I strongly say that environmental protection can promote economic development and there is a correlation (relationship) between economic growth, consumption and environmental degradation.

I strongly say that environmental protection promotes economic development because.

1. The use of resources efficiently, putting in the right measures for environmental protection helps increase productivity rate because you will improve energy efficiency, waste reduction, reuse waste and recycling of your waste. Achieving this goal will have significant impact on your organization by reducing production costs.

2. When you protect the environment, you are indirectly making the ecosystem more resilience and flourish. When the ecosystem is resilience and flourish it creates a serene environment for other living organisms such as sea animals, land animals, water and forest and these have numerous benefit to human and society. The ecosystem provides valuable services to human beings, and this leads to our survival on earth.

Correlation (relationship) between economic growth, consumption and environmental degradation.

This is the correlation, as economic growth and consumption increases, it puts pressure on the environment. Human beings need more to survival, so they extract more from the environment (natural resources). The continuous extraction of natural resources leads to waste generation, pollution, and emissions of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. This results in various environmental issues and environmental degradation is not exemption.

Dr Emmanuel Boakye thank you for your contribution to the discussion

Natural resources are essential inputs for production in many sectors, while production and consumption also lead to pollution and other pressures on the environment. Poor environmental quality in turn affects economic growth and wellbeing by lowering the quantity and quality of resources or due to health impacts, etc. Achieving a “win–win” situation for economic growth and environmental protection requires that the needs of economic development be met with minimal environmental costs, or in other words, decoupling economic development from environmental damage. All economic growth involves transforming the natural world, and it can affect environmental quality in one of three ways. Environmental quality can increase with growth. Increased incomes, as provide the resources for public services such as sanitation and rural electricity. Elsewhere, climate change can entail significant risks to macro financial stability. Nonfinancial corporate sectors face risks from climate damages and stranded assets such as coal reserves that become uneconomic with carbon pricing and the disruption could affect corporate balance sheet quality. This might involve designing projects that utilize renewable resources, promote energy efficiency, or implement green infrastructure. By engaging with both the business and environmental aspects, consultants create win-win scenarios that support growth while safeguarding natural resources. Businesses and industries can adopt sustainable practices such as using renewable energy sources, reducing waste and emissions, and improving resource efficiency. These practices can help reduce the impact on the environment while supporting economic growth. This is more relevant for developing economies since natural capital accounts for a significant part of their total wealth. Economic growth is the foundation of development, as far as the environment is protected toward the achievement of sustainable development in the long run. Sustainable economic development is the process in which the exploitation of natural resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change or reform are all in coordination and harmony and enhance both the current and future potential for meeting human needs. Of course, and it is essential for long term sustainability that they both do go hand in hand. Protecting the natural environment can raise costs, both during construction, and in the types of materials used, but often long term profitability is greater. The economic growth expansion generates a more polluted environment before a threshold level of income is reached; after that point, additional economic growth helps ameliorate environmental quality. Besides that, growth in developed economies and industrialized sector is also resulting in more carbon dioxide emissions. As industrialized unit increases, demand for energy also increases. This leads to more carbon dioxide emission causing an environmental degradation. Contrarily, the relationship between environmental degradation and economic growth is U-shaped if. The expression indicates that economic growth decreases at a lower level of environmental degradation, but after certain thresholds of the environmental degradation variables, economic growth increases.

Environmental protection can promote economic activity and development through regulations, incentives and technologies. There is often tension between short-term growth driven by consumption, and long-term environmental protection. However, growth does not have to mean degradation.

Sustainable consumption patterns and equitably distributed development can allow growth without proportional environmental harm.

Environmental protection and economic development

Environmental protection can promote economic development in a number of ways, including:

• Stimulating innovation: Environmental regulations can spur businesses to develop new technologies and processes that reduce pollution and improve resource efficiency. This can lead to new products and services, and create new jobs.
• Attracting investment: Businesses and consumers are increasingly drawn to regions with clean air and water, and abundant natural resources. This can make a region more attractive to foreign and domestic investment, which can boost economic growth.
• Protecting human health: Environmental pollution can lead to a number of health problems, including respiratory illnesses, heart disease, and cancer. This can reduce productivity and increase healthcare costs, which can drag on the economy.
• Preserving natural resources: Natural resources, such as forests, water, and minerals, are essential for economic growth. Environmental protection can help to conserve these resources for future generations.

Of course, there is also a potential cost to environmental protection, in the form of regulatory compliance costs for businesses. However, studies have shown that the economic benefits of environmental protection often outweigh the costs.

Relationship between growth, consumption, and environmental degradation

Economic growth is often accompanied by increased consumption of resources and energy. This can lead to environmental degradation, such as air and water pollution, climate change, and deforestation.

However, there are a number of ways to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. These include:

• Improving energy efficiency: By using less energy per unit of output, businesses and consumers can reduce their environmental impact.
• Switching to renewable energy sources: Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, do not produce greenhouse gases or other pollutants.
• Reducing waste: By reducing the amount of waste we produce, we can reduce the amount of pollution that goes to landfills and incinerators.
• Consuming less: We can all reduce our environmental impact by consuming less stuff, especially goods and services that are produced in an unsustainable way.

Governments can also play a role in decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation by implementing policies that encourage businesses and consumers to adopt more sustainable practices.

Conclusion

Environmental protection and economic development are not mutually exclusive. In fact, environmental protection can promote economic development in a number of ways. However, it is important to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation by improving energy efficiency, switching to renewable energy sources, reducing waste, and consuming less.

Dr Adebola Odu Onikosi thank you for your contribution to the discussion

I agree with Murtadha Shukur that the effects of economies of scale -economic growth has a negative effect on the environment, where the increase of production and consumption cause the increase of the environment degradation and besides that, growth in developed economies and industrialized sector is also resulting in more carbon dioxide emissions. As industrialized unit increases, demand for energy also increases. This leads to more carbon dioxide emission causing an environmental degradation. All economic growth involves transforming the natural world, and it can affect environmental quality in one of three ways. Environmental quality can increase with growth. Increased incomes, for example, provide the resources for public services such as sanitation and rural electricity. Contrarily, the relationship between environmental degradation and economic growth is U-shaped if. The expression indicates that economic growth decreases at a lower level of environmental degradation, but after certain thresholds of the environmental degradation variables, economic growth increases. Natural resources are essential inputs for production in many sectors, while production and consumption also lead to pollution and other pressures on the environment. Poor environmental quality in turn affects economic growth and wellbeing by lowering the quantity and quality of resources or due to health impacts, etc. However, their correlation becomes increasingly stronger with higher degree of coupling, and as the result in the long run, environmental protection can gradually improve the infrastructure of economic development, and environmental and economic development will become more closely coordinated in promoting green energy. Environmental policy which protects the environment, through regulations, government ownership and limits on external costs can, in theory, enable economic growth to be based on protection of the environmental resource and protecting the environment is more important than economic development because of its negative impact on the environment and human health. However, sustainable economic development is possible if it does not negatively impact the environment. Businesses and industries can adopt sustainable practices such as using renewable energy sources, reducing waste and emissions, and improving resource efficiency. These practices can help reduce the impact on the environment while supporting economic growth. Recycling and reducing pollution is a common economic and environmental stability practice that can help increase the value of materials. As, a company producing aluminum cans can sustain operations by recycling used cans and creating molten aluminum for recasting, instead of mining for aluminum ore.Environmental protection is aimed at maintaining (and recovering when necessary) a healthy natural environment. Sustainable development embraces environmental, social and economic objectives, to deliver long-term equitable growth which benefits current and future generations. Sustainable development practices help to protect natural resources. The economy relies heavily on trade, much of which depends on natural resources to produce goods or provide services. This includes water, waste, energy and food.

I think that the relationship between environmental protection, economic development, and the impact of economic growth on environmental degradation is a complex and widely debated topic in the field of economics, environmental science, and policy.

Notwithstanding, significantly, I opine that there are several key points to consider: For examples, (1) Environmental Protection and Economic Development. Here, issues covering Green Technologies, Resource Efficiency, Tourism and Ecosystem Services etc really deserve a key consideration. (2) Kuznets Curve (3) Decoupling Economic Growth and Environmental Impact (4) Policy and Regulation (5) Resource Consumption and Population Growth (6) Globalization m (7)Technological Progress etc., are to be critically considered.

In summary, I think that the relationship between environmental protection, economic development, and environmental degradation is intricate and context-specific. It depends on a range of factors, including as mentioned above. Largely, I think that the aim of sustainable development is to find a balance where economic growth can coexist with environmental protection, but achieving this balance requires thoughtful and strategic efforts.

Dr Peter Donkor thank you for your contribution to the discussion

In fact, the benefits of environmental regulations do have long run economic implications. As, healthier workers are more productive and miss fewer work days. Enhanced labor productivity, however, is not reflected in CGE models. Healthier people also consume less medical care. Consumption patterns have the most effect on ozone depletion, while population growth threatens biodiversity of and within species through the destruction of ecosystems. This expression shows that the environmental degradation variables have a significant inverse U-shaped relationship with GDP per capita, indicating that economic growth rises at a lower level of environmental degradation, but after certain thresholds of the environmental degradation variables, economic growth declines. Human consumption affects the natural environment both directly and indirectly. Direct impacts include the use of renewable natural resources in the form of grains, seafood and meat, wood products, water, and other goods used as food, for energy, or as other consumable materials. Consumption is a vital factor of the gross domestic product (GDP). The total expenditure in an economy calculated as the sum of households and public expenditures is very important in terms of its contribution to economic growth. Consumption is, therefore, one of the most crucial components of GDP. Environmental protection can play a certain role in promoting the improvement of industrial structure and energy consumption structure in the process of economic development and can engage higher quality economic development. Environmental policy which protects the environment, through regulations, government ownership and limits on external costs can, in theory, enable economic growth to be based on protection of the environmental resource. We now know, through the experiences of both developed and developing countries, that economic growth can complement environmental conservation and transitioning to a low-carbon economy can go hand-in-hand with increased access to economic opportunity and higher levels of well-being.