Environment is an interesting example because you go from complete poverty (no environmental impact) to middle income (rampant growth, environment not a priority, think Brazil/Indonesia and their rainforests, or manifest destiny USA and their forests) so impact worsens, then at high income concerns about environment become more of a priority so you get environmental protections.
Unless the goal is to prevent people rising out of poverty entirely (it shouldn’t be) the best outcome comes from faster development
But the environment (and animal welfare) is still worse off in post-industrial societies than pre-industrial societies, so you cannot credibly claim going from pre-industrial to industrial (which is what we generally mean by global health and development) is an environmental issue (or an animal welfare issue). It’s unclear if helping societies go from industrial to post-industrial is tractable, but that would typically fall under progress studies, not global health and development.
Environment is an interesting example because you go from complete poverty (no environmental impact) to middle income (rampant growth, environment not a priority, think Brazil/Indonesia and their rainforests, or manifest destiny USA and their forests) so impact worsens, then at high income concerns about environment become more of a priority so you get environmental protections.
Unless the goal is to prevent people rising out of poverty entirely (it shouldn’t be) the best outcome comes from faster development
But the environment (and animal welfare) is still worse off in post-industrial societies than pre-industrial societies, so you cannot credibly claim going from pre-industrial to industrial (which is what we generally mean by global health and development) is an environmental issue (or an animal welfare issue). It’s unclear if helping societies go from industrial to post-industrial is tractable, but that would typically fall under progress studies, not global health and development.