Sustainable Development & Environmental Conservation

Abstract

At present, every country of the world has to choose between ‘Just growth’ and ‘Growth that is just.’ Few decades ago the main concern of the economies was ‘Just growth’. The world looked at economic status alone as an indicator of human development. The countries that were economically well developed, and where people were relatively richer, were called ‘advanced’ nations, while the rest, where poverty was wide spread and were economically backward, were called ‘developing’ countries. The developed countries not only exploited their own natural resources rapidly but also used the natural resources of the developing countries, to grow even larger economies. Thus, with the onset of technological development and economic growth, both the developed as well as developing nations exploited their natural resources indiscriminately. This resulted in depletion of non-renewable natural resources, environmental pollution due to waste generated from production and consumption of goods and services and destruction of environment. Economic activities along with over exploitation of resources have created problems like drinking water scarcity, climatic change, more waste and pollution resulting in health hazards. Social attitudes, behavioral pattern and traditions have also adversely affected the environment.