The dark side of globalization
On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon leased by BP plc sank in the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion. It resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in the history of the United States. The spill not only cost human lives, but also heavily damaged the ecosystem, which will take decades to recover. So far approximately 5 million barrels of oil have gushed into the ocean. Today BP will yet again try to finally close the well, as all previous attempts have failed.
Sure, BP have set aside money to pay for the spill and they've decided to replace the CEO. But what else? Plans by BP to begin drilling for oil in other parts of the world, like off Britain's Shetland isles and the Libyan coast, continue. Politicians from the EU and Italy have called for a moratorium. However there is one major problem and that is the lack of any formal mechanism for nations to jointly agree a ban. As one BP manager sarcastically responded when asked about the possibility of a moratorium of the Libyan coast: "…and who is the authority for the 'Med'?…" Not only does this underline BP's corporate culture problem, see my posted dated July 27th, it also highlights a, if not the, major challenge in the context of globalization: If there is no global political counterbalance to globally acting corporations, the world has a big problem. So far, all political efforts have been pretty much unsuccessful. When looking at the results – if you can call them that – of the recent G20 meetings and climate conferences, we find no cause for rejoicing. We the People do have the power to change things, but we have to engage. Remember the public uproar against Nike because of the sweatshops in the 1990ies? "Nike, we made you. We can break you". This does not only apply to Nike and not only to the 1990ies!