Sustainability: The Economic Bottom Line
Points out that sustainability as such does not provide a clearcut guide to policy. First one has to decide what is to be sustained. If this is agreed, it must be in an operational from. However, difficulties may still emerge since opinions may differ about how to achieve. This is illustrated by differences in the views of economists about how sustainable development is to be achieved. Orthodox economists stress the importance of the accumulation of man-made capital to achieve this end whereas neo-Malthusians stress the importance of conserving natural resource and environmental capital. Both take an anthropocentric point of view. For political reasons the neo-Malthusian has had little support but it may eventually turn out to be correct. Economics is concerned with reducing economic scarcity and economists have traditionally suggested four main ways of doing this of which economic growth is one. However, neo-Malthusian economists believe that this may not be a sustainable strategy – it may result in future poverty. It should be noted that economic systems are embedded in social and natural systems and depend on these. Economic sustainability depends on the sustainability of these other systems. So from this point of view, it is just one of several bottom lines. Values must be considered in relation to sustainability. Economics is completely anthropocentric in its approach. Therefore, economic approaches to conservation and sustainability can be at odds with the values of deep ecologists or those willing to accord rights to other sentient beings or ecosystems independent of human wishes, or those who want to make use of value judgments other than those based on the measuring rod of money. Consequently economics evaluation is sometimes ineffective in resolving social conflict, including conflict about what should be sustained. As a rule economics alone should not be the final arbiter of social decisions. It is a part (often an important part) of the social evaluation process but not the bottom line, or just one of many lines.
Protection of the Environment in Transitional Economies: Strategies and Practices
Attention is brought to the high pollution intensities of Centrally Planned Economies in comparison to market economies. This is explained by the use of Kuznets-type environmental development curves. These curves for CPEs tend to be higher than for market economies, and in Europe per capita incomes in market economies are mostly higher than for European CPEs and this is an additional factor. It is argued that it may take some time for former CPEs to attain the Kuznets curve for market economies once they begin transition. Transitional difficulties include possibly an inadequate appreciation of market failures, fuzzy property rights, reduced central control over local governments, in some cases breakdowns of law and order and capital stock and infrastructure which can only be substantially modified in the long run so as to improve pollution intensities and natural resource-use. In the longer term, the market system will provide incentives that at least indirectly improve pollution intensities and natural resource intensities. Nevertheless, of the system stimulate economic growth pollution intensities can rise initially. Environmental problems and transitionary processes for former European Centrally Planned resources are discussed, as are China's environmental problems, China's Agenda 21 as a long-term strategy for sustainable development, and its environmental policies in practice. In conclusion, China's approach to its environment in its transition is contrasted to that of the former European Centrally Planned economies.
Policy Instruments for a Sustainable Economy
This chapter is intended to introduce the subject and provide an overview of the relevant aspects of environmental policy making. It starts with some general reflections on environmental economics and the formulation of environmental policies as a means of copying with the underlying conflict between economic growth and the limited carrying capacity of the environment. Section 4 provides a brief overview of the contents of the book but without summarizing individual chapters (such summaries are provided in the abstracts of each individual chapter). Sections 5–8 contain an attempt at summarizing some reflections emanating from the various chapters analyzing policy instruments in industrialized, transitional and developing countries as well as on the global arena.