The world’s environmental conditions are worsening as each day passes us by. There are countless reasons due to which this is happening, some being more prominent than the others.
Air pollution, noise pollution, waste disposal, climate change, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification etc. are some of the many unnumerable issues that are eminent in today’s world.
Developing countries contribute to a lot of these conditions.
Why pinpoint developing countries, one would ask. The answer lies in the term itself. These countries that have not been developed yet have lower incomes, improper ways of disposal and do not have a properly set up system for a lot of things that later on cause the very environmental issues that had been talked about above.
Carelessness because of lack of education among the common citizen plays a considerable role. People’s unawareness and obliviousness, to some extent, is what causes problems. Now, throwing a chips packet on the ground might seem like a very trivial thing to do to someone who has not been properly educated about the harm one plastic packet can cause to our ecosystem. Now we have tens of thousands of people like these which is equivalent to tens of thousands of plastic bags polluting our environment and this is where complications are formed.
Low levels of income and high improvement rates stands as an obstacle in front of people who want to make a change but are unable do so. When there is not adequate money for people to live comfortable lives, people tend to focus on their immediate consumption needs. Without a doubt the need to put food on one’s table outweighs all the benefits one could get from one’s efforts to reduce pollution. There is no one that can be blamed here.
A poor man will only look for ways to provide for his family. He would be too caught up in making sure his family is content, that something such as environmental issues might not even cross his mind.
Of course, living in a clean and green environment would benefit him and his family as well, however working towards a clean and green environment is something that can only be said easily and not done. Having the resources, strength and time is not something everyone has.
Inadequate technology and lack of it is another key factor. Whom can we put the blame on when there is not enough and adequate resources to prevent and keep in check of pollution levels or proper waste disposal? No one. Developing countries are not able to acquire proper resources due to shortages of money. Money in developing countries is used rather miserly since there’s lot to be saved for the nation’s development.
We can try to understand this with a hypothetical situation. Any hindrance in a factory’s working for example leaks or damaged functioning of machinery that leads to any harmful substance being released in the open could spread and cause a variety of diseases and genetic problems. Along with that, there is unspoken damage that is done to the environment. Such damage that may never be rectified. Once a chemical seeps into the soil or the ocean it will cause harm to many organisms living currently residing in the area and future inhabitants as well.
Another salient activity that needs to be taken into consideration is energy production. It is one of the most polluting activities since governments of developing countries want to ensure that citizens have access to energy at affordable prices. Cheap energy production takes precedence over clean energy production.
Amongst all the hassle of making things available to citizens at competitive prices, usually cleaner and more sustainable resources are discarded. What might be the side effects of the cheap things that are being sold at the market take a back seat to what the government thinks is more vital, which is the people of their country having access to resources at inexpensive prices, which keeps them happy and satisfied with the government.
Weak policy design, ineffective implementation and enforcement raises the cost of environmental improvements. Policymakers who do not put the needs of their constituents above theirs might just be to immersed in making their own profit and doing corruption rather than planning and implementing schemes that benefit the citizens of their country. All these activities are done at the cost of investments in environmental quality to go unmade.
As we have now seen that environmental issues in developing countries are the end product of multiple reasons, some of which that are caused by us and some that are the government’s fault. Even though a developing country cannot have its first priority as its environment it can certainly take some steps to reduce damage and sustain the environment.
Better waste management, cleaner methods of transportation, better methods of energy production and newer technology to name a few, are some baby steps that a country can take in order keep the nature around them safe. Developing countries should invest in renewable energy sources and provide options for walking and cycling.
Each and every person at an individual level should do their very best in order to keep the environment safe and sound for themselves and the subsequent generations.
By: Mirayah Sharma
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