Industrial Development and Environmental Degradation

Industrialization to achieve economic development has resulted in global environmental degradation. While the impacts of industrial activity on the natural environment are a major concern in developed countries, much less is known about these impacts in developing countries. This source book identifies and quantifies the environmental consequences of industrial growth, and provides policy advice, including the use of clean technologies and environmentally sound production techniques, with special reference to the developing world.

The developing world is often seen as having a high percentage of heavily polluting activities within its industrial sector. This, combined with a substantial agricultural sector, which contributes to deforestation, the erosion of the top soil and desertification, has lead to extreme pressures on the environment and impoverishes the population by destroying its natural resource base. This crisis suggests that sound industrialization policies are of paramount importance in a developing countries’ economic development, and calls for the management of natural resources and the adoption of low-waste or environmentally clean technologies.

The authors consider the industrial sector as a pollutant vis-à-vis other sectors of the economy, and then focus on some industry-specific pollutants within the manufacturing sector and some process-specific industrial pollutants. They conclude by reviewing the economic implications of promoting environmentally sound industrial development, specifically addressing the question of the conflict or complementarity which may exist between environmental goods and industrial production.

The book will be essential to those working in industry, development and environmental economics.