Published Paper Details:

Integrating economic growth with environmental sustainability has never been as important as it is in the present times. The planet, nations, and cities are being adversely impacted by climate change which is threatening the survival of flora and fauna. Human settlements are also at risk with increasing human deaths and illnesses as a result of environmental degradation. What is worrying is the fact that low and middle-income countries are more severely impacted by pollution compared to the rich and developed nations. The environmental degradation that we see today is largely an outcome of productive activities that have and are being carried out for economic growth. Economic growth is in turn essential to support the global population with jobs, incomes, and goods and services. Therefore, environmental sustainability and economic growth are contradictory objectives since commitment to one objective means sacrificing the other. But, in the present times world economies are facing twin concerns of slowing growth and environmental degradation with governments and decision-makers at a crossroad to decide which fundamental should be given priority over the other. But since both fundamentals are equally important, a middle path with innovative strategies needs to be adopted by the developed as well as developing nations. The paper emphasises the importance of the two fundamentals-economic growth and environmental sustainability, the contradiction between the two, and the possible remedies in creating a balancing path between the two contradictory objectives.