Description
Book SynopsisThis important new book develops an ecological-economics perspective on sustainability at the regional, national and international level. It explores prospects for sustainable development using methods firmly grounded in empirical reality, as well as emphasizing scientific, economic and socio-political concerns.
This approach is based on the construction of non-monetary indicators for sustainability, and the application of cost-effectiveness analyses to identify robust alternatives for the achievement of specified policy norms. In calculating the requirements for sustainability the contributors attach importance to multiple criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods of analysis to evaluate the key components of sustainability and help assess the sustainability of aregional or national economic development trajectory. Case studies of water pollutants in the Bretagne region in France and greenhouse gas reduction in Europe are used to investigate resource allocation from this perspective. The contributors utilize the M3ED model - a structural economy-environment simulation model which gives a multi-sectoral representation of a national economy's production, final consumption and environmental pressures - to explore feasible economic futures. It is applied to scenarios in France to demonstrate ways that prospects for sustainability can be investigated at a national level. The contributors compare and contrast these models with the aims of more typical neoclassical modelling in their search for the most effective approaches to defining operational measures for sustainability.
This book will be of great interest to academics in the field of ecological and environmental economics and to policymakers and planners in government and industry.
Trade Review'The book is a useful review of the current literature on sustainable developments. . . It certainly would be useful as a reference and some chapters will be of interest to those wishing to develop models in this area. In conclusion, it is refreshing to have work of this nature presented in a book format which is readily accessible.' -- Caroline Saunders, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 'This book will interest academics in ecological and environmental economics, and policymakers and planners in industry.'– Euroabstracts
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction (S. Faucheux and M. O’Connor) 2. Ecological-Economic Sustainability (M. O’Connor) 3. Weak Natural Capital Theory (S. Faucheux, E. Muir and M. O’Connor) 4. Strong Sustainability and Critical Natural Capital (J.-F. Noël and M. O’Connor) 5. Economic and Environmental Information for Sustainability (V. Boisvert, N. Holec and F.-D. Vivien) 6. Energy Measures and their Uses (S. Faucheux and M. O’Connor) 7. Methodology for Environmental Decison Support (G. Froger and G. Munda) 8. Multicriteria Decison Aid and the ‘Sustainability Tree’ (S. Faucheux, G. Froger and G. Munda) 9. Structural Economy Environment Simulation Modelling (G. Ryan, P. Méral, P. Schembri and E. Zyla) 10. Some Exploratory Scenarios Results (G. Ryan, P. Méral, P. Schembri and E. Zyla) 11. Towards a Sustainable National Income? (S. Faucheux, M. O’Connor and S. van den Hove) 12. Conclusions (S. Faucheux and M. O’Connor)
