Today’s society is plagued with economic and ecological problems as has been the case for quite some time. Increasing populations, dwindling natural resources, and countless other reasons have caused a plethora of environmental issues that are plaguing our world today. With so many people relying on economics to keep themselves afloat, further damaging the planet in their haste to make a profit has only made things worse. Not to mention the fact that there is a lot of waste that occurs during the making and selling of these goods, as well as in their eventual disposal. Economic Development with an ecological balance is a pipe dream because, while we are in such a rush to be economically powerful, the planet will not be able to sustain itself long enough for us to reach our goal.
In a recent study from the Center for Economics and Policy Studies, fewer than ten percent of participating companies have gone green in any way. In other words, business is not doing very well at all regarding environmental issues (Kihombo et al., 2021). The study also revealed that the biggest concern in this aspect is how to find new markets and how to compete with other companies that are more environmentally conscious than we are (Orhan et al., 2021). Many companies argue that it is simply too expensive to be green or that the technology does not exist yet. That may be true, but if we continue to make wrong choices about how we operate and what we do with our natural resources, the environment, and our economy will suffer greatly in the end.
Moreover, there are many ways in which we can continue to grow our economy and do it in a responsible way that won’t harm the earth. We can take advantage of recently discovered technology and clean energy sources, as well as revitalize old technologies and old energy sources, such as wind power, solar power, natural gas, biomass, and more (Kraushaar-Friesen & Busch 2020). The details aren’t all known yet on how we will make this happen. What is known is that we need to do whatever we can to make the transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources faster and more efficiently (Orhan et al., 2021). We also need to create incentives for our companies to go green, such as tax credits and money. If they choose not to make changes on their own, then the government should force them.
According to Berezhna (2021), if we continue to use up the remaining fossil fuels that we have left, our economy will collapse by the year 2060. It is obvious that we need to create change at a faster rate, but if we don’t do it in a way that does not further harm the environment, then we will eventually lose (Huaranca et al., 2019). The world depends on our continued development and the continued use of resources like oil, gas, coal, and more. If we base our economy on those resources and purposefully create the most harmful products possible to sell in the quickest amount of time, then we aren’t doing anyone any favors (Kihombo et al., 2021). It is better to support environmentally “green” companies that care about their business than it is to make certain profits at any cost.
Also, illegal logging continues to pace not just the forests and jungles of the world, but our forests as well. This is considered an incredibly dangerous practice and more information on this topic should be provided to those who may be ignorant of the matter (Orhan et al., 2021). By timbering forests, whole species are being killed off where they can no longer survive. They are then left to rot, adding to the ever-increasing amounts of waste that will eventually end up in landfills, polluting the earth’s environment even more (Kraushaar-Friesen & Busch 2020). The need for wood is not dwindling either, as many people around the world are still using wood for heating and cooking their food.
Nonetheless, the big problem that arises when introducing new technology into economic development is jobs. Some argue that more jobs will be created, but many more will be lost. For example, when robotics and technology take over a job that was traditionally done by humans, there will be no reason for people to go to work (Scheel et al., 2020). In today’s world, most jobs require more than one person to perform them and humans can’t be replaced by robots. This is not to say that robots will replace us as a race. The point is that we will have to find other jobs for ourselves. Similar issues arise when farmers are replaced by industrial farms (Orhan et al., 2021). We have to keep this in mind when we go about changing the way we operate our economy or make decisions that affect the environment.
Furthermore, the degradation of the natural environment, the deforestation of our forests, and the pollution of our land and soil have left us in an incredibly desperate situation. We have recently begun to see these problems more and more, as well as begun to realize that they are real-life problems that we need to solve right away (Huaranca et al., 2019). If we don’t, then at a certain point we will become unable to continue with our current way of living (Scheel et al., 2020). While we may not be able to control the natural world and its creatures, we can certainly do our best to keep it clean and safe for both humans and animals alike.
Kraushaar-Friesen and Busch (2020) say that one suggestion that can easily be taken into account is the recycling of old materials. By doing this, we are reducing the amount of waste in landfills by quite a significant amount (Kihombo et al., 2021). This can also be extended to other materials, including electronics and clothing. Anyone who can reuse something instead of throwing it out can do just that. Where this is not possible, for example with electronic equipment, certainly there should be safe places that we can go to have these things recycled (Huaranca et al., 2019). We all need to work together to stop the problem before it becomes unmanageable.
Additionally, the need for electricity, water, and fuel has become more and more prevalent in the modern world with each passing year. Since these resources are hard to come by and we depend on them heavily, they should be managed better and more efficiently (Scheel et al., 2020). A simple way to do this is through the creation of natural gas stations that use natural gas to fuel their light trucks rather than gasoline (Orhan et al., 2021). These kinds of things can become a reality over time with enough effort put into finding a solution, but it is worth exploring all options to create the most efficient and effective method of utilizing these resources.
Because we are in such a rush to become economically strong, the world won’t be able to sustain itself for long enough for us to achieve our goal, making the idea of economic development with the ecological balance a pipe dream. We have to make a conscious effort to better our relationship with the environment if we are going to have any hope of surviving in the future. The impacts of climate change are real, and they are becoming more severe each year. If we don’t change things soon, then the world as we know it will be gone forever. Once it is gone, there will be no way to get it back. We must take action now while we still can and make things better.
References
Berezhna, I., Grishnova, O., Mikhurinskaia, E., & Berezhnoy, A. (2021). Economy of equal opportunities: dream or necessity. Economics & Education, 6(1), 6-14. http://baltijapublishing.lv/index.php/econedu/article/view/1165
Huaranca, L. L., Iribarnegaray, M. A., Albesa, F., Volante, J. N., Brannstrom, C., & Seghezzo, L. (2019). Social perspectives on deforestation, land use change, and economic development in an expanding agricultural frontier in northern Argentina. Ecological Economics, 165, 106424. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800918319827
Kihombo, S., Ahmed, Z., Chen, S., Adebayo, T. S., & Kirikkaleli, D. (2021). Linking financial development, economic growth, and ecological footprint: what is the role of technological innovation? Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(43), 61235-61245. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-021-14993-1
Kraushaar-Friesen, N., & Busch, H. (2020). Of pipe dreams and fossil fools: Advancing Canadian fossil fuel hegemony through the Trans Mountain pipeline. Energy Research & Social Science, 69, 101695. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221462962030270X
Orhan, A., Adebayo, T. S., Genç, S. Y., & Kirikkaleli, D. (2021). Investigating the linkage between economic growth and environmental sustainability in India: do agriculture and trade openness matter? Sustainability, 13(9), 4753. https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/su13094753
Scheel, C., Aguiñaga, E., & Bello, B. (2020). Decoupling economic development from the consumption of finite resources using circular economy. A model for developing countries. Sustainability, 12(4), 1291. https://www.mdpi.com/637976