In the 1990s, the discourse on the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation expanded exponentially (Cole & Neumayer, 2005; Stern, 2003; 2004). Most of this intellectual confabulation revolved around the Environmental Kuznets Curve, a hypothesis that argues that environmental degradation would increase during an early economic development phase, eventually reaching the ‘turning point’ where improvement in environmental conditions will begin. In other words, the graphical relationship between per capita income and environmental pollution would be represented by an inverted U-shaped curve, drawing direct relevance to the behavior of the Kuznets curve that (originally) theorizes economic inequality and per capita income to exhibit the same relationship, named after Simon Kuznets who hypothesized this relationship in the early 1950s. However, the adapted version of the general model into the ecological framework emerged much later in the 1990s, alongside other growing concern for environment such as the development of frameworks such as sustainability.
Theoretical background
The origins and early analysis of the EKC can be traced back to the colossal studies undertaken in the 1990s. Grossman and Krueger’s publication ‘Environmental impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement’ in 1991 was revolutionary in comparing the general Kuznets Curve and its relevance in the context of environmental degradation. They attempted to establish that economic growth that potentially resulted out of the NAFTA would also account for a degree of environmental degradation. However, with a focus on the specific context of Mexico at the time, Grossman and Kreuger were able to establish the presence of the turning point...
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...nd the sustainability framework. The EKC’s limited scope in terms of understanding differences in present and future scenarios, in environmental capacities and resilience, in social choices and preferences within and across countries makes the path it endorses inherently unsustainable in nature. This further hinders the turning point analysis that policy makers are most concerned with as the collective turning point estimated for a given set of countries may or may not hold and may not be socially desirable, even if found to exist in the first place (Dinda, 2003). Also, the dependence and pressure on technology to constantly stay ahead of change offers shaky grounds for the sustainability case as it offers no guarantee that pollution levels that are being allowed under EKC will be within the estimated safe thresholds and temporary in nature (Arrow et al., 1995).
The Baby Boomer generation and the time period has a lasting effect on the economy and the environment. The baby boom for the United States was similar to other countries after World War II. Several economies also blossomed, but overall with very little care for the environment. After World War II the use of industrial made chemicals increased in popularity throughout the United States and the world (The “New Environmentalism” OF THE 1960S). The chemical DDT was originally being used widespread to eradicate disease vectors, such as mosquito carrying Malaria ("The DDT Story."). DDT influenced more than just mosquitoes as it had lasting effects in the environment where it noticeably bioaccumulate in the food chain and caused high mortality in young bald eagles ("The DDT Story."). Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring released to the public in 1962 which is the time period in which environmental health and human health were connected (The “New
15. As a limit to economic growth, environmental problems are more difficult to solve than
Generational conflicts, political strife, environmental regulations, stakeholders in big oil, and many more hurdles affect the push to fully sustainable economies around the world and even here in America. In a world where coal, oil, and natural gas are limited, countries are gobbling it all up as fast as they can before other poorer countries come on the grid. Even though America and other countries gobble up these resources the life of the people is still a struggle to meet basic needs. Sustainability is an intermingling of resource use and protection of the “quality of life”, it is met by using resources sparingly and by recycling or reducing the use of other non-renewable resources to provide for our immediate need, but also to conserve and protect the needs of the next generation and to improve the quality of all the lives to come.
While the new industries have had a positive impact on the economies, it did not help the environment. Before the Revolutions, people relied on charcoal, but trees were scarce and took v...
Sustainability is concerned with the long-term and holistic survival of the planet and its populations, including humans. It means that immediate economic growth is less important than deve...
Wackernagel, M., C. Monfreda, & D. Deumling. (2002) Ecological Footprint of Nations: November 2002 Update. Provided at: http://www.rprogress.org/
The rules of multilateral trade are designed to eliminate trade-distorting practices, which are harmful to the environment. For example, subsidies to the fishing sector may encourage unsustainable fishing practices, agricultural subsidies can support environmentally harmful agricultural production, and tariffs on environmental goods and services can restrict the dissemination of clean technology. Also there is the environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, which shows a relationship between environmental degradation and levels of income. This show that in the early stages of economic growth, the environmental degradation tend to be worse, but when the economy rise in per capita income and reach a certain point, the environmental damage reduce. This suggests that opposing them slows down the eventual environmental improvement in poor countries. According to Hassoun, poverty and the environment are connected in a way that poor people do not have access to electricity or gas, so they have to burn a lot of wood and coal to cook. Burning coal contributes about two-fifths of the world 's carbon emissions. By reducing poverty these may help reduce environmental problems. In some countries, the World Trade Organization (WTO) can implement more policies that can be used to progress the situation of the poor while also helping the
Sustainability, as an issue, has been the subject of widespread debate for ages now. While some people cannot associate themselves with the concept, others are too agnostic about the implementation of practices which can result in a win-win scenario for all. Another subset even wonders if the practices itself are sustainable or not. Such different views helps little to achieve the objective, when it is itself difficult to begin with.
Rogers, DS., Duraiappah, AK., Antons, D.C., Munoz, P., Bai, X., Fragkias, M., Gutscher., H (2012) A Vision for Human Well-Being: Transition to Social Sustainability: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 4(1) pg 61-73.
Sustainable development adapted after the Brundtlandt Report 1987, is a planned, aim- and process oriented procedure that meets the needs of today’s generations without endangering the needs of future generations and world regions (Ott & Döring 2004, 2006).2 The principle of sustainability describes the efforts of the international community, all countries and people to create equal opportunities for development by explicitly taking into account the interests of future generations. Most frequently the concepts of sustainability are based on a triple bottom line represented by the tree pillars – ecology, economy and social security (e.g. by the Enquete Commission, 1998). Apart from the general weaknesses of the column model that is the interchangeability of dimensions and the ignorance of (social) relatedness (c.f. Ott & Döring, 2004)3 the definition of sustainability (the model is illustrating), is seen as a bad compromise between the needs for conservation of natural resources and the aspirations for economic growth by some scholars (Döring & Muraca, 2010). Irrespective of that, the model sometimes is competed by other pillars such as “knowledge”, “institution”, ”governance”, “arts” or the like (c.f. a.o. Ott & Döring, 2004). Whereas in “Resetting the Compas...
“We are consuming the Earth’s natural resources beyond its sustainable capacity of renewal” said by Herman Daly, Beyond Growth, Boston 1996, 61[1] .
Tietenberg, Thomas. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Addison Wesley: New York, 2003. pp. 561. ISBN 0-201-77027-X, pp. 7-11.
Chasek, P. S., Downie, D. L., & Brown, J. W. (2014). The Development of Environmental Regimes: Chemicals, Wastes, and Climate Change. In P. S. Chasek, D. L. Downie, & J. W. Brown, Global Environmental Politics (6th ed., pp. 101-173). Boulder: Westview Press.
(7) Adams, W. M. The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century. Rep. The World Conservation Union, 22 May 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Environmental sustainability is making decisions and taking actions in the interest of protecting the natural world, preserving the capability of the environment to support human life, and ensuring that humans use the environment in a way that does not harm the environment. It also questions how economic development affects our environment, vice versa. Environmentally unsustainable activities (long term damage) include: Damaging rainforests and woodlands through logging Damaging land through mining Polluting and over-fishing oceans, rivers and lakes Polluting the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels Damaging prime agricultural land through use of unsustainable farming practices In a recent study by Standard Chartered Bank measuring long-term sustainability in 31 countries, South Africa came in last. In addition, South Africa is one of the world's top 20 greenhouse gas emitters as of 2006. This is mainly due to mining in the country.