Sustainable environmental management

The concept of sustainable economic growth is the key to striking the balance between conserving the environment and maintaining prosperity in the developed world while achieving economic development in the countries of the South.

This interdisciplinary volume provides both an overview of the notion of a sustainable society, and a series of detailed analyses of different aspects of the sustainable growth and

development concepts.

The first half of the book covers the economic and political principles relevant to the sustainability debate in both the industrialised and developing economies. A basic distinction is drawn between notions of sustainable growth (sustainable utilisation) and related policy strategies and sustainable development (sustainability) and its strategies. The former concept is based on the premise that future economic growth is a feasible proposition provided that certain resource management rules are incorporated into policies. The latter phenomenon is a broadly based notion which encompasses ethical norms pertaining to the survival of living matter, to the rights of future generations and to institutions responsible for ensuring that such rights are fully taken into account in policies.

The second half of the book provides methods. and examples, drawn from both developed and developing economies, to illustrate how the theory can be applied and monitored.