Abstract

BINDER, Klaus Georg. DETERMINANT FACTORS IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND THE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES. Innovar [online]. 2002, vol.12, n.20, pp.101-110. ISSN 0121-5051.

The following can be found amongst those factors determining the contaminating use of the environment and the use of natural resources: demographic growth, economic development (economic growth, change in economic structure, technical progress. etc.), the population's spatial concentration and its economic activity. Because of the interdependence between those factors determining the use of the environment, it cannot be said that economic growth in developing countries always increases the use of natural resources and has a negative impact on the quality of the environment. The affirmation stating that all ecomic growth implies a negative impact on the environment is based on unrealistic suppositions. An economy's magnitude is only one of the factors determining the use of the environment. The decisive question is whether determinant factors (tendentially) causing a lessening of environmental use per gross internal product unit compensate for economic growth's negative impacts with growth.

Keywords : Environmental pollution; natural resources; economic growth; change in economic structure; technical progress; demographic growth; poverty; rate of chronological preference.

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