Relationship between Environment and Sustainable Economic Development: A Theoretical Approach to Environmental Problems

Introduction: Environmental pollution is the major facing by every country. Natural resources are depleting rapidly, creating scarcity problem for the next generation. A large number of population particularly poor segments of societies are suffering badly. On the one hand, every country is trying to increase economic growth to alleviate living standard of their people and on the other hand, environmental problems are becoming complicated due to excessive use of resources.Objective: The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between environment and sustainable economic development. Another objective is to study how sustainable economic development can be achieved? How can environmental degradation be controlled?Methodology: The methodology of the study is descriptive in nature because it mostly involves the description of environmental issues and suggesting the ways how they can be solved? However, different statistical techniques such as trend and content analysis have been used to measure the impact of environmental pollution.Data and Source: The author used secondary data in this study because it was not possible to collect primary data due to geographical constraints. The was taken from World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests, United Nations Environment Program, Economic Survey of Pakistan, relevant research journals and books.Findings: The findings of the study are robust because the author has found that both developed and developing countries are responsible for environmental hazards. The developed countries are using excessive resources to produce surplus goods for exports while poor countries are exploiting their existing resources to feed their growing population and end poverty level. This race of resources exploitation has created a dangerous situation all over the world and has made the lives of people and animals vulnerable. The author concludes that judicious use of environmental resources is an imperative need for sustainable economic development.