There exists a notion that pollution and environmental degradation are unavoidable consequences of a nation’s economic growth and development. While this is a widely accepted perspective, I only partially agree with this idea.
On the one hand, it is irrefutable that there are a limited number of developed countries that grew to without doing any major damage to the environment. One major example of a country that made economic advancements while staying eco-friendly is Japan, one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Japan overcame the issue of pollution during the 1950s through strict and stringent regulations along with many campaigns to promote the protection of the environment. Although Japan is a remarkable country that has successfully kept nature safe while gaining wealth, it is one of an exceptionally few countries that managed to do this. The vast majority of nations went to long periods of environmental degradation before realizing the importance of being eco-friendly.
On the other hand, economic and industrial advancements will always lead to some level of environmental degradation, even Japan which I said was one of the most environmentally friendly nations in the world still went through a short period of pollution before carrying out campaigns to protect the environment. And even after all the campaigns and regulations, some level of pollution is still present in the country. Most other countries did not manage to become as eco-friendly as Japan did. A large example of this is China, which despite being one of the most developed and wealthy nations in the world, struggles to keep its level of environmental degradation down. Large cities in China like Shanghai or Beijing frequently place themselves on the top of the most polluted city in the world list. China is the manufacturing center of the world, and the byproducts of these processes are released into nature and causing large scale damage. Furthermore, even innovations that advertises itself as being eco-friendly like solar power farms still cause damage to nature because you have to clear out large patches of land to be able to effectively capture the energy from the sun. This is why without global regulations on emissions and environmental degradation, it is nearly impossible for countries to grow without harming nature.
In conclusion, I partly agree with the idea that economic development inevitably causes pollution and environmental degradation. An exceptional but limited number of countries have managed to develop without jeopardizing the natural world, showing it that it is possible to grow economically while being eco-friendly. However, those countries still harmed the environment and the vast majority of countries did not manage such feats and grew while leaving large ecological footprints and annihilating the natural order. Without global efforts, the growth of nations may continue to come at the cost of harming the natural world.