Macroeconomics & Ecological Sustainability (EOF)
June 8, 2009 at 11:20PM Macroeconomics and ecological sustainability
The Encyclopedia of Earth
Table of Contents
1 Major Environmental Issues
2 The Relationship between Economic Growth and the Environment
3 Policies for Sustainable Development
4 Sustainability and Consumption
5 Sustainability and Investment
6 Further Reading
Contributing Authors: Neva R. Goodwin (other articles), Julie A. Nelson (other articles) and Jonathan M. Harris (other articles) Content Partner: Global Development and Environment Institute (other articles) Article Topics: Environmental economics and Sustainable development
This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Chikkavanu Nanjundaiah (other articles) Last Updated: October 9, 2007 World economic production has more than quadrupled since the early 1960s. Further economic growth is clearly desirable in developing nations in order to improve the well-being of over a billion people who are now living in desperate poverty. Continued economic growth has been a principal policy objective in developed countries. But as we enter the 21st century, we must consider whether it is possible, or even desirable, to continue along the economic growth trajectory of the 20th century. Economic growth has been accompanied by an increasing demand for natural resources, as well as increases in waste, pollution, and ecosystem damages. Many ecologists warn us that the current scale of human impacts on the natural world is already unsustainable. The ecological implications of a further doubling, quadrupling, or more, of human economic activity is an issue which, to date, has received little attention from macroeconomists. In this section we consider the implications of current environmental issues for economic growth and development. First, we present an overview of some of the most pressing global environmental problems. Then we explore the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality, and discuss policies to promote ecologically sustainable development. . . .
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