This morning I read an interesting article in the news. The article dealt with the environmental impact on ecosystems, animals and humans caused by the production of drugs in low-wage countries. Drugs, such as those commonly used against fungal infections or to regulate blood pressure are produced in for example India. No strict environmental regulations exist and chemical residues, antibiotics and harmful substances end up in the sewage and in water bodies.
Similar situations exist when it comes to the manufacturing of clothes or the production of many other items that are made in low-wage countries with no or little environmental regulations, but are consumed in richer countries. A study from 2018, which investigated the environmental impact of Swedish consumption, showed for example that the use and release of hazardous chemicals occur to around 80% abroad and that only around 20% of the emissions occur within Sweden.
Similarly, many metals used in electronics are mined in low-wage countries, where mining leads to large scale pollution, or in countries with an unstable political situation. The growing demand for, for example critical metals, will mean more mines, more environmental pollution and more unsafe working environments in these countries. The mining industry’s arguments are therefore that mining needs to be partly relocated to countries, which have strict environmental regulations and can guarantee a safe work environment. And the recently more often heard argument is that also Sweden has to take a share in this. We consume, but we don’t produce.
The exactly same argument – we consume, but don’t produce – can be employed for many other consumer goods. The reasons why all these items are manufactured in low-wage countries are that it is cheap to produce there, salaries are low, work environments lousy and environmental regulations are basically non-existent. Which in turn means that the products can be sold at a fairly cheap price, yet the industry still earns a lot of money. After all consumers want to buy cheap products.
Before all the outsourcing, many goods were produced in Sweden. But with higher wages and stricter environmental laws, companies moved elsewhere. The pollution and the environmental impacts of these former factories are however still a ticking bomb in many parts of the country.
So, how shall we do? Relocate all kinds of mining, production and manufacturing to Sweden? This would certainly give an enormous boost and would reduce unemployment to below zero! Given salaries, taxes, safety regulations and environmental regulations in Sweden, the produced goods will however become very expensive and only very few will be able to afford them.
Shall we have environmentally-friendly labels on all the goods? Certify all the metals that are used in consumer products so that we know where they come from and how they were mined? We will probably end up with everything being certified in one way or other, without being able to control how valid these certificates are.
Sustainability, Agenda 2030, green technology, carbon footprints, technical solutions, sustainable growth, adaption to climate change are some of the words we hear and read about almost on a daily basis. For some these words are nothing but buzz words. Others really make efforts to contribute to a change. Yet, household consumption has increased with 2.8% during September-November 2019 as compared to September-November 2018, suggesting that we consume more than before.
Barbara Wohlfarth 