If I had the Power - Dino Mahmutovic

1. Which 3 environmental issues would you prioritize and why? Make specific
references to your reading and viewing in this activity.

1. The three environmental issues that I would prioritize would be climate change, plastic
pollution and biodiversity loss. For climate change, I would prioritize this issue because climate
change has had negatively affected ecosystems, public health, and worldwide economies. The
intense rate of the wildfires and hurricanes that are within the western provinces of Canada and
affected the communities have undermined the necessary threat of this issue. The Paris
agreement focuses on reducing the effects of climate change by reducing the emissions of
greenhouse gasses, and achieving these goals need a high dedication of governance.
Choosing to focus on certain policies that provide towards the improvement of efficiency in
energy, and contributing towards strong practices in agriculture can have a positive effect
toward improving these worldwide efforts of reducing climate change for the better. Furthermore,
the newer additions of the IPCC reports give strong proof that include the needs for required
action and possible ways to reduce the negative consequences of climate change. For plastic
pollution, I would prioritize this issue because air pollution has been an ever growing issue for
the environment itself. The plastic pollution has affected marine life and terrestrial life
environments. Including efficient efforts can resolve this issue, which can include implementing
international agreements in order to reduce the plastic waste, which can improve waste
management and systems that are used for recycling. For biodiversity loss, I would prioritize this
issue because it is a major problem to the ecosystem services that the communities would
primarily depend on, such as the purification of water, pollination, and regulations towards
disease. Also, CBD (the Convention on Biological diversity) shows the worldwide contribution
towards maintaining biodiversity, which shows the role that CDB plays in controlling and
stabilizing the resilience of the ecosystem for the best. Establishing effective policies that
safeguard habitats and fighting the invasive species that can affect biodiversity can help resolve
the loss of biodiversity in order to develop a positive outlook on the issue.
2. What laws or agreements exist at the present time?

The possible laws or agreements that would exist at the present time include the Paris
agreement for the mitigation of climate change, which involved the countries to strongly
contribute to maintaining global temperatures at safe levels of approximately below 2 degrees
Celsius as it focused lessen the increase to the level of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Convention on
Biological Diversity was used to help mitigate the biodiversity issue, which established a strong
contribution for the convention itself and the habitable use of biodiversity as it was majorly
supported by the Aichi biodiversity targets group and the legal framework of global diversity.
When plastic pollution was trying to be resolved, there were little efforts being made, but the
United Nations environment assembly has provided stronger resolutions that focus on lessening
plastic litter from both marine and terrestrial life based on a worldwide scale. In the domestic
setting, Canada has strongly established efficient legislation pieces that focus on safeguarding
the environment, which includes the Canadian Environmental Act as it is an act that controls
substances that are prone to cause uncontrollable pollution. Another act is the Species At Risk
Act, which provides the safeguarding of endangered species and their own living environments.

3. Consider the role of individuals, groups, corporations, governments and the

international community. What actions are being taken? What action should be taken
and by whom?

Actions have been taken to lessen carbon footprints by implementing different lifestyle changes,
community groups, and the NGOS that strive for efficient policy changes and increased efforts
relating to conservation. Governments have established laws to defend the natural environment
and lessen all forms of emissions, which include Canada’s contribution within the Paris
agreement itself. At the view of an international setting, agreements, such as the Paris
agreement to help reduce climate change are essential to help reduce these significant issues,
but additional action is still needed. As such, people should include lifestyle changes into their
own life as the community groups and NGOS have to focus more on providing more efficient
environment safeguarding measures. The corporations themselves need to focus on their
supply chains and governments need to establish more effective regulations that relate with the
environment in order to protect it and provide renewable energy. The international community
must improve on their cooperation with the world in order to contribute and resolve the
transboundary environmental issues.
4. What are the challenging aspects of the issue?

The challenging aspects of resolving the climate change, loss of biodiversity, and plastic
pollution involve their own causes and the cooperation that needed to provide for resolutions
towards solving these issues. For climate change, the challenge of this issue is the worldwide
spread of greenhouse gas emissions and the required desire for shifts towards production of
energy and consumption patterns, which are often rejected by various countries and industries
that are dependent on fossil fuels. The loss of Biodiversity highlights difficult challenges in
stabilizing conservation and development, which needs protective practices that can fight off
economic interests, including the regions that have natural resources as their main source of
income. Plastic pollution has challenges that can be difficult to resolve, such as the
infrastructure towards the management of waste, the essential need of changes in the behavior
of the consumer, and the essential development of maintainable materials as an alternative way
to using plastics that can only be used onced. When resolving these issues, getting the desired
result can be negatively interfered by politics, economic factors, and barriers within society.

5. What changes would you make to the existing laws? Explain what you hope to
achieve through your proposed changes.

5. In order to resolve the issues of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the plastic pollution
in an effective way, I would suggest making the important changes to the existing laws in order
to better improve the mechanisms of enforcement, include the potential sustainability in all of
the features of policy development, and support cooperation for the international communities.
For climate change, additional amendments would be established to improve the strength of
reducing emissions within the national frameworks of the legal system in order to provide better
measures towards accountability. For biodiversity itself, additional updates would be included for
the Convention on Biological Diversity and the domestic laws so that these laws can focus more
on improving the protection of habitats, create stronger fragmented ecosystems, and provide
manageable efforts for conservation. As for plastic pollution, I would effectively support the
implementation of worldwide practice for the disposal and required productions of all plastic
materials, which includes standard bans for the plastics that can only be used once, and
additional requirements towards other biodegradables that are alternative, which can be a part
of the international agreement. By providing these changes, the goal is to spark a strong
worldwide response towards the degradation of the environment and establish the fact that legal
frameworks can also be actionable instead of only being ambitious from the eyes of the public.
My hope is to provide a gradual shift towards a future that is only manageable instead of
harmful by including accountability at every corner of the legal system, which ranges from
national communities to other corporations or governments in order to support a valuable
culture of a positive environment.
6. What can we learn from the actions of other countries? Can we partner with groups,
corporations, governments, researchers and the international community to achieve a
common goal?

Based on the learning from the other countries’ actions, Canada has embraced an approach
that is filled with collaboration and experience towards facing environmental issues as it benefits
from their own experience with the world and various innovations. As an example, the
Scandinavian model highlights how an intense purchase on having renewable energy can
lessen the dependent nature of fossil fuels, which is a strategy that Canada could have had in
order to better resolve the issues of climate change. The recycling programs from Germany
provide important knowledge towards sustaining the plastic pollution through the accountability
of the producer themselves, which can suggest a legal practice that can be used to effectively
reduce waste on a national and international level. For biodiversity, the ecosystem services
payments of Costa Rica (PES) shows the possible potential of including conservation and
effective management relating to sustainable land, which is an effective approach that can
increase Canada’s contributions to safeguard its species and landscapes. When collaborating
with groups, corporations, government, the researchers, and the international community
themselves, Canada is able to learn from the achieved success and challenges that are
confronted by other people. These partnerships can achieve goals that cannot be normally
achieved on their own and can be done by demonstrating the potential of collaborative action in
fighting worldwide environmental challenges together instead of alone.