The Netherlands fallacy refers to an error
Paul R. Ehrlich and his co-authors claim others make in assuming that the
environmental impacts of the
Netherlands and other rich nations are contained within their national borders.
Environmentalists since the late 20th century have analyzed the environmental sink status and sink capacities of poor nations. As
polluting industries migrate from rich to poor nations, the national
ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
of rich nations shrinks, whereas the international ecological footprint may increase or also decrease. The nature of the
fallacy
A fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning, or "wrong moves," in the construction of an argument which may appear stronger than it really is if the fallacy is not spotted. The term in the Western intellectual tradition was intr ...
is to ignore increasing environmental damage in many
developing nations and in
international waters attributable to the imported goods or changes in the economy of such nations directly due to
developed nations.
Such an approach may lead to incorrect assertions such as the environmental impact of a particular developed country is reducing, when a holistic, international approach suggests the opposite. This may in turn support over-optimistic predictions toward the improvement of global environmental conditions.
The Netherlands has had a huge impact regarding leaving water footprints across the world. The Netherlands has made this footprint by importing water from other countries, leaving increasingly scarce regions. Water footprints of a country can come from either water resources used internally or resources that are outsourced. Dutch consumers have left most of their water footprint through agricultural goods and industrial goods.
See also
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Environmental racism
*
Externality
In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...
*
Global environmental inequality
Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003
* ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007
* ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989
* ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015
* Bruno ...
References
Further reading
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Environmental impact assessment