A country's environmental problems vary with its stage of development, structure of its economy, production technologies in use and its environmental policies. Environmental changes may be driven by many factors including economic growth, population growth, urbanisation, intensification of agriculture, rising energy use and transportation.
Poverty remains at the root of several environmental problems.
Large scale industrialisation, spread of transport, communication and other modern infrastructure combined with the pressure of population growth have added to the difficulties of preserving clean environment and healthy natural resource base. These have been exerting pressure on environment as witnessed in growing evidence of air and water pollution and land degradation. Organic and bacterial pollution continue to be the predominant source of pollution in our aquatic reserves. The forest cover and globally recognised bio-diversity is also under threat. Such degradation imposes a cost on the society, with the burden of such costs being disproportionately high for the poor who live and depend on such natural ecological systems.