Industrial Development And Environmental Degradation

Industrialization to achieve economic development has resulted in global environmental degradation. This book identifies/quantifies environmental consequences of industrial growth, and provides policy advice, including the use of clean technologies, with reference to the developing world.

This study examines the employment implications of sustainable development, especially for developing countries, and reviews current approaches to minimizing environmental degradation. Spectacular economic growth since 1945, based largely on technological advance, has entailed major environmental costs which, this book claims, cannot be sustained, except at the risk of our own survival.

Conference Papers discussing conflicting aspects of environmental considerations and economic growth.

Economic growth as we know it today cannot persist indefinitely if it entails continuous degradation of natural resources and the environment. While in a few countries around the world it appears that environmental degradation has been the result of rapid economic growth, in the vast majority of the developing countries the environment has been equally spoiled despite slow or even negative economic growth. This book provides new insights on the common roots of economic stagnation, poverty and environmental degradation which, unfortunately, generally reside in misguided government policies and priorities. By doing this, the volume seeks to provide a broader policy option framework than those found in conventional policy analyses, mainly dominated by the "Washington Consensus". It shows that a major omission of the conventional view is that governments tend to allocate government expenditures in a biased way favouring subsidies to the economic elites to the detriment of investments in public goods, including human capital, R&D, as well as the development of institutions (environmental and otherwise), which are vital for long run growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

This book comes at a time when the world is confronted by one of the greatest challenges—the problem of environmental degradation. A collection of articles by renowned economists, scientists, and environmentalists, this book shows that while the state of the environment is intricately linked to economic development, the matter is in fact far more complex. One of the best-known connections is the Environmental Kuznet’s Curve hypothesis, the limitations of which, both empirically and theoretically, are dealt with in the early part of the book. This is followed by a discussion on the shortcomings of the Kyoto Protocol and the particular problem of green house gasses. The other issues covered are: the negative contribution of environmental pollution; trade liberalization and its impact on the environment of developing countries, both in the short- and long term; alternative energy sources.

There is a growing concern among Chinese researchers and policymakers about China’s industrial development being unsustainable and the irreversible depletion of natural resources and deterioration of the ecological environment. The relationship between industrial development, pollution and the environmental quality is an important issue that deserves careful study. Environmental considerations play a crucial role in shaping China’s development strategies. Green development of China creates strong pressures for continuous transforming, upgrading and restructuring of the Chinese economy. This book explores how China’s industrial development relates to pollution and environmental quality, and how considerations about such issues associated with the ecological system affect China’s development strategies.

The prevailing global environmental crisis is primarily because of non-standardized parameters for environmental regulation. Unplanned expansion of economic activities, consideration for environmental conservation and several associated problems are emerging due to degradation in quality of ambient environment such as clean air, safe drinking water and quality of food, particularly in developing nations. Due to poor/casual execution of EIA protocol, newly developing countries are preferred destination for establishing pollution emitting industries, which results in degradation and depletion of natural resources. Lack of environmental policy intervention is another major attraction for establishing such industries in these nations. In order to ensure sustainable development, the highest priority issues include the monitoring and eradication of environmental problems which arise due to economic development. Initiation of any form of economic development primarily results in loss of forests and thus biodiversity, followed by deterioration in quality of air and contamination of natural resources. The worst impact of non-standardized economic development is the contamination of air, water and soil. Sustainable development ensures responsible interface with the environment to minimize the depletion or degradation of natural resources and ensure long term environmental quality. It involves integrated approaches in understanding the importance of environmental management systems and policy inventions leading to improved environmental performance. The present book is proposed to address the environmental concerns associated with economic development and approaches involved to attain sustainable economic development, which include monitoring of the quality of air, deforestation, quality of water resources, soil erosion and degradation of the natural environment.

After a period of relative silence, recent years have been marked by an upswing of interest in environmental issues. The publication of the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development on 'Our Common Future' (1987) has acted as a catalyst for a revival of the environmental awareness, not only regarding local and daily pollution problems, but also -and in particular- regarding global environmental decay and threats to a sustainable development. In a recent study by W.M. Stigliani et al., on 'Future Environments for Europe' (Executive Rep~rt 15, IIASA, Laxenburg, 1989) the environmental implications of various alternative socioeconomic development pathways with respect to eleven environmental issues that could become major problems in the future are analysed. These issues include: Managing water resources in an era of climate change. Acidification of soils and lakes in Europe. Long-term forestry management and the possibility of a future shortfall in wood supply. Areas of Europe marginalized by mainstream economic and agricultural development. Sea level rise. Chemical pollution of coastal waters. Toxic materials buildup and the potential for chemical time bombs. Non-point-source emissions of potentially toxic substances. Transportation growth versus air quality. Decreasing multi-functionally of land owing to urban and suburban land development. Increasing summer demand for electricity, and the impact on air quality.