Đào Mai Khánh Nhi 31221021591

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

STUDENT DETAILS

Student name: Đào Mai Khánh Nhi Student ID number: 31221021591

UNIT AND TUTORIAL DETAILS

Unit name: Academic English Unit number: AEn-DH48ISB-13

Tutorial/Lecture: Class day and time: Thursday 12:00AM
Lecturer or Tutor name: Mr. Ben Clairmonte

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Title: Individual Final Essay

Length: 1310 words Due date: 30/04/2023 Date submitted: 29/04/2023

DECLARATION

I hold a copy of this assignment if the original is lost or damaged.

I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other student’s work
or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the assignment.
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been submitted by me in another
(previous or current) assessment, except where appropriately referenced, and with prior permission
from the Lecturer / Tutor / Unit Coordinator for this unit.
No part of the assignment/product has been written/ produced for me by any other person except
where collaboration has been authorised by the Lecturer / Tutor /Unit Coordinator concerned.
I am aware that this work may be reproduced and submitted to plagiarism detection software programs
for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism (which may retain a copy on its database for future
plagiarism checking).

Student’s signature: Đào Mai Khánh Nhi

Note: An examiner or lecturer / tutor has the right to not mark this assignment if the above declaration has
not been signed.

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INDIVIDUAL FINAL ESSAY

Topic: Asia should prioritize economic growth for the present, and address the cost of
environmental damage in the future. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Class: AEn-13
Group 3

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Many Asian governments are currently prioritizing their economic prosperity and increasing
national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), however, climate change and its problems should be
addressed together with economic development. All economies in the world exist within the global
ecosystem. This reflects the fact that the living conditions of people living in Asia will decline due
to the negative impacts of environmental damage if they neglect the importance of preserving the
environment. Moreover, halting climate change may increase job opportunities, creating “clean”
jobs in Asia with a low carbon emission industry. Nevertheless, emerging countries in Asia are
struggling with the limitation of resources to concentrate on both economic and environmental
sustainability. However, the response to this counterargument states that prioritizing economic
development and global warming concurrently will benefit Asian countries in the long term as a
whole.

The strong economic development in Asia has lifted nearly 1 billion people out of severe
poverty in the 21st century. Nevertheless, the region’s resource-intensive growth has come at a high
environmental price and poses a significant threat to people’s well-being and the effects on climate
change (Our Impact in Asia Pacific, n.d.). Asia, one of the most continents susceptible to climate
change (Ong, 2022), also accounts for the major contribution of this issue. In 2021, over 57 million
people were affected by climate disasters in the region, according to the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies report.

The development of the economy is dependent on the environment we live in, since the
environment offers the materials and resources needed for the physical world which refers to the
tangible, material world that can be perceived through our senses; as well as the food supply, and
biodiversity. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain sustainable economic development along with
preserving the environment. The economic losses due to environmental damage have rocketed in
recent years. Research shows that the world economy could lose more than 18% of current GDP by
2048, if no action on climate change is taken. The Asian economy would be 26.5% smaller while
ASEAN countries could lose 37.4% of current GDP (The Economics of Climate Change: Impacts
for Asia, 2023). Climate change itself negatively affects the development of Asian nations, hence,
gathering efforts to invest in reducing emission footprints is a potential economic opportunity. For
instance, the Vietnam government is intending to export renewable energy at about 3.4 gigawatts

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annually to Europe and the America (Rogers, n.d.). Investment in education is necessary, since
successful climate change adaptation and mitigation call for appropriate knowledge, skills and
behavior change that education can provide (Anderson, n.d).

Secondly, if governments in Asia choose to concentrate solely on the sustainability and

improvement of the economy, the well-being of Asians will be jeopardized. Research shows that in
2021, the effects of weather and water-related damage resulted in the loss of 35.6 billion dollars in
in Asia, which impacted approximately 50 million people. The damage of roughly 4,000 deaths
were 80% caused by flooding (State of the Climate in Asia, 2022). Global change has enormous
negative impacts on the agriculture and food accessibility in Asia, in which it decelerates the
progress of the agricultural industry and “food security” [World Bank, 1996]. In 2020, 48.8 million
people in South-East Asia, 305.7 million in South Asia and 42.3 million in West Asia are estimated
to be undernourished. Asia accounts for more than half of the global total (Weather and Climate
Extremes in Asia Killed Thousands, Displaced Millions and Cost Billions in 2020, 2021). Therefore,
it is critical for developing countries in Asia to anticipate the social impact of environmental
degradation.

Finally, the priority given to tackling the matter of global warming, and the shift of jobs
from high-carbon activities to low-carbon ones will create an increase in employment since the
technologies of low-carbon industries require an intensive labor force (Fankhaeser et al., 2008b).
These activities rely heavily on manual labor, moreover, the adoption of new technologies demands
more people with specialized skills and knowledge; and the increase in demand for green energy
will create more employments for those who are interested in this field. For example, Indonesia’s
biofuel industry employs up to 115,000 workers, Thailand employs 21,000 and the Philippines
employs 19,000 in this field (Quitzow et al., n.d.). Adopting low-carbon production methods could
lead to a rise in employment rate and double the revenue of the chemicals industry as it requires less
energy and materials (Harvey, 2022b). Actions towards green innovation, if effectively handled, can
lead to the outcome of more and better job opportunities. Both climate change adaptation and
approaches to decelerate environmental damage offer new jobs, while ensuring the stability of
existing ones.

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Nevertheless, the costs and challenges faced by developing countries in Asia are
considerably high, which makes it infeasible for those nations to focus on both economic
prosperity and environmental damage mitigation. The costs of finding the upfront investment for
building and setting up new clean energy infrastructure are expensive for some nations. This
requires the ability of purchasing high initial outlays to earn long-term benefits, which asks for
access in finance. Because the effort of switching to greener energy requires lots of money for
purchasing new technologies and infrastructure; operating and installation costs, all of which ask
for high initial outlays. However, in developing countries, shortage of financial sources makes
the transaction of advance investment in renewable energy unattainable. Eliminating fossil fuels
is even more challenging in the present as countries are trying to meet the short-term demand for
energy deficiency (Papathanasiou, 2022). In addition, solar panels are believed to be a clean
source of energy as they are becoming simpler to generate and are portable, however, the
production of solar energy discharges toxic chemicals. When the lifespan of the panels
terminates, they often end up in landfills or are sent to poorer countries as the toxic metals of the
solar cells make the process of disposing them appropriately difficult. The leakage of toxic
chemicals from solar panels will lead to water pollution and health problems, which will
eventually cause more problems for countries that are struggling from economic and
environmental sustainability (Prendergast, 2020). So even with the attempt to transition to
renewable energies, new environmental problems can be created.

Despite the economic costs of mitigating global warming being relatively expensive, it is
crucial for developing countries to put effort into economic development and tackle environmental
issues, since in the long run, the financial costs of environmental degradation might outweigh the
actual cost of solving it. For instance, in 301 metropolises worldwide, the portion of national GDP
at risk from climate change surpasses $1.5 trillion. Including the effects of human pandemics, which
are anticipated to worsen as the temperature rises, the number will likely increase to approximately
$2.2 trillion in economic output at stake by 2025 (Disparte, 2022). It is rational to protect the
environment rather than to harm it as environmental preservation itself has a positive impact on
economic growth. The earth provides humans with fresh air, clean water and nutritious food, and
preserving nature is likely to result in more economic gains than economic losses.

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Asia should prioritize both economic development and environmental damage mitigation.
Economies are unlikely to be able to thrive without a healthy ecosystem, the social impact of climate
change will be immeasurable if we do not take the matter seriously, and growth in “clean” job
opportunities as a result of the low-carbon emission industry will lead to more prosperity for the
region. Nevertheless, developing nations in Asia are facing financial difficulties in investing in both
economic development and environmental sustainability. However, the long-term benefits gained
from investing in climate change problems are far greater than the expenses of its occurrence.
Eventually, given the difficulties and challenges faced by concentrating on sustainable development
economically and environmentally, this is by far the most appropriate approach for emerging
countries in Asia.

References

(Anderson, n.d.)
Anderson, A. (n.d.). Combating climate change through quality education. Preventionweb.net.
Retrieved March 31, 2023, from
https://www.preventionweb.net/files/15415_15415brookingspolicybriefclimatecha.pdf

(Carnevale et al., 2019)

Carnevale, A. P., Georgetown University Center on Education, & the Workforce. (2019, October
24). Working while in college might hurt students more than it helps. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/24/working-in-college-can-hurt-low-income-students-more-than-
help.html

(Climate change and jobs (Green jobs), n.d.)

Climate change and jobs (Green jobs). (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/green-jobs/areas-of-work/climate-change/lang--en/index.htm

(Disparte, 2017)
Disparte, D. (2017, June 12). If you think fighting climate change will be expensive, calculate
the cost of letting it happen. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/if-you-think-
fighting-climate-change-will-be-expensive-calculate-the-cost-of-letting-it-happen

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(Economic losses from extreme weather rocket in Asia, 2022)

Economic losses from extreme weather rocket in Asia. (2022, November 11). World
Meteorological Organization. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/economic-losses-
from-extreme-weather-rocket-asia

(Environment, 2017)
Environment, U. N. (2017, October 19). Our impact in Asia Pacific. UNEP - UN Environment
Programme. https://www.unep.org/regions/asia-and-pacific/our-impact-asia-pacific

(Fankhaeser et al., 2008)

Fankhaeser, S., Sehlleier, F., & Stern, N. (2008). Climate change, innovation and jobs. Climate
Policy, 8(4), 421–429. https://doi.org/10.3763/cpol.2008.0513

(Harvey, 2022)
Harvey, F. (2022, September 12). A low-carbon chemical industry ‘could create 29m jobs and
double turnover.’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/13/a-low-
carbon-chemical-industry-could-create-29m-jobs-and-double-turnover

(Morgan & Sisak, 2016)

Morgan, J., & Sisak, D. (2016). Aspiring to succeed: A model of entrepreneurship and fear of
failure. Journal of Business Venturing, 31(1), 1–21.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2015.09.002

(Ong, 2022)
Ong, C. (2022, April 8). Asia is home to some of climate change’s biggest culprits and victims.
CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/asia-faces-threats-from-climate-change-heres-what-
needs-to-be-done.html

(Papathanasiou, 2022)
Papathanasiou, D. (2022, July 4). These developing countries are leading the way on renewable
energy. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/renewables-are-the-
key-to-green-secure-affordable-energy

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(Prendergast, 2020)
Prendergast, C. (2020, December 14). Solar panel waste: The dark side of clean energy.
Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/solar-panel-waste-the-
dark-side-of-clean-energy

(Quitzow et al., n.d.),(Quitzow et al., n.d.),(Quitzow et al., n.d.)

Quitzow, R., Libo, W., & Jacob, K. (n.d.). Green jobs in Asia: Achievements, strategies and
potentials. Fes.de. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/10387.pdf

(Rogers, n.d.)
Rogers, M. (n.d.). Vietnam’s renewable energy future. Mckinsey.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023,
from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-
blog/vietnams-renewable-energy-future

(The economics of climate change: Impacts for Asia, 2023)

The economics of climate change: Impacts for Asia. (2023, February 3). Swissre.com; Swiss Re
Group. https://www.swissre.com/risk-knowledge/mitigating-climate-risk/economics-of-climate-
change-impacts-for-asia.html

(Weather and climate extremes in Asia killed thousands, displaced millions and cost
billions in 2020, 2021)
Weather and climate extremes in Asia killed thousands, displaced millions and cost billions in
2020. (2021, October 25). World Meteorological Organization.
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/weather-and-climate-extremes-asia-killed-
thousands-displaced-millions-and-cost

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