Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth in Developing Nations

This essay delves into the critical issue of environmental sustainability within developing countries, highlighting the detrimental effects of industrialization and the pursuit of economic growth. It emphasizes the unsustainable practices stemming from reliance on non-renewable energy sources, particularly fossil fuels, and their contribution to air pollution and climate change. The essay underscores the challenges posed by greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting climatic shifts, including variable precipitation and threats to food security. It then pivots to discuss the potential of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and biomass, as viable and sustainable alternatives. Furthermore, it explores the benefits of renewable energy in reducing environmental impact, fostering local economic development, and improving access to essential services like education and healthcare, while also addressing the misconceptions about the cost of renewable energy. The essay also examines the environmental consequences of industrial development, including pollution and resource depletion, while advocating for the implementation of environmental policies and the promotion of recycling and reuse practices. In conclusion, it stresses the importance of community empowerment and the implementation of effective regulatory measures to achieve environmental sustainability in developing countries.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
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Environmental Sustainability in Developing Counties
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Environmental Sustainability in Developing Countries
Sustainable development is generally defined as the development that achieves its
obligation without affecting the ability of the future generation to meet their basic needs for
survival. There is mutual dependency in the areas of sustainability that are intertwined and they
include: environment, economy and the society that we live in thus their effects overlap and
when there is change in one of those key fields it will greatly have an impact on the other two
(Sneddon, Howarth and Norgaard, 2006). This essay illustrates that developing countries have
unsustainable environment due to industrialization and the urge of the countries to be more
advanced in terms of technology. Similarly, this has led to ignorance of majority of the
developing countries in terms of conserving environment and thus has focused their attention
towards development and economic growth.
Generally, the non-renewable energy source has triggered more harm than good to our
lovely environment and the entire ecosystem. The fossil fuels that are found in our ecosystem
have a great impact to our environment when handled in appropriately include: natural gas, coal
and petroleum (oil). The combusted fossil fuels contribute to a larger percentage of air pollution
by producing CO2 that has impact on the living organisms occupying that locality when emitted
to the ecosystem (Lotfalipour, Falahi and Ashena, 2010). Fossils fuels were formed from the
living organisms that once lived in the ancient years and thus form part of the ecosystem. In the
last few years’ majority of the developing countries have depended on the fossil fuels to
propagate their economy to the level of the developed states thus in the process end up emitting
greenhouse gases (Searchinger, et al. 2018). The effects of greenhouse gases have been widely
witnessed and thus have impact to our environment leading to climatic changes and higher
temperature making the developing countries to look for other renewable sources of energy that

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can be substituted instead. Similarly, department of Economic and Social Affairs in the UN
emphasize that climatic change is one of the biggest challenges in the developing countries that
needs to be tackled with before vision 2030.On the other hand, high temperatures lead to variable
precipitations that is associated with the climatic changes which threatens the rate of food surplus
in the developing countries. Accessibility to clean water is a necessity that every citizen of a
country wishes nevertheless, they are more frequent floods that contaminate the waters and are
all linked to the varying climatic changes. This effect impairs economic growth specifically in
low income dependent countries. Nonetheless according to Paris Agreement in 2015, the
international community has tried to set goals and mechanisms that will aid in tackling the
climatic havocs thus by holding the increase in the global temperature to below 2 degrees that is
above pre industrial levels. Seemingly, for these goals to be transformed to reality there must be
a dramatic cut in the fossil fuels. Despite all the negative impacts that may result from the fossil
fuels, larger percentage of African countries still have the notion that for their economic growth
to raise they have to depend on the fossil fuels.
On the other hand, renewable energy aids a majority of the developing countries by
providing them with wind power, geothermal energy, biomass and solar energy thus helps to
reduce the dependency on natural gas and oil (Kanagawa and Nakata, 2008). It has come to the
realization of the developing countries that investing on the renewable energy source is
affordable and does not have any negative impact on the ecosystem as compared to the fossil
fuels that greatly destroys the environment. Additionally, renewable energy is vital and
beneficial when the developing countries invest in it since cost of transmission is low compared
to the fossil fuels and can be transmitted to the local and rural remote areas with ease. Theirs has
been interest in the renewable energy production and transmission in the recent years due to the

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environmental concern about air pollution and global warming thus the government officials
have shifted to a renewable energy due its efficiency, reliability and reduced cost production
cost. The interesting part is that renewable energy can be produced locally and thus be beneficial
to the poor marginalized communities in the globe (Panwar, Kaushik and Kothari, 2011). It
reduces the level of poverty in most of the developing countries thus provides energy for creating
employment and business. Theses imply that the renewable energy technology indirectly
contributes in poverty alleviation by providing energy that can be used for space heating, lighting
and cooking (Zhang, Parker and Kirkpatrick, 2008). Renewable energy source plays a major role
in the field of education thus by providing the schools with electricity and reduces time wastage
among the children to go fetch fuel from a distant location thus provides a ready solution by
providing energy for lighting, cooking and heating (Xia and Xia, 2010). Additionally, in the
rural societies it reduces the health hazards that may emerge due to indoor air pollution by
burning fuels. Additionally, in the health sector the renewable energy provides a power source to
the refrigerators that aid in the storage of sterilize medical equipment’s and medicine. It also
provides power source to the sewage services and fresh waters thus reducing the rate of
infections.
Lastly, I reject the assumption of some individuals that renewable energy is expensive to
plant by the developing countries. This source of energy is affordable by majority of the
developing countries thus tend to adopt the mechanism and have the will to invest on it since it
does not have any environmental hazards. When comparing the cost of production of fossil fuels
and the renewable sources we tend to conclude that renewable source is cheap since it entails the
use of resources that naturally exist like wind and solar thus converting potential energy to solar
energy.

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Industrial development plays a very fundamental role in the growth of the economy in
countries like Taiwan province of China, Indonesia, China and Republic of Korea. Growth of the
economy reduces the poverty levels of the low class groups in the country. Despite the fact, that
industrialization enhances the growth of the economy and rises the living standards of the people
it results to a significant number of havocs toward the ecosystem. Water pollution, air pollution,
smog’s, oil spillage and acid are among the negative impacts of the rise of industries. Despite
land and water being the basic natural resource for the survival of human beings in the globe,
they are being threatened by the industrial sectors in the developing countries. In this case, some
of the industries lack an appropriate sound pollution policy that will regulate the effect of sound
pollution. In these end we get to know that there is need for the government to enact particular
environmental policies to safeguard the environment (Low, 2016). The problem that is faced by
majority of the developing countries is that less attention and focus has been converted on the
environment protection thus the environmental a standards are not put into consideration or
implemented thus pollution control techniques have not been developed.
Recycling and re use of products is good management practice in the developing
countries since it aids in the coping with challenge of environmental pollution from the products
like the plastic containers (Nnorom and Osibanjo, 2008). Recycling of products is an
environmentally friendly measure thus cuts the cost of production enhancing a low capital
investment in the local market sectors. Plastic containers or bags non bio - degradable thus
cannot decay and can persist in the environment for a long period of time. They can cause
environmental hazards by blocking sewage and drainage systems resulting to water flooding and
water logging that may facilitate the spread of infections. Nevertheless, recycling of plastics is
beneficial hence reduces the greenhouse gas emission and contributes to energy saving.

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Additionally, it provides a livelihood to the people by creation of employment and opportunities.
Analysis state that the amount of plastic usage in developing countries is much lower compared
to the industrialized countries. The developing countries tend to recycle their products due to the
low labor cost, law that has been put in place to control the level of recycled products, low cost
of transportation and there is also an innovative use of the scrapped materials that leads to low
entry manufacturing cost (Reck and Graedel, 2012). Lastly, in developing countries the trend of
collecting, sorting and recycling products is becoming a viable activity that is engaged by many
people and thus is source of income to others.
On great perspective, recycling of products like plastic is beneficial since it helps to
conserve the environment (Troschinetz and Mihelcic, 2009). On that aspect is strongly reject that
notion that recycling of products has a negative impact to the ecosystem. It is fundamental that
for human beings to stay in a clean, health and productive environment, regulatory measures
must be put I place to making it practical.
In conclusion, economic growth makes environmental sustainability unrealistic in the
developing thus the constraints of being faced by the developing countries on environmental
sector can be dealt with adamantly or resolved with ease when the community is empowered on
the need to have a sustainable environment and the appropriate measure that can be taken to
achieve those goals (Sneddon, 2006). Moreover, the common forms of environmental damage in
the current world is lack of clean water, municipal waste, deforestation and soil erosion that
requires decision makers to input public policies that will ensure that there is a sustainable
environment where there will be consequences when the regulatory measures have not been
abided.

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