Green development : environment and sustainability in the third world

The 'green' debate has been gaining ground in development circles over the last decade. Environmentalists have been watching with interest. In Green Development, Bill Adams attempts to bridge the gulf that exists between environmentalism and development. He argues that development and environmental management should be seen as political processes.

The book traces the evolution of the concept of 'sustainable development', a phrase popular with environmentalists and development theorists alike. It analyses the ideas in World Conservation Strategy and the Brundtland Report and discusses radical 'green' development deas. It also examines environmental aspects of development projects and programmes in tropical environments. It discusses the potential for 'green' reform of development planning, and in particular the technique of environmental impact assessment and its effectiveness in practice. It demonstrates the links between the impacts of development on the environment and those on people, particularly the rural poor.

Green Development questions the established understanding of the problems of environment and development, highlighting the inadequacy of a narrow view of environmental impacts, and a narrow response based on traditional conservation measures. It argues that the central focus of 'green' development has to be the environmental needs of the poor. Sustainable development planning must therefore focus on the power of the poor to control the environment on which they depend, and their capacity for self determination in the face of development.