The basic drivers of environmental degradation are :-
a) rapid population growth : Growth of population has been phenomenal in the world especially in Asia. This has led to increased demands of resources and increased waste generation thereby pollution of resources. As per Census 2001, there were 4378 cities/towns in India and we have crossed a billion mark. Birthrates have gone down, however still it is very high in view of the base population we already possess.
b) consumptive patterns of society : consumption levels of society have increased. Per capita energy consumption (in transport, domestic, commercial, industrial sectors) has increased many folds. This is due to improved quality of life at the initial stages but increase to luxurious patterns adopted by the people.
c) Rapid unplanned economic growth: to cater the demand of products of various types, industrial growth has to be phenomenal. India is growing at 9% per annum which puts tremendous pressure of natural; resources and also demands significant environmental protection measures to reduce the impact over human health, and ecology.
d) absence of environmental concerns in basic developmental agendas: many times environmental concerns are not addressed in the main developmental agendas which may lead to substantial economic growth but highly unsustainable.