Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
policies, in order to achieve environmental improvements (Beckerman,
1992). However, if the relationship is positive at lower levels of income and
then turns negative at higher levels of income, then policies that acceler-
ate economic development, although improving environmental quality in
the long run, will have serious damaging ef ects on the environment in the
short and medium run. Therefore, caution is necessary in introducing the
right policies at the dif erent stages of economic development without sac-
rii cing environmental improvement at any level. Economic development
policies should be set and viewed in relation to their ef ects on the environ-
ment. Both economic and environmental policies should complement each
other. In fact, good environmental protection policies will help and sustain
economic development. However, promoting economic growth without
taking into account the impact on the environment can bring economic
development to a halt (IBRD, 1992).
In that respect, the enactment and enforcement of international legisla-
tion by the international community is vital in controlling and minimizing
the problems resulting from economic development and its damaging
ef ect on the environment for a number of reasons. First, they tend to
moderate the growth rates of pollution associated with economic growth
by encouraging i rms and/or consumers to use less polluting technologies.
This is essential because individuals and i rms are interested in maximizing
proi ts, and therefore have few incentives in curbing pollution, such as air
emissions in urban centres, dumping wastes in public waters or the severe
overuse of land (Congleton, 1992). Moreover, the gains from a better
environment, such as improved human health, higher economic produc-
tivity and enhanced amenities, are sometimes dii cult to measure com-
pounded with the lengthy time lag between taking the proper actions and
realizing the ef ects of environmental improvements (Goodstein, 1999).
Furthermore, individuals and i rms can make serious trade-of s in their
decision-making due to the lack of consideration of the earth's limited
resource capacity and pollution to the environment, which, in turn, will
impede sustainable development. This has an intergenerational ef ect as it
results in compromising the average standard of living of future generations
in comparison with the present one (Beckerman, 1992). This is also known
as the intergenerational displacement of environmental costs, where costs
are transferred across a great distance or to a remote future (Roca, 2003).
Second, the costs of environmental protection are high and are often
unaf ordable by poorer countries. Accordingly, the international com-
munity sets policies whereby rich countries bear a reasonable share of the
costs of improving the environment in poor countries. This is due to the
fact that the benei ts from a cleaner environment, such as the protection of
tropical forests and biodiversity, will accrue not only to the poor countries
