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Asia should prioritise economic growth for the present

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Asia should prioritise economic growth for the present, and address the cost of
environmental damage in the future. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
INDIVIDUAL DRAFT
This essay will show that Asia should focus on economic growth and address the expense of
environmental destruction at the same time. A number of reasons and evidence will be
presented in support of this. First, Asia is experiencing environmental pollution as a
consequence of the focus on high economic growth rates. Secondly, environmental
management is one of the vital key drivers of economic prosperity. Third, a huge amount of
expense is increasingly required to address environmental issues over time. However, a counter
argument suggests that economic growth is associated with technology advancements that
reduce industrial pollution by generating multiple alternatives to replace conventional sources
of exploitation to minimise long-term environmental management costs. A response to this is
that an increase in mordenzational technology will affect not only the economy by increasing
climate change but also the GDP by exacerbating the agriculture industry of Asia. These
arguments show that Asia should strike a balance between the economic growth and
environmental management.

While Asian countries have experienced an increase in economic prosperity with the surpassing
of GDP to that of the rest of the country by 2020 (Praneeth, Y., & Zara, I., 2019), those countries
are dealing with serious environmental issues such as air pollution, deforestation, and climate
change that threaten the future development of their overall economy, well-being, and regional
stability (Howes, S., and P. Wyrwoll, 2012). As a result, it is necessary to strike a balance
between economic development and environmental protection to ensure sustainable
development due to their closely interdependence.

First, Asian countries are experiencing environmental pollution as a consequence of focusing on

high economic growth rates. The Asian Development Bank (2021) reported that the Asian
economy was 7.5% in 2021 and projected to expand by 5.3% in 2022, while the IMF (2021)
stated that Asia remains the fastest-growing region globally. However, the ongoing economic

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growth and improving living standards in Asia are increasingly exposed to deteriorating
environmental conditions (Howes, S. and P. Wyrwoll, 2012). There were 3 Asian countries
among the top 5 countries emitting CO2 in the world including China with the highest rate of
carbon dioxide emissions in the world, at 10.67 billion tonnes annually, followed by India and
Japan, at 2.44 billion tonnes and 1.03 billion tonnes, respectively ( Ourworldindata, 2020).
Furthermore, according to National Public Radio (2017), in New Delhi, India, the severe
conditions of air pollution, which included toxic smog from manufacturing emissions and
construction waste, forced schools and factories to close while flights to and from New Delhi
were suspended. Therefore, unless Asia invests in both economic development and
environmental protection at the same time, the world's atmosphere will continue to deteriorate
in the long term.

Secondly, the better environmental management, the higher the economic growth due to
their intimate influence. According to Jamel, L., and Derbali, A. (2016), the natural environment
is one of the key factors driving economic activity and prosperity since a huge number of inputs,
including natural resources and raw materials, are provided by nature, while it is also an indirect
supplier through the services provided by the ecosystem, such as carbon elimination,
purification systems, nutrient cycling, and flood control. Furthermore, as reported by the
International Labour Organization (2018), with the transition to a greener economy, there will
be a tendency toward the creation of 14 million jobs in Asia, contributing to overall economic
growth. Therefore, in order to guarantee long-term economic prosperity as well as ecologiacally
sustainable growth, developing the economy and protecting the environment should "go hand
in hand" (Richard Price, 2010).

Thirdly, massive expenses are increasingly required to address environmental issues over time.
According to Milltrust International LLP (2020), ecology and environmental protection in China
were increasedly devoted to 407.3 billion yuan ($57.22 billion) in 2020 by China's finance
ministry compared to that of 390.6 billion yuan in 2019. Based on International Finance
Corporation analysis (2017), from now to 2030, a huge amount of money will need to be
invested in addressing environmental issues, including more than $410 billion in renewable

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energy, $670 billion in greening the vehicle fleet, and over $1.5 trillion in the building stock to
guarantee its future green and resilient. Furthermore, because the environmental recovery
solutions involve all aspects of life, more than $300–600 million USD each year is needed to be
invested by Asian countries to successfully implement them (SEI, 2018). As a result, the longer
Asia ignores environmental degradation, the more expense it spends on dealing with the
consequences.

Another view to consider is that Asia should prioritise economic growth over environmental
destruction. According to Hardvard (n.d.), the era of economic growth is linked to technological
innovation, which is enable to enhance the efficiency in the creation of more and superior
goods and services. Therefore, this development generates multiple alternative energies such as
wind power and emissions-free power generation technology to replace conventional sources
of exploitation in many sectors, which lowers long-term environmental management expenses
(ScienceDirect, 2016).

However, the response to this may be that rising economic growth will increase not only the
rate of global warming but also exacerbate the agriculture industry of Asian countries (Karyono,
Tri., 2015). In fact, the Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.) stated that climate change is
affecting Asia in a variety of ways, including overheating, dwindling drinking water supplies, and
accelerated rising sea level. In addition, many Asian countries lack technologies and skills in
developing and applying renewable energy to national electricity grids (Sharvini et al, 2018) .
Consequently, the manufacture of agricultural outcomes is reduced in Asia, which can cause
starvation in 8.9% of the global population (The World Bank, 2021). Furthermore, the Swiss Re
Institute (2021) also warned that if global temperatures elevate by more than 3.2 ° C., the global
financial system could lose 18 percent of its overall GDP by 2050. Therefore, to minimise the
impact of technology advancement, Asian countries should focus on gaining sustainable and
overall development by focusing on both the economy and the environment at the same time.

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The essay has clearly show that instead of prioritising between economic growth and the
environment, Asians should put effort into both of them at the same time. The main argument
given was that Asian countries are experiencing environmental pollution as a consequence of
focusing on high economic growth rates. Secondly, environmental management is one of the
keys to the prosperity of the economy. Finally, massive expenditures are becoming increasingly
necessary to solve environmental challenges throughout time. A counter argument was that
economic growth associated with technology innovation replaces conventional sources with
multiple alternatives to maximise further growth. A response to this is that an increase in
modernization will impact not only the economy by raising global temperatures but also the
GDP by exacerbating the agriculture industry of Asia.

References:
24 million jobs to open up in the green economy. (2018, May 14). International Labour
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Abdul R.Beig & S.M, Muyeen. (2016, February 19). Wind energy. ScienceDirect.com | Science,
health and medical journals, full text articles and books. Retrieved from
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%3Dihub

Global warming in Asia. (n.d.). Global Warming Effects Map - Effects of Global Warming.
Retrieved from https://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-solutions/asia.html

Howes, S. and P. Wyrwoll (2012), ‘Asia’s Environmental Problems: Common Features, and
Possible Solutions’, in Zhang, Y., F. Kimura and S. Oum (eds.), Moving Toward a New
Development Model for East Asia- The Role of Domestic Policy and Regional Cooperation. ERIA
Research Project Report 2011-10, Jakarta: ERIA. pp.55-120

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International Finance Corporation. 2017. Climate Investment Opportunities in South Asia.

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Karyono, Tri. (2015). Architecture and Technology: The impact of modern technology on global
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Lee, Y. N. (2021, October 19). IMF downgrades its growth forecast for Asia, says Covid still
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Praneeth, Y., & Zara, I. (2019, December 20). In 2020 Asia will have the world's largest GDP.
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planes, factories and schools to close. Retrieved from

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https://www.npr.org/2017/11/13/563894782/air-pollution-in-new-delhi-forced-airlines-
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Ricardo, H., & Jose, D. (n.d.). Knowledge, technology and complexity in economic growth. Real
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