Global warming is a phenomenon that affects the whole world. The current efforts of countries to reverse the effects of global warming have not been totally successful. In fact, it has failed notwithstanding the ban of the usage of deleterious substances which contribute to the deterioration of the atmosphere. More drastic efforts therefore should be mandated from all countries and for purposes of compliance, national laws should be enacted to put into effect the recommendations contained in this paper.
Being green does not necessarily mean being ecologically friendly. There are products which are being advertised as environment friendly however their manufacturing processes is in reality more harmful than what the original product it intends to replace. On the other hand, there are products that use recycled materials but their continuous use or operation by the end users is more harmful to the environment in the long run. In order to arrest the effects of global warming, the following propositions should be considered for its merits thus—the Environmental Labeling for Ecological Footprint Value of all products should be made mandatory. The rationale of this proposition is to compel manufacturers and producers of all products which will be marketed or intended to be marketed in a country should contain on its face or labels the product’s “Gross Ecological Footprint Value”. The Gross Ecological Footprint Value shall be defined as the summation of the Ecological Footprint Value of the following when applicable: Raw materials required in the manufacture or production of the goods or product; Manufacturing processes involved; and Installation procedures. The product shall similarly contain the minimum and maximum operating Ecological Footprint.
The gross ecological footprint shall inform the public on how much natural resources the product consumed during its manufacturing stage. The use of virgin raw materials shall have the highest value while products that use recycled materials shall have the lowest ecological footprint. The ecological footprint of the process involved in manufacturing the product shall also be printed on the label. In the computation, the process of production should be considered such that if manufacturing process involved the use of machinery, it possesses a high ecological footprint and in contrast, if the process involved manual labor then it shall have a lower ecological footprint. For the most efficient products or processes, an Environmental Tax and Environmental Tax Credit shall be levied or awarded to the producers or manufacturers, installations, corporations, enterprises or entities. A standard Ecological Footprint range shall similarly be set to gauge its ecological efficiency. Thus, products, companies, installation, owners of buildings and other similar objects referred to as taxable group shall be taxed when they exceed the standard ecological footprint but shall be exempt if determined to be compliant or given incentive for advocating environmentally sound processes and minimal carbon footprint. As basis for the Ecological Footprint Value Labeling Strategy, an agency responsible for the regulation of the product shall equally be tasked to ensure that the product comply with the labeling requirements. So also, an environmental protection agency or similar office should be created to set the national standard ecological footprint value range and determine compliance. It shall equally be tasked to verify and test the claims of the manufacturers or producers, including its safety and efficacy. It is stressed that it is not only a nation’s duty to safeguard the environment but it must rally its people towards the attainment of a clean and green environment which starts with awareness. Indeed, the global warming phenomenon cannot be halted but its progress can be decelerated by the collective effort of all human beings.
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