English Audio Request

The Economy & the Environment

Topic: Developing the economy will always damage the environment. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Model answer:

It is often asserted that economic progress must always come at the expense of environmental. While this is not the case for entrenched economies, it is true for nations trying to gain a foothold in the global marketplace.

Only developed nations have the prerogative of protecting the environment without major economic backlash. The best examples of this can be seen in advanced economies around the world ranging from Japan and South Korea in Asia to France and Germany in Europe and the UAE and Kuwait in the Middle East. All these nations are already dominant in various global economic sectors. Germany leads the world in automobile manufacturing and other high-end goods. Japan is famous for its electronics and entertainments brands. This frees them up to haughtily build more energy efficient factories, tax companies, pass public awareness bans, and regulate pollution far more aggressively than developing nations.

Developing nations have neither the means nor the inclination to protect the environment. A good example of this can be seen in Vietnam, which is a rapidly evolving, populous nation. A good deal of their economic growth has come from offshore drilling, which has resulted in oil spills, as well as factories dotting the countryside, which contribute to growing concerns about air pollution. Many people depend on these businesses for their livelihood and the companies are trying to compete with developed nations from a huge initial, competitive disadvantage. In order to catch up they must cut environmental corners or risk falling further behind globally.

In conclusion, environmental conservation is a privilege for countries that contributed the most to climate change historically. Developed nations ought to make allowances for countries that are still struggling to provide their citizenry with a decent standard of living.