● Three Relationships Between Global Environmental Issues and the Economy. The primary causes of global environmental issues include population growth, the economic gap between the North and South, expanding financial markets, the evolution of material civilization, divisions between nations, the capitalist system, and international and domestic laws. As a result, phenomena such as desertification, global warming, the depletion of natural resources (including deforestation), marine pollution, air, water, and soil contamination, ozone layer depletion, and extreme weather events are occurring.

● Three Relationships Between Global Environmental Issues and the Economy. The primary causes of global environmental issues include population growth, the economic gap between the North and South, expanding financial markets, the evolution of material civilization, divisions between nations, the capitalist system, and international and domestic laws. As a result, phenomena such as desertification, global warming, the depletion of natural resources (including deforestation), marine pollution, air, water, and soil contamination, ozone layer depletion, and extreme weather events are occurring.
<Global Environment → Economy>. Naturally, such global environmental issues have a significant impact on the economy. For example, taking extreme weather as one case: whether it is a cold summer or a heatwave, it causes major damage to crop yields and leads to soaring grain prices. This is a major economic issue, and the problem becomes even more pronounced in a situation like the present, where grain production is concentrated in North America.
<Economy → Global Environment>. However, the relationship between the global environment and the economy is not simple. Not only do environmental issues have a major impact on the economy, but the economy also affects the global environment. For example, there are cases where wealthy northern nations are exploiting the natural resources of southern nations. Northern nations continue to purchase food, forest resources, oil, and natural gas from southern nations using massive amounts of capital.
<Limits to Economic Growth>. It is often described as a chicken-and-egg situation—which came first?—but the interaction between global environmental issues affecting the economy and the economy affecting global environmental issues is spiraling upward. At this stage, we have reached a point where future economic growth is limited without consideration for the global environment. Therefore, the question of "how to achieve sustainable growth" takes on great significance.
One useful strategy for achieving sustainable growth is, for example, as mentioned earlier regarding grain production, to avoid fixing the world's "food factories" in specific regions from a global perspective. This involves respecting the uniqueness of each region and increasing food self-sufficiency. In addition to this, while many strategies for sustainable growth are being attempted, local currency is considered a highly effective method for breaking through the current impasse.
It is generally said that "when only a single currency circulates, the regional economies that make up an economic zone tend to shrink." The current financial landscape is often described as a "unipolar dominance" of the dollar, which has resulted in an extreme concentration of wealth. The North-South divide—with the North being wealthy and the South impoverished—has long been a problem, yet there is no prospect of improvement; on the contrary, the gap seems to be widening.
Since the dollar accounts for 65% of foreign exchange reserves, 40% of investment currencies, 42% of currencies traded in the foreign exchange market, and 48% of global trade, calling it "unipolar dominance" might be an exaggeration. However, even though the share of currencies other than the dollar is dispersed, it can still be described as a dollar-based system. Let's consider the implications of this single currency and regional economic contraction.
<Using pumpkin exports as an example>. To simplify the explanation, let's assume there are two countries: Country A and Country B. Country A produces pumpkins, and Country B consumes them. Furthermore, Country A produces nothing other than pumpkins, and all of its consumption depends entirely on Country B. Harvest season has arrived. Country A harvests 100 kg of pumpkins, worth 1 million yen.
Country A exports the pumpkins to Country B and receives 1 million yen. However, this 1 million yen covers the costs of growing pumpkins for consumption over the next year, as well as the living expenses of Country A's residents. Depending on the conditions, this 1 million yen is used entirely to import consumer goods from Country B, and the full amount is paid to Country B as payment for those goods.
Since this example assumes that all consumption relies on Country B, the reality may not be quite so extreme, but it is generally true that as consumption in Country B increases, so does Country A's dependence on it for consumption. Next, let's add a condition. Country A has a regional currency called "Eco" in addition to the common currency, the "Yen." Let's assume that "1 Eco = 1 Yen."
It is pumpkin harvest season. Country A's harvest is 100 kg, unchanged from last year. At this point, Country B purchases only 80 kg and pays 800,000 yen to Country A. The remaining 20 kg is exchanged for 200,000 Eco. However, there is an important point here. It is the initial condition that Country A has no other industries and imports all its daily necessities from Country B.
If we assume the local currency "Eco" is worth 200,000 Eco, Country A must produce the daily necessities equivalent to this 200,000 Eco on its own. This is where the power of local currency comes into play. While the 800,000 yen for the 80 kg disappears into consumer goods from Country B, the 200,000 Eco remains within the country.
Under the local currency system, as long as the local currency exists, trade and circulation of goods will continue. Assuming Country A's economy is worth 1 million yen, even if trade with Country B were unilaterally cut off, the 200,000 Eco would prevent that loss. Furthermore, as self-sufficiency increases, this 200,000 Eco will grow, making it possible to build an even more stable economic system.