Showing papers on "Sustainability published in 1985"

Natural Resources: Allocation, Economics and Policy

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Natural Resources: Their Nature and Scarcity 3. Minerals: Distribution, Production and Economics 4. The Performance of the Mineral Production Process 5. Public Intervention in Mineral Sector 6. Renewable Resources: The Diversity of Perspectives 7. The Allocation of Renewable Resource Flows: Economic Perspectives and Mechanisms 8. Evaluating Conservation and Flow Augmentation Decisions 9. The Policy and Practice of Renewable Resource Management 10. Muddling Through, Social Revolution or Ecocatastrophe Postscript The Search for Sustainability.

Chapter 5 Ethics and environmental economics

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses several efforts by economists and others to develop criteria of “sustainability” with respect to both particular resources and the whole economic system. These are meant to provide ethical guidance concerning appropriate behavior where resource depletion or environmental degradation threatens to reduce the welfare of future generations. It considers a critique of all the major humanistic ethical ideas in Western philosophy after Aristotle. The assessment sets the stage for a statement concerning the alternative humanistic ethical systems to analyze further on in terms of their implications for environmental economics. Having accomplished this epitomization, several examples are applied of the alternative humanistic ethics that have formalized to some particularly vexing problems in environmental economics. The chapter sets out on the tasks with humility. The issues in the chapter are potentially so important for the future of environmental economics that one feels that attempt must be made.

Environmental Science: Action for a Sustainable Future

Abstract: Part 1 Principles of environmental science and ecology - addressing the sustainable imperative: environmental science - meeting the challenge of sustainability ecosystems - how they work and how they sustain themselves principles of ecology - self-sustaining mechanisms in ecosystems human ecology - tracing our past, charting a sustainable future. Part 2 Population: population - measuring growth and its impact population control - key to a sustainable society. Part 3 Resources: feeding the world's people sustainably - food and agriculture wildlife and plants - preserving biological diversity grasslands, forest and wilderness - sustainable management strategies water resources - preserving our liquid assets non-renewable energy sources foundations of sustainable energy strategy - conservation and renewable energy the earth and its mineral resources. Part 4 Pollution: toxic substances - principles and practicalities air pollution - protecting a global commons global environmental challenges - ozone depletion, acid deposition and global warming water pollution - protecting another global commons pesticides - learning to control pests sustainably hazardous and solid wastes - dealing with the problem sustainably. Part 5 Environment and society: environmental ethics - the foundation of sustainable society toward a sustainable human economy - challenges of the industrial world sustainable economic development - challenges facing the developing nations government in a sustainable world.

What does sustainability really mean

Abstract: Meeting: World Commission on Environment and Development, Official Meeting, 4th, 25 Oct.-4 Nov. 1985, Sao Paulo, BR

Supportability, Sustainability, and Subsidy-Free Prices

Abstract: This article studies the relationships among the concepts of subsidy-free prices, anonymously equitable prices, supportability, and sustainability. In particular, we set out conditions under which these concepts are not vacuous. Several new sets of conditions under which a subsidy-free price vector is sustainable are also presented. For general, nonseparable demands, we establish the existence of an Aumann-Shapley price vector that is anonymously equitable and sustainable.

Carrying capacity population growth and sustainable development.

Abstract: The concept of carrying capacity is concerned with the ability of ecosystems to support animal life. It is the maximum population of a given species that can be supported indefinitely allowing for seasonal and random changes without any degradation of the natural resource base that would diminsh this maximum population in the future. With some modifications carrying capacity can also be used as a measure of a regions ability to support human populations. In contrast to animals humans can expand the carrying capacity of a region greatly through technology and trade. Neither however permits unlimited population growth. It is also often easier and cheaper to exceed temporarily the carrying capacity of a region through environmental mismanagement. The latter response while allowing short-term increases in the per capita supply of goods is not sustainable in the long run and may cause irreparable damage to natural resources. Examples of reductions in long term carrying capacity include deforestation desertification loss of biological diversity and pollution. The paper concludes that many developing countries have paid insufficient attention to policies to lower their population growth rates--relative to policies to expand sustainably their carrying capacities--as a means of balancing population and natural resource availabilities. While both options are necessary vigorous population policies must be adopted in developing countries already suffering severe problems from environmental and natural resource degradation. (authors modified)

Ecology meets Economics: A Guide to Sustainable Development

Abstract: (1985). Ecology meets Economics: A Guide to Sustainable Development. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development: Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 6-32.

People, Land and Food Production - Potentials in the Developing World

Abstract: Understanding the nature and dimension of the land and water resources available for food and agriculture development, and the policies available to develop them, have been among the focal points of the work of the Land and Water Development Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and of the Food and Agriculture Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. As we anticipate, over the coming decades, a technological transformation of agriculture which will be constrained by resource limitations and which could have environmental consequences, a number of important questions arise: (a) What is the stable, sustainable production potential of the world? of regions? of nations? (b) How does this production potential in specific areas (within countries and groups of countries) compare to the food requirements of the future populations of these areas? (c) What alternative transition paths are available to reach desirable levels of this production potential? (d) What are the sustainable and efficient combinations of techniques of food production? (e) What are the input requirements of such techniques? (f) What are the policy implications at national, regional and global levels of sustainability? Stability and sustainability are both desirable properties of agricultural land resources development. We hold ecological considerations to be of critical importance in answering the questions posed above. This paper presents the results of a recent study entitled "Land Resources for the Populations of the Future" carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Program of IIASA with financial support from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities. The study was designed to quantify potential population supporting capacities of land resources in the developing regions of the world, based on ecological and technological limits to food production. An understanding of these limits is critical to agricultural policy formulation and development planning. This paper highlights policy implications for developing countries.

Economics, ecology, sustainable agricultural systems and development∗

Abstract: The importance of ecologically sustainable economic systems and sustainable development, including sustainable agricultural development, has been recognised internationally in the last two decades and is reflected in policy initiatives in South Africa and elsewhere. However, complex issues and tradeoffs are involved in choosing between alternative productive systems. Ecologists, economists and other resource scientists need to cooperate to specify the options more carefully. Increasing human population levels and consumption levels are now widely seen as a major threat to living resources, to their life‐support systems and to sustainable development. Possible policy implications resulting from this are explored in the World Conservation Strategy. An examination of the possible attributes of different agricultural systems and forms of land use illustrates the complexity of choosing between different productive systems and leads to the question of whether sustainability should be an absolute goal in all cir...

Advanced Decision-Oriented Software for the Management of Hazardous Substances. Part 1: Structure and Design

Abstract: Many industrial products and residuals such as hazardous and toxic substances are harmful to the basic life support system of the environment. In order to ensure a sustainable use of the biosphere for present and future generations, it is imperative that these substances are managed in a safe and systematic manner. The aim of this project is to provide software tools which can be used by those engaged in the management of the environment, industrial production, products, and waste streams, and hazardous substances and wastes in particular.

Land Resources and Productivity Potential - Agro-Ecological Methodology for Agriculture Development Planning

Abstract: Understanding the nature and dimension of the land and water resources for food and agriculture development and the policies available to develop them have been the focal point of the work of the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. As we anticipate over the coming decades a technological transformation of agriculture which will be constrained by resource limitations and which could have serious environmental consequences, a number of important questions arise: (a) What is the stable, sustainable production potential of the world? of regions? of nations? (b) How does this production potential in specific areas (within countries as well as groups of countries) compare to the food requirements of the future populations of these areas? potential? (c) What alternative transition paths are available to reach desirable levels of this production potential? (d) What are the sustainable and efficient combinations of techniques of food production? (e) What are the resource requirements of such techniques? (f) What are the policy implications at national, regional and global levels of sustainability? Stability and sustainability are both desirable properties of agricultural land resources development, inter-generational equity as well as of political stability and peace. We hold ecological considerations to be of critical importance in answering the questions posed above. Limits to food production are set by soil and climatic conditions and by the use, and management, of the land. In the long term, any "mining" of land beyond these limits will result in degradation and decreased productivity. Accordingly, there are critical levels of production obtainable, in perpetuity, from any given land area and hence critical levels of populations that can be supported from this area. It is crucial to take account of the physical resource base for potential production as well as the socio-economic aspects that will influence the actual production. The population and land resources study, carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, with funding from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is concerned with the quantitative evaluation of the land resources' food productive capacity on the basis of soil, climate and crop data under specified technological conditions. The methodology and resource data base developed within this study provides a first approximation of the food production potentials and the population supporting potentials for 117 countries in five regions of the developing world. The most fruitful and promising avenue for further work and application of the methodology is in relation to detailed country case studies. The aim of this report is to describe the agro-ecological methodology and specify the data needs, with special emphasis on methodological and data refinements for detailed country agricultural planning studies. The report should be of particular interest and use to institutions in countries considering an ecological--technological--economic approach to the planning of agricultural development.

Studying pastoral property management in the arid zone

Abstract: The study of pastoral property management in the arid zone is important, but fraught with problems. In 1980, 30 managers in the North-East Pastoral Region of South Australia were surveyed. This paper identifies the human and social factors found to be related to some of the structural and managerial variables measured in the survey. Several of the more important problems associated with studying pastoral property management are noted, and one possible method of overcoming them described.