Economic Growth Without Environmental Damage

Running head: ECONOMIC GROWTH WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE 1

Economic Growth without Environmental Damage

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ECONOMIC GROWTH WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE 2

Economic Growth without Environmental Damage

Defined as an increase in profitable production capacity on both goods and services,

economic growth remains one of the major focuses of each state in the world. Descriptive factors

of economic growth lie in rates of inflation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National

Product (GNP), and other per capita considerations. Notably, world human population has been

on the rise over the last two centuries. In the last century alone, numbers have risen from

approximately 1.7 to 7.1 billion individuals. This has increased the demand for production of

more goods and provision of more services (Moran, 2017). It is therefore realistic that economic

growth is inevitable and must continue as long as population increase persists. Other factors

associated to economic growth include urbanization, industrialization, and development of

science and technology.

Environmental damage occurs as the resources naturally endowed in the earth’s

environment get exploited. Because of economic activity, humans also deposit waste materials

that pollute the environment. The combined effects of these activities make economic

development extensively responsible for environmental degradation. It is because of this that it

remains difficult to determine whether it is possible to achieve economic growth without

environmental damage (Inderwildi & King, 2012).

A review of energy, its sources, and use indicates the relationship between economic

development and environmental degradation. While most industries depend on petroleum

energy, it is worth noting that this is not a renewable source of energy. Despite outstanding

benefits, petroleum products are mostly blamed for environmental air pollution. Oil spills affect

aquatic life while the releases of carbon into the atmosphere by various machines remain

responsible for greenhouse effect and global warming. Other possible alternatives include

ECONOMIC GROWTH WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE 3

nuclear and electric energy (Moran, 2017). Although these provide sound alternatives, they are

limited to capacity and have other negative effects. For example, nuclear energy accidents have

proven to be harmful and much destructive.

Evidently, the rate of environmental damage keeps rising. More natural habitats get

destroyed while natural vegetation is cleared for roads, residential houses, and industries. In this

process, other animal and different species lose their ecological locales in the while humanity

achieves relevant economic growth. Considering the existing trends, human populations will

predictably remain on the rise. This will mean demand for more goods, houses, roads, and other

requirements (Clapp&Dauvergne, 2011). The implicational outcome is that more environmental

degradation will continuously occur. In this sense, land, water, air, and sound pollution will

continuously persist and subsequently affect the environment.

Different predictions indicate the possibility of human populations outrunning the

existing environmental resources. Additionally, the fact that economic growth is driven by

increased demand for production complicates the process of trying to achieve development

without environmental damage. Various mitigative procedures like more environmental friendly

economic practices have also been established. One of such is the practice of implementing

green economies. Nonetheless, these are not easily implementable because the population to be

served keeps rising. The possibility of achieving economic growth without environmental

damage lies in the ability to mitigate the negative effects of economic growth while retaining

satisfactory supply of all human demands. This is referred to as sustainable development.

However, this is much undermined by the disparity between population volumes the resources

available for mitigating environmental damage. Considering these conditions, it is possible to

reduce environmental damage, but it cannot be completely eliminated.

ECONOMIC GROWTH WITHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE 4

References

Clapp, J., &Dauvergne, P. (2011). Paths to a green world: The political economy of the global

environment. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Inderwildi, O., & King, D. (2012). Energy, transport, & the environment: Addressing the

sustainable mobility paradigm. London: Springer.

Moran, E. F. (2017). People and nature: An introduction to human ecological relations.West

Sussex, UK: John Wiley Blackwell.

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