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Handbook of Sustainable Development

Handbook of Sustainable Development

Edited by Giles Atkinson, Professor of Environmental Policy, Department of Geography and Environment and Associate, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, Simon Dietz, Co-Director, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Director, ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK and Eric Neumayer, Professor of Environment and Development, Department of Geography and Environment and Associate, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
This timely and important Handbook takes stock of progress made in our understanding of what sustainable development actually is and how it can be achieved. Twenty years on from the publication of the seminal Brundtland Report, it has become clear that formidable challenges confront policy makers who have publicly stated their commitment to the goal of sustainable development. The Handbook of Sustainable Development seeks to provide an account of the considerable progress made in fleshing out these issues.

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Extent: 512 pp
Paperback Price: $74.00 Web: $59.20
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 978 1 84844 472 0
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  • Economics and Finance
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  • Valuation
  • Environment
  • Environmental Economics
  • Environmental Geography
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This timely and important Handbook takes stock of progress made in our understanding of what sustainable development actually is and how it can be achieved. Twenty years on from the publication of the seminal Brundtland Report, it has become clear that formidable challenges confront policy makers who have publicly stated their commitment to the goal of sustainable development. The Handbook of Sustainable Development seeks to provide an account of the considerable progress made in fleshing out these issues.

The Handbook brings together original and state-of-the-art contributions from internationally renowned scholars writing from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. These contributions acknowledge that there is no unified theory of sustainable development and reflect the breadth and diversity of the literature to date. Discussion encompasses the fundamentals of sustainable development and intergenerational equity, and covers issues such as: the capital approach, ecological resilience, population growth and safe minimum standards; intra-generational equity; resources, the environment and economic progress; urban and corporate sustainability; green accounting and sustainability indicators.

This accessible, comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to the theory and practice of sustainable development will prove an invaluable reference tool for researchers, students, academics and practitioners with an interest in the field of sustainable development.

Critical Acclaim

‘The book is a useful source/reference material for the students and teachers of environmental and natural resource economics. The editors have done a wonderful job in putting together the comprehensive volume that provides analytical and policy inputs for the researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the field.’
– V. Ratna Reddy, Journal of Social and Economic Development

‘As a whole, it thoughtfully reflects upon and elucidates the fundamental ideas and contributions that have taken root in the 20 years since publication of the Brundtland Report. Contributors offer a comprehensive survey of the field as it stands today, starting from basic principles, through inter- and intragenerational equity, to questions of growth and development, concluding with international perspectives. . . Atkinson, Dietz, and Neumayer have produced a volume that defines clearly the important thinking on sustainability as it stands today. Highly recommended.’
– J. Booker, Choice

Contributors

Contributors: W.N. Adger, J. Agyeman, G. Atkinson, R.M. Auty, J. Bebbington, K. Bolt, C. Bretteville Froyn, M.A. Cole, S. Dietz, T.J. Foxon, K.P. Gallagher, R. Gray, C. Hamilton, K. Hamilton, G. Heal, C. Hepburn, T. Jackson, B. Kriström, G.-M. Lange, R. López, G. McNicoll, I. Moffatt, E. Neumayer, B.G. Norton, D. Pearce, A. Randall, G. Ruta, Y. Rydin, C.A. Tisdell, J.C.J.M. van den Bergh, J. Vogler, A. Winkels

Contents

Contents:

Preface

1. Introduction
Giles Atkinson, Simon Dietz and Eric Neumayer

PART I: FUNDAMENTALS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2. Ethics and Sustainable Development: An Adaptive Approach to Environmental Choice
Bryan G. Norton

3. The Capital Approach to Sustainability
Giovanni Ruta and Kirk Hamilton

4. Sustainable Development in Ecological Economics
Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh

5. Ecological and Social Resilience
W. Neil Adger

6. Benefit–Cost Analysis and a Safe Minimum Standard of Conservation
Alan Randall

PART II: INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY
7. Valuing the Far-off Future: Discounting and its Alternatives
Cameron Hepburn

8. Population and Sustainability
Geoffrey McNicoll

9. Technological Lock-in and the Role of Innovation
Timothy J. Foxon

PART III: INTRAGENERATIONAL EQUITY AND THE SOCIAL DIMENSION
10. Distribution, Sustainability and Environmental Policy
Geoffrey Heal and Bengt Kriström

11. Environmental Justice and Sustainability
Julian Agyeman

12. Vulnerability, Poverty and Sustaining Well-being
W. Neil Adger and Alexandra Winkels

PART IV: GROWTH, CONSUMPTION AND NATURAL WEALTH
13. The Resource Curse and Sustainable Development
Richard M. Auty

14. Structural Change, Poverty and Natural Resource Degradation
Ramón López

15. Economic Growth and the Environment
Matthew A. Cole

16. Sustainable Consumption
Tim Jackson

PART V: PROGRESS IN MEASURING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
17. Environmental and Resource Accounting
Glenn-Marie Lange

18. Genuine Saving as an Indicator of Sustainability
Kirk Hamilton and Katharine Bolt

19. Measuring Sustainable Economic Welfare
Clive Hamilton

20. Environmental Space, Material Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprinting
Ian Moffatt

PART VI: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT DIFFERENT SCALES
21. Sustainable Cities and Local Sustainability
Yvonne Rydin

22. Sustainable Agriculture
Clement A. Tisdell

23. Corporate Sustainability: Accountability or Impossible Dream?
Rob Gray and Jan Bebbington

PART VII: THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION
24. International Environmental Cooperation: The Role of Political Feasibility
Camilla Bretteville Froyn

25. Trade and Sustainable Development
Kevin P. Gallagher

26. The International Politics of Sustainable Development
John Vogler

27. Financing for Sustainable Development
David Pearce

Index