Question

Explain economic and environmental aspects associated with sustainable development.

Answer 1

Economic: An economically sustainable system must be able to produce goods and services on a continuing basis, to maintain manageable levels of government and external debt, and to avoid extreme sectoral imbalances which damage agricultural or industrial production.

Environmental: An environmentally sustainable system must maintain a stable resource base, avoiding over-exploitation of renewable resource systems or environmental sink functions, and depleting non-renewable resources only to the extent that investment is made in adequate substitutes. This includes maintenance of biodiversity, atmospheric stability,and other ecosystem functions not ordinarily classed as economic resources.

Environmental-Social Aspect: This blending of environmental and social aspects of sustainability deals with how we interact with our environment. This can include how we
plan and design our homes and cities, how we take care of the resources we have available to us, and the ways we interact with the environment. We also have to contend with the natural patterns of nature and how they can affect us. Drought, wildfires and threats of hurricanes and flooding need to be considered when planning new construction projects.

Environmental-Economic Aspect: When it comes to looking at how environmental and economic aspects interact, we need to look at both how economics affects the environment and how the environment affects economics. Environmentally friendly products are becoming more common, making it easier to purchase goods with less packaging, cleaners that are less hazardous to us and our environment and foods that are grown in ways that are better for the environment. However, fossil fuels are becoming harder to come by, and the cost to purchase refined fuels will become more expensive as time goes on. Companies are looking for ways of harnessing renewable sources of energy and in time, these will become more common and less expensive. We need to develop ways to maintain positive economic development that can support itself without negatively impacting the environment.