...Economic growth is the increase in the capacity of a country’s economy to produce goods and services. As a means of development and urbanisation, and a reflection of wealth and the living standard in a nation, it remains a key focus of most governments. In this course of action, water bodies may be polluted and contaminated due to waste (e.g. sewage and chemical waste) generated from different sectors of the economy. However, water pollution is not inevitable despite a country’s focus on economic growth, and in fact can be mitigated and controlled. A prominent example would be that of Singapore. Singapore is a highly developed market economy, with the 3rd highest GDP/capita in the world of $51,709.45 USD (2012). It has been experiencing rapid economic development ever since its independence, with an average GDP growth of 7.7%, developing from a low income to high income country. Over a period from 2000 to 2010, its GDP nearly doubled, from S$163 billion to S$304 billion. It is currently ranked among the world’s most competitive economies. At present, industry has become one of the primary pillars of Singapore’s economy, contributing to over a quarter (28%) of its GDP. Of which, in 2010 alone, the chemical industry has contributed S$38 billion of the output to the country’s economy, a significant rise from S$28 billion in 2009. As such, it can be seen that Singapore’s economic growth is greatly boosted by this industry. At the heart of the chemical industry is Jurong Island...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
...Laurea in Global Markets ReLATORE/TUTOR: Rodolfo helg Paper di Laurea di : Luca Cantadori Matricola: 14771 Paper di Laurea di : Luca Cantadori Matricola: 14771 Anno Accademico : 2012/2013 Anno Accademico : 2012/2013 CONSEQUENCES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH ON THE ENVIRONMENT:Focus on International Trade i. Economic growth and the environment ii. Environmental Kuznets curve: a. Kuznets Curve:Income inequality and growth b. Income inequality , growth and the environment iii. Population growth: how increasing population could affect the environment iv. Economic impacts of environmental policies: c. Economic growth: investment and innovation d. Effect on competitiveness v. International Trade and the environment vi. Effects of Trade on the environment vii. Trade due to differences in Environmental Policies: e. Pollution Haven case viii. Trade not due to differences in Environmental policies: f. Comparative advantage and environment: how factor endowments can influence environment ix. Conclusion x. References xi. Abstract i.Economic growth and the environment In the first half of the twentieth century there was and incredible explosion of international trade: indeed international trade almost triplicate its size.( According to data from www.worldbank.org) A lot of changes...
Words: 6832 - Pages: 28
...sustainable economic growth: Pollution Problem China, the world’s second largest single-country economy, has achieved economic growth over the past 30 years, however, growing the GDP at any cost has created many environmental problems. China’s facing severe pollution and environmental degradation for many reasons such as rapid industrialization, reliance on coal as an energy source and manufacturing industry. One of the environment problems for China is pollution. The current air pollution has become a threat to Chinese people health. 33 shocking photographs were posted on social media under the caption ‘Pollution in China is out of control’ catching world’s attention. This problem has thus become serious problem which call for rethinking of government policies. The Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, also responded to this problem declaring war against pollution and fighting it with the same determination China battled poverty. From my point of view, it’s the big challenge for China to improve the environment quality while achieving rapid economic growth therefore I think one of the greatest barriers to sustainable economic growth for China is the pollution problem. The impact of China's economic development on the environment has become increasingly serious, China has been facing a growing imbalance between economic achievements and the quality of the environment. At present with economic growing, China's energy consumption and environmental pollution problems...
Words: 721 - Pages: 3
...the world will tremble”), Napoleon Bonaparte. This expression is indeed, justified by the spectacular economic growth of China the past 3O years and by the fact that today, China is considered as one of the most important economic power in the world. Our country has known many changes: from the gai ge kai fang, under the leadership of Deng Xiao Ping where China experienced effective agricultural reforms, to our days when China, with 1/5 of world population, opened its doors to foreign investment, privatization, and export, leading to unprecedented growth. However, this growth is confronted with many challenges, external or internal. Among them, environmental issues are the most evident and urgent. In fact, this explosive growth has left scars across China's landscape and environment. Which lead us to our problematic: How the environmental issues can affects the economic development of China? And what are the solutions? Current situation * Overview of the Chinese economic development Since the opening policy in 1978, China has been the most rapidly growing economy in the world. And even if there is a certain tightening of the economy policy of the government and in spite of the rise of the price of raw material, this growth doesn’t have until now given any major sign of breathlessness (6% for the trimester of 2008). In July 2007, China is the fourth world economic power behind the United States, Japan and Germany, with a nominal GDP of more than 2.6 billion dollars...
Words: 1125 - Pages: 5
...Woes: A Tug of Water Between Economic Growth & Sustainable Development China’s Water Woes: A Tug of Water Between Economic Growth & Sustainable Development When we think about water, we never think of it in finite terms like we do with oil and other valuable resources we consume. After all, why should we think of water as a limited supply? Our entire planet is covered with 75 percent water. It is implausible to believe that countries would go to war over water as they have for oil. Due to rapid economic growth, China is increasingly becoming a water stressed country as it faces two major problems with its water resource management: water pollution and water shortage. The water crises needs to be examined in finite terms as its quantity and quality continues to have a strangle hold on China. “China’s economic boom has, in a ruthless symmetry, fueled an equal and opposite environmental collapse. In its race to become the world’s next superpower, China is not only draining its rivers and aquifers with abandon; it is also polluting what’s left so irreversibly that the World Bank warns of catastrophic consequences for future generations.” (Larmer 2008, 153) Rapid economic growth and along with an increase in population is fueling environmental degradation and is becoming increasingly detrimental to its current and future economic growth in China. The gap between economic growth and environmental degradation...
Words: 4188 - Pages: 17
...2007 Forum: China’s Rapid Economic Growth and Resultant Negative Externalities 867 CHINA’S RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH AND RESULTANT NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES PATRICIA BLAZEY* I INTRODUCTION China’s economic growth over the past fifteen years has turned it into the world’s major manufacturing base, making it one of the world’s four largest economies.1 During this period, China’s average annual real Gross Domestic Product (‘GDP’) grew by 9.7 per cent peaking at 11.9 per cent up to the second quarter in 2007, the highest growth rate over that period of time.2 At the same time the negative environmental externalities of economic growth have escalated and are causing concern not only within China itself but also globally. China has suffered severe ecological destruction and serious environmental problems which threaten both its economy and the health of its people. Apart from air and water pollution, unprecedented growth in household and industrial waste, loss of biodiversity, felling of rain rainforests and overfishing has occurred. On a global level, China’s air pollution levels have contributed substantially to the negative effects of climate change. China’s rapid growth has been accelerated through its membership of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’)3 and policies of trade liberalisation. Foreign investment has escalated due to preferential tax treatment and the relaxation of bureaucratic obstacles which in the past had slowed down the process of getting projects...
Words: 5493 - Pages: 22
...technological, economic, cultural, and political aspects of our world. A. Environment considers everything that affects a living organism. B. Ecology studies relationships between living organisms and their environment. C. Environmentalism is a social movement dedicated to protecting life support systems for all species. D. Life and economies depend on solar capital (energy from the sun) and natural capital (Earth’s resources and ecological services). 1. Capital is wealth; solar capital/energy creates renewable energy such as wind power, hydropower from flowing water, and biomass that is solar energy that has been changed to chemical energy and stored, in a biological form, such as wood. 2. Natural capital includes natural resources such as air, water, soil, wildlife, minerals, etc. and ecological services. a. Biological income from fish, grasslands, and underground water can be sustained, IF we don’t deplete it. b. Man, as a newcomer species, is endangering quality of life for us and other species. F. Man must protect our solar and natural capital and live off the resources they provide. 1. For an environmentally sustainable society we must not compromise the needs of future generations. 2. One view is that man must live sustainably by eliminating waste and discontinuing the depletion and degradation of resources. 3. A different view is that man can overcome these problems with ingenuity, economic growth, and technology. 1-2 Population Growth, Economic Growth, Economic Development...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONS ON AIR POLLUTION Lu Li, Zhaowei Liu ECON508: Applied econometrics May 10, 2013 Abstract In China, many environmental problems have been ignored when it mainly focused on a higher pace of economic growth for a long time. In this paper, we aim at finding the relationship between air pollutions and its potential contributor—industrial development. And we are also interested in finding out which department in industry contributes most to air pollution. With these questions, it is essential for us to bring our analysis into a practical and comprehensive content. In this paper, we choose air pollution indicators and industry output in provincial level, thus we would like to test it based on different regions. We use the fixed effect model to construct the data and use hypothesis testing to testify our model through three characteristics: normality, heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. After the regression and test, we come to the conclusion that basically our model is an appropriate one although several data and time series problems limit its further accuracy. And what is more, the result is quite accordance with our assumption that industrial sectors do effect the environment to some extent and among all the sectors we discuss, mining is the most overarching element. In order to obtain a better and more convincing result, we still need more information about air quality in our further study and research. Keywords: air pollution; industrial sector ...
Words: 3854 - Pages: 16
...Chapter 1 1. Exponential growth is an increase where the growth, when it is plotted, displays a logarithmic curve. Everyone living in an exponential age is a cause for concern for everyone living on the planet because resources are limited, but the rate at which the increase in population over time is accelerating. Unless we can maximize the use of our resources and find a way to increase our resources substantially and sustainably, we will not have enough for everyone. 2. The environment is our surroundings, all biotic and abiotic organisms. Environmental science is a study of how humans interact with our environment of biotic (such as animals and plants) and abiotic (such as lakes and forests) things, while ecology studies interactions...
Words: 2014 - Pages: 9
...Potential economic growth is the expansion of the productive capacity of an economy. An outwards shift in the PPF represents economic growth. Economic growth enables a society to produce more goods and services in any given period as a result of expansion in its resources. Actual economic growth is measured by the rate of growth of GDP. Actual economic growth may also reflect a movement towards the frontier; for example when an economy is recovering from a period of recession. The AD/AS model can show economic growth. For example, in the diagram below, an increase in the skills of the workforce will enable firms to produce more output at any given price so that the aggregate supply curve will shift outwards from AS1 to AS2. This entails an increase in full employment output (or capacity output). China is the world’s fastest growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the work. China is the largest manufacturing economy in the world. In the past two decades, China’s economy has been developed very rapidly. The growth of China’s income per capita is much faster than that of any other region in the world. Economic growth in China has had a number of economic and social benefits. The first benefit of economic growth is the improvement in standards of living. There is also the easing of poverty in developing countries, as absolute poverty can...
Words: 720 - Pages: 3
...Sergio A Segovia 11/30/2015 ENG 1302 Dr. Cunningham Taking Control of Air Pollution in Mexico City In 1992, the United Nations described Mexico City’s air as the most polluted on the planet. Six years later, that air earned Mexico the reputation of “the most dangerous city in the world for children” — a reputation Mexico has been working hard to improve. But despite more than a decade of stringent pollution control measures, a haze hangs over the city most days, obscuring the surrounding snow-capped mountains and endangering the health of its inhabitants. Many factors have contributed to this situation: industrial growth, a population boom (from three million in 1950 to some 20 million today), and the proliferation of vehicles. More than 3.5 million vehicles — 30% of them more than 20 years old — now ply the city streets. Geography conspires with human activity to produce a poisonous scenario. Located in the crater of an extinct volcano, Mexico City is about 2,240 meters above sea level. The lower atmospheric oxygen levels at this altitude cause incomplete fuel combustion in engines and higher emissions of carbon monoxide and other compounds. Intense sunlight turns these into higher than normal smog levels. In turn, the smog prevents the sun from heating the atmosphere enough to penetrate the inversion layer blanketing the city. Because of this and the extreme number of vehicles on the road Mexico City implemented “Hoy No Circula”. Hoy no Circula was started in late 1989...
Words: 5827 - Pages: 24
...Draft essay Since the Second World War, development has increased rapidly. Modern societies hope to develop the standard of living through growth in economy and technology. However, development also has some negative impact on society. In addition, the negative impact of development is becoming more serious, especially in developing counties. In this essay, the term ‘the social cost of development’ refers to damage to society caused by activities aimed at achieving the goals of society. The concept of the ‘development’ is considered to include the development goals and all systems and legal measures used to achieve development. Further to this the concept that social cost is‘too high’ is considered to mean that too much damage is caused to society before it is possible to achieve the development goals. In view of the above this essay will argue that the social cost of development is too high. This will be demonstrated by analysing of the impact of the social cost of development on the environmental pollution and health. Developing countries will cost the environment to develop the economy. A major reason for this is that it is commonly that in older to solve the poverty, developing countries will cost the environment to develop the economy. Firstly, during economic growth, environmental degradation will increase. According to the result of research by Dinda, “When a country achieves a sufficiently high standard of living, people attach increasing value to environmental amenities”...
Words: 568 - Pages: 3
...In some ways I agree the economic growth can be desirable, however there can be some negatives towards it. My first point is that economic growth can lead to an increase in standard of living, this is clearly a good thing. tho scan be seen in China, over the last 20 years china has seen some massive economic growth which has brought thousands out of poverty. If standards of living are increased then disposable income also increases which leads to an increase in consumer spending. If more people are spending money then the economy grows. Secondly economic growth can lead to an income rise And income rise can also lead to an increase in disposable income. Therefore bot these points lead to an increase in consumer spending and also an increasing aggregate demand, leaving real national output to increase. The benefits of economic growth for all economies and especially LEDCs are increased employment, reduced poverty and a high standard of living. These events occur because as AD increases, more factors of production, most notably labour are needed to produce goods and services for the economy. When this occurs on a large scale unemployed workers shift into employed. This is beneficial as governments provide less social security for the population so they can spend more money on public services. As a result of increased government spending, the quality of services such as education, health and shelter will become better hence improving the standard of living. Previously unemployed...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world. The country's per capita GDP (PPP) was $7,544 (International Monetary Fund, 94th in the world) in 2010. The provinces in the coastal regions of China tend to be more industrialized, while regions in the hinterland are less developed. As China's economic importance has grown, so has attention to the structure and health of that economy. China’s population can be divided into roughly 3 parts: farmers (about 700-800 million), rural migrants (150-250 million) and urban residents (250-350 million). Demographically and politically, China’s rural sector is the most important. The Chinese Communist Party owes its initial success to rural residents; Mao Zedong depended heavily on soldiers from rural areas in his battles against both the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang) and invading Japanese soldiers. Biggest Challenges to China’s economy Since 1978 the Chinese economy has maintained economic growth at an average of nearly 8%. By western standards this is remarkable. The UK, by contrast, has grown at an average rate of 2.5%. However, despite the impressive figures there are many serious economic problems resulting from economic growth. 1. Pollution/ Environmental Degradation/ Corruption/ Massive internal migration/ bureaucracy The growth rate combined with a population of over 1 billion...
Words: 3286 - Pages: 14
...Date______________ Multiple Choice Questions: 1. Economics is the study of a) Production methods. b) How society manages its scare resources. c) How households decide who performs which tasks. d) The interaction of business and government. 2) United Nations Environmental Program is not concerned with one of these a) Global environmental outlook. b) Nitrogen pollution in one freshwater and oceans c) Global population growth. d) Measurement of ocean levels 3) The problem of equity involves the following a) If property right is assigned to a polluter where the community is poor, the community cannot pay the polluter not to pollute. b) If property right is assigned to the poor community, it will accept location of toxic waste dump and other polluting facilities out of desperate need for compensatory funds. c) In the preservation of open spaces, wealthy communities can buy the spaces but poor communities can’t. d) All of the above 4) Which of the following is an example of external benefit? a) Pollution from a manufacturing plant b) Public health policies mandating vaccinations c) Higher education d) Public health policies mandating vaccinations and higher education 5. Below is a Production Possibilities Frontier (PPC) for an economy. Which event would lead to the shift in the PPC curve from PPC0 to PPC1, (A) external benefits __ or (B) external cost __. [pic] 6. Since World War II, economic growth has been phenomenal and population has grown...
Words: 1490 - Pages: 6
