Is it possible to protect the environment and grow the economy and why economic development is better than economic growth?
Dear Rk Naresh
Yes, it is possible to protect the environment and grow the economy simultaneously. The environmental ambitions of emerging market economies are rising globally, indicating a convergence towards environmentally sustainable development.
I hope this helps.
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. Economic growth will be undermined without adequate environmental safeguards, and environmental protection will fail without economic growth. The earth's natural resources place limits on economic growth. These limits vary with the extent of resource substitution, technical progress, and structural changes. 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. 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. Many people say that damage to the environment is a risk of development. Based on this belief, there is also the assumption that it is impossible that development without destroying the environment can be realized. But that is not true, it can be done. Increased consumption of Earth's resources and its negative environmental impact has led many to conclude that economic growth is unsustainable. However, economic growth can be separated from unsustainable resource consumption and harmful pollution. Economic growth means an increase in real national income / national output. Economic development means an improvement in the quality of life and living standards, e.g. measures of literacy, life-expectancy and health care. Ceteris paribus, we would expect economic growth to enable more economic development.
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