NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Economics Chapter 7: Environment and Sustainable Development
These Class 11 Economics Chapter 7 solutions cover Environment and Sustainable Development from Indian Economic Development, the NCERT textbook (continued for the 2026–27 session). The chapter explains the meaning and four functions of the environment, why we are at the threshold of an environmental crisis, the major environmental challenges facing India, and the concept and strategies of sustainable development. Below you get step-by-step answers to all 19 Exercise questions, clear notes on key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason and FAQs.
Class: 11Subject: EconomicsBook: Indian Economic DevelopmentChapter: 7Topic: Environment and Sustainable DevelopmentSession: 2026–27
Chapter 7, Environment and Sustainable Development, shows that economic development so far has come at a heavy price — the loss of environmental quality. The environment is the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources, including biotic (birds, animals, plants, forests, fisheries) and abiotic (air, water, land, rocks, sunlight) elements. It performs four vital functions: it supplies resources (renewable and non-renewable), assimilates waste, sustains life by providing genetic and bio-diversity, and provides aesthetic services. So long as demand stays within the environment’s carrying capacity, these functions continue. But population explosion, affluent consumption and industrialisation have reversed the supply–demand relationship for environmental quality, pushing the world to the threshold of an environmental crisis. India faces priority issues like land degradation, biodiversity loss, air pollution (especially vehicular), fresh-water management and solid-waste management. The remedy is sustainable development — meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs — achieved through strategies such as non-conventional energy, LPG/gobar gas, CNG, wind and solar power, mini-hydel plants, traditional knowledge, bio-composting and bio-pest control.
Key Concepts & Terms
Environment: the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources — the inter-relationship between biotic elements (living: birds, animals, plants, forests, fisheries) and abiotic elements (non-living: air, water, land, rocks, sunlight).
Four functions of the environment: (i) it supplies resources (renewable and non-renewable); (ii) it assimilates waste; (iii) it sustains life by providing genetic and bio-diversity; (iv) it provides aesthetic services like scenery.
Renewable vs non-renewable resources: renewable resources (trees in forests, fishes in oceans) can be used without becoming depleted if extraction stays within regeneration; non-renewable resources (fossil fuels) get exhausted with extraction and use.
Carrying capacity: the environment performs its functions without interruption only when resource extraction does not exceed the rate of regeneration and wastes stay within the environment’s assimilating (absorptive) capacity.
Absorptive capacity: the ability of the environment to absorb degradation; when wastes exceed it, the environment fails to perform its life-sustaining function.
Environmental crisis: the present situation where demand for environmental resources and services exceeds their supply due to overuse and misuse — a reversal of the earlier supply–demand relationship.
Global warming & ozone depletion: global warming is a gradual rise in the earth’s lower-atmosphere temperature due to greenhouse gases (CO2, methane) from burning fossil fuels and deforestation; ozone depletion is the reduction of ozone in the stratosphere caused by CFCs and halons, raising harmful UV radiation.
Opportunity cost of environmental damage: the value of the next-best alternative foregone — the high costs of health damage, technology and research to find new resources, and global commitments — that we incur because of negative environmental impacts.
Sustainable development: “development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs” (UNCED / Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future).
Intergenerational equity: the moral obligation to hand over a stock of ‘quality-of-life’ assets to the next generation no less than what the present generation inherited.
Other key terms:Chipko/Appiko Movement (hugging trees to protect forests), CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board, set up 1974), plimsoll line (Herman Daly’s analogy for the environment’s load limit), and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) led by India.
Exercises — Full Solutions
All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Exercises. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.
1. What is meant by environment?
ANSWEREnvironment is defined as the total planetary inheritance and the totality of all resources. It includes all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence one another.Biotic elements are all living elements — birds, animals, plants, forests, fisheries, etc. Abiotic elements are the non-living components — air, water, land, rocks, sunlight, etc. A study of the environment is therefore a study of the inter-relationship between these biotic and abiotic components.
2. What happens when the rate of resource extraction exceeds that of their regeneration?
ANSWERWhen the rate of resource extraction exceeds the rate of regeneration, the demand on the environment’s functions goes beyond its carrying capacity. The resources are not given enough time to renew themselves, so they become depleted and, in many cases, extinct.At the same time, the wastes generated exceed the environment’s absorptive (assimilating) capacity. As a result, the environment fails to perform its third vital function of sustaining life, leading to an environmental crisis — pollution, drying of rivers, loss of biodiversity and rising health and financial costs.
3. Classify the following into renewable and non-renewable resources (i) trees (ii) fish (iii) petroleum (iv) coal (v) iron-ore (vi) water.
ANSWERRenewable resources can be used without getting permanently exhausted (provided extraction stays within regeneration), while non-renewable resources get used up with extraction and use.
Renewable resources
Non-renewable resources
(i) Trees
(iii) Petroleum
(ii) Fish
(iv) Coal
(vi) Water
(v) Iron-ore
Note: Trees, fish and water are renewable because Nature can replenish them if they are used sustainably; petroleum, coal and iron-ore are non-renewable as they are formed over very long periods and cannot be regenerated at the rate we use them.
4. Two major environmental issues facing the world today are ____________ and _____________.
ANSWERTwo major environmental issues facing the world today are global warming and ozone depletion.Global warming is the gradual rise in the average temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere due to greenhouse gases, while ozone depletion is the reduction of ozone in the stratosphere caused mainly by CFCs and halons — both increase financial commitments for governments worldwide.
5. How do the following factors contribute to the environmental crisis in India? What problem do they pose for the government?
(i) Rising population (ii) Air pollution (iii) Water contamination (iv) Affluent consumption standards (v) Illiteracy (vi) Industrialisation (vii) Urbanisation (viii) Reduction of forest coverage (ix) Poaching, and (x) Global warming.
ANSWERAll these factors raise the demand for environmental resources and services beyond their supply, exhaust resources and generate wastes beyond the environment’s absorptive capacity, thus contributing to the crisis.(i) Rising population: increases demand for food, water, fuel and land, putting huge pressure on finite natural resources.(ii) Air pollution: mainly from vehicles, industries and thermal plants; causes respiratory diseases and raises health expenditure.(iii) Water contamination: nearly seventy per cent of India’s water is polluted, spreading water-borne diseases and making clean water scarce.(iv) Affluent consumption standards: high consumption and production of the rich place a heavy stress on resources and generate large wastes.(v) Illiteracy: lack of awareness leads to careless, unsustainable use of resources and poor adoption of conservation measures.(vi) Industrialisation: seventeen categories of industries are significantly polluting, contaminating air, water and land.(vii) Urbanisation: unplanned urbanisation creates congestion, vehicular pollution, waste and the risk of accidents.(viii) Reduction of forest coverage: deforestation causes land degradation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion and air pollution.(ix) Poaching: threatens wildlife with extinction and disturbs the genetic and bio-diversity that sustains life.(x) Global warming: melts polar ice, raises sea levels, disrupts water supplies and spreads tropical diseases.Problem for the government: these factors force the government to spend huge amounts on technology and research to explore new resources, on rising health costs of a degraded environment, and on meeting global environmental commitments (such as those on global warming and ozone depletion) — that is, they raise its financial burden enormously.
6. What are the functions of the environment?
ANSWERThe environment performs four vital functions:(i) It supplies resources: both renewable resources (which can be used without becoming depleted, e.g. trees, fish) and non-renewable resources (which get exhausted with use, e.g. fossil fuels).(ii) It assimilates waste: it absorbs the wastes generated in production and consumption.(iii) It sustains life: by providing genetic and bio-diversity.(iv) It provides aesthetic services: like scenery and natural beauty.The environment can perform these functions without interruption only as long as the demand on them stays within its carrying capacity.
7. Identify six factors contributing to land degradation in India.
ANSWERSix factors contributing to land degradation in India are:1. Loss of vegetation due to deforestation.2. Unsustainable fuel-wood and fodder extraction.3. Shifting cultivation.4. Encroachment into forest lands.5. Forest fires and over-grazing.6. Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides.(Other valid factors include non-adoption of soil-conservation measures, improper crop rotation, poor irrigation management, over-extraction of ground water, open-access resources and poverty of agriculture-dependent people.)
8. Explain how the opportunity costs of negative environmental impact are high.
ANSWEROpportunity cost is the value of the next-best alternative that is sacrificed. The opportunity costs of negative environmental impact are high because the resources spent on correcting environmental damage could have been used for other productive, welfare-enhancing purposes.The intensive extraction of renewable and non-renewable resources has exhausted vital resources, compelling us to spend huge amounts on technology and research to explore new resources. There are heavy health costs of degraded environmental quality — decline in air and water quality (seventy per cent of India’s water is polluted) has increased respiratory and water-borne diseases, raising health expenditure.In addition, global issues such as global warming and ozone depletion add to the government’s financial commitments. Since all this money and effort could have been used elsewhere, the opportunity costs of negative environmental impacts are indeed very high.
9. Outline the steps involved in attaining sustainable development in India.
ANSWERIndia can attain sustainable development through the following strategies:1. Use of non-conventional sources of energy: reduce dependence on polluting thermal and hydro power by tapping wind and solar energy.2. LPG and gobar gas in rural areas: subsidised LPG and gobar-gas plants replace wood and dung cake, cutting deforestation and household pollution; the slurry also serves as organic manure.3. CNG in urban areas: using Compressed Natural Gas in public transport (as in Delhi) lowers air pollution.4. Wind power and solar power through photovoltaic cells: clean, pollution-free electricity, useful even for remote areas; India also leads the International Solar Alliance (ISA).5. Mini-hydel plants: use perennial mountain streams to generate local power without changing land-use patterns.6. Traditional knowledge and practices: reviving environment-friendly systems such as Ayurveda, Unani and herbal products.7. Bio-composting and bio-pest control: using compost and earthworms instead of chemical fertilisers, and neem-based bio-pesticides, mixed cropping and natural predators (snakes, owls, lizards) instead of chemical pesticides.
10. India has abundant natural resources — substantiate the statement.
ANSWERIndia has abundant natural resources, as the following facts show:Rich soils: the black soil of the Deccan Plateau is suitable for cotton, supporting textile industries; the Indo-Gangetic plains (from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal) are among the most fertile, intensively cultivated regions in the world.Water and forests: hundreds of rivers and tributaries, the vast Indian Ocean, and lush green forests that provide green cover for the population and natural habitat for wildlife.Minerals: large deposits of iron-ore, coal and natural gas — India accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the world’s total iron-ore reserves — besides bauxite, copper, chromate, diamonds, gold, lead, lignite, manganese, zinc and uranium found in different parts of the country. Ranges of mountains add to this wealth. These facts substantiate that India is richly endowed with natural resources.
11. Is environmental crisis a recent phenomenon? If so, why?
ANSWERYes, the environmental crisis is largely a recent phenomenon. In the early days of civilisation — before the phenomenal rise in population and before industrialisation — the demand for environmental resources and services was much less than their supply.Pollution stayed within the environment’s absorptive capacity and the rate of resource extraction was less than the rate of regeneration, so environmental problems did not arise.However, with the population explosion and the industrial revolution, demand for resources for production and consumption went beyond the rate of regeneration and the pressure on the absorptive capacity increased tremendously. This reversal of the supply–demand relationship for environmental quality is why waste generation and pollution have become critical today — making the crisis a recent one.
12. Give two instances of (a) Overuse of environmental resources (b) Misuse of environmental resources.
ANSWER(a) Overuse of environmental resources:(i) Excessive extraction of ground water beyond its recharge capacity, lowering the water table.(ii) Excess felling of forests — about 15 million cubic metres over the permissible limit — due to growing demand for fuel-wood and timber.(b) Misuse of environmental resources:(i) Discharge of untreated industrial effluents and wastes into rivers (e.g. the Damodar river), polluting water bodies.(ii) Indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides, which contaminate soil, water and even milk, meat and fish.
13. State any four pressing environmental concerns of India.
ANSWERFour pressing environmental concerns of India (the priority issues identified) are:1. Land degradation — due to deforestation, over-grazing, agro-chemicals, etc.2. Biodiversity loss — extinction of species and decline in genetic diversity.3. Air pollution — with special reference to vehicular pollution in urban cities.4. Management of fresh water and solid-waste management.(Soil erosion, water contamination and wildlife extinction are also serious concerns.)
14. Correction for environmental damages involves opportunity costs — explain.
ANSWERCorrecting environmental damage requires large amounts of money and resources that have to be diverted from other productive uses — the opportunity cost being the alternative goods, services and welfare foregone.For example, the government and society must spend on technology and research to find new resources to replace exhausted ones, on cleaning polluted rivers and aquifers, on treating respiratory and water-borne diseases caused by polluted air and water, and on meeting global commitments to fight global warming and ozone depletion.Had the environment not been damaged, these funds could have been used for education, infrastructure or other development. Thus, the very act of correcting environmental damage involves a high opportunity cost.
15. Explain how the supply-demand reversal of environmental resources account for the current environmental crisis.
ANSWERIn earlier times, the supply of environmental resources and services was greater than the demand for them. The rate of resource extraction was below the rate of regeneration and the wastes generated were within the environment’s absorptive capacity, so environmental problems did not arise.With population explosion and industrialisation, the demand for resources — for both production and consumption — rose sharply and went beyond the rate of regeneration, while the supply remained limited due to overuse and misuse. The pressure on the absorptive capacity increased tremendously.This reversal — high demand but limited supply of environmental quality — means resources are getting exhausted and wastes are piling up beyond what the environment can absorb. Hence the issues of waste generation and pollution have become critical, accounting for the current environmental crisis.
16. Highlight any two serious adverse environmental consequences of development in India. India’s environmental problems pose a dichotomy — they are poverty induced and, at the same time, due to affluence in living standards — is this true?
ANSWERTwo serious adverse environmental consequences of development in India:1. Air pollution — rapid growth of vehicles (from about 3 lakh in 1951 to 35 crores in 2022) and industries has badly polluted the air, especially in urban cities, causing respiratory diseases.2. Land degradation and water contamination — deforestation, soil erosion and discharge of industrial effluents have degraded land and polluted nearly seventy per cent of India’s water.Yes, the dichotomy is true. India’s environmental problems are of two dimensions. On one hand there is poverty-induced environmental degradation — poor people, dependent on agriculture and forests, over-use fuel-wood, fodder and land for survival. On the other hand there is the threat of pollution from affluence — high consumption standards of the rich and a rapidly growing industrial sector generate huge wastes and emissions. Thus both poverty and affluence damage the environment, confirming the dichotomy.
17. What is sustainable development?
ANSWERSustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It was emphasised by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).It aims to allow all future generations a potential average quality of life at least as high as that enjoyed by the current generation. The Brundtland Commission’s report Our Common Future described it as ‘meeting the basic needs of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life’ — in a way that minimises resource depletion, environmental degradation, cultural disruption and social instability.
18. Keeping in view your locality, describe any four strategies of sustainable development.
ANSWERFour strategies of sustainable development that can be applied locally are:1. Use of LPG / gobar gas: replacing wood and dung cake with clean, subsidised LPG and gobar-gas plants reduces deforestation and household air pollution, and the leftover slurry serves as good organic fertiliser.2. Use of CNG and public transport: running buses and vehicles on Compressed Natural Gas, and using solar street lights, lowers vehicular air pollution in towns and cities.3. Solar and wind power: installing photovoltaic (solar) panels on rooftops and wind mills in windy areas provides clean, pollution-free electricity, even in remote areas.4. Bio-composting and bio-pest control: using compost made from organic waste (and vermicompost from earthworms) instead of chemical fertilisers, and neem-based bio-pesticides and natural predators instead of chemical pesticides, keeps soil and water healthy. (Mini-hydel plants and reviving traditional knowledge are also valid strategies.)
19. Explain the relevance of intergenerational equity in the definition of sustainable development.
ANSWERIntergenerational equity means fairness between the present generation and future generations in the use of environmental resources. It is central to the definition of sustainable development, which speaks of meeting the needs of the present ‘without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.The Brundtland Commission stresses protecting future generations, in line with the environmentalists’ argument that we have a moral obligation to hand over the planet in good order. The present generation should bequeath a better environment, leaving the next generation a stock of ‘quality-of-life’ assets no less than what it inherited.Thus, the relevance of intergenerational equity is that it makes sustainable development a moral issue: we must conserve natural assets, preserve the regenerative capacity of ecological systems and avoid imposing added costs or risks on future generations, so that development can last forever.
Extra Practice Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. Distinguish between biotic and abiotic elements of the environment.
ANSWERBiotic elements are the living components of the environment — birds, animals, plants, forests and fisheries. Abiotic elements are the non-living components — air, water, land, rocks and sunlight. The environment is the inter-relationship between these biotic and abiotic components.
Q2. What is meant by ‘absorptive capacity’ of the environment?
ANSWERAbsorptive capacity means the ability of the environment to absorb degradation, that is, to assimilate the wastes generated. When wastes exceed this capacity, the environment fails to perform its life-sustaining function and an environmental crisis results.
Q3. State any two functions of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
ANSWERThe CPCB (set up in 1974) investigates, collects and disseminates information on water, air and land pollution and lays down standards for sewage, trade effluents and emissions. It also provides technical assistance to governments, monitors the quality of water in rivers and assesses air quality through regulation of industries.
Q4. What is global warming?
ANSWERGlobal warming is a gradual increase in the average temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere as a result of the rise in greenhouse gases (mainly carbon dioxide and methane) since the Industrial Revolution, caused by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. It leads to melting of polar ice, rising sea levels and more frequent tropical storms.
Q5. Why has water become an economic good?
ANSWERPast development has polluted and dried up rivers and other aquifers, while rising population and industrial demand have made clean water increasingly scarce. As its supply has fallen short of demand, water now has to be paid for and conserved — so it has become an economic good rather than a free gift of Nature.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Explain the four functions of the environment and the concept of carrying capacity.
ANSWERThe environment performs four vital functions. First, it supplies resources — both renewable resources (which can be used without becoming depleted, such as trees and fish) and non-renewable resources (which get exhausted with use, such as fossil fuels). Second, it assimilates waste generated in production and consumption. Third, it sustains life by providing genetic and bio-diversity. Fourth, it provides aesthetic services like scenery. The environment can perform these functions without interruption only as long as the demand on them stays within its carrying capacity — that is, when resource extraction does not exceed the rate of regeneration and wastes stay within the environment’s assimilating capacity. When demand crosses this limit, resources get depleted, wastes pile up beyond the absorptive capacity, and the environment fails in its life-sustaining role, resulting in an environmental crisis.
Q2. Discuss the use of non-conventional sources of energy as a strategy of sustainable development.
ANSWERIndia depends heavily on thermal and hydro power, both of which harm the environment — thermal plants emit carbon dioxide and fly ash, while hydro projects inundate forests and disturb river basins. Non-conventional (renewable) sources offer cleaner alternatives. Wind power uses wind mills to generate electricity without adverse environmental impact; though the initial cost is high, the benefits absorb it. Solar power through photovoltaic cells converts sunlight into electricity, is totally pollution-free and is extremely useful for remote areas; India also leads the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Mini-hydel plants use perennial mountain streams to generate local power without changing land use or needing large transmission networks. In rural areas, LPG and gobar gas replace wood and dung cake, and in cities CNG reduces vehicular pollution. Adopting these non-conventional sources reduces pollution and conserves exhaustible resources, making development sustainable.
Q3. ‘India’s environmental problems pose a dichotomy.’ Examine the threats to India’s environment.
ANSWERIndia is richly endowed with natural resources, but developmental activities have put immense pressure on its finite resources and harmed human health and well-being. The threat to India’s environment poses a dichotomy — a threat of poverty-induced environmental degradation on one hand and a threat of pollution from affluence and a rapidly growing industrial sector on the other. Poverty forces agriculture-dependent people to over-use fuel-wood, fodder and land, causing deforestation and land degradation; affluence and industrial growth generate huge emissions and wastes. The most pressing concerns are air pollution (especially vehicular pollution in cities), water contamination (nearly seventy per cent of water is polluted), soil erosion, deforestation and wildlife extinction. The priority issues identified are land degradation, biodiversity loss, air pollution, fresh-water management and solid-waste management. Unless India consciously adopts a path of sustainable development, the measures of the Ministry of Environment and the pollution control boards will not yield lasting rewards.
MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. Which of the following is NOT a function of the environment?
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.
A-R 1. Assertion: The environment can perform its functions only within its carrying capacity.
Reason: When resource extraction exceeds regeneration and wastes exceed absorptive capacity, the environment fails to sustain life.
A-R 2. Assertion: Coal and petroleum are renewable resources.
Reason: Renewable resources can be used without the possibility of becoming depleted or exhausted.
A-R 3. Assertion: The environmental crisis is largely a recent phenomenon.
Reason: With population explosion and industrialisation, demand for resources went beyond the rate of regeneration, reversing the supply–demand relationship.
A-R 4. Assertion: Correction for environmental damage involves opportunity costs.
Reason: Funds spent on cleaning pollution and exploring new resources could have been used for other productive purposes.
A-R 5. Assertion: Intergenerational equity is central to sustainable development.
Reason: Sustainable development meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(D), 3-(A), 4-(A), 5-(A).
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
How to score full marks in this chapter
Memorise the four functions of the environment (supplies resources, assimilates waste, sustains life via bio-diversity, aesthetic services) and the exact definition of sustainable development word-for-word — examiners reward the precise UNCED/Brundtland wording. Link the supply–demand reversal, carrying capacity and absorptive capacity together when explaining the crisis. For strategy questions, list the named strategies (non-conventional energy, LPG/gobar gas, CNG, wind, solar/photovoltaic, mini-hydel, traditional knowledge, bio-composting, bio-pest control) with one line each. Use the textbook’s data points — 70% of water polluted, 8% of world iron-ore reserves, CPCB set up in 1974, vehicles rising from 3 lakh (1951) to 35 crores (2022) — to add value to your answers.
Common mistakes to avoid
Calling coal, petroleum or iron-ore “renewable” — they are non-renewable; trees, fish and water are renewable.
Confusing carrying capacity (limit within which functions continue) with absorptive capacity (ability to absorb wastes).
Mixing up global warming (greenhouse gases, CO2/methane) with ozone depletion (CFCs and halons).
Writing an incomplete definition of sustainable development — always include ‘without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
Listing only three functions of the environment — remember there are four.
Forgetting the dichotomy — India’s problems are both poverty-induced and affluence-induced.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chapter 7 of Class 11 Economics (Indian Economic Development) about?
Chapter 7, Environment and Sustainable Development, explains the meaning and four functions of the environment, how the supply–demand reversal has led to an environmental crisis, the major environmental challenges facing India, and the concept and strategies of sustainable development.
What is the definition of sustainable development in Class 11 Economics?
Sustainable development is ‘development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs’. It was emphasised by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the Brundtland Commission’s report Our Common Future.
How many questions are there in the NCERT Exercise of Chapter 7?
The end-of-chapter Exercises in Indian Economic Development Chapter 7 contain 19 numbered questions, all reproduced verbatim and answered step by step on this page.
