Earth and Environmental Science

This book provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of the general framework of sustainable development paths in relation to where countries stand at present, by outlining the main challenges they face, and the potential pathways ahead to foster the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In connecting different SDG's, the collection of chapters teases out the multifarious relationships and influences on policy, balancing economic, social, and environmental dimensions for development, making qualitative distinctions between high-income and low-income countries in the SDGs context. In doing so, the book emphasizes that with the rapid upliftment from extreme poverty and subsistence, globally, growing economic and social gaps have expanded with unprecedented speed. Widening divides in material wealth are shown, to some extent, as a 'side effect' of fast economic growth and development. This book draws out these connections between economic progress (expressed through shifts on per capita income) and the achievements and setbacks, to meeting each of the SDGs, respectively. Beyond its place in social scientific discourse, relevant to scholars researching the various aspects of sustainable economic development, this book's findings also have important implications for policymakers, development specialists, and economists in both developed and developing countries.