It is possible to have economic growth without environmental damage 1

Discuss whether it is possible to have economic growth without environmental damage

Helena Negru

Leaders all over the world talk about economic growth, showing off impressive numbers

from their countries. But in the last years another issue became more important than growth:

protecting the environment. World leaders and entrepreneurs ask themselves if it is possible to

have economic growth without environmental damage. The answer to this issue is positive, but

one must consider a certain degree of environmental damage is needed to be able to have

economic growth.

When humanity reached the industrial era, the environment was damaged beyond repair.

This affected the people, leading to a mix of industrialization and poverty, along with a boom in

illnesses. First industrial moguls were focused on profit, but as time went by and the effects of

environmental damage became visible, the world became interested in protecting the

environment. Exhausting resources and polluting the area beyond repair proved to businessmen

they need to create new technologies, which enabled them to create a sustainable economic

growth.
It is possible to have economic growth without environmental damage 2

In order to embrace a sustainable economy, the nation needs to be educated towards this

concept. Otherwise, the engineers will not be interested in developing green technologies, nor

will entrepreneurs be willing to implement them. At the same time, environmental protection is

only possible when the average citizen becomes aware of the dangers of chaotic economic

growth and demands solutions from the government. This is exactly what happened in London,

in the middle of the industrial era, when air pollution lead to a boom in respiratory disease

(Vallero, D. A. (2006). Paradigms lost: learning from environmental mistakes, mishaps, and

misdeeds. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann).

Sustainable technologies created by developed countries are not available to third world

countries, which poses a big problem. Developing countries continue to use outdated

technologies, which damage the environment. This is a dangerous situation, which affects the

entire world, not just several countries. If one part of the world is damaged, the entire globe

suffers. Sustainable economic growth should become a priority for the world leaders, who have

the power to adopt universal specific regulations and policies, to protect the environment.

Entrepreneurs are now aware of the negative impact of environment damage on their

businesses, which makes them more interested in sustainability. Environment damage is now a

limit to economic growth, despite the fact a certain level of damage is needed for growth.

All in one, economic growth without environment damage is possible, as long as citizens

and world leaders acknowledge the need to live in a clean world. A certain level of environment

damage is inevitable, but as long as it is controlled, the future of both nature and economy looks

bright.
It is possible to have economic growth without environmental damage 3

References

1. Va l l e r o , D . A . ( 2 0 0 6 ) . P a r a d i g m s l o s t : l e a r n i n g f ro m e n v i ro n m e n t a l

mistakes, mishaps, and misdeeds . Amsterdam: Butterworth-

Heinemann

2. E k i n s , P. ( 1 9 9 9 ) . E c o n o m i c G r o w t h a n d E n v i r o n m e n t a l

S u s t a i n a b i l i t y. d o i : 1 0 . 4 3 2 4 / 9 7 8 0 2 0 3 0 11 7 5 1