207
Deterioration, pollution, exhaustion of renewable energy resources (soil, wood, water) develop
generally as a result of overuse due to increased
demand. According to Homer-Dixon (1999) two
processes could cause social conflicts: resource
dispossession and ecological marginalisation.
In the course of resources dispossession
decreasing resources per capita due to the
increase of population in the given state urges
social groups in power to topple the distribution
of resources so that the poorer and thus more
exposed half of the society could get increasingly
desperate that could lead to violence. Generally
other social causes are also involved.
Ecological marginalisation is also caused by
unequal access to resources. Population growth
of course plays a role causing a shortage of
resources per capita and resulting in internal
migration that targets ecological sensitive areas
as well like areas prone to desertification, steep
mountain slopes where soil erosion can be accelerated and tropical rainforests where deforestation could be intensified. Overuse of such areas
results in the deterioration of the environment
and people wishing to live in such places will
have even less supply and social conflicts will
burst out.
Not unusual that environmental shortage
induced conflicts are intensified by religious
and/or ethnic hostilities and even mass migration towards the developed world could be
induced. Some experts relate severe conflicts
and intensifying migration fundamentally to
political, economic and social reasons although
they also admit that environmental shortage
could also have a role in the process. (The
authors note that both the dispossession of
resources and ecological marginalisation bring
the social groups involved into serious economic conditions, i.e. the problem roots in environmental destruction again as economic and
environmental causes are interrelated.) It is
doubtless that complex processes in the society
are difficult to separate but this means that all
potential causes that could lead to conflicts in
the society or threatens the subsistence of social
groups have to be eliminated in order to achieve
sustainable development.
The threat of environmental migration is
apparent, for example, due to the already mentioned sea level rise or drought. Migration intensifying towards the European Union via the
Mediterranean Sea since 2015 encouraged scientists to study the relationship between migration
and climate change. Missirian and Schlenker
(2017) analysed the cases of migrants arriving
and applying for asylum from 103 countries in
relation to the typical temperature of the “source
countries”. They studied the time period between
2000 and 2014 with 351,000 people applying for
asylum in the EU. The results revealed that further away from the temperature 20 °C set as optimum (rising temperature) the number of migrants
applying for asylum increased in non-linear fashion. According to Missirian and Schlenker
(2017), the ratio of migrant applying for asylum—assuming all other conditions steady—will
rise with 28% in the case of scenario RCP 4.5 and
188% in the case of scenario RCP 8.5. Although
the results of the study seem interesting the
method applied by the scientists can be debated
primarily because the majority of “source” countries are located in climate zones warmer than the
average and many of them are regarded poor and
these two facts distort the results from the beginning. The study of the issue by experts, however,
is absolutely necessary.
It has to be noted as well that there are only a
few countries even in the more developed part of
the world where poverty and homelessness are
solved. Nevertheless, if the global society operates so that the conditions of sustainable development are missing in the most part of world then it
is a system error. The institutes controlling the
social system are described in the following.
5.2
Global and National
Institutes Controlling
the Operation of the Society
A complex flexible system as the global society
is regulated by numerous internal mechanisms
from the smallest communities (families) to regulations influencing the entire system (e.g. UN).
This complex control system in relation to sus5.2 Global and National Institutes Controlling the Operation of the Society
Deterioration, pollution, exhaustion of renewable energy resources (soil, wood, water) develop
generally as a result of overuse due to increased
demand. According to Homer-Dixon (1999) two
processes could cause social conflicts: resource
dispossession and ecological marginalisation.
In the course of resources dispossession
decreasing resources per capita due to the
increase of population in the given state urges
social groups in power to topple the distribution
of resources so that the poorer and thus more
exposed half of the society could get increasingly
desperate that could lead to violence. Generally
other social causes are also involved.
Ecological marginalisation is also caused by
unequal access to resources. Population growth
of course plays a role causing a shortage of
resources per capita and resulting in internal
migration that targets ecological sensitive areas
as well like areas prone to desertification, steep
mountain slopes where soil erosion can be accelerated and tropical rainforests where deforestation could be intensified. Overuse of such areas
results in the deterioration of the environment
and people wishing to live in such places will
have even less supply and social conflicts will
burst out.
Not unusual that environmental shortage
induced conflicts are intensified by religious
and/or ethnic hostilities and even mass migration towards the developed world could be
induced. Some experts relate severe conflicts
and intensifying migration fundamentally to
political, economic and social reasons although
they also admit that environmental shortage
could also have a role in the process. (The
authors note that both the dispossession of
resources and ecological marginalisation bring
the social groups involved into serious economic conditions, i.e. the problem roots in environmental destruction again as economic and
environmental causes are interrelated.) It is
doubtless that complex processes in the society
are difficult to separate but this means that all
potential causes that could lead to conflicts in
the society or threatens the subsistence of social
groups have to be eliminated in order to achieve
sustainable development.
The threat of environmental migration is
apparent, for example, due to the already mentioned sea level rise or drought. Migration intensifying towards the European Union via the
Mediterranean Sea since 2015 encouraged scientists to study the relationship between migration
and climate change. Missirian and Schlenker
(2017) analysed the cases of migrants arriving
and applying for asylum from 103 countries in
relation to the typical temperature of the “source
countries”. They studied the time period between
2000 and 2014 with 351,000 people applying for
asylum in the EU. The results revealed that further away from the temperature 20 °C set as optimum (rising temperature) the number of migrants
applying for asylum increased in non-linear fashion. According to Missirian and Schlenker
(2017), the ratio of migrant applying for asylum—assuming all other conditions steady—will
rise with 28% in the case of scenario RCP 4.5 and
188% in the case of scenario RCP 8.5. Although
the results of the study seem interesting the
method applied by the scientists can be debated
primarily because the majority of “source” countries are located in climate zones warmer than the
average and many of them are regarded poor and
these two facts distort the results from the beginning. The study of the issue by experts, however,
is absolutely necessary.
It has to be noted as well that there are only a
few countries even in the more developed part of
the world where poverty and homelessness are
solved. Nevertheless, if the global society operates so that the conditions of sustainable development are missing in the most part of world then it
is a system error. The institutes controlling the
social system are described in the following.
5.2
Global and National
Institutes Controlling
the Operation of the Society
A complex flexible system as the global society
is regulated by numerous internal mechanisms
from the smallest communities (families) to regulations influencing the entire system (e.g. UN).
This complex control system in relation to sus5.2 Global and National Institutes Controlling the Operation of the Society