It spreads the destructive economic model of the North to the Third World, meaning that Third World countries will have to face the same ecological destruction. Instead of placing limits on economic activities on the basis of ecological arguments, globalization has strengthened the view that the free market will always maximize social welfare, presenting the market as the solution to the ecological crisis. It has led to the adoption of a project of 'environmental management' as the solution to environmental problems. This project advocates an universalized model of production and of consumption, and thus of dealing with problems of environmental protection resulting from these activities. By presenting itself as universal, it tends to marginalize other knowledges and other solutions to problems of environmental protection.
Nature is viewed only as an economic resource to be used for further development.
Sustainable development' as understood in this perspective, i.e., a technical fix that would ensure the perpetuation of current development patterns, is seen as consensual and as a universally accepted goal. The question of the ownership of natural resources for example is not addressed. However, environmental problems in the South are often linked to problems of resource ownership and equity, as the case of the Brazilian Amazon exemplifies well. The case of deforestation in Brazil gives an interesting example of an ecological crisis and of its impasses. Indeed, ecological problems in the Amazon are the direct result of the development model adopted in the country.