By: Gabi Natalizio
We talk a lot about how we can save our planet, from following basic recycling procedures, to reducing the use of plastic straws. However, these small steps can’t have as big of an impact if we don’t all work together. For years we have been relying on our government and other environmental groups to pull the weight in saving the Earth, but despite their best efforts we continue to see our environment worsen.
Back in 1972, the first global conference on human environment took place and concluded the economic acceleration has been moving faster than the environment ministers are able to protect our planet (weforum.org). Don’t get me wrong, having a fast past economy is not a total loss, however losing our resources to keep up with the protection of our world does come as a bad thing. The movement since then has been working in attempt to build up our environment protection to match the pace of our economy, and this revolution continues to be in work today. In collaboration with shaping both our economy and environment, the “Sustainable Development Impact Summit” are binding businesses to a common purpose of reaching earth and economy targets by creating smart, clean industrial production throughout companies nationwide.
Through this new development, we boost our economy by creating more technological advanced software for companies that have been creating high pollution and other unfriendly environment factors. These advancements not only create new opportunities for job placement, but also contribute to our GDP growth and increasing our market share with other countries. From an economic standpoint, building new and stronger connections with other countries allows more opportunities for trading of other resources we may not have as accessible. Also, when these developments show a strong environmental increase in our country, we can hopefully continue to expand through to other countries to once again rebuild our Earth as a whole. Yes, these products can help improve the United States but it is even more impactful if we can sell to other countries giving a larger benefit for everyone.
For years we have lived through the misconception that building our economy means killing our planet or vice versa. However, what has recently been recognized is that we are able to improve both factors at the same time. In some economies the internet accounts for 3.4% of overall GDP (weforum.org). Having an advancement in not only our technology but also in a way to improve our environment is projected to boost the GDP substantially. The Sustainable Development Impact Summit says, “by unleashing these new forms of innovation, which are intent on delivering the global targets and unlocking new, sustainable forms of economic value on the way, we can save the Earth by 2030” (weforum.org). Now that is one goal I believe we can all get on board with. Saving our Earth? Yes. While ALSO improving our economy? Absolutely. With that in mind, continue to recycle and reduce your plastic use, but just know there are bigger plans set to make the difference us individuals can’t make alone.
Works Cited
Juniper, Tony. “Why the Economy Needs Nature | Tony Juniper.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Jan. 2013, www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2013/jan/09/economy-nature.
Kvochko, Elena. “Five Ways Technology Can Help the Economy.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2013/04/five-ways-technology-can-help-the-economy/.
US Department of Commerce, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What Can I Do to Protect Coral Reefs?” NOAA's National Ocean Service, 10 Aug. 2009, oceanservice.noaa.gov/ocean/earthday.html.
Waughray, Dominic Kailash Nath, et al. “We Can Save the Earth. Here's How.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/we-can-save-the-earth-heres-how/.
I agree with you, saving earth by recycling plastics and cleaning trash on the roads would help our economy and our country's health. Because by cleaning and reducing the use of plastic you are increasing your life span from not dying due to too much carbon dioxide that is present in the air. Also creating new technology to make recycling easier would also benefit our country's GDP. Because we are making it easy for people to recycle their trash.Creating new advanced requirements would increase our GDP and mostly lot of other countries would buy those from us, which would also increase our exports money.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post because it explained how even though there are a lot of groups that are trying to help the environment right now, they are not enough. This post helped visualize how much more help we all need to do before we can truly say that we are helping our environment "enough". I also liked how the article connects technology and the economy to the problem. By using more technology in our world we are able to save the environment in many different ways. Not only can we use technology to preserve certain aspects of the environment by using technological contraptions, but by using technology we are also cutting down on the amount of paper that is used and saving trees which is great. Overall I like how the article lead into the economy by talking about the environment.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic to write about. A lot of people, including myself, believe that you can't have it perfect both ways. I hope to be wrong in the future, but it seems that one benefit economically is one disadvantage environmentally. However, I agree that technology is the place to start when trying to improve both the economy and the environment. Since technology accounts for most of the US's GDP, an improvement in technology will not only enhance job growth and openings, but it can provide new opportunities and ideas for environmental impacts. Also something that was briefly touched on, all of the material that our infrastructure was built with came from the Earth. So without our own materials, we are literally not able to grow our economy.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about a similar article this morning about how much it would cost our government to deal with the effects of global warming if we don't take preventative measures now, I found it interesting that you took a different approach as to how nature improves our economy. But besides this, without taking measures to limit global warming and the effects of it, the National Climate Assessment for this past year has estimated that $23 billion will be spent on fighting wildfires across our nation--and cost us $26 billion a year due to deaths from poor air quality (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-economic-cost-united-states). This website shows a lot of the economic impacts that would occur due to reactive measures taking place rather than preventative ones--which can only be combined with the irreversible effects of creating an Earth that cannot repair itself.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about our Earth and all of it’s problems, I can safely say that I typically only think about physical aspects (plastics in the ocean, pollution in both water and air, etc.) However, I am glad that you have mentioned how an economy can also impact the health of our planet. There are large corporations and businesses than can harm the planet with their factories and other warehouses, and for them to team up with the Sustainable Development Impact Summit would show a significant change in how these businesses could do harm environmentally. This shows how we all want to see the world as a better and healthier place, and how we share a common goal of improving our quality of life on Earth. The economy is important, but at least it recognizes what harm can potentially be done due to their subsets and businesses as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe Sustainable Summit Impact seems like a great idea for both the economy and the environment and this was a very interesting topic to read about as it really relates to world issues right now. It will create more jobs and since more people are becoming technologically advanced we would have a lot of people who would be fit for this job. Additionally in order for us to keep businesses running and keep our world moving forward is to have a clean environment that we can use natural resources from. Getting countries from around the world involved with this will help our world come together and will give us more opportunities to trade with other countries. I also agree that the small things such as recycling will help reduce pollution slightly but we are going to need everyone to help with making a change not just a couple of people can do that job of keeping the environment clean.
ReplyDeleteThis post really puts into perspective how the whole world needs to come together to actually save the whole world. There can't be a few environmental groups that make all the change. A positive change must be done by everyone. In our busy lives, we don't always think about the affects our actions have on the world. Our current generation is not really affected by a struggling earth at this time. This issue though, will most definitely affect the next generations to come, including our future children and family. Keeping this in mind, we will be more inclined as a nation and as one world to work together to help the environment.
ReplyDeleteI believe that growing our economy doesn't always mean advancing our infrastructure, however increasing our infrastructure happens to harm our environment. I agree that cleaning our environment to protect our planet, impacts our economy. If everyone contributes and starts using renewable energy and we build clean infrastructure, like solar panels, it impact the economy’s GDP. Also if our country creates new clean technology, it will create more job opportunities and expand our trade with other countries resulting in growing our own economy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that taking care of our planet is something that we all tend to take for granted and something that we need to take more seriously. The evidence presented here is very strong and it opened my eyes in a way that makes me think about what I’ve done to save the planet. I think that of course we need to continue to recycle and reduce our plastic use but when talking about a way to save the planet as well as grow GDP it sounds too good to be true and I’ll be waiting to see this in action.
ReplyDeleteBucks in 6.
I do agree that saving the Earth is important, I don't think anybody would disagree with that. I also agree that the economy can grow by producing technologies and goods that can help preserve the Earth will also allow for economic growth overall. I don't think it's quite that simple though. There has to be some kind of backlash to progressing towards a more eco-friendly economy. Say for example, the big oil companies. What would happen if somebody discovered a sustainable, reusable resource for machinery, that didn't cost a ridiculous amount? I agree that we need to preserve the Earth, and doing so will be better in the long run for the economy, but the markets for any kind of consumable resource that isn't reusable would fail the moment a cheap and eco-friendly resource is found. Those would be the devastating short term effects of going environmentally friendly. I still agree with you, I'm just throwing out what short term effects could happen with this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that doing things like recycling and picking up trash will help clean the environment; pollution would be reduced and we would have a cleaner country. However, one main downside with trying to help the environment is the economic danger we could put ourselves in; for example, America is one of the bigger users of fossil fuels; fossil fuels are useful because of how cheap and efficient they are; however, fossil fuels also cause climate change. Using fewer to no fossil fuels would hurt America's economy because they are cheap and efficient but in turn, hurt the environment; finding an alternative would be pricey and take time.
ReplyDeleteI agree that connections with other countries can have a positive economic impact for import/export trading, however I don't think that having these connections will help restore the earth. People are going to do whatever they feel like, so having connections to other countries and trying to make the earth clean can have a small impact, however it is not going to be very beneficial in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting thought, that using methods to protect our planet can also stimulate economic growth. I agree that new, environmentally-friendly procedures create more job opportunities. However, as the movement becomes more publicized and popular towards the younger generation, it could actually kill jobs. Those extreme activists who have changed their ways so much to live a no waste life, where they completely eliminate single use plastic and only purchase compostable garbage, could actually pose a threat to jobs in the future. This could effect the plastic industry, and landfill jobs. I don't believe that any of these effects will occur soon, but I think that as advocates continue to use social media to share their zero waste lives, it will become more popular, and ultimately effect jobs in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was a great post. Not everyone knows that climate change is happening and it is becoming so serve that it is becoming more and more difficult to reverse the changes. Even though that it will be fairly expensive to fully transition our economy to being 100% eco-friendly, the costs of not trying to protect the environment are much more significant. Ocean levels are rapidly rising causing coastal flooding around the world. More local to the U.S., Florida is the prime example of this issue. Miami has already spent millions of dollars raising their roads because flooding have become such a big problem. If things were to continue down this path, the state as a whole could be underwater if nothing is done. I'm sure when people in our generation are older and would like to retire, they would desire to move somewhere warm like Florida, like a typical retiree. However, given with our current circumstances, this may not be possible due to all of the flooding. Even though that this may seem extreme, it is all entirely possible and the only way to stop it is to commit to some sort of a plan to change our worlds economy to fight climate change.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree - simultaneous protecting the environment and growing our economy will be great. I believe that we should focus on promoting technology which is environmentally friendly. The way to increase the GDP will be to increase investments, and the way to do that is by creating new environmentally friendly technology and convince all businesses to use it. The government could give out subsidies to the companies who use environmentally friendly equipment, ultimately protecting the environment and increasing the economy.
ReplyDeleteWhile there is no denying that switching to sustainable methods could eliminate some jobs specifically fossil fuel miners etc however this will only cause structural unemployment and these workers can be retrained and I think it is clear here that the negative externalities of highly pollutant practices far outweigh the loss of some jobs. I think that we first need to start creating incentives for businesses who do have environmentally harmful practices and encourage them to reduce their impact and switch to cleaner more sustainable methods. We need to set an example in the United States for other countries and unfortunately it recently seems like we've been taking steps backwards as Trump backed out of the Paris Agreement meant to help mitigate greenhouse gasses. The saddest thing is that most people are not even aware of the detrimental effects industries are having on the environment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that switching some methods to more green tactics would help keep the earth healthy, there is also a trade off with job loss. Losing jobs is never ideal but it may be necessary as the earth must be treated better for the sake of the world's future.
ReplyDeleteI think it is going to be quite difficult to alter the way that the economy is functioning right now without hard governmental action. Businesses are going to need to be ordered to change immediately, otherwise minimal change with take place because they don't want to risk lost sales for the environment. Big Business usually has one thing on its mind: money. Because they are profiting so well in the now, they are going to be hesitant to change. The US is lacking on its effort to catalyze change, and the government needs to soon realize that action must be take before we reach the point of no return.
ReplyDeleteYes I definitely agree, it is important to keep our country and the world clean of pollution. Ultimately with a polluted atmosphere, damaged infrastructure, etc we will continue to put money into efforts and repairs which are much more expensive than preventative measures. Also as you mentioned, with a polluted atmosphere, we are breathing these harmful chemicals in, increasing our risk for cancers and other medical interventions that are highly costly—especially those living in highly urbanized areas. The issue with being environmentally sustainable is that because the environment, nobody takes responsibility because it is not a point source on them. It is a cost to countries that nobody wants to pay for, even though ultimately without Earth, nobody can live and no economies can survive. Also, more environmentally friendly options for energy are going to prove to be cheaper than fossil fuels in the near future, but as of right now fossil fuels are cheaper so nobody wants to make the transition to “pay more” even though the environmental cost of fossil fuels is far life than sustainable forms of energy. The only way to not suffer later is to put in laws and preventative measures now.
ReplyDeleteThis development is specifically effective in the packaging industry; when less material is used, the company saves the price for that material, but also that material is saved, and recycling material is getting cheaper and cheaper when more companies shift to used material.
ReplyDeleteI think it is effective to target industries in order to combat environemental issues as industries are a main source of the pollution on our planet. At one point in our history it was necessary to prioritize the development of our economy, yet now, we are faced with the repurcussions of mass production and increasing capital formation as these both contribute to environmental destruction. When thinking about how to maximize GDP, we often strive to increase production and increase capital, however, if we expand our usage of resources now, our GDP will suffer later. There are many nonrenewable resources that industries rely on to function and if we deplete these resevoirs, not only will the environement suffer, but the economy will too.
ReplyDeleteAs our environment becomes more and more of an underlying problem that needs to be fixed, there needs to be big steps taken to help save it. With our evolving economy, it is hard to combat the affects industries have on the environment where decreasing production is not an option. With the amount of technological advancements, I believe there is a chance to turn this problem around. Technology will not only open up jobs to help save the environment but it will also inprove our economy by finding more efficient ways of producing goods and services. With that said, technology always comes with a cost.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our society need to work on taking care of the earth. Also by building more relations with foreign countries we would not only benefit by getting resources from them. Not only would getting resources be helpful. Not only will overall improving technology while simultaneously improving efforts for the preservation of the earth. Helps to improve overall gross domestic product. For some further context, the overall earth itself is in dire need of being improved in environmental factors.This is due to the overall pollution and lack of attention to the environment due to monopolies and companies such as EXXON MOBIL, Nike, and other mainstream companies that produce waste after manufacturing of their products. This results in the external factors of the corporate goods that worsen the quality of life on earth. Therefore by overall placing in money towards improving the efforts in the environment, we will also improve overall gdp as a result.
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