🌱 Growth vs Sustainable Development
Sustainable development.
Economic growth (rising real GDP) and sustainable development are often in conflict:
- Growth depletes resources — fossil fuels, forests, fisheries, and minerals are consumed faster than they regenerate.
- Growth generates pollution — CO₂ emissions, plastic waste, water contamination.
- Growth disrupts ecosystems — deforestation, habitat loss, biodiversity decline.
- BUT growth funds solutions — richer countries can invest more in green technology, renewable energy, and environmental protection.
The conflict is not absolute. Green growth is possible with the right policies — growth that respects environmental limits. But it requires deliberate government intervention and international cooperation.
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🐟 Common Pool Resources
Common pool resources.
Tragedy of the commons.
Overfishing: Atlantic cod fisheries collapsed in the 1990s. Each fishing company had an incentive to catch as much as possible before others did. The result: the fish stock collapsed, destroying the industry and the ecosystem.
- Why does it happen? No single user bears the full cost of their consumption. The cost is shared across all users.
- Market failure link — this is a negative externality of consumption. The social cost exceeds the private cost.
- Solution requires — government regulation, property rights, international agreements, or community management.
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🎯 The UN SDGs
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 global goals adopted in 2015, targeting 2030. They integrate economic, social, and environmental dimensions of development.
- No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4)
- Clean Water (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7)
- Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)
- Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15)
You don't need to memorise all 17 SDGs. But knowing 3–4 relevant ones and linking them to economic policies shows excellent application in IB essays.