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Reference List

Uploaded by

Gioi Tran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COPIES OF REFERENCES

“There are political and business leaders who do not care if economic growth causes
environmental damage and there are environmental advocates who do not believe you can have
economic growth without causing environmental damage” (Steve Cohen, 2020). It seems that the
topic on whether to choose economic growth over environmental protection or vice versa is still
controversial until these days. In my opinion, environmental preservation is more significant than
economic development. In this essay, two positive aspects of environmental protection and one
negative aspect of focusing on economic growth will be discussed.

First and foremost, focusing on economic development without paying attention to


environmental protection will result in natural disasters, causing severe consequences. Human’s
industrial activities have always had negative influences on the environment. By continuously
contaminating the water they drink, the air they breathe and the soil in which plants thrive,
humans are destroying their ecosystem. Even though the industrial revolution was a huge
accomplishment in terms of technology, society, and the provision of various services, it also
released remarkable amounts of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere, resulting in various
kinds of pollution (Tercero, 2022, p.1). In addition, trees are being cut down for industrial
purposes, leading to deforestation, which also plays a partial role in causing pollution. According
to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), deforestation is mainly due to urbanization,
agricultural expansion and illegal logging (World Wildlife Foundation, 2020). The world's
forests serve as a massive carbon sink, storing an estimated 861 gigatonnes of carbon - about a
century's worth of yearly fossil fuel emissions at the current rate. Approximately 10% of the
world's tree cover has disappeared since 2000. The carbon that trees contain is released into the
atmosphere when they are taken down, significantly contributing to global warming (Greenfield,
2022). Because of these, the Ozone layer is depleting gradually, while the global surface
temperature increases which leads to climate change in many parts of the world. As a result,
many countries suffer from economic interruptions since money had to be spent in order to
resolve the consequences left by the disasters. Natural catastrophes have been responsible for
tens of billions of dollars' worth of economic damages since the 1990s (Botzen et al., 2019,
p.167). This will make people become vulnerable towards natural disasters, especially the low-
income households. Therefore, limiting industrial activities while focusing more on environment
protection will be the key to avoid natural disasters which prevent us from suffering further
consequences. This will reduce lives lost caused by disasters, provide people with better living
conditions as well as preserve natural resources, thus paving the way for the economy to grow.

Secondly, countries can regard environmental preservation as an opportunity to develop


other sectors. For example, the conservation of wildlife and natural landscapes can boost the
tourism industry, especially uplifting the popularity of the eco-tourism model. According to the
study conducted by Safaradi (2016), the ecotourism industry is the most popular among the
tourists. The stability of ecotourism is formed by adhering to a life philosophy based on core and
inner values, through protecting natural areas, helping local communities, enhancing the
characteristics of natives and small-scale cultures, offering training and educational
opportunities, boosting job creation and reducing immigration, conserving nonrenewable
resources, fostering local partnerships, environmental education and, in other words, proper
development. Its development can also be advantageous to the locals, particularly the natives,
through the creation of multiple work opportunities (Safarabadi, 2016, p.53). Hence, eco-tourism
is an innovative technique to combine the objectives of ecological protection and economic
development at the intersection of population and the environment (Nash, 2001). Furthermore,
the technology sector may also develop, with technology corporations earning profit from
manufacturing eco-friendly transportations and environment-protecting gadgets. For instance,
over the past three decades, Vietnam has worked to increase its industrialisation levels by
creating a domestic car sector. VinFast, a subsidiary of Vingroup, the country's top real estate
developer, appears to be a dream come true, with its production of sustainable transportations
including electric buses, cars and motorbikes (Vietnamnet, 2019). Therefore, it can be argued
that protecting the environment not only prevents environmental consequences but also boosts
other sectors of the economy.

On the other hand, people may argue that focusing on ecological aspects will slow down
economic growth. However, the target here is not concentrating completely on environmental
conservation, but to aim for sustainable development, which means developing the economy to
the limit of protecting the environment. Currently, all nations and regions must proactively boost
economic growth in order to meet their citizens' basic material demands as well as the need to
raise the general population's living standard. The issue of environmental conservation and the
efficient use of natural resources is becoming more serious in this regard. As mentioned in the
study conducted by Mantaeva et al., the idea of sustainable development is based on the idea that
a country's well-being depends not only on its level of economic prosperity but also on its
environment and habitat. Economic development is thought to be ineffective if environmental
concerns are not mitigated. We imperil the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
by irreversibly harming the environment or draining the natural resources that are already
available. Consequently, sustainable development focuses on how the economy and environment
interact and how they are managed to achieve generational equality (Mantaeva et al., 2021, p.1).
Although the sustainable development goals seem contradictory, they are more advantageous in
the long run. For example, economic growth and natural resources conservation may not work
well together. Nevertheless, in the long term, the sustainable uses of natural resources nowadays
will assure the resources availability for economic growth in the long run.

In conclusion, environmental protection is vital for a country to be able to develop.


Conserving the environment prevents the ecosystem from being destroyed by human’s industrial
activities as well as reduce the severity of the consequences left by natural disasters. In addition,
it also creates opportunities for other sectors in the economy to grow, such as tourism or green
technology. Besides, sustainable development will be a wise approach to progressing the
economy along with preserving the environment, with the purpose of creating a better future for
the next generation in the long run. For all these reasons, environmental conservation should be
favored more than economic development.

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