Issue 106: Environment and Development

In 1989, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for a conference on environment and development. The resolution identified a number of global problems—among them, threats to atmospheric integrity, biodiversity, and human health—the management of which would require strengthened international attention and cooperation. A theme likely to resonate throughout the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, is the means of financing efforts to deal with these problems while ensuring economic growth, particularly in the developing world.

Whether or not explicit and effective negotiations are achieved at UNCED, profound problems relating to the linked pursuit of environmental, natural resource, and economic objectives are certain to survive the two-week meeting of governmental leaders, technical experts, and representatives of environmental constituencies. Even if participants assert that the goals of environmental protection, natural resource adequacy, and economic growth are compatible, a probing of the question of the sustainability of development inspires less confidence that potential problems and conflicts in the pursuit of these goals are fully appreciated in the international community, much less that the consensus needed to easily achieve the goals will be forthcoming.

As might be expected, politics has played a role in preparations for UNCED, the agenda of which has been at least partly conditioned by the sensitivity of some participants to some issues. Thus the critical role of population growth is missing from the list of topics to be formally addressed in Rio.

The articles in this special issue of Resources examine some of the enduring questions that cannot be ignored in any attempt to pursue aspirations concerning the environment and development. The lasting value of UNCED may depend on the extent to which its diverse participants couple political rhetoric—obligatory at such events—with willingness to confront these difficult issues once this "earth summit" fades into history. Sidebars on UNCED's predecessor—the Stockholm conference of 1972—on mitigation strategy for addressing climate change, and on technology transfer from developed to developing countries offer further insights.

The first three articles cut across a range of developmental challenges. Michael A. Toman explores the difficulties of defining "sustainability," an amorphous concept for assessing human impacts on the natural environment and resource base. Noting that a clear understanding of what sustainability means is necessary for identifying what may be required to achieve it, Toman puts forward a conceptual means of bridging disparate perspectives on key topics such as intergenerational equity, substitutability among natural and other resources, and the carrying capacity of natural ecosystems. Raymond J. Kopp points out that a better understanding of the relationships among the natural world, economic activity, and institutions is needed if the developed and developing worlds are to craft policies that meet the expectations of each with regard to environmental protection and development. In linking institutional structure and levels of economic development with management of natural assets and demand for the goods and services they provide, Kopp suggests a strategy for encouraging developing countries to set about protecting and preserving these assets. Ronald G. Ridker notes that population growth bears closely on the challenge of sustainable development. In reviewing two schools of thought on the economic, resource, and environmental consequences of population growth, Ridker concludes that an earlier rather than later cessation of population growth could slow depletion of resources, relieve pressures on the environment, and allow humanity more time to redress the mistakes of past growth.

The five articles after that deal with specific developmental issues. Pierre R. Crosson addresses the prospects for sustainable agriculture. He suggests that to meet future demand for food at acceptable economic and environmental costs, the global supply of knowledge must be expanded to increase the productivity of energy, land, water, climate, and genetic resources. Using agriculture as an example, Peter M. Morrisette and Norman J. Rosenberg point to the importance of and opportunities for improved adaptability to climatic variability, particularly in countries that are subject to recurrent droughts or to characteristically arid conditions. The need to adapt to such variability, they argue, coexists with the need to investigate strategies for mitigating the buildup of gases that could lead to greenhouse warming. Kenneth D. Frederick examines qualitative and quantitative aspects of the global water problem. He shows that achieving environmental and development goals will require significant changes in incentives to conserve water and protect aquatic ecosystems, particularly in developing countries that already lack access to water of adequate quality and that face rapidly increasing demand for water in the future. Roger A. Sedjo deals with a complex and rapidly evolving resource issue—biodiversity. Despite their unquestioned value, wild species and the genetic resources embodied in them are threatened by the destruction of natural habitats, again especially in developing countries. Sedjo contends that habitat protection could be fostered by contractual arrangements that allow developing countries to trade the right to collection of their wild genetic resources in return for some sort of compensation. Joel Darmstadter examines two prominent developments concerning energy transitions in the last several decades: improved functioning of energy markets and heightened concern with environmental damage from energy production and use. He suggests that there remains substantial scope for pursuing efforts to enhance energy efficiency and to use renewable energy resources.

The environment-development dilemma appears to be greatest in the developing countries. Efficient management of environmental problems is critical if these countries are to realize environmental improvements without derailing economic growth. In the concluding article, Alan J. Crupnick assesses the potential of benefit-cost analysis to prioritize pollution problems in the developing world.

With the exception of Ronald G. Ridker, an economist with the World Bank, the authors are on the research staff at Resources for the Future (RFF). The articles will be collected in a volume to be published by RFF in early 1992.