Sunday, May 24, 2020
The impact of world war one on the homefront - social,...
The First World War impacted significantly on the homefronts of the participating nations in many different social, political and economic areas. There was a widespread restructuring of primary industry with a large orientation towards militarism. There was massive political change where new systems of power were introduced that gave governments a range of new powers including the control over industry. The civilian population had severe restrictions placed upon their rights and liberties due to the necessities that total war required. The scale of the war forced all sectors of society to change and adapt to the growing scale of the war. In 1914 the British government believed that the war would be a brief one and as a result there wasâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦This was not helped by the lack of attention paid to agriculture by the German government and the destroyed crops of 1915-1916. Mortality rates for children rose along with those of adults and elderly citizens. This starvation and poor living conditions led to the general disdain for the war but due to the terrible losses and casualties already suffered it was thought that only victory would suffice to somewhat offset these hardships. Despite the massive arms stockpile that had been amassed by both sides of the conflict both sides ran short and had to drastically increase their workforce and number of hours that they worked. In Britain this was achieved by the formation of a three party coalition that has elements working to find solutions to this problem. The shortage of workers was largely due to the lack of men in the workforce as they were almost all enlisted in the army as soldiers. The deficit grew as the war went on when more and more men were conscripted and enlisted. A new workforce was needed to work in the jobs that they filled. Female workers largely filled a massive amount of these positions with a smaller number of prisoners of war doing farming work. For the first time women worked in large numbers in industrial factories, producing weapons and munitions for the men on the front lines. They often worked in difficult and dangerous conditionsShow MoreRelatedCanadas Homefront During WWI795 Words à |à 4 PagesGreat War from 1914-1918 in Europe had a traumatic toll on Canadians. The soldiers in the fields were forever changed by the war but they werenââ¬â¢t the only ones who were changed. World War 1 had a significant impact on Canadaââ¬â¢s homefront. The impact of the Great War on Canadian civilians can be easily seen through the increased rate and level of discrimination, growth of Canadian economy and the independence of women. The discrimination suffered by the ââ¬Å"ethnic Canadiansâ⬠increased during the war wasRead MoreThe Vietnam War Was A Long And Bloody1502 Words à |à 7 PagesThe Vietnam War was a long and bloody one. The war began on November 1, 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975. The war lasted nearly 20 years. Over this period, 9,087,000 men from United States were deployed, 58,220 were killed and more than 300,000 were wounded. The war also killed an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians, 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops, and 200,000 South Vietnamese troops. The Vietnam War was the first war America ever lost and this lost would lead to a heavy impact on the AmericanRead MoreHistory : The Women s Movement1614 Words à |à 7 Pagescontribution in the past and throughout history has had the greatest impact on shaping Canada into what it is today. Among many identifying qualities like being multicultural, bilingual, and world leaders, Canada is also country that has changed immensely in the way of becoming a country that has learned to accept women, move towards providing them with equal opportunities and treating them equally. Through economic, social and political movements and actions, the contribution from women and the womenââ¬â¢sRead MoreNew Historicism: The Wasteland1519 Words à |à 7 Pagesinterwar period. The decades were profoundly shaped by the dislocations of World War I and then the mounting crisis that led to World War II. These were decades of considerable dislocation in the West. Revolutionary regimes in several societies provided another source of change. New, authoritarian political systems were another response to crisis, particularly after the Great Depression, in several parts of the world. All of this occurred even as resistance to European imperialism was mountingRead MoreAnalysis Of Donald Trump s Presidential Legacy Essay1739 Words à |à 7 Pagesno prior political or military experience, Donald J. Trump used his shrewdness, b usiness skills, and demeanor to plow his way through the election. His rival, Hillary R. Clinton, representing the Democratic party, lost to President-elect Trump. Her campaign advocated for unity, womenââ¬â¢s rights, and goal to live up to Obamaââ¬â¢s presidential legacy. One of the distinct idiosyncratic agendas America has seen, both presidential candidates ultimately represented opposite poles of the political spectrumRead MoreRonald Reagan - Psychological Eval1080 Words à |à 5 Pageswas marked by economic turmoil on the homefront and an impending threat of nuclear war. An analysis of Reaganââ¬â¢s life history, from a psychological standpoint, seeks to reveal the significant factors and influential events that may shed light on how he acquired the distinctive characteristics and how the interplay of how these factors subsequently shaped the extraordinary person he became. It is necessary to consider the influence of heredity, certain family issues, social systems and environmentRead MoreThe During The First World War3114 Words à |à 13 PagesReaction to the war: â⬠¢ During the First World War, Australia supported Great Britain which meant that Australia was also at war. The conflict had an impact on Australia as a young nation, the following information are just some of the issues that Australia dealt with. The outbreak of war was met with huge enthusiastic support for Britain and for Australia to support by being part of the war. Support came in the form of political parties, churches, the newspapers and community leaders who felt thatRead MoreJohn F. Kennedy On The Cold War1855 Words à |à 8 PagesJohn F. Kennedy was one of the most influential presidents ever; The decisions he made during the Cold War evaded the chance of a nuclear holocaust during his presidency. His had to make many life changing choices during his presidency. Many of them could have extreme impacts on the public s opinion of him, the American economy would be affected. And the war with the Soviets was extremely costly to create new technology to protect ourselves . John F. Kennedy influence on the American people wasRead MoreThe Between Politics, Media, And The Public Sphere1871 Words à |à 8 PagesKarmasin, Gabriele Melischek, Josef Seethaler and Romy Wà ¶hlert (2013) believe it is evident that communication has led and still leads to war (ix). From the written and unwritten rituals of mutual respect and disrespect to the definition of legitimate violence and manipulation of the culture of war, mass media has dramatically influenced social, political, and economic societies (Karmasin et al, 2013) In their collection of works submitted by members of the European Communication Research and EducationRead MoreAnna Julia Cooper3214 Words à |à 13 Pages Abstract Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1859-1964) was one of the most influential African-American educators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As an activist, author, and scholar, she dedicated her entire life to the education and empowerment of African-American youth and adults. Her commitment and passionate belief in the power of education as a vehicle to social, economic, and political freedom was a driving force in her life. As an author and feminist, Cooper wrote
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The Impact Of Standardized Testing On The Achievement Of...
The definition of success and routes to success may be different, but it is undeniable that all people want to succeed in their lives. According to Malcolm Gladwell, success is seen as an achievement coming from hidden opportunities, effort, diverse backgrounds, or cultural legacy, in life. However, I believe education is one of the factors that contribute the achievement of individuals. There are flaws or inequalities in the United Statesââ¬â¢ education system, and one of these is the use of standardized test which is the issue that comes in between the individual and their successes. In order to increase the chance of success for an individual, standardized testing should be revoked from education because it does not measure the creativity and knowledge of students which play important roles for one to succeed. Standardized testing is not a reliable way to measure the performance because it does not measure the skills and knowledge in a more meaningful way like creativity, which plays a key role to attain high level of achievement. The tests contain a number of items whose comments and administration is done in uniform procedures. For the reason that most of the tests are multiple choices, the results of the test are reflected by intellectual ability; however, the test discourages creativity skill of students, which plays an important role to be successful. In Malcolm Gladwellââ¬â¢s book ââ¬Å"Outliers: The Stories of Success,â⬠he argues that the creativity of student plays anShow MoreRelatedStandardized Testing And High School Education888 Words à |à 4 Pages ââ¬Å"Standardized testing has swelled and mutatedâ⬠¦to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools wholeâ⬠(Kohn, 2000). Comparing standardized testing to a swelling monster that is taking over the s chool systems is a bit of a reach but there is some weight to this statement. Standardized tests have become so frequent in elementary and high school education that they have become the most important tool that is used by school boards and colleges to determine a studentââ¬â¢s achievements, but howRead More The Controversy of Standardized Testing Essay1492 Words à |à 6 PagesThe Controversy of Standardized Testing ââ¬Å"No issue in the U.S. Education is more controversial than (standardized) testing. Some people view it as the linchpin of serious reform and improvement, others as a menace to quality teaching and learningâ⬠(Phelps). A tool that educators use to learn about students and their learning capabilities is the standardized test. Standardized tests are designed to give a common measure of a studentââ¬â¢s performance. Popular tests include the SAT, IQ tests, RegentsRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Standardized Testing1120 Words à |à 5 Pagesadverse effects of standardized testing.â⬠Testing has evolved over time from basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to curriculum based on standardized testing such as the ACT, SAT, and TCAP. Many years ago, students did not have to take as many tests, and there were not as many opportunities for different types of classes. Schools have evolved as standardized test evolved, and this has forced teachers to evolve as well. As time progressed, the frequency of these standardized test increased and theRead MoreStandard Based Learning And Its Impact On Education1371 Words à |à 6 PagesStandard based learning has led to the demise of public education for years. Standard based learning is an educational system that measures studentsââ¬â¢ achievement and mastery of skills by their performance on assessments. Institutions that implement standard based learning use learning standards that explicitly describe what students should theoretically know and what lessons that educators should teach. The learning standards were created to define the adeptness of the students, ensure the retentionRead MoreAre Standardized Tests a Valid Measurement of Student Learning?1358 Words à |à 6 Pagesââ¬Å"Standardized testing is one of the most passionately debated education topics in Americaâ⬠(Baxter, pg. 1). They became much more prevalent after the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act mandated annual testing across the U nited States. Standardized tests are used to assess students and teachers, however some people object the idea that the performance on a single test is a valid measure of what a student has learned, or what their teacher has taught them. In this paper I will argue that relying solelyRead MoreEssay on The No Child Left Behind Act1440 Words à |à 6 PagesInitiated in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 intended to prevent the academic failures of educational institutions and individual students, as well as bridge achievement gaps between students. This act supports the basic standards of education reform across America; desiring to improve the learning outcomes of Americaââ¬â¢s youth. No Child Left Behind has left many to criticize the outcomes of the Act itself. Questions have risen concerning the effectiveness of NCLB, as well as theRead MoreStandardized Testing : Standardized Tests1186 Words à |à 5 Pages Standardized Testing Impact Standardized testing is known to improve studentsââ¬â¢ education, but is it really needed in school? Standardized testing determines whether a student is prepared for the next grade based on their test scores. While some students do great on their test others struggle a lot. Not all students are good test takers; majority of the students do good in school but struggle when it comes down to testing. While many agree that standardized testing helps improve studentsRead MoreThe Disparity During The Performance Of Tests1035 Words à |à 5 PagesOver the years, there has been a great deal of concern on the performance of certain groups of people on tests that are said to be standardized. The result has been under-representation of some of these groups due to the differences in performance, a pattern that has persisted over time. Some scholars argue that these differences are due to cultural differences, while others point to cultural deficiencies and deprivation as possible explanati ons. However, whichever way they look at it, it is obviousRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1286 Words à |à 6 Pagesto graduate because of their poor scores on standardized tests. Students all over the United States are forced to participate in statewide standardized tests each year. Many claim that standardized testing allows for teachers to help their students easier, and that it holds school districts accountable. While school mandated standardized testing can be useful, statewide standardized testing is ineffective and negatively impacts students. Standardized tests can cause unnecessary stress on, alreadyRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1647 Words à |à 7 Pagesare being educated. Therefore , standardized testing was made to see how much intelligence a person has on a topic .However standardized tests donââ¬â¢t measure how people learn in a classroom . standardized testing is not a good way to test students because tests donââ¬â¢t measure an individual intelligence , tests should not be used to determine funding for school , the teachers cheat on the tests to protect the students ,and its ethically wrong to give a lot of standardized tests to kids . Teachers
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The Age Discrimination Free Essays
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) defines age discrimination, or ageism, as organizational decision-making that takes into account the age of employees when making decisions of employee benefits (Sawyer, 2017). In the past decade, even more cases of age discrimination have surfaced, causing businesses and companies money, time and credibility. (Doyle, 2018). We will write a custom essay sample on The Age Discrimination or any similar topic only for you Order Now Regardless of age, employers should be judged based on their performances and qualifications. Though it is illegal, companies still act in unethical ways, offering different pay and benefits, job assignments, and even termination or layoffs because of age (Sawyer, 2017). As of 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that about 21 percent of discrimination complaints were regarding age (Doyle, 2018). Employees must receive the same benefits regardless of age, the only exception being when the cost of providing supplemented benefits to young workers is the same as providing reduced benefits to older workers (Doyle, 2018). Laws protect some personal rights, for those who believe they are discriminated against, and companies face serious consequences. The ADEA protects applicants and employees who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age, and applies to private employers with 20 or more employees, state and local governments, employment agencies, labor organizations and the federal government (EEOC Publication). According to case statistics reported on the EEOC, there was an increase in the number of age discrimination cases filed between 2005 and 2015 (Sawyer, 2017). Google Inc, the infamous technology company, is known as one of toughest companies to land a job with. Google is also known for its start-up mentality and flat organizational structure, which means that there are few or no levels of middle management. Like all other companies and organizations, leaders at Google set the standards and decide whether the company will be ethical or not. Google found themselves fighting against age-discrimination lawsuits, having the first filed in 2007, followed by the second known case in 2015. These two cases offer insight into the implications of accommodating an aging workforce (Sawyer, 2017). In the first case, the plaintiff, Brian Reid was an employee who claimed he suffered age discrimination at the job (Sawyer, 2017). Reid claimed he encountered ageist attitudes from both coworkers and management, which resulted in termination after a performance review. (Sawyer, 2017). This caused Googleââ¬â¢s reputation to become tainted, and they suffered financial costs. Work ethics and behaviors trickle down to employees, and Google was found guilty of illegally discriminating against someone because of their age. In 2015, Robert Health also filed a case against Google, claiming unfair employment practices and was convinced his age was the reasoning. Many workers want to work for Google because the company is perceived as one of the best firms to work for and the employees define the companyââ¬â¢s capabilities, such as the capability to innovate rapidly (Meyer, 2017). It is pertinent for companies to create ââ¬Å"age fairâ⬠work environments (Sawyer, 2017). Leaders create and shape company culture through their behaviors. The age discrimination concerns for Google are severe because it affects the companyââ¬â¢s organizational functioning. Inclusive leadership means venturing beyond oneââ¬â¢s own perspective, and always doing the right thing. There are solutions and options to reduce age discrimination, and Google, like other companies benefit from making better ethical decisions. If companies are aware of the law, have clear policies, evaluating employee performances, and training staff at all levels of the organization, discrimination can be avoided. It infringes of employeesââ¬â¢ rights of fair treatment. Not hiring someone because they are older could potentially cost employers the years of experience and older worker may have. Workers may even be concerned that once they hit a certain age, they may lose their job or be terminated. Clear guidelines for employers and aging workers, alike, regarding their right and responsibilities need to also set forth to ensure a fair and age equitable workplace (Sawyer, 2017). The company also needs to proactively review on a continual basis and ensure non-ageist practices in the workplace (Sawyer, 2017). By doing so, this decreases the feeling of insecurity by the employees. Policies and codes of ethics are significant in businesses because they are essentially management tools for organizational values. Ethical leadership and reasoning can help companies gain the respect of employees and customers, which is an indirect link to profits for the business. Organizations that are effective, customer-centric, and employee-oriented, develop a clear, concise and shared meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction within their organization (Doyle, 2017). Communication, integrity, inclusion, and sensitivity to the needs of the employees round out the qualities and characteristics of an inspirational leader. The capacity to impart enthusiasm, reason, and significance to others sets up the helpful culture of an organization (Heathfield, 2018). Promoting diversity in the workplace benefits employers because such organizational strategic planning promotes a positive work environment, which stimulates organizational productivity (Sawyer, 2017). Having this type of workplace environment allows employees to be divers in age, skillsets, levels of creativity, and open-mindedness. When employees have different perspectives and ideas are not uniformed, it allows diversity amongst the organization. If leaders respect all workers, give them access to the same opportunities, promote the most qualified candidates, and quickly address issues of stereotypes or unfortunate language, for example, itââ¬â¢s easier to create a healthy corporate culture. Organizations are denied to subject workers to unreasonable treatment or unmitigated segregation in view of these legitimately secured qualities (Doyle, 2017). Proactively avoiding age discrimination in the workplace requires organizations and businesses to incorporate discrimination and diversity training. Aside from training, itââ¬â¢s important to clearly define policies and set expectations for what will occur if a violation happens (Doyle, 2017). Because workplace ethics set the standards for the behavior of organizations, any type of discrimination in a company is seen as unethical. Discrimination is closely related to corporate social responsibility because this determines the moral behavior of the leaders and employees. Employers do not have the right to discriminate. The more developed an organization is, the likelihood of unethical behavior to occur is less likely. How to cite The Age Discrimination, Papers
Monday, May 4, 2020
International Environment Law
Question: Discuss about the International Environment Law. Answer: A recent phenomenon has been noticed where the NGOs working for the environment have been hypnotized by the multi-stakeholder dialogues of the corporate. To develop the image of being a good corporate citizen, the corporate organizations procure the help of the friendly NGOs to carry out the controversial activities, as a means to outsource the legitimacy in an effective manner. This is done as the environmental NGOs act as the moral stamp of approval for the activities undertaken by the organizations which are involved in emissions trading. This phenomenon was not limited to the conservative environmental NGOs, which had been neutralized as a result of the strategies of such corporate polluters[1]. An alternative treaty was designed to influence the official Rio Declarations, and this was presented at the original Earth Summit in Rio by the NGO Global Forum[2]. This was a visionary document where the declaration was made by the NGOs stating that there was a need for the climate negotiators to avoid such emission trading schemes which address the climate change problems in a superficial manner, perpetuate or worsen the inequities which are often hidden behind the problem, or which have a negative ecological impact[3]. In the following parts, this very statement of the NGOs have been analyzed and evaluated to present a legal perspective of the statement. This has been done by evaluating the legal framework of EU regarding the emissions and its emission trading scheme. The reason behind the analysis of the EU norms is to establish that the schemes of EU address the climate change problems in a superficial manner only and the spirit behind the statement made by the NGOs has not been fulfilled. The EU Emissions Trading System, or the EU ETS, is a cap-and-trade mechanism, which has been designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to building a low carbon economy in Europe, in a manner which can be considered as both economical and environment efficient. On January 1st, 2005 the EU ETS was launched as a major pillar of the climate policy of EU and to fight global warming. The scheme covered the large emitters in the EUs 27 Member States, in addition to Lichtenstein, Norway and Iceland[4]. Presently, this number was increased to 28 Member States of EU, in addition to the three nations[5]. Under the principle of cap and trade, a limit in the form of maximum cap is set on the sum total of greenhouse gases which can be released/ produced by all the partaking installations. There is then an auction for free or action off of the allowances for emissions and these can be traded subsequently[6]. The installations have to compulsorily monitory and report the CO2 emissions, and ensure that they hand in sufficient allowances to the authorities so as to cover the emissions[7]. If the emission goes beyond the permitted limited made through the allowances, then the installations have to buy allowances from the others. Alternatively, when any installation performs well towards the reduction in its emissions, they have the freedom to sell their leftover credits. By following this, the system is able to find the most cost effective way of reducing the emissions, without any major intervention of the government[8]. There are a number of trading periods through which the scheme is divided. The initial period of EU ETS spanned from January of 2005 to December of 2007. The next trading period lasted from January of 2008 to December of 2012 and this period coincided with the Kyoto Protocols first commitment period[9]. The third period of EU ETS initiated in January of 2013 and would continue till December of 2020. In comparison to the time when EU ETS was initially implemented in 2005, the caps proposed for 2020 shows a 21% reduction in the greenhouse gases. Though, this target was achieved by 2014, six years before its targeted, as the emissions in ETS fell to 1812 mln tones[10]. But the figures fail to highlight the truth regarding the superficiality of adoption of these norms. The cap and trade framework created through the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 did provide a framework, but till now, very less has actually been achieved at this level. During the inception of EU ETS, there was a strong belief regarding the view that the global carbon trading would become a primary tool in the global emissions reductions eventually. Though these expectations seem to have been delayed, and there is also a possibility of these being dashed[11]. The journey of EU ETS has been a rocky road till now as it has been constantly subjected to close scrutiny by the media, and the academic literature[12]. Even though it has been accredited as an innovative, as well as, an adaptive policy instrument, and has experienced a steep learning curve during its initial two phases of inception, it has to face a number of setbacks, which have been documented time and again. These include the over allocation of the allowances which have led to inevitable price crashes, huge windfall profits from the generous free allocation, in addition to the issues relating to the financial frauds[13]. The commodity markets contain some or other form of illegal activities, but the carbon markets have particularly been susceptible to fraud. One of the main reasons is the nature of the commodity which is being traded. Unlike corn or oil, carbon is not a tangible product. The carbon permits covered under EU ETS are an explicit permission to pollute in the future, and this is estimated on the basis of proxy, instead of actually measuring the same. There have been a number of frauds and scandals, for instance the 5 billion VAT fraud, which involve stolen, as well as, re-used allowances. In the view of the EU Court of Auditors, this depicts that the financial side of EU ETS remains under regulated[14]. There is also a lack of clarity regarding the legal definition of the emission allowances, in addition to the lack of sufficient fiduciary control of the Registry of allowances, as well as the lack of proper cooperation amongst the national financial regulators and the Commission. The General Report on Activities for 2009 covered that the ETS market remained at risk to the VAT frauds. There was an estimate by Europol regarding the loss to carbon credit fraud, between June 2008 to December 2009, through the VAT carousel fraud, and this amounted to an approximate of 5 billion euro. There was a particular vulnerability of the ETS market to such cross border trading criminal activities. To deal with this issue, a directive was adopted, i.e., Council Directive2010/23/EU of 16March2010, which would give the Member States the possibility of implementation of a mechanism of VAT reverse charge, which would put the compulsion, on the individuals, to whom the allowances or other compliance units are transferred, to pay the VAT[15]. Though, this provision has been postponed till December 2018, i.e., Council Directive2013/43/EU of 22July2013[16]. When the audit was done, nearly one third of the Member States had ignored to implement the reverse charge mechanism for the emission allowance. So, the risk of VAT fraud over the EU ETS allowances still remains unaddressed in a proper manner by the European Union. When the Member States were visited by the Court, Italy was the one out of the five Member States who had not applied for this mechanism. The sole platform for trading of emission allowances in the country, had suspended the operations in December 2010, in the emission allowances market, because of the anomalies which were noticed in the fluctuations of the trading. In March 2014, there was a permanent shut down in the operations of the exchange. According to the National Registry Administrator and the Competent Authority, there was a substantial risk of VAT carousel fraud, at the time of the audit, which was happening in Italy as a result of the absence of implementation or adoption of the VAT reverse charge mechanism[17] . Another reason behind the superficiality of EU ETS is that it fails to reduce the emissions in a substantial manner[18]. In the decade since the ETS began operating, the greenhouse gas emissions of the EU have fallen and this includes the sectors which are covered under the scheme. Though, there is very little evidence to prove that the emissions trading have caused these reductions. The majority of the emissions which are covered by ETS accounts for the electricity generation, but the reductions in the electricity generation sector, is majorly due to the environmental policies, specially the green certificates and the feed-in tariffs[19]. Moreover, as per the analysis conducted by the economy-wide drivers regarding the changing levels of the green house gas emissions depict that the reduction in the ETS sectors can be explained in a different and complete manner, as a result of combination of the fuel switching, i.e. from coal to gas, the improved energy efficiency, increase in the renewable energy, and the economic downturn post 2008, in a response to the economic variables and other policies[20]. The EU ETS has the habit of undermining the other climate and emissions control policy. Often the business lobbyists put up the excuse of not fulfilling the emission norms, by stating those emissions have been covered by the emissions trading. This is the favorite refrain quote used by such individuals in the face of the proposed environmental regulations, and surprisingly, it has worked successfully time and again[21]. The EU IPPC, i.e. the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive was explicitly modified to exclude the CO2 emission limits for the installations (in terms of the industrial plants and the power stations) which were covered under the EU ETS, due to the fear that the same would result in reducing demand for emissions allowances, energy efficiency improvements, which ultimately would result in the weakening of the carbon prices[22]. In the same manner the Energy Taxation Directives revisions was firstly weakened, and then abandoned, due to the fear of it affecting the prices of carbon, and the loopholes which exempted the shipping and aviation fuels from the minimum tax rates where instead maintained, on account of the ETS. As per the leaked documents of the UK Government, this was done in the attempts to weaken the renewable energy targets and the energy efficiency measures, on the basis that these could possibly result in the crumpling of the carbon prices[23]. The Directo rate-General of the European Commission on the Climate Action warned in a notorious case against tougher energy efficiency measures due to the fear that the same could result in the carbon prices falling steeply[24]. A ceiling has been set by the ETS regarding the climate ambition. The ETS makes certain that the targets set for greenhouse gas emissions are taken as a ceiling on the climate ambition, instead of treating them as a floor for the same. There is a sheer lack of incentives for the nations to implement such policies which would encourage the organizations to surpass the stated targets, as this would open up the channels for the organizations in other nations to emit more. This is because of the principle of cap and trade of the EU ETS. The abundance of the allowances present in system makes it quite easy and painless for the nations to avoid any domestic actions by purchasing the emission allowances cheaply from some other place. Till the present time, the net results have been cancelling out the abatements which have been delivered by the other policies, for instance the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Renewable Energy Supply Directive[25]. This very failure of the EU ETS has been augmented due to the fact that the current emissions target of EU regarding a 20% emissions reduction by 2020 has been acknowledged widely as being very less, and this has generated a huge surplus of emissions allowances which would undermine the system way before 2020. This has been proved correct, as the targets were achieved six years before the target year. A Market Stability Reserve tried to remove such emission allowances temporarily, but this too fails to cancel them. After all such removals have been properly accounted for, there has been an estimate of 2.3 billion as the surplus allowances and these would remain to be utilized by 2020 as per EU ETSs principle of cap and trade[26]. Another reason why EU ETS has a negative ecological impact relates to the fact that this has failed to be a cost-effective measure and has only subsidized the polluters at the expenses of the tax payers. It has been noticed that since the implementation of the ETS, the businesses have passed on the carbon costs to its customers, which in reality, should not have incurred in the first place. Only a few of the big organizations have attained high amount in terms of tens of billions Euros, in the unearned profits by following this way and this has been shown by a number of academic studies[27]. The sector which has benefitted the most is the power sector, even though there has been evidence to show that he industrial sectors, specifically the oil refineries, have starting following the same pricing tricks. The heavy industries also have profited in a considerable manner from the excess in the emission allowances. This is evident from the hold of excess permits, which amount to more than 4 billion, under the second phase of this scheme, by the ten largest steel firms, as well as, the cement sector. Another source of unearned profits and inefficiency relates to the changes in the state aid rules. This meant that the public money could be used as a means to pay back the amplified costs of electricity, which are a result of the profiteering highlighted above. The chemical, paper, steel and aluminum sectors have the freedom of claiming up to 85% of these increased costs in form of the state aid. This figure is set to fall to 75% from 2019[28]. The emission allowances, regarding the free allocation is set to be continued. This is a major reversal as in January 2008, it was announced by the Commission that such free allocations would be put to an end by the year 2020[29]. And yet, as per the current reform proposal, this has to be continued and so the 43% of emissions allowances would continue to be handed out until at least 2030, for free. As per the Impact Assessment of this proposal, the free permits, which were handed out under EU ETS, is almost scandalous, as it could amount to approximately 160 billion Euros[30]. Hannah Mowat from FERN believes that no amount of structural tinkering would help in evading the fact that a wrong tool has been elected by the EU to reduce the emissions in Europe. The EU ETS is inherently weak and fails is getting the EU where it needed to be, in the given time period. These comments of Mowat were made when a report was released, which exposed the Myths of the EU ETS[31]. The report was published by the organizations which were signatory to the Time to scrap the ETS declaration[32]. Five major myths were highlighted in this report, which related to the EU ETS[33]. The first myth was that the best tool for reducing emissions was EU ETS. The reality showed a rise in emissions during Phase I of ETS. And the decrease in emissions in Phase II, were linked to economic crisis, and not EU ETS. No real shift has been noticed in the way the energy is used by the industry or the manner in which it is produced. The second myth was that ETS acted as a key booster of investments in low-carbon solutions and clean technologies. In reality, neither Phase I, nor Phase II triggered any transformational investment in low-carbon technology or sustainable renewable energy. As per the report, the ETS was incapable of triggering any regulatory action or transformation, which was needed for a just and sustainable path, which could be attained by a clear direct policy. The third myth covered under this report was that this was a system which was functioning as it was intended to do, and that it was a flexible solution. The reality was quite different from the myth as this system is an unresponsive mechanism and is cumbersome, and has even failed to achieve the objectives set out by it[34]. The fourth myth relates to the system delivering cost-effective emissions reductions. In reality, this system has failed to be cost-effective for both the consumer and public purposes. A question was also raised in this report asking to identify for whom the ETS was cost effective. The businesses have continued to make windfall profits, as they have passed on the costs to the consumers, which they got free of charge from the permits to pollute. This was put down as market teething problem, but even after such a long time, the issues remain and are only getting worse. The fifth and last myth relates to the positive thing that the ETS was working successfully. As per the report, the ETS was a paradise for the fraudsters, which fostered frauds, tax evasions and other criminal activities[35]. From the above analysis, a clear opinion can be formed that indeed the EU ETS was addressing the climate change problems in a superficial manner. Moreover it was only worsening the inequities and acting as a negative ecological impact. This is evident from the faulty cap and trading principle of the ETS, which allows the underperforming organizations from performing better by simply purchasing the allowances for emissions from others. Moreover, there is no incentive for the companies who perform better. Also, when any nation performs better, it only helps the non-performing entities, as they can continue breaching the emission norms by simply purchasing the allowances from the ones who perform well. This shows the scheme is defective, as it fails in actually reducing the carbon emissions, which help the environment. To sum up, the EU ETS addresses the climate change problems in only a superficial manner and this scheme has failed in fulfilling the statement made by the NGOs. Bibliography Books/ Articles/ Reports Bachram, H, Climate Fraud and Carbon Colonialism: The New Trade in Greenhouse Gases (2004) 15(4) Capitalism Nature Socialism 11. 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(20 April 2013) https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21576388-failure-reform-europes-carbon-market-will-reverberate-round-world-ets The Global Development Research Centre, Alternative Non-Governmental Agreement On Climate Change (2017) https://www.gdrc.org/uem/Trialogue/alt-cc-ngo.html UK Parliament, Energy and Climate Change (26 January 2012) https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenergy/1476/147604.htm Heidi Bachram, Climate Fraud and Carbon Colonialism: The New Trade in Greenhouse Gases (2004) 15(4) Capitalism Nature Socialism 11. Peter Newell and J. Timmons Roberts, The Globalization and Environment Reader (John Wiley Sons, 2017) The Global Development Research Centre, Alternative Non-Governmental Agreement On Climate Change (2017) https://www.gdrc.org/uem/Trialogue/alt-cc-ngo.html House of Commons, The EU Emissions Trading System (17 January 2012) https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenergy/1476/1476.pdf European Commission, The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) (30 January 2017) https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en Larry Parker, Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking To 2020 (DIANE Publishing, 2011) Wolf Friedrich Spieth, Reform of EU emissions trading system likely to fail (24 March 2015) https://euobserver.com/opinion/128119 Will Denayer, Why the market approach fails to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Part 2: the failure of the EU Emissions Trading System (12 May 2016) https://www.flassbeck-economics.com/why-the-market-approach-fails-to-lower-greenhouse-gas-emissions-part-2-the-failure-of-the-eu-emissions-trading-system/ Peter Jones, Saving the planet or selling off the atmosphere? Emissions trading, capital accumulation and the carbon rent (2008) https://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/mi/1/mi1jones.pdf Stephen Payne, European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (2015) https://www.theinfolist.com/php/SummaryGet.php?FindGo=european_union_emissions_trading_scheme UK Parliament, Energy and Climate Change (26 January 2012) https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenergy/1476/147604.htm Jillian Ambrose, EU has failed to save carbon market from long-term gloom, say analysts (12 MARCH 2016) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/03/eu-has-failed-to-save-carbon-market-from-long-term-gloom-say-ana/ Tim Laing, Misato Sato, Michael Grubb and Claudia Comberti, Assessing the effectiveness of the EU Emissions Trading System (January 2013) https://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WP106-effectiveness-eu-emissions-trading-system.pdf European Court Of Auditors, The integrity and implementation of the EU ETS (2015) https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR15_06/SR15_06_EN.pdf European Union Law, Council Directive 2010/23/EU (16 March 2010) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:072:0001:0002:EN:PDF European Union Law, Council Directive 2013/43/EU (22 July 2013) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:201:0004:0006:en:PDF At 12 The Economist, ETS, RIP? (20 April 2013) https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21576388-failure-reform-europes-carbon-market-will-reverberate-round-world-ets Berghmans Nicolas, Chze Benot, Alberola Emilie and Chevallier Julien, The CO2 emissions of the European power sector: economic drivers and the climate-energy policies contribution (October 2014) https://www.cdcclimat.com/IMG/pdf/14-10_cdc_climat_r_wp_14-17_power_sector_in_the_eu_ets-2.pdf Olivier Gloaguen and Emilie Alberola, Assessing the factors behind CO2 emissions changes over the phases 1 and 2 of the EU ETS: an econometric analysis (October 2013) https://www.cdcclimat.com/IMG/pdf/13-10_cdc_climat_r_wp_13-15_assessing_the_factors_behing_co2_emissions_changes.pdf Corporate Europe Observatory, EU emissions trading: 5 reasons to scrap the ETS (26 October 2015) https://corporateeurope.org/environment/2015/10/eu-emissions-trading-5-reasons-scrap-ets European Environment Agency, Application of the Emissions Trading Directive by EU Member States - reporting year 2007 (13 March 2008) https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/technical_report_2008_3 Ashley Seager and Mark Milner, Revealed: cover-up plan on energy target (13 August 2007) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/aug/13/renewableenergy.energy European Commission, Directive Of The European Parliament And Of The Council on energy efficiency and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC (2011) https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/sec_2011_0779_impact_assessment.pdf At 21 Ibid Timothy Laing, Misato Sato, Michael Grubb and Claudia Comberti, The effects and side-effects of the EU emissions trading scheme (2014) 5(4) WIREs Climate Change 509519. At 21 European Commission, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/87/EC (23 January 2008) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52008PC0016from=EN At 21 Chris Lang, The EU Emissions Trading Scheme has failed: Time to scrap the ETS (16 April 2013) https://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/04/16/the-eu-emissions-trading-scheme-has-failed-time-to-scrap-the-ets/ Chris Lang, Time to scrap the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (20 February 2013) https://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/02/20/time-to-scrap-the-eu-emissions-trading-scheme/ REDD-Monitor, EU ETS myth busting: Why it cant be reformed and shouldnt be replicated (April 2013) https://www.redd-monitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Myths_internet.pdf Ibid Ibid
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