Economic Growth And Sustainable Development, Mutually Exclusive?

Economic growth and sustainable development are mutually exclusive. This statement today, in the era of Trump holds a lot true. Followers of the US politics will be aware of Trump disregarding climate change as phenomena and promoting increased industrialisation. This is because even Trump agrees that the two cannot go hand in hand. If he supports environment, then huge funds allocated for industries will be reallocated to the environment, as a result, the manufacturing sector will face huge losses, jobs will reduce, consumption will decrease, and a setback will be seen on the economy. One understands that resources are scarce and thus, the way it’s used and its allocation are of vital importance. On the other hand, one is also aware that with the exponential increase in the world population, the scarce resources are on a rapid decline to cater the needs of all. Economic growth leads to exploitation of the environment. The environment is a provider of resources and a sink for waste generated. Thus, increase in economic growth will lead to large extraction of resources and also put a heavy burden on the environment’s assimilative capacity, thus reducing its productivity. On the contrary, though, economics growth leads to exploiting the environment, it is vital for overcoming social problems. Hence, the question lies whether to continue with economic growth that will help answer questions like poverty, employment or whether to focus on preserving the environment. On the flip side, if economic growth continues, the environment will degrade further, thus, in the long run, less of resources for the economic growth and more of waste generated causing health and social problems. This makes us question the fact if the two are actually mutually exclusive. It’s a confusing thought that one can happen at the cost of the other but in the long run, both will cease to exist due to falling in one. Thus, the need for the hour is to practice sustainable development measures and practice resilience in line with inclusive growth.