(Why) Are Women Paid Less - 1014 Words

Approximately 70% of employer’s expenses consist of labor costs. An employer that hires only females can save 20 cent per dollar compared to one that only hires men. Since a female worker saves the company 20 cents per dollar, she is performing equally to a man – to a lower cost. Since marginal benefit versus marginal cost for women is 20 cents higher than the ratio of men, there should be a clear incentive for hiring women. There has been a major discussion over the passed years about the questions around whether women and minorities are being wage-discriminated on the basis of their sex/ethnicity. This paper will elaborate on the part of women. In the 1950’s one third of the US workforce was made out of women compared to today where two†¦show more content†¦So, yes the husband working to support his family should earn a higher salary than the childless man by the explanation above, but getting the woman (read wives) out on the market as well, would inc rease the national GDP. 3. The incentive for women to be self-employed rises from the fact that the opportunity cost of owning your own store is less than working for someone else. Consider this example: A woman can earn either $15/hour if self-employed or $10/hours as an employee. Her opportunity cost when working for herself is $5 less than if she would be employed. So logically, she chooses to be self-employed despite the fact that she knows she is earning less than a male self-employed. This is her second best choice. Why women earn less then self-employed men can derive from the fact that men choose to do business with other men, avoiding females. Men tend to protect their networks. 4. Discriminating based on sex or race is without exception something that is officially seen upon as highly despicable, without stating that it does not happen. One cannot choose whether to be born man or women neither can one choose what race to be born into. However, one can decide upon the level of human capital that one wants to posses. Education, experience, training, work habits etc. are elements that can be acquiredShow MoreRelatedWhy Are women Paid Less than Men? The Gender Gap1371 Words   |  6 PagesWhy Are Women Paid Less Than Men? The Gender Gap Introduction The equality between men and women is an integral part of human rights, it is also a prerequisite for democracy and social justice. Any democratic state seeks to promote gender equality in all spheres of life. Despite the creation of a strong legal framework to ensure the principle of equality of both sexes, the gap between men and women about their capabilities remains significant (Pomeroy, 72). One of the criteria of gender equalityRead MoreWomens Unequal Pay1333 Words   |  5 Pagesbe a woman or man. In response to the statement, why should women be paid less than men? Woman should and deserve the right be paid equally for the same jobs they possess in comparison to men. Women have always been seen inferior to men, and in a result has impacted us in a negative way that affects us by being paid lower. In Obama’s State Address, he mentioned that â€Å"for every dollar a man earns a woman earns seventy-seven cents† (Obama). Women nowadays take place and are in an environment whereRead MoreGender Inequality Within The United States1686 Words   |  7 Pagesadvances in society, especially for women despite these advancements, there continues to be inequalities in sexual â€Å"equality† .Why does a wage difference exists between men and women? Are employers being sexist? Sexism has been a problem since the beginning of mankind. Women have struggled to achieve equality with men. The male dominated culture has led the female gender to become the â€Å"weaker sex†. This discrimination, of course, based on the stereotype that women should be stay at home playing theRead MoreSexism Is The True Hindrance For Female Careers1407 Word s   |  6 Pagesdebated area is whether or not sexism exists in the workplace. Some argue that sexism is a major deterrent in the careers of women, and is the main reason women are not as prominent in positions of power and thus in our society. Others believe that women choose not to pursue such positions, because of their roles as mothers. However, it is views like this that prevent women from being taken seriously as workers. Upon closer insight into our society, it is evident that sexism is the true hindranceRead MoreThe Pay Gap Between Men And Women1128 Words   |  5 PagesThe pay gap between men and women has become quite a topic today. The difference in pay are very common now in many career paths where men and women are doing the same work amount. It is rare to think that when men and women are performing the same task and are just as qualified as each other that they would get paid the same. As the â€Å"wage gap† is being discussed more, the question is why do men and women have different wages when they are working the same job. While it seems that men don t haveRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women Essay1647 Words   |  7 Pagesearly 1920’s, women thought they had achieved the unachievable. They could finally work, keep their earned wages, marry whomever they please, and even vote. After reaching their goal and fighting vigorously, women could taste equality and the freedom they deserved. While women still have the right to work in today’s society, women are not exactly treated equal in the workplace. Regardless of the past and the extreme measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women, there are manyRead MoreThe Role Of Women During The Civil War1595 Words   |  7 PagesThe role of women in the work force has been disputed in American since the end of World War II where women were needed in the workforce. It was not till fair ly recently have women begun to work in American society. In 1963 the first policy regarding equal pay was introduced opening the gate from other policies, such as Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. However, women are still being undermined in the work force with the wage gap between women and men. ManyRead MoreSociology Using Material from Item a Assess Sociological Explanations of Gender Inequality in Todays Society‚Äà ´1452 Words   |  6 Pagesinequality in todays society’ In the last 30 years women in the UK working has risen to 2.45 million whereas men working has risen by 0.5 million. Item A suggests a variety of gender inequalities in today’s society for example the pay difference women receive as it is suggested according to item A that women earn a quarter of a million pounds less than men and this is without women not having any children if she did have children it would be  £140,000 less. The pay gap reduces family income overall whichRead MoreMandatory 12 Week Unpaid Maternity Leave1204 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Separating a mom from her baby, because she does not have sufficient income to stay home, is NOT a family value, it is the opposite. That is why I will fight for 12 weeks of paid family leave.† –Sen. Bernie Sanders. In the national primaries of 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders realized the magnitude of the issue this country is facing regarding not having a paid maternity leave. Currently, the United States has s omething called FMLA, also known as the Family and Medical Leave Act. This act allows 12Read MoreA Case Of Economic Sexism1089 Words   |  5 Pages experienced a case of economic sexism that was eye-opening. A male doctor and female doctor were hired for a pediatric position at the same time, and had equal experience and credentials. It was discovered however, the female doctor was paid $30,000 a year less than the male. This may seem like a small difference, however the slightest bit of money adds up over the years. Both doctors had experienced the same daily activities, the same education and knowledge, and the same amount of experience;

Drowning Essay Example For Students

Drowning Essay Drowning is the second leading cause of injury deaths of infantsand children younger than 15 years old in the United States. I know many ofyou may have small children and relatives so this may be of some interest toyou. A personal experience happened to me when I was around seven yearsold. I still can remember it like yesterday. This incident almost cost me my life,I was disobedient and it still has a big effect on me now. This little act of minecaused a lot of stress to many people, I was seven years old and at the time Iwas the only child. I stayed with my mother and my step-dad. We lived in thetrailer parks; I was at the babysitters house and she had two teenage sons. One was named Tim and the other Derrick, and I wanted to be like them. Itwas a hot summer day, and Tim and Derrick went swimming at the pool up atthe front of the trailer park. I asked the babysitter could I go she said, NO!This made me very upset because I couldnt go to the pool with her sons. Shetold me the reason why I couldnt go was because she was in charge of meand she wasnt going to be up there watching me. I wasnt really caring aboutwhat she was talking about. She went into the kitchen and was making mesome lunch while I was on the sofa. After lunch was ready I ate all my foodand told her that I was going outside to play with the dog. I went out to playwith Face; she was a full breed pit bull, but she liked me. After about an hourof being bored outside playing by myself, I began to think of a way I couldsneak to the pool. I went inside the house without being seen and put on myswimming trunks. Running as fast as I could I left out the house and sprintedto the pool. I was so h appy I was finally at the pool, so I walked around thepool once and took off my shoes and shirt. Not knowing I was at the deepend of the pool I ran and jumped into the pool. Straight to the bottom I went. All of a sudden in one blink my fun turned into a scare. It was the water andme and I didnt know how to swim. So I was gasping for air all I could seewas the suns rays hitting the water and the big white fluffy clouds. Next thing Iknew was I was drowning and I went to the bottom of the pool, 8 feet down. All I remember next was I was on the ground and everybody was standingaround me, and people were kneeling also. Among the crowd was Tim andDerrick looking and wondering was I all right. I felt really scared and nervous. I was ok and they took me back to the house and told her what hadhappened to me. She was furious because I snuck out and couldve killedmyself by being disobedient. My little act affected everyone, my mother, thebabysitter and her sons. I really learned my lesson the hard way. I still thinkabout this today how my life couldve been ended over my curiosity ofsneaking out and going to the pool. Miscellaneous

The U.S. And The Un Essays - Military Operations Other Than War

The U.S. And The Un Is the United States Giving too Much to the United Nations? Does it seem like whenever the United Nations (UN) sends peacekeepers to a region that the United States (US) bears the majority of the debt and load of troops? Does it seem that we are the only country supply material and doing it all? Is the US the worlds police department? No we aren't. The US is doing its job when the UN asks for assistance when a country needs peacekeepers in a time of transition, redevelopment, or serious acts against the rights of humans. The US is not the controlling force behind the UN like some people believe. For those of you how do, grow up! It is true that the US pays more than some other countries, but we do not carry the whole budget. We only cover 25% of the regular UN budget and peacekeeping operations. That comes to a total of $313 million for the regular budget and $282 million for peacekeeping, and whatever other contributions that Congress decides to give to other UN programs. Some might say that this is too much, well I believe that it isn't enough. The UN runs many programs and tries to maintain peace in an effort to thwart war. How much would you pay for a global peace? Whatever it is that you just said probably isn't enough. Why should any US citizen worry about what the UN does, we are the US, the most powerful country in the world? It should be a matter of your concern since the US is vulnerable, maybe not from some other falling superpower, but to some third world country that is trying to get the ir hands on a medium yield nuclear weapon. How does this effect the UN? Well the UN works with small third world countries to get them developing in the right the direction, away from weapons of mass destruction and more towards a better agriculture system of infrastructure. What type of military support does the US give the UN? Currently the UN has around twenty peacekeeping operations going on around the world, the most recent being the mission to East Timor. There are about 26,000 UN peacekeepers around the world and about 900 of those are American, so we contribute about 3% of the peacekeeping force. The largest contributor is Poland with about 1,100 troops and other personnel. I think that if a country like Poland can give 1,100 troops, we can do better. Yes, that might mean that we might loose more men and women, but we have the largest Navy, Air Force, and the second largest Army in the world. I am not saying we put all our Armed Forces at the disposal of the UN, but we can give more. Does this mean we will have to pay more, no. Congress recently passes a law saying that the US will pay no more than 25% of the UN regular budget or peacekeeping budget, and the UN is working with a no-growth budget for the first time. This is a win-win situation for the US if we gave more. It shows the world that the US does care about other countries other than itself, and it can spread the interest of the US to places where it might not usually get. This doesn't mean that the US is going to take over the world, it means that the US should take the world into consideration when it comes to making some policy decisions. You might think that if the US gives troops to an UN operation that is lead by a foreign commander that the US has no say it what happens. Well, that is wrong the President of the United States never relinquishes control of any US armed forces no matter the circumstance. The US should be more forward in the way it handles peacekeeping operations. I am not saying whenever there is trouble the US should run to that country and hold its hand, but we should go forth and help when we have an opportunity to share with the struggling country a hand up and get it going again. An example is helping

Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets

Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets Using Pharma Bro and Other Pop-Culture Epithets By Mark Nichol Not long after Martin â€Å"Pharma Bro† Shkreli stepped out of the media spotlight, the notoriously greedy former pharmaceutical-company executive briefly popped back onto the popular-culture radar to helpfully illustrate how epithets have evolved (or devolved, as some may judge). Shkreli, at the time the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, became for a time the most hated man in the United States, based on the antipathy he inspired on social media for price gouging: He jacked up the price of a drug used to kill parasites in AIDS and cancer patients to more than fifty times its original price of about $13.50 per pill. Schadenfreude struck when he was arrested for securities fraud, and he was quickly dubbed â€Å"Pharma Bro† for his cocky frat-boy attitude. Recently, during an interview, he essentially told the world, â€Å"Don’t call me Pharma Bro† (the actual quote was the bro-ish assertion â€Å"Im not a ‘pharma bro,’ right?†), saying that the photograph he posted on Twitter showing him mimicking a rapper’s posturing, which prompted the coinage, was meant as a joke, but the epithet will likely forever be attached to him. What is an epithet, anyway? A more detailed discussion of epithets is provided in this post, but briefly, an epithet is a sobriquet, or nickname, and such usage is nothing new in popular media- or in writing in general. A few years ago, we were subjected to the hideous sight of Tan Mom, a woman who routinely spent so much time in a tanning salon that her skin turned a grotesque leathery brown. Before that there was Octomom, who, though she already had six children conceived through in vitro fertilization, gave birth to octuplets thanks to the same procedure. In the world of entertainment, a trend that flourished some years ago but has all but disappeared is to create an epithet by combining the names of two celebrities in a romantic relationship, producing such portmanteau monikers as Brangelina (for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie); the latest such appellation, Kimye, refers to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Before that, other famous people were dubbed, for example, Elvis â€Å"the King† Presley, Joe â€Å"the Yankee Clipper† DiMaggio, and John â€Å"the Great Profile† Barrymore. More recent epithets have included Kung Fu Panda (or simply Panda) for Major League Baseball player Pablo Sandoval. But as the ubiquity of social media makes it easy for anyone to become a subject of notoriety, if only for the proverbial fifteen minutes of fame, it’s likely that we will become accustomed to designations like Pharma Bro, Tan Mom, and Octomom, whether those who bear the labels like them or not. Should you, however, use such nomenclature in your professional writing? Certainly, if such usage is pertinent, whether you’re referring to one of these temporary celebrities directly or just alluding to them (perhaps describing an unfortunate sunbather who went overtime in UV exposure as â€Å"Tan Mom†). But consider your audience, as well as chronology, when name-dropping someone who has earned a derisive epithet. Pharma Bro has been in the news repeatedly for the past couple of months, so readers are likely to know who you’re talking about. But in an informational article, you might opt for a gloss, or a brief description; I provided an extensive explanation above, but it might suffice to refer to â€Å"Pharma Bro, the notorious former pharmaceutical executive arrested for price-gouging AIDS and cancer patients.† If you’re making a humorous allusion, however, as in the â€Å"Tan Mom† example in the previous paragraph, you’ll sink the joke if you weigh it down with an explanation. Either trust your readers to get the reference, or omit it as a distraction to your point. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to AvoidDisappointed + PrepositionOne Scissor?

Homeless Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Homeless - Assignment Example Homeless population experiences enormous challenges in both access and care relative to utilization of health care. Paraphrasing and citing is an exciting experience, but one that is characterized by a number of challenges. One of the critical challenges is trying to merge the author’s point of view with personal understanding of the text. The paraphrase must be consistent with the information that the author is trying to relay. Another challenge is expressing what is understood from the text without losing the intended meaning of presented theories and concepts. The articulation of these aspects and subsequently citing them constitutes the highlighted challenges. To overcome the above challenges, it is important that one reads and understands the text before paraphrasing and citing the text. Doing so will ensure that the most critical points are captured and cited appropriately. Taking some time to view text reviews and use of text information in other sources can effectively aid and enhance the paraphrasing and citing experience. Consequently, the underlying challenges are

Stock Market Efficiency Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8250 words

Stock Market Efficiency - Dissertation Example country, while in contract, others believe that financial system are the key respondents to the demands created by the economic development of the country (Boyes &  Melvin, pp. 339-345, 2010). In parallel with the trade of goods, the trade in capital in fact has experienced a net gain, although different groups may have results that are poles apart with each other. The country and its trading environment play a substantial role in defining whether the capital market is gaining or decreasing. In addition, it has come under observation that the possibility of having unexpected economic reversal increases for the nations following the liberalized capital flows in comparison to the free good market (Boyes &  Melvin, pp. 339-345, 2010). Capital market has come under consideration to be one of the prime aspects of every financial market.  In a broad spectrum, the capital market is a marketplace for financial assets having a maturity of long-term or indefinite. This is very much contr asting  to the money market mechanism,  as the capital market mechanism becomes mature that goes above the interlude of one year. In precise proclamation, a capital market is a market where both business ventures and governments lift up the finances and resources of long-terms and provide money for more than a period of one year. In other words, capital market is a place for governments and companies to hoist money or capital in order to support their operations and continuing or enduring investments (Choudhry, pp. 3-9, 2002). The stock market also known as securities of equity and the bond market, another name for debt securities are the two primary variables of the capital market. This is because selling of bonds and stocks are the pivotal ways that can come under exercise to generate money.... The intention of this study is the capital market that provides a conducive and convenient venue for the investors that can be either organizations or individual entities to buy and sell shares and bonds in the form of stock exchange on a local and worldwide basis. Due to the advancement in technologies, the world has become a place where human being can travel and reach any destination within no time. Therefore, this has also provided an opportunity for the overseas institutions to participate in the trading activities of the stock exchange based in the vicinity. However, with reference to the capital markets from all over the world, few stock exchanges have captured the marketplace internationally as well as locally and UK stock market is one of them. Numerous sources of information have presented the fact that UK Stock Exchange is amongst the leading stock exchange in the world and has come under consideration to be the largest amongst the European countries. Furthermore, accordin g to the capital markets analysis â€Å"The London Stock Exchange Group is Europe’s leading exchange group in cash equities, fixed income and post trade services†. Essentially, it also divulges the verity that UK stock exchange has proved to be an influential and dominant exchange market where companies from all around the world desire to raise their capital for growth. Furthermore, it has also come under contemplation to be the world’s cordial, earnest and most-liquid pools of low cost capital. The capital market of UK provides effective systems that offer the investors to have trading at low cost with prompt and efficient trading.

Analysing The Effects Of The Earth Summits Politics Essay

Analysing The Effects Of The Earth Summits Politics Essay As early as the 1960s governments began to realise that human activity was damaging the environment. Governments around the world recognised that something had to be done, which resulted in the first international gathering about the human interaction with the environment, known as the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which was held in Stockholm in June 1972. This was the first of several global environmental meetings and it laid the foundation for international action to protect the environment. Three major treaties were drawn up in subsequent international environmental conferences; these were the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord. In 1992, five years after the Brundtland Report was published, the Rio Earth summit was held. It was held from the 3rd 14th June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The aim of the Rio Earth summit was to review the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, implemented at Stockholm on 16th June 1972 and look for more ways to work together to create a more sustainable future. The Earth summit was the largest environmental conference ever held with over 100 heads of state attending. Five agreements were drawn up during the Earth summit; The Convention on Biological Diversity, The Framework Convention on Climate Change, Principles of Forest Management, Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, often shortened to the Rio Declaration, builds on the basic proposals set out in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment. It consisted of 27 principles designed to guide governments on ways to halt the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet (United Nations Department of Public Information, 1997) and to guide sustainable development  around the world (Towards-Sustainability, 2000). One key point of the Rio Declaration was that current development must not damage the environmental and developmental requirements of the present and future generations. Therefore, environmental protection should no longer be thought of as independent from the development of a nation. Also, nations should make a concerted effort to reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption (C-FAM, 1992). As a result a great deal of research is ongoing to create alternative sources of energy to replace fossil fuels. Another key principle was that nations could explore their own resources provided that they did not cause environmental damage outside their borders and that international laws needed to be set up to compensate for damage caused by nations to areas beyond their borders. This led to the proposal that The polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution (C-FAM, 1992). A further key principle of the Rio Declaration was that eradicating poverty and reducing disparities in living standards in different parts of the world are essential to achieve sustainable development (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 1997). Reducing the difference in living standards around the world is important for future sustainable development because if each nation has the same standard of living they will be more inclined to share the latest scientific findings and new technologies to protect the environment. The main message of the Rio Declaration was that nations attitudes and activities would have to be adjusted, to ensure that long term economic progress would be linked with the protection of the environment. Also, international agreements that were designed to protect the environment, while allowing the development of a nation, would have to be created. The Rio Declaration committed countries, including the UK, to be more sustainable whilst creating guidelines for a more sustainable future (Atmosphere, Climate Environment Information Programme, 2000). This has been beneficial because governments and businesses have become more eco-efficient and are creating eco-friendly products. During the Rio earth summit five agreements had been established, making it the most extensive and obliging plan of action ever accepted by the international community. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiated the Kyoto Protocol treaty in the Japanese city of Kyoto in December 1997. It was originally ratified by 140 countries and it came into effect on the 16th February 2005. By 18th April 2006 168 countries had signed the Kyoto Protocol and by 3rd December 2007 this number had risen to 175. It is a legally binding international agreement imposing limits on emissions of greenhouse gases that are blamed for rising world temperatures. The gases that were considered to be greenhouse gases were carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, HFCs and PFCs. Industrialised countries agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% (UNFCCC, 1997) compared to their emissions in the 1990. Through the Kyoto protocol 37 industrialised countries were set binding targets, the UK committed itself to reducing its emissions to 12.5% below its 1990 levels by 2012. The European Union agreed to reduce its emissions by 8%. The US, the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases (approximately 25%), had approved a 7% reduction in emissions, however in 2001 this was denounced by President George Bush stating that it would harm the economy and is flawed by the lack of restrictions on emissions by emerging economies China and India (The Guardian, 2005). Not all industrialised countries were set goals of reduced emissions, Australias greenhouse gas emissions were permitted an increase of 8% compared to their 1990 levels and Icelands emissions were allowed an increase of 10%. The commencement of the Kyoto protocol was delayed by the requirement that at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55% of the worlds 1990 carbon dioxide emissions must ratify it. This was reached when Russia signed up on 18th November 2004, nearly seven years after the treaty was negotiated. The Kyoto Protocol established three mechanisms for nations to reduce their emissions; Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism and International Emissions Trading. Joint Implementation allowed a nation that had committed itself to an emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol to earn emission reduction units (ERUs) when they invested in projects that reduce emissions in another country with an emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. Each ERU was equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide, which could be used to help the investing country towards reaching their emission reduction target. This offered countries a flexible method of reducing their emissions while also helping another country to develop emission reducing technology. The Clean Development Mechanism allowed a country with an emission reduction target to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits when they invested in projects to reduce emissions in developing countries that do not have an emission target. Each CER was equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide. Both ERUs and CERs could be sold and traded like any other commodity, encouraging governments to invest in emission reducing projects and technologies. Countries emission reduction targets are stated as assigned amounts, these were divided into assigned amount units (AAUs) to cover the 2008 2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. International Emissions Trading allowed countries with spare AAUs to sell them on an international carbon trading market. In the opinions of many climate scientists the 5% reduction in emissions from industrialised countries set out by the Kyoto Protocol does not do nearly enough, they claim that a cut of around 60% is needed to avoid the worst consequences of global warming (The Guardian, 2005). Also currently a number of countries have not met their emissions targets, so even the 5% reduction in emissions planned by the Kyoto Protocol may not be reached. Furthermore without the support of the US, who accounts for approximately 25% of the global greenhouse gases emissions, climate scientists have described the agreement as toothless and virtually obsolete (The Guardian, 2005). However it can be argued that the legally binding Kyoto Protocol has set out a framework on which future negotiations could be based (The Telegraph, 2005) and has encouraged sustainable development by creating several market mechanisms allowing emissions trading. It has also promoted sustainable development by supporting renewable energy advances and other environmentally friendly technologies. The symbolic value of the Kyoto Protocol may have been its greatest asset because to see governments attempting to work together to provide sustainable development is better than to see no attempt at all. The UNFCCC held the Copenhagen Climate Conference at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark from 8th 17th December 2009. It is often known as COP15 as it is the 15th Conference of Parties, to which nearly 200 countries attended in an attempt to find a global consensus on how to most effectively structure a post-Kyoto regulatory framework to cap greenhouse gas emission (Climatelab, 2009). The aim of the conference was to negotiate an agreement to come into effect when the commitment period of the Kyoto agreement expired in 2012. The conference resulted in the creation of the Copenhagen Accord, which called on participating countries to pledge specific actions they will undertake to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2009); however the accord is a non-binding agreement so nations have no legal obligation to carry out these pledges. The Accord recognised that the global temperature rise should be limited to 2 °C; however this was not adopted as a target. The original draft had included targets for 2020 for industrialised countries and 2050 for global and industrialised countries, though these were omitted from the final draft of the accord. The accord included a commitment from industrialised countries to provide climate financing for developing countries of  $30bn for 2010-2012 (The EFA Group, 2009). As of 16th September 2010, 111 parties had either submitted 2020 emissions targets, submitted mitigation actions or associated themselves with the accord. The EU agreed to reduce their emissions by 20 30% compared to their 1990 levels, provided that other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emission reductions (UNFCCC, 2009). The US agreed to reduce their emissions by approximately 17% below 2005 levels. A breakdown in negotiations prevented a text that would have created a market mechanism to credit reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation from being adopted in the Accord. A problem with the Copenhagen Accord is that it allows industrialised nations to set their own emission reduction targets. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change analysed the Copenhagen Accord and found that the pledges are inadequate to achieve a 2-degree goal Pledges by developed countries would reduce their emissions 10 percent to 13 percent below BAU (business as usual) in 2020 (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, 2009). An analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that these promises made by developed countries would only provide half of the emission reduction requirements to avoid a global temperature rise above 2 °C. The Copenhagen Accord is very different from the Kyoto Protocol as it is not a legally binding agreement and if the accord is used as a foundation to new climate change treaties, the number of countries complying with the Kyoto Protocol is like to be reduced as there is little incentive to trade carbon credits. The Accord threatens the establishment of a global carbon market due to its lack of progression towards a legally binding climate agreement. Environmental protection is always going to be challenging due to the different attitudes of nations. Many of the developed nations want environmental sustainability while developing countries want to be allowed to develop economically and socially. It is also going to be difficult due to the increasing global population and the resulting increase in consumption rates. However, in my opinion the Kyoto Protocol has been the most effective treaty designed to provide a sustainable future. This is because was a legally binding agreement that committed industrialised countries to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by a set amount (5.2%). Also, the Kyoto Protocol created market mechanisms allowing emissions trading, encouraging nations to strive to reach their emission reduction target. One of the main drawbacks of the Kyoto Protocol is that it is not backed by the US who is a major emitter of greenhouse gases. The Rio Declaration was admirable because it caused governments and businesses to change the attitudes they had toward environmental protection and led to them becoming more eco-efficient and creating eco-friendly products. Nevertheless, there were still many negative incentives offered by countries and businesses that promoted people to continue being wasteful consumers. In my opinion the least effective environmental treaty has been the Copenhagen Accord because its non-binding goals are inadequate to stop a global temperature rise of 2 °C. Also, the need to create a global carbon market has not been met.