends and directions of flows during the Great Acceleration into a coherent story. Finally, returning to the period before the Great Acceleration, we argue the need for global studies of trade-embedded factor flows before 1950 to test ideas on the character and origins of the Anthropocene, and to accomplish this suggest either geographically extending quantitative long-term national and/or commodity studies, or environmentally extending recently compiled global monetary bilateral trade data for the pre-1950 period. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Global handel är ett försummat område i debatten om Antropocen, men spelar en implicit roll i många av dess definitioner. Handelns roll i att förskjuta miljöbelastning över Jorden skiljer sig väsentligt mellan det 'Columbianska utbytet' (1492-1800), den Industriella Revolutionen (~1800-1950), och den Stora Accelerationen (efter 1950). Vår systematiska översikt över forskningsläget visar emellertid att de över 350 globala studier av miljöfaktorer i handel som identifierats alla fokuserar på den Stora Accelerationen. En underliggande frågeställning här är ifall flöden av miljöfaktorer är ekonomiskt och/eller miljömässigt gynnsamma för alla, ett exempel på av rika länders exploatering av fattiga, eller helt enkelt en oavsiktlig konsekvens av... (More)
- Global handel är ett försummat område i debatten om Antropocen, men spelar en implicit roll i många av dess definitioner. Handelns roll i att förskjuta miljöbelastning över Jorden skiljer sig väsentligt mellan det 'Columbianska utbytet' (1492-1800), den Industriella Revolutionen (~1800-1950), och den Stora Accelerationen (efter 1950). Vår systematiska översikt över forskningsläget visar emellertid att de över 350 globala studier av miljöfaktorer i handel som identifierats alla fokuserar på den Stora Accelerationen. En underliggande frågeställning här är ifall flöden av miljöfaktorer är ekonomiskt och/eller miljömässigt gynnsamma för alla, ett exempel på av rika länders exploatering av fattiga, eller helt enkelt en oavsiktlig konsekvens av skillnader i miljöeffektivitet. Vi pekar på likheter i flödenas trender och riktning mellan världsregioner och mellan utvecklade och utvecklingsländer beroende på typ av miljöfaktor. Land, virtuellt vatten, HANPP, och föroreningar kopplade till övergödning vilka kan kopplas till den 'organiska ekonomin' (eller direkta flöden av biomassa), flödar huvudsakligen från områden med låg befolkningstäthet till områden där den är hög, och påverkas bara sekundärt av skillnader i välstånd. Faktorer som energi, luftföroreningar och växthusgaser, vilka kan kopplas till den 'minerala ekonomin' tenderar att flöda från utvecklings- till utvecklade länder, och förklaras antingen av högre konsumtionsnivåer eller av högre miljöeffektivitet i utvecklade länder, vilket har liknande konsekvenser för nettoflöden. Vi väver skiften i trender och flödesriktningar till en sammanhängande berättelse. Slutligen argumenterar vi för globala studier av miljöfaktorer i handel för perioderna före den Stora Accelerationen om vi vill kunna pröva hypoteser om Antropocens ursprung och karaktär, antingen genom större geografisk vidd i långsiktiga nationella och/eller varustudier, eller genom att miljömässigt komplettera en del nyligen sammanställda globala monetära handelsdatabaser för perioden före 1950. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/ea70f6ae-34bb-4f50-b3fc-b40185f32909
- author
- Brolin, John LU and Kander, Astrid LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Global handel i Antropocen : En översikt av trender och riktning i miljöfaktorflöden under den Stora Accelerationen
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- consumption-based accounts, ecologically unequal exchange, embodied land, emissions embodied in trade, environmental footprints, environmental load displacement, global environmental change, physical trade balance, trade-embedded impact, virtual water
- in
- The Anthropocene Review
- volume
- 9
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 71 - 110
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85096882103
- ISSN
- 2053-020X
- DOI
- 10.1177/2053019620973711
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ea70f6ae-34bb-4f50-b3fc-b40185f32909
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-26 11:59:14
- date last changed
- 2022-06-29 16:39:48
@article{ea70f6ae-34bb-4f50-b3fc-b40185f32909,
abstract = {{Global trade is a neglected topic in debates on the Anthropocene, but plays an implicit role in several suggested definitions of it. Trade’s role in shifting environmental burdens around the globe differed substantially between the Columbian Exchange (1492−1800), the Industrial Revolution (~1800−1950) and the Great Acceleration (post-1950). However, this systematic state-of-the-art review shows that the more than 350 global studies of trade-embedded environmental factors all centre on the Great Acceleration. An underlying concern here is whether environmental factor flows are to the economic and/or environmental benefit of all, a case of the rich exploiting the poor, or merely the inadvertent consequence of differences in environmental efficiency. We point out similarities in the trends and direction of flows between major world regions and between developed and developing countries. Factors such as land, virtual water, HANPP and eutrophying pollutants that are related to the organic economy (or direct biomass flows), primarily flow from regions where population density is low to where it is high, and are only secondarily affected by affluence. Indicators such as energy, airborne pollutant emissions and greenhouse gasses that are related to the mineral economy (fossil fuel, metal and mineral use) tend to flow from developing to developed countries, and are explained either by higher consumption rates or greater environmental efficiency in affluent countries, which has similar consequences for net flows. We weave the shifting trends and directions of flows during the Great Acceleration into a coherent story. Finally, returning to the period before the Great Acceleration, we argue the need for global studies of trade-embedded factor flows before 1950 to test ideas on the character and origins of the Anthropocene, and to accomplish this suggest either geographically extending quantitative long-term national and/or commodity studies, or environmentally extending recently compiled global monetary bilateral trade data for the pre-1950 period.}},
author = {{Brolin, John and Kander, Astrid}},
issn = {{2053-020X}},
keywords = {{consumption-based accounts; ecologically unequal exchange; embodied land; emissions embodied in trade; environmental footprints; environmental load displacement; global environmental change; physical trade balance; trade-embedded impact; virtual water}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{71--110}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{The Anthropocene Review}},
title = {{Global trade in the Anthropocene : A review of trends and direction of environmental factor flows during the Great Acceleration}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2053019620973711}},
doi = {{10.1177/2053019620973711}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2022}},
}