ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE NEED FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
Many developing countries of the world are understandably in a hurry for modern economic and technological development. The quest for rapid economic and technological development in developing countries is understandable because many of these countries are caught in a vicious circle of poverty. Thus, economic development in these poor developing areas of the world becomes an essential topic of environmental concern. This concern centers particularly with respect to the resources base and lifesupporting systems. The researchers emphasize in this paper that developing nations need alternative development that is not necessarily tied to the life-styles and technologies of industrialized countries of developed nations. Thus, in order to develop and manage our modern technological activities in relation to the biosphere, what humanity needs today is an “appropriate modern technology” which takes into consideration the major environmental concerns of developing countries: degradation of natural resources in bio productive systems, desertification, environmental impacts of energy production and consumption, natural disasters, marginal living conditions in human settlements, etc. The researchers also underline that alternative development also calls for a “sustainable development.” As used by some authors, the term “sustainable development” is genuinely rooted in ethics and points to a true alternative mode of development. It advocates relatively fast economic growth in the developing countries, provided that it is matched along with a significant and rapid reduction in the energy and raw material content of every unit of production.
Keywords: concerns, countries, developing, development, ecological, environmental, sustainable, technology