The great bitcoin debate pollution
The rise of Bitcoin - as bubble or bona fina currency of the future - is the subject of fierce debate. But there has been much less attention turned to the value and potential of alternative cryptocurrencies, the most high-profile of which are Ripple and Ethereum.
In addition, some countries are developing their own national cryptocurrencies, with Dubai launching its first official cryptocurrency - Emcash - last year, and the Chinese central bank also reportedly developing its own digital currency after having banned the trading of Bitcoin. All these digital currencies are relying on blockchain technology - a method of recording data on a digital ledger of transactions, agreements and contracts.
The big difference is that, for security, the ledger isn't stored in one place but rather distributed across hundreds or even thousands of computers around the world. The rapid rise of Ripple has attracted attention in recent weeks: In contrast, Ripple is controlled by a San Francisco-based company. It creates the currency and releases new batches periodically. This frees Ripple from some of the recent criticism of Bitcoinwhich the great bitcoin debate pollution to the enormous amount of energy used during the mining process.
Ripple says it has licensed its blockchain technology to more than banks to date. Ethereum is a close rival to Ripple, with both competing to be the second biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Ethereum also lets apps run on its networksallowing for smart contracts, written in code, which can be automatically verified and enforced. That in turn allows for the creation of decentralized apps and even decentralized companies, involving no other parties outside of the Ethereum network.
It has also won the backing of some big multinationals, with almost companies, including JP Morgan and Microsoft, signing up as members of The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. The Alliance aims to deal with issues for businesses who want to use Ethereum, such as governance and accountability. Bitcoin has considerable first-mover advantage, and already has a base of loyal users as well as the greatest liquidity and the greatest overall value. Some of the newer cryptocurrencies, however, are easier to mine and have already won the great bitcoin debate pollution backing of big business, giving them significant credence.
Briony HarrisFormative Content. The views expressed in this the great bitcoin debate pollution are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our site. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. It is the rapid rise of Ripple that has attracted most attention amongst the Altcoins in the great bitcoin debate pollution weeks.
Briony Harris Formative Content. India is now the world's fifth biggest defence the great bitcoin debate pollution Briony Harris 04 May Saharan solar farms, sustainable limits and other top stories of the week Adrian Monck 04 May It's 40 years since the first spam email was sent.
Here are 5 things you didn't know about junk email Rob Smith 04 May More on the agenda. Cleaning up battery supply chains Our Impact. Explore the the great bitcoin debate pollution strategic trends, research and analysis. The rapid rise of Bitcoin has led some people to fear that it is a bubble.
Ethereum is signing up companies the great bitcoin debate pollution create governance and accountability. The hottest cryptocurrency in China is not Bitcoin What is Bitcoin? Written by Briony HarrisFormative Content. How secure is blockchain?
Blockchain can solve some of the world's most pressing challenges. Blockchain is facing a backlash. Jem Bendell 12 Apr
Environmental lawalso known as environmental and natural resources law, is a collective term describing the network of treatiesstatutesregulationscommon and customary laws addressing the effects of human activity on the natural environment. The core environmental law regimes address environmental pollution.
A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the management of specific natural resourcessuch as forests, minerals, or fisheries.
Other areas, such as environmental impact assessment, may not fit neatly into either category, but are nonetheless important components of environmental law. Early examples of legal enactments designed to consciously preserve the environment, for its own sake or human enjoyment, are found throughout history. In the common lawthe primary protection was found in the law of nuisancebut this only allowed for private actions for damages or injunctions if there was harm to land.
Thus smells emanating from pig sties[1] strict liability against dumping rubbish, [2] or damage from exploding dams. During the " Great Stink " ofthe dumping of sewerage into the River Thames began to smell so ghastly in the summer heat that Parliament had to be evacuated. Ironically, the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act had allowed the Metropolitan Commission for Sewers to close cesspits around the city in an attempt to "clean up" but this simply led people to pollute the river.
In 19 days, Parliament passed a further Act to build the London sewerage system. London also suffered from terrible air pollutionand this culminated in the " Great Smog " ofwhich in turn triggered its own legislative response: The basic regulatory structure was to set limits on emissions for households and business particularly burning coal while an inspectorate would enforce compliance.
Notwithstanding early analogues, the concept of "environmental law" as a separate and distinct body of law is a twentieth-century development. At that time, numerous influences - including a growing awareness of the unity and fragility of the biosphere ; increased public concern over the impact of industrial activity on natural resources and human health; the increasing strength of the regulatory state; and more broadly the advent and success of environmentalism as a political movement - coalesced to produce a huge new body of law in a relatively short period of time.
While the modern history of environmental law is one of continuing controversy, by the end of the twentieth century environmental law had been established as a component of the legal landscape in all developed nations of the world, many developing onesand the larger project of international law. Water quality laws govern the release of pollutants into water resourcesincluding surface waterground waterand stored drinking water.
Some water quality laws, such as drinking water regulations, may be designed solely with reference to human health. Many others, including restrictions on the alteration of the chemical, physical, radiological, and biological characteristics of water resourcesmay also reflect efforts to protect aquatic ecosystems more broadly.
Regulatory efforts may include identifying and categorizing water pollutants, dictating acceptable pollutant concentrations in water resources, and limiting pollutant discharges from effluent sources. Regulatory areas include sewage treatment and disposalindustrial and agricultural waste water management, and control of surface runoff from construction sites and urban environments.
Waste management laws govern the transport, treatment, storage, and disposal of all manner of wasteincluding municipal solid wastehazardous wasteand nuclear wasteamong many other types. Waste laws are generally designed to minimize or eliminate the uncontrolled dispersal of waste materials into the environment in a manner that may cause ecological or biological harm, and include laws designed to reduce the generation of waste and promote or mandate waste recycling.
Regulatory efforts include identifying and categorizing waste types and mandating transport, treatment, storage, and disposal practices. Environmental cleanup laws govern the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soilsedimentsurface wateror ground water. Unlike pollution control laws, cleanup laws are designed to respond after-the-fact to environmental contamination, and consequently must often define not only the necessary response actions, but also the parties who may be responsible for undertaking or paying for such actions.
Regulatory requirements may include rules for emergency response, liability allocation, site assessment, remedial investigation, feasibility studies, remedial action, post-remedial monitoring, and site reuse.
Chemical safety laws govern the use of chemicals in human activities, particularly man-made chemicals in modern industrial applications. As contrasted with media-oriented environmental laws e. Regulatory efforts include banning specific chemical constituents in consumer products e.
Environmental impact assessment EA is the assessment of the environmental consequences positive and negative of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term " environmental impact assessment " EIA is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term " strategic environmental assessment " SEA applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state.
Water resources laws govern the ownership and use of water resourcesincluding surface water and ground water. Regulatory areas may include water conservation, use restrictions, and ownership regimes. Mineral resource laws cover several basic topics, including the ownership of the mineral resource and who can work them. Mining is also affected by various regulations regarding the health and safety of miners, as well as the environmental impact of mining.
Forestry laws govern activities in designated forest landsmost commonly with respect to forest management and timber harvesting. Ancillary laws may regulate forest land acquisition and prescribed burn practices. Forest management laws generally adopt management policies, such as multiple use and sustained yieldby which public forest resources are to be managed.
Governmental agencies are generally responsible for planning and implementing forestry laws on public forest lands, and may be involved in forest inventoryplanning, and conservationand oversight of timber sales.
Broader initiatives may seek to slow or reverse deforestation. Wildlife laws govern the potential impact of human activity on wild animals, whether directly on individuals or populations, or indirectly via habitat degradation. Similar laws may operate to protect plant species. Such laws may be enacted entirely to protect biodiversityor as a means for protecting species deemed important for other reasons. Regulatory efforts may including the creation of special conservation statusesprohibitions on killing, harming, or disturbing protected species, efforts to induce and support species recovery, establishment of wildlife refuges to support conservation, and prohibitions on trafficking in species or animal parts to combat poaching.
Fish and game laws regulate the right to pursue and take or kill certain kinds of fish and wild animal game. Such laws may restrict the days to harvest fish or game, the number of animals caught per person, the species harvested, or the weapons or fishing gear used. Such laws may seek to balance dueling needs for preservation and harvest and to manage both environment and populations of fish and game. Game laws can provide a legal structure to collect license fees and other money which is used to fund conservation efforts as well as to obtain harvest information used in wildlife management practice.
Environmental law has developed in response to emerging awareness of and concern over issues impacting the entire world. While laws have developed piecemeal and for a variety of reasons, some effort has gone into identifying key concepts and guiding principles common to environmental law as a whole.
Nonetheless, they represent important principles for the understanding of environmental law around the world. Defined by the United Nations Environment Programme as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," sustainable development may be considered together with the concepts of "integration" development cannot be considered in isolation from sustainability and "interdependence" social and economic development, and environmental protection, are interdependent.
Defined by UNEP to include intergenerational equity - "the right of future generations to enjoy a fair level of the common patrimony" - and intragenerational equity - "the right of all people within the current generation to fair access to the current generation's entitlement to the Earth's natural resources" - environmental equity considers the present generation under an obligation to account for long-term impacts of activities, and to act to sustain the global environment and resource base for future generations.
Defined in the international law context as an obligation to protect one's own environment, and to prevent damage to neighboring environments, UNEP considers transboundary responsibility at the international level as a potential limitation on the rights of the sovereign state. Identified as essential conditions for "accountable governments, One of the most commonly encountered and controversial principles of environmental law, the Rio Declaration formulated the precautionary principle as follows:.
The polluter pays principle stands for the idea that "the environmental costs of economic activities, including the cost of preventing potential harm, should be internalized rather than imposed upon society at large.
Environmental law is a continuing source of controversy. Debates over the necessity, fairness, and cost of environmental regulation are ongoing, as well as regarding the appropriateness of regulations vs. Allegations of scientific uncertainty fuel the ongoing debate over greenhouse gas regulation, and are a major factor in debates over whether to ban particular pesticides. It is very common for regulated industry to argue against environmental regulation on the basis of cost.
It is difficult to quantify the value of an environmental value such as a healthy ecosystem, clean air, or species diversity. Many environmentalists' response to pitting economy vs. Even so, there are some efforts underway to systemically recognize environmental costs and assets, and account for them properly in economic terms. While affected industries spark controversy in fighting regulation, there are also many environmentalists and public interest groups who believe that current regulations are inadequate, and advocate for stronger protection.
An additional debate is to what extent environmental laws are fair to all regulated parties. For instance, researchers Preston Teeter and Jorgen Sandberg highlight how smaller organizations can often incur disproportionately larger costs as a result of environmental regulations, which can ultimately create an additional barrier to entry for new firms, thus stifling competition and innovation.
Global and regional environmental issues are increasingly the subject of international law. Debates over environmental concerns implicate core principles of international law and have been the subject of numerous international agreements and declarations.
Customary international law is an important source of international environmental law. These are the norms and rules that countries follow as a matter of custom and they are so prevalent that they bind all states in the world. When a principle becomes customary law is not clear cut and many arguments are put forward by states not wishing to be bound.
Examples of customary international law relevant to the environment include the duty to warn other states promptly about icons of an environmental nature and environmental damages to which another state or states may be exposed, and Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration 'good neighbourliness' or sic utere.
Numerous legally binding international agreements encompass a wide variety of issue-areas, from terrestrial, marine and atmospheric pollution through to wildlife and biodiversity protection. International environmental agreements are generally multilateral or sometimes bilateral treaties a. Protocols are subsidiary agreements built from a primary treaty. They exist in many areas of international law but are especially useful in the environmental field, where they may be used to regularly incorporate recent scientific knowledge.
They also permit countries to reach agreement on a framework that would be contentious if every detail were to be agreed upon in advance. The most widely known protocol in international environmental law is the Kyoto Protocolwhich followed from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. While the bodies that proposed, argued, agreed upon and ultimately adopted existing international agreements vary according to each agreement, certain conferences, including 's United Nations Conference on the Human Environment's World Commission on Environment and Development's United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and 's World Summit on Sustainable Development have been particularly important.
Multilateral environmental agreements sometimes create an International Organization, Institution or Body responsible for implementing the agreement. International environmental law also includes the opinions of international courts and tribunals. While there are few and they have limited authority, the decisions carry much weight with legal commentators and are quite influential on the development of international environmental law.
One of the biggest challenges in international decisions is to determine an adequate compensation for environmental damages. Other programs work on developing stronger environmental laws, regulations, and standards. The European Union issues secondary legislation on environmental issues that are valid throughout the EU so called regulations and many directives that must be implemented into national legislation from the 28 member states national states. Examples are the Regulation EC No. Topics for common EU legislation are:.
The SPREP was established in order to provide assistance in improving and protecting the environment as well as assure sustainable development for future generations. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is the center piece of environmental legislation in the Australian Government. The Brazilian government created the Ministry of Environment in in order to develop better strategies of protecting the environment, use natural resources sustainably, and enforce public environmental policies.
The Ministry of Environment has authority over policies involving environment, water resources, preservation, and environmental programs involving the Amazon.
The Department of the Environment Act establishes the Department of the Environment in the Canadian government as well as the position Minister of the Environment.
When provincial and federal legislation are in conflict federal legislation takes precedence, that being said individual provinces can have their own legislation such as Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rightsand Clean Water Act. According to the U. Environmental Protection Agency"China has been working with great determination in recent years to develop, implement, and enforce a solid environmental law framework.
Chinese officials face critical challenges in effectively implementing the laws, clarifying the roles of their national and provincial governments, and strengthening the operation of their legal system.
With the enactment of the ConstitutionEcuador became the first country in the world to codify the Rights of Nature. The Constitution, specifically Articles 10 andrecognizes the inalienable rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish, gives people the authority to petition on the behalf of ecosystems, and requires the government to remedy violations of these rights.
Money laundering is just a cheat code for prosecutors to get easy points when they can't actually find real wrongdoing.
Client information such as email is kept private and will only be used to contact you from time to time. I ve recently looked at the Green Array chips with bitcoins in mind. With our 3WAY concept crypto, we can offer our customers a very secure, arbitragetrading, which splits into forex solid investment concept. Four fiat currencies are accepted (USD, EUR, RUR, GBP) and two cryptocurrencies (BTC and ETH).