Development’s Impact: Consequences, Underdevelopment, and Sustainability
The Consequences of Development
In industrialized countries, development has improved the level and quality of life, leading to higher incomes, more education, and better housing. However, there are also negative consequences:
- Pollution, resource depletion, and environmental degradation.
- Concentration of population in large urban centers and the abandonment of rural areas.
- A widening gap between rich and poor nations.
Underdevelopment: Key Features
- Imbalance between population and resources: High population growth rates exacerbate this imbalance.
- Low per capita income: Slower output growth and a cycle of poverty continuously reduce per capita income.
- Sectoral imbalance: The agricultural sector predominates, employing most of the population with very low productivity.
- Lack of productive capital and technology.
- Dualism in economic and social structures: Economic dualism manifests in the coexistence of a delayed production sector (agriculture or small domestic industry) with an advanced, modern, export-oriented sector controlled externally. Social dualism is reflected in a minority with high wealth levels contrasting with the majority’s abject poverty.
- Large external dependence and low participation in world trade. Trade relations are often unequal, with developing countries facing increasing import costs and decreasing export prices.
External Debt
External debt refers to the inability of underdeveloped countries to repay loans and interest. Creditors include banks, governments, and international financial institutions. Reasons for this situation include:
- Unequal exchange rates
- Lack of investment
- Difficulty investing in technology, leading to heavy patent costs
- Borrowings for infrastructure, education, and reforms being diverted to arms purchases, hindering economic growth and resource generation for payments.
Environmental Problems
Key environmental problems include global warming, water pollution, ozone layer depletion, deforestation, acid rain, hazardous waste, biodiversity loss, and desertification.
Measures to Resolve Environmental Problems
- Promote the use of alternative, renewable energies with no harmful effects.
- Environmental education: Raise societal awareness and instill the benefits of environmental protection in future generations.
- Regulation: Implement relevant national and international environmental and pollution regulations.
- Taxes and subsidies: The State can establish economic measures to tax negative activities and subsidize positive effects.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development means meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It aims to achieve sustainability in economic, ecological, and social dimensions, based on two core ideas:
- Satisfaction of needs: Meeting present requirements without compromising future ability, prioritizing the needs of the poor.
- Environmental protection: Economic growth must consider resource limitations, current technology, and the biosphere’s capacity to absorb human activities.
Strategies for Sustainable Development
- Focus on growth with lower consumption of materials and energy.
- Ensure development occurs in both rich and poor countries.
- Address essential human needs.
- Ensure a sustainable population level.
- Redirect technology towards sustainability.
- Foster international cooperation.
- Reconcile economics and environment in decision-making.