Relationship Between Environment and Economic Growth!

The conflict between economic growth and environment is sharper today than ever before,
particularly in developing countries like India with fast growing population and mass poverty.
The developing countries are making strenuous efforts to balance their need for rapid economic
growth with the environmental concerns for keeping their natural base intact.

In India, as in other developing countries, the adoption of development strategy based primarily
on large-scale industrialization, energy-intensive technologies and biochemical-based
agricultural technology, ignoring indigenous development paradigm based on locally self-
sufficient technologies, has led to environmental degradation. In this article, we shall explain
various environmental issues and the adverse impact of climate change and explain the need for
sustainable development.

In a recent conference of state environment ministers held in August 2009, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said that the ecological crisis that confronts the country has led to ‘alarming
situation’. He urged upon the State governments to control environment pollution, clean rivers
and fight climate change.

This statement highlights the fact that India’s growth is increasingly taking place at the cost of its
environment. This shows that we have not been taking adequate efforts to ensure sustainable
development. To stop further decline in our natural resources and protect environment from
pollution stringent regulations and incentives are needed. But, as the PM has said, due to rampant
corruption prevailing in the bureaucracy the rules regarding the use of our natural resources and
protection of environment have been flouted with impunity. There are numerous instances when
the Ministry of Environment and Forests has flouted all norms to give clearance to dubious
projects at the cost of environment and communities that depend on it

Environment and devolopement:

The topic “environment and development” is so broad that it could easily cover any number of sub-
topics that have already been given their own bibliographies in this series, such as cultural ecology and
human ecology, political ecology, or developing world. Separately, environment is defined here as the
entirety of the physical world consisting of the world’s land masses, oceans, and atmosphere.
Development is defined as the process of growth and change in human social, political, and economic
systems. The two terms have traditionally intersected in developing areas where one or more natural
resources have been utilized to promote economic growth. This intersection has been extended in the
recent literature to include not only the impact of development on environment but also human
perceptions of environment in the development process and the role of non-human actors in
development. “Developing areas” are defined as those places where economic and/or social
development has been slower, hindered, or in some way less than average. This need not refer to
country or continental units of space, nor need it be restricted to the “global south” or “Third World.”
Those terms often connote a homogeneity that research has shown to be problematic.

Environmental Kuznets’ Curve (EKC) :

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis postulates an inverted-U-shaped relationship
between different pollutants and per capita income, i.e., environmental pressure increases up to a
certain level as income goes up; after that, it decreases. An EKC actually reveals how a technically
specified measurement of environmental quality changes as the fortunes of a country change. A sizeable
literature on EKC has grown in recent period. The common point of all the studies is the assertion that
the environmental quality deteriorates at the early stages of economic development/growth and
subsequently improves at the later stages. In other words, environmental pressure increases faster than
income at early stages of development and slows down relative to GDP growth at higher income levels.
This paper reviews some theoretical developments and empirical studies dealing with EKC phenomenon.
Possible explanations for this EKC are seen in (i) the progress of economic development, from clean
agrarian economy to polluting industrial economy to clean service economy; (ii) tendency of people with
higher income having higher preference for environmental quality, etc. Evidence of the existence of the
EKC has been questioned from several corners. Only some air quality indicators, especially local
pollutants, show the evidence of an EKC. However, an EKC is empirically observed, till there is no
agreement in the literature on the income level at which environmental degradation starts declining.
This paper provides an overview of the EKC literature, background history, conceptual insights, policy
and the conceptual and methodological critique.

What is EIA??

Environmental Impact Assessment is defined as an activity designed to identify the impact on the
biogeophysical environment, on man and well-being of legislative proposals, projects, policies,
operational procedures and to interpret and communicate information.

Why eia is important??

environmental assessment is taken up in this exercise as a rapid assessment technique for

determining the current status of the environment and identifying impact of critical activities on
environmental parameters. EIA is a relatively new planning and decision-making tool first
enshrined in the United States in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It is a formal
study process used to predict the environmental consequences of any development project. EIA
thus ensures that the potential problems are foreseen and addressed at an early stage in project
planning and design. Creation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system is vital to
conform socio-economic development projects to environmental safety and thereby ensure
sustainable economic development. In view of the fact that development is an ever-growing
process, its impact on the environment is also ever increasing, leading to rapid deterioration in
environmental conditions. As such environmental assessment provides a rational approach to
sustainable development. It also enables us in carrying out environmental cost-benefit analysis of
projects at an initial stage. It is thus a precursor to detailed analysis of environmental impacts,
which are taken up only if a need for the same is established. Comprehensive EIA is usually
conducted after the rapid EIA and some time after accruing a formal approval. It helps the
planning and management to take long-term measures for effective management a
s well as environment conservation