The policymakers, particularly on the right side of the aisle, have traditionally stigmatized any form of environmental regulations, as being a detrimental practice, which raises the cost of production, disproportionately affects the small businesses, and imposes expenses on the economy that tend to stifle economic growth and cut levels of employment (Murphy et al. [2015]). So, what this argument does is to essentially juxtapose environmental regulations against the growth and job opportunities in any economy. In the specific context of developing countries, this raises serious concerns about any environmental regulations as these economies are already reeling under problems of severe unemployment and poverty. Therefore, any discussion on clean energy in the context of a developing economy is usually taken with a grain of salt since it somehow tends to generate a feeling among the politicians as well as the policymakers that it will inflict hardships on the economy.

Authors:

• Rohit Azad
• Shouvik Chakraborty