An Agenda Of Science For Environment And Development Into The 21st Century

The world scientific community's definitive statement on strategies needed to safeguard the environment and promote development.

Agendas and Sustainability considers the processes used for devising global environment and development agendas and provides practical suggestions for their future development and influence. A collaboration of the latest research from the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Earth Council, the book presents similarities and differences in problem definition, objectives, principles, priorities and actions across eleven of the major agendas put forward for environment and development after Rio. Points of divergence and areas of common ground are investigated for over 30 environment and development-related topics, such as biodiversity, consumption patterns, trade, urbanization, population, education, deforestation and water resources.

As a concept, sustainable development is in conflict with traditional development based upon economic growth. Sustainable development is an attempt to formulate a programme that integrates different aspects (ecological, social, and economical) which were usually considered as separate from each other. Sustainable Development as a Civilizational Revolution. A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Challenges of the 21st Century expands the discussion on sustainable development, including ethical, technical/technological, legal and political aspects. Since it is not possible to solve environmental problems solely by technical means, without taking into account economic or environmental aspects, the degree to which they overlap is discussed. In addition it is necessary to emphasize the importance of social and moral considerations. A clean environment is a valuable attribute, but its achievement at the expense of high unemployment -- or some other form of severe social conflict -- cannot be regarded as action in line with the sustainable-development principle. The tremendous scope of these changes makes it reasonable to expect this new vision for development to achieve the status of a revolution comparable to those known from the past: the agricultural, scientific and industrial revolutions. Sustainable Development as a Civilizational Revolution. A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Challenges of the 21st Century will be invaluable to graduate and post-graduate students following advanced courses on sustainable development, scientists dealing with sustainable development, and academia interested in environmental and social sciences.

The Global Partnership is an informative book covering the official Earth Summit proceedings in non-technical terms so readers from all walks of life can absorb the goals & implications of that historical event. For the general reader, it interprets AGENDA 21 - an action plan developed to lead environmental development into the 21st century.

The aim of this book is to encourage integration of the natural and social sciences with the policy and design-making community, and thereby develop a deeper understanding of complex environmental problems. Its fundamental themes are: . integrated modeling and assessment . complex, adaptive, hierarchical systems . ecosystem services . science and decision-making . ecosystem health and human health . quality of life and the distribution of wealth and resources. This book will act as a state of the art assessment of integrated environmental science and its relation to real world problem solving. It is aimed not only at the academic community, but also as a sourcebook for managers, policy makers, and the informed public. It deals both with the state of the science and the level of consensus among scientists on key environmental issues. The concepts underlying this book were developed at the 2nd EcoSummit workshop held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June, 2000, with active participation from all delegates, and attempts to present their collective view.