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Abstract
This article explores the application of the principles of environmental economics, particularly environmental valuation and green accounting, to the specific context of Bangladesh. It argues that traditional national accounting systems, such as GDP, provide a misleading picture of economic progress by failing to account for the depletion of natural resources and the costs of environmental degradation. The study provides an overview of various environmental valuation techniques that can be used to assign monetary values to environmental goods and services. The research then discusses the concept of "green accounting" or "natural resource accounting," which aims to create adjusted national accounts that reflect environmental costs. The paper makes a strong case for the adoption of green accounting in Bangladesh, a country whose economy is highly dependent on its natural resource base (e.g., land, water, fisheries, and forests) and which is highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. The analysis concludes that incorporating environmental costs into economic decision-making is essential for guiding Bangladesh towards a path of sustainable development.
Full Text
Traditional economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were designed for an era when natural resources were considered infinite. In an age of growing environmental scarcity, these indicators are dangerously incomplete. This paper explores the field of environmental economics and its application to Bangladesh, focusing on the concepts of environmental valuation and green accounting. The first part of the study provides a non-technical introduction to environmental valuation methods. It explains how economists attempt to estimate the value of environmental assets that are not traded in markets, such as the flood protection services of a wetland or the clean air provided by a forest, using techniques like contingent valuation and hedonic pricing. The second and main part of the paper is an argument for the introduction of green accounting in Bangladesh. It explains how a system of natural resource accounts would be constructed, which would track the stocks and flows of the country's key natural resources. This would allow for the calculation of an environmentally-adjusted GDP, or "Green GDP," which would subtract the value of depleted natural resources and the costs of pollution from the conventional GDP figure. The findings suggest that for a country like Bangladesh, where so much of the economy is directly dependent on a fragile natural resource base, the adoption of green accounting is not an academic exercise but a vital necessity. It would provide policymakers with a more accurate picture of the country's true economic performance and help to ensure that the development path chosen is environmentally sustainable.