Productivity and Sustainable Development

There is a very close relationship between the nature and the mankind. The existence of man therefore, could not be expected beyond the point where men do not preserve the nature. Man at last cannot go beyond the preview of nature. No doubt, man has achieved unprecedented technological development in different fields whether it be in the Agriculture, Industry, business or other service sectors but such technological developments along with them have, side by side, brought about the degradation of the environment. Many of the environmental problems we are facing today like the acid rain, ozone depletion, oceanic pollution, desertification, global warming, declining number of wild species, reduction of tropical rain forests and industrial wastes are the product of such technological developments. Hence, any kind of development could not be sustainable unless and until the development activities do not take care of environmental protection. Sustainability or sustainable development along with the improvement in productivity has become a prime subject of discussion and object of implementation of national governments and the global community.

Productivity means the effective and efficient utilization of resources and is necessary in every sphere of life, and therefore, it is said that productivity is everybody’s business. But, any kind of resources mobilization will bring with it in some way or the other the impact on the environment. All kind of economic activity undertaken for the development of the economy and society will use some kind of resources and have some impact on the environment. Therefore, while increasing the productivity, we have to be very much cautious about the preservation of the environment. Therefore, the concept of Green Productivity has emerged so as to provide sustainability in the development activities undertaken. The concept of Green Productivity has emerged from the integration of both the productivity improvement and environmental protection. The word ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Sustainable development’ has been defined in many ways according to the different situations and the purposes. However, all the definitions are somewhere around the periphery of the understanding the interconnections among economy, society, and environment; living within the limits; and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. As a matter of fact, any kind of development that effort is directed towards the development of the economy and the society at large aims at enhancing the quality of life of the people. It cannot be fulfilled if the environment within which the society exists is deteriorating.

The wave of liberalization of economy in the world has brought about complexity and competition in each and every type of economic activity. Productivity is the only way to sharpen the competitive edge of every sector in the economy or the nation as a whole. Competitiveness is a state of being able to outperform others. It is related with the ability to maintain and sustain amidst changes. It is the degree to which a region or nation can produce goods and services, which meet the test of international markets, while its citizens earn a standard of living that is both rising and sustainable over the long run. The competitiveness of a nation in general could be determined by the four main factors, such as, the economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and the infrastructure. It becomes inevitable for each individual, sector and the nation to consider the multidimensionality and multidisciplinary nature of the concept of productivity, and implement the productivity improvement programs with an integrated effort to obtaining the sustainability in the development for survival in the turbulently competitive environment.