EDITORIAL: A new World Bank report, “Reboot Development: The Economics of a Liveable Planet”, spotlights a sobering reality: 90 percent of the world’s population lives with degraded land, unhealthy air, or water stress. Conditions in low-income countries are especially harsh.
There, eight out of ten people are deprived of all three essentials of life—clean air, safe water, and fertile land. The report underscores that the degradation of natural systems is not simply an environmental problem; it is a human development emergency. Polluted air and water, infertile soils, and weakened ecosystems are steadily eroding health, productivity, and cognitive capacity, quietly sapping human potential.
Yet what makes this report stand out is not only how it describes the enormity of the crisis, but the optimism it offers. Nature, it argues, need not be a passive victim of human activity; it can be a powerful ally. Managed wisely, it can create jobs, drive economic growth, and build resilience against climate and economic shocks.
The choice before us is stark: continue exploiting resources recklessly and pay a staggering hidden cost, or restore and use them wisely to reap enormous benefits. The “nitrogen paradox” highlighted in the report illustrates this duality. Fertilisers, which are vital for boosting crop yields, have been indispensable in feeding billions.
Yet their overuse has polluted rivers, degraded soil, and damaged ecosystems. The annual cost of this environmental fallout is estimated at a jaw-dropping USD 34 trillion. Solutions, however, are well within reach. Smarter fertiliser use at the farm level, according to experts, can deliver benefits 25 times greater than their cost while still raising yields. In other words, sustainability and productivity can reinforce, rather than undermine, each other.
The report also finds that more efficient use of natural resources could reduce pollution by as much as 50 percent. Cleaner air and water would mean healthier populations, sharper minds, and more productive workforces. Restoring forests and improving soil management could create millions of jobs, particularly in agricultural economies like Pakistan’s, where livelihoods depend directly on the health of natural systems.
The broader message is that investing in nature is not a luxury, but a necessity. While this may not be a novel insight for those who follow the debate, the World Bank’s economic framing should persuade policymakers to act. Ignoring environmental degradation comes with staggering costs — lost health, lost productivity, and lost human potential.
For countries already bearing the brunt of climate calamities, the way forward is urgent and unavoidable. Development must be rebooted in a way that is both economically viable and environmentally sustainable. The choice is no longer between growth and conservation; it is between a degraded future of hidden costs or a sustainable one where nature becomes the driver of progress and prosperity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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