World Resource 1992-93 : Guide to the global environment

The World Resources series is intended to meet the criti cal need for accessible, accurate information on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Wise manage ment of natural resources and protection of the global environment are essential to achieve sustainable eco nomic development and hence to alleviate poverty, im prove the human condition, and preserve the biolo gical systems on which all life depends.

Publication of World Resources 1992-93, the fifth in the series, reflects an ongoing collaborative effort of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI) to produce and disseminate the most objective and up-to-date re port of conditions and trends in the world's natural re sources and in the global environment. This volume has a special focus on sustainable devel

opment, in support of the upcoming 1992 United Na tions Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Part I consists of four special chapters on sustainable development: an overview chapter and three case studies of what sustainable development might mean in industrial countries, low-income coun tries, and rapidly industrializing countries. Additional material pertinent to this topic is found throughout the volume. Part II continues the tradition of examining in each volume a particular region in more detail-in this case, an overview of the severe environmental and resource problems faced by Central Europe as that re gion makes a difficult transition to more democratic governments and more market-oriented economies. Part III reports on basic conditions and trends, key is sues, major problems and efforts to resolve them, and recent developments in each of the major resource cate gories, from population and human development to energy to atmosphere and climate. Where data exist, the chapters give a 20-year perspective on trends in the physical environment-spanning the time between the first United Nations Conference on the Environment and UNCED. Supporting data, as well as the core data tables from the World Resources Data Base, are found in Part IV.

Additional information and data can be found in the Environmental Data Report, published every other year by UNEP in cooperation with WRI and the U.K. De partment of the Environment. The Environmental Data Report and World Resources are published in alternating years. The forthcoming volume of the Human Develop ment Report 1992, published by UNDP, will also have a special chapter on the environment that bears directly on the issues discussed in this volume of World Re sources. Also forthcoming are UNEP's State of the Envi ronment Report and the World Bank's World Develop ment Report 1992, which this year will focus on the en vironment. In an effort to make an expanded set of data accessi ble to policymakers, scholars, and nongovernmental organizations, WRI is also publishing the World Re sources Data Base-expanette. sets where possible on I to include 20-year data

The audience for the World Resources series is stead ily expanding, with English, Spanish, Arabic, German, Japanese, and Chinese editions now in print. With this volume, French and Dutch translations will also be added. A Teacher's Guide to World Resources is also help ing to make the series accessible and useful to teachers and students.

WRI, UNEP, and UNDP share the conviction that the World Resources series can best contribute to man agement of the world's natural resources and to a broadened awareness of environmental concerns by providing an independent perspective on these critical global issues. Accordingly, while both UNEP and UNDP have provided essential information and in valuable critical advice, final responsibility for substance and editorial content of the series remains with WRI.

We commend the World Resources staff for their ef forts in assembling and analyzing this unique collec tion of information on natural resources and the global environment and in producing the volume in a timely fashion. The Editorial Advisory Board, chaired by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, provided active advice and support at all stages of the project. Its call to action on the issues discussed in this volume-in a signed state ment on the following page deserves broad consider ation.

We wish to thank the John D. and Catherine T. Mac Arthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation for their support in this endeavor. Their financial commitment to the continuation of the World Resources series and its distribution throughout the developing world help to make it all possible. Thanks are also due to the World Bank for assistance in distribution of the report, to the Inter-American Development Bank and the African Development Bank for support of the Spanish and French editions, respectively, to the Swedish Interna tional Development Authority and the U.S. Environ mental Protection Agency for support to expand and strengthen the World Resources Data Base, and to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the National Geo graphic Society for support of the Teacher's Guide.