Exam Preparation - "Climate change lawsuits" Since 1950, global warming has become one of the most debated issues. Climate changes, natural disasters and continuing increasing of temperatures have captured the attention of public opinion. Today, the international community is more aware than ever that something has to be done. In 2015, a large number of countries signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, also on a local basis a step forward has to be done. An example of this interest is the increasing number of lawsuits against climate change. On 4th November 2017, The Economist Europe published the article “New green advocates” which refers to this phenomenon. / Last month, in Oslo, started a lawsuit where several pressure groups claimed that the Norway’s government has breached the constitutional right to environmental preservation giving licences to look for oil in the Arctic. This case is only an example of the trend. Actually, the number of cases about negative externalities caused by carbon emissions are significantly increasing. An other point in favour of this greatly awareness is given by the encouraging number of laws for environmental protection: according to The Economist’s report, in 2012, 177 countries had eco-friendly regulations and nearly 90 guaranteed the right to an healthy environment in their constitutions. Therefore, the UNFCCC, even if it is not binding, has shown the considerable interest about the global warming. However, because of its nature, local actions are at the moment undoubtedly more effective. Some claims are considered lacked in standing, as the case of an American citizen who accused 34 carbon providers for had been worsened the effect of natural phenomena, as the Hurricane Katrina. However, other courts are changing their way accepting arguments based on probabilities of environmental catastrophes. Energy firms, like fuel providers and oil plants, are accused of knowing the hazards of their operations since years, without taking effective provisions. / In conclusion, as reported in The Economist’s article, things are rapidly changing. Thanks to the ever growing understanding of damaging effects of the human behavior on clime, actions are rasing on a global scale. A significant example is the opinion poll that has took place in Norway about oil extractions: According to it, the majority of Norwegians prefers to not extract some oil due to reducing emissions. This short essay is based on an article of The Economist (4/11/17).

The Economist Europe – November 18, 2017 The Economist Europe – November 18, 2017 In June 2016 took place the Uk’s referendum that will lead the country to the Brexit, the withdrawal of the country from membership of the European Union, in 2019. Today, after eighteen months, all the principal points remain opened. The issue is without any doubts difficult and the Great Britain will be the first member to exit from the Union. Nevertheless, both parties have shown to be intransigent. This short essay will summarize and present the contents of the article “Brexit: Decisions, decisions” published on The Economist Europe on November 18th, 2017. According to The Economist’s analysis, on one hand, the experts are facing the difficulties that implies the leaving; on the other, the uncompromising behaviour of both parties does not make things easier. This has probably led to a significant reduction of options. Furthermore, the remaining members, pretending that the Brexit is only an Uk’s problem, maybe have worsened the yet complex situation. In December, is scheduled the beginning of the second phase and missing that point would be a failure for Great Britain and either for Europe. Even though this, at the moment the heart of the problem is inside Britain. First, because the PM has set out (narrowed?) boundaries in advance, cutting off a great number of options. Second, because the Parliament has legislated only after the decision of the Supreme Court, last January. In addition, it was burdened by the treat that a rejection of the bill would mean to withdraw without any agreement. However, remaining sovereign, the Parliament could redraw the delimitations. The Government has fixed the official exit on March 29th 2019, underling so the shortage of time. This has fomented the opposition of some politicians which firmly believe that writing it on the withdrawal bill has been a mistake. / In conclusion, according to Lord Kerr, Britain may rethink its position. In particular in the light of two emerging aspects: Some days ago, a possible Russian interference in the democratic process has emerged. More over, Polls show that UK citizens do not believe that the negotiations could end with a good agreement for the country.

Technology platform The German BOSCH is trying to evolve into a super-safe technology platform. / Bosh is one of the biggest multinationals in the world. It produces everything and specialists call it a “car-parts maker”. The symbol of the “Made in Germany” prefers to be called “supplier of technology and services” or “the Internet-of-things company”. Now, the society is in transition: it would be a cutting-edge tech company, able to face the new request of the market. The BOSCH’s answer to the evolving economy is to create a platform to safe-keeping datas, putting on the first level privacy. BOSCH would be a top company in both hard and soft power. The German giant, in 2016, invested nearly €8bn on research and development and has newly opened in Renningen a new research lab. According to its CEO, Vormark Denner, the future of the company is in both sectors of manufacturing and software technologies. Recently, the multinational has opened the IT-suite, a very useful platform, and a cloud platform with an annexed data centre. This distinguishes the German company to others competitors, like General Electric and Siemens, that are actually using the services provided by Amazon. BOSCH’s new goal is to adopt a “3S” strategy (sensor, software and strategy) to increase its hardware value: by 2020 all its electrical products would accede to internet. To realise this ambitious plan, the company has invested €1bn into the Dresden semiconductor plant. In addition, last year, they inaugurated an Artificial-intelligence centre: the aim is to build products able to “think”. To maintain all this cutting-edge project it hosts over 100k TB per year. Christoph Peylo, chief of the AI center, asserted that maybe, in the future, products would need an update every 15 days. BOSCH was not famous for its sharing economy, in fact it is frequently described as too cost-sensitive and conservative. However, the company is making changes even in this field, dealing with Amazon, Tesla and the Chinese Apollo, for example. The only doubt remains on its competitivity with other, yet burnished, cloud platform, like the Amazon one. At the same time, BOSCH continues to improve its manufacturing products, asserting that, even In an ultra-technology future, people will continue to buy and choose devices non-shoddy and cheap-made.

Natural disasters Is it the responsibility of a government to protect its citizens from natural disasters? Natural disasters have always been the arch enemy of human settlements. The human kind is survived thanks to the generosity of nature however the natural environment may also cause dreadful tragedies. Nowadays technologies have change our ways to approach to such phenomena, like earthquakes, floods and fires. However, poor strata of population cannot afford these new system of protection. In addition, schools, hospitals and other publics buildings, should be protected too. For this reason, some experts and politicians assert that it is a public duty to defend citizens from cataclysm and provide them innovative means of prevention. Governments should act on two different, but strictly interconnected, areas: Prevention and rescue. Countries like Japan, often subject to earthquakes, have disposed “Earthquake and Tsunami Alert System” to alert people of the estimated seismic intensities. At the same time, all new Japanese construction are earthquake-proof and are subjected to strict preventive checks. This system has shown to work very well: In fact, even if earthquakes registering over magnitude 6 on the Richter Scale are frequently, the number of death is relatively low. Consequently, all governments should invest more public founds on prevention: For example forcing controls and demolishing unauthorised buildings. Others have instituted Civil Defence corps extremely efficient. For example, the Italian “Protezione Civile” is quite famous for its activities of catching people under blasts. Furthermore, the European Union established the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in 2001 and, until the end of 2017, are planned new instruments to face the high number of recent emergencies involving European countries. I honestly believe that Governments must seriously consider the role of prevention. In the last centuries, the mankind has misused natural resources and compromised the environment: Now its our duty to restore this equilibrium. For example, keeping clean riverbeds and forest to avoid flooding.

Armed Forces Nowadays, with the evolution of technologies and the progress of methods of warfare, roles into armed forces are changed too. Although many people believe that women and men have the same potential into armies, some thinks that military have to continue to be a physical role, consequently more suitable for men. In the last decades, innumerable innovations have also involved means and methods of warfare. For example, more and more frequently it is debated the necessity to build up task forces able to counter a possible cyberwar. At the same time, weapons are more complex and sophisticated than in the past, for this reason into armies are needed research teams qualified to develop them. All these functions, more technical than physical, absolutely can be equally covered by both genders. Nevertheless, some traditional tasks that imply a massive use of physical strength may be more suitable for men. Certainly, some women are really strong too, however in general it is a male characteristic. I believe that a discrimination cannot be done, there have to be vocational aptitude batteries and physical exams. Everyone who is suitable for the position should apply, whatever his gender is. In conclusion, I honestly believe that both sexes have to be equally considered adequate to be recruited into armed forces. However, given the vastity of roles, each individual should be considered for his abilities. Only by aggregating all different but high qualified personnel it is possible to create a cutting-edge army. - Into this innovative concept of military, women should cover a key role.

Women's employment In the last 50 years women have done great steps: First of all, girls have had access to a better instruction and, consequently, they have started to enter the labor market. However, this has raised another central problem: the care of children and elderly. In fact, for centuries women have taken care of them and now the community has to provide a substitute for these social duties. In some countries, governments have arranged a welfare system able to address these shortcomings. For example, Finland guarantees in total three years of parental leave and, until the 17th birthday, provides monthly nearly 100€ per son or daughter. In addition, the child benefit slightly raised for each following child. After the parental leave, if both parents work, the child has right to municipal day care which the maximum fee for one child is EUR 290 per month. However, a discount is granted for siblings and families with a very low income. At school the lunch is always provided and, for students, healthcare is free. Nevertheless, others have not yet arranged practicable measures to widely offset this problem. For example, Italy has not taken many steps forward. A great number of women have to stay at home to take care of children and, even if some can work, employers are not always opened to hire mothers. Consequently, the share of unemployed women is very high (nearly the 51%). In conclusion, I honestly believe that Governments have the responsibility to provide services and guarantee infrastructures aimed at the care of who is not in the working-age. At the same time, policies designed to promote women employment have to be implemented: Only in this way, in my opinion, the progress of our societies will continue. |

Ageing of population The problems related to the health system are particularly significant in relation to the ageing of the population, especially of Europe. According to the Eurostat, the median age of the European population is going to increase from 42.2 to 46.4 years old in 2080 and the share of the elderly is projected to increase from 18.5% (93.9 million) in 2014 to 28.7 % (149.1 million) by 2080. For this reason, Governments have to plan efficient social security systems for the future. However, the debate is heated. To build up a welfare state able to cure freely everyone, is nearly impossible. Consequently, several experts propose to invest in prevention campaigns, highlighting the huge number of pros. Effective campaigns prevent diseases from spreading in the future and characterize the ultimate expression of the right to health. Nevertheless, some people argue that should be better to spend more money on providing cheap and quality medical treatments to who is actually ill. I believe that, implementing widespread preventing campaigns and policies that aim to promote healthy lifestyles, in particular among children and teenagers, is possible to reduce the future number of ills. At the same time, the hospitals and doctors can concentrate better on who is sick or has the greatest risks to be. For example, in my opinion, free sporting initiatives dedicated to kids and elderly have a great social importance: encourage aggregation and the maintenance of a healthily lifestyle. Despite this, an additional problem has to be considered: without policies aimed to reduce pollution, contamination and other environmental hazards, it is impossible to hope to reduce healthcare costs and the number of ills.

Writing exercise: "Global village" Differences between countries become less evident each year. Nowadays, all over the world, people share the same fashions, advertising, brands, eating habits and TV channels. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of this? Nowadays, we are assisting at the huge phenomenon known as “Global Village”. Improvements on communication channels and transports have reduced distances between countries and continents. The “Global Village” is the results of interdependence crated by Globalisation, which is possible thanks to these enormous developments. Most people think that this trend has great advantages; however, someone claims that this is leading to a total loss of local values. The advantages of Globalisation are evident: First of all, it is possible to communicate with everyone all over the world and knowledges are today more accessible than ever. Furthermore, the global market permits to buy anything at a lower price. This phenomenon has produced profound changes and an unprecedented prosperity, in particular among developing countries. However, these improvements are relative and it is necessary to analyse even the dark side of them. Therefore, several problems must be addressed, like the child labour and the loss of local identities. The spread of multinationals and international fashions are changing our customs and traditions, making everyone more equal but, at the same time, more poor. An incredible richness of our world is the enormous cultural heritage that every countries may provide. The danger of Globalisation is obvious: We are forgetting these local heritages. A palpable example is provided by eating habits: fast foods are spreading and ancient (and maybe healthier) recipes are becoming unused. I honestly believe that Globalisation should not be blocked. Although permanent income inequalities, everyone has a possibility to improve his position. At the same time I sincerely hope that an efficient method to preserve local traditions is found, for example by the creation or implementation of conservation institutes.