Ivory is big business, and in some parts of Africa elephants have been hunted almost to extinction in the quest for it. The losses to African economies have been catastrophic. Now there is an international ban on the trade and conservation is. the principal goal. This should be a matter for rejoicing, but nothing is quite so simple. The authors of this book have looked at the overall statistics, including those for countries where the elephant population is stable. They have considered the multiplicity of economic and social functions fulfilled by ensuring that elephant herds survive, tourism, a variety of ecological purpose. and, finally, as a source of ivory. They show how the careful management of elephants as a resource can best serve African interests. This book is at the cutting edge of economic thinking and provides a model for the consideration of the difficult relationship between people and wildlife. Originally published in 19990

The Economics of Environmental Degradation provides an institutional economics approach to analyse the underlying causes of continuing environmental degradation: poverty, population, poor policies and trade.After a critical, up-to-date survey of the most recent literature, the authors consider whether there is some common or deeper explanation of environmental degradation. They conclude that a problem results whenever human exploitation of the environment outruns the capacity of human institutions to adapt and to evolve methods for managing exploitation. Environmental degradation will persist because it is the static result of the ongoing dynamic contest between opportunistic individuals and institutional adaptation. The book assumes no prior knowledge of economics or the environment and will appeal to a wide readership of policymakers and students with a background in economics, geography, conservation biology, environmental studies and development studies.

The ozone layer is threatened by chemical emissions, the climate is endangered from fossil fuels and deforestation, and global biodiversity is being lost by reason of thousands of years of habitat conversions. Global environmental problems arise out of the accumulated impacts from many years' and many countries' economic development. In order to address these problems the states of the world must cooperate to manage their development processes together - this is what international environmental agreements are designed to do. But can the world's countries cooperate successfully to manage global development? How should they manage it? Who should pay for the process, as well as for the underlying problems? This book presents an examination of both the problems and the processes underlying international environmental lawmaking: the recognition of international interdependence, the negotiation of international agreements and the evolution of international resource management. It examines the general problem of global resource management by means of general principles and case studies and by looking at how and why specific negotiations and agreements have failed to achieve their targets. The book, commissioned by UNCTAD to assist policymakers, especially in developing countries. It will also be of interest to practitioners in the areas of environmental economics and law and to scholars studying global environmental policy making and institution building.

Ivory is big business, and in some parts of Africa elephants have been hunted almost to extinction in the quest for it. The losses to African economies have been catastrophic. Now there is an international ban on the trade and conservation is. the principal goal. This should be a matter for rejoicing, but nothing is quite so simple. The authors of this book have looked at the overall statistics, including those for countries where the elephant population is stable. They have considered the multiplicity of economic and social functions fulfilled by ensuring that elephant herds survive, tourism, a variety of ecological purpose. and, finally, as a source of ivory. They show how the careful management of elephants as a resource can best serve African interests. This book is at the cutting edge of economic thinking and provides a model for the consideration of the difficult relationship between people and wildlife. Originally published in 19990

The environment has become exposed to a range of damaging contaminants from a wide variety of sources. Regulation of and legislation against offending parties has frequently been hampered because of the difficulty of co-operation between disparate disciplines in the natural, social and political sciences. This volume forms the conclusion of five years' collaboration between toxicologists, economists and lawyers in the understanding and solution of the problem of accumulative chemicals. As well as a case study of the accumulation of pesticides in groundwater in one particular region (the European Union), the book forms a general study of the value of interdisciplinary approaches in environmental policy making. The volume will be a valuable resource for a broad group of academics and researchers in the area of environmental science and environmental policy. It will also form a useful supplementary reference text for courses in environmental policy, science, economics and toxicology.

The increasing scarcity of water resources (in terms of quantity and quality) is one of the most pervasive natural resource allocation issues facing development planners throughout the world. This problem is especially prevalent in less developed countries where the management of this valuable resource has become a critical policy concern. This authoritative new volume outlines the fundamental principles and difficulties that characterise this challenging task. The authors begin by detailing the significant problems of water management which are specific to developing countries. In particular, they highlight the political economy of water management in the context of both pricing and institutional reform. Five case studies from a variety of developing countries extend these themes and examine other important issues such as water markets, irrigation and the measurement of groundwater scarcity. Finally, using Cyprus as an example, the authors demonstrate the manner in which improved water management policies can be implemented in a developing country. This final part serves to illustrate the policy solutions to the problems laid out in earlier chapters. Government agencies, private consulting firms and NGOs working in the fields of water resource allocation and economic development will find this volume to be an enlightening read. Academics, practitioners and those who wish to be better informed about the role and value of water management in developing countries will also find this to be an invaluable source of reference.

How will the industrial changes implicit within new biotechnologies affect modern agriculture? This book investigates these changes and provides an economic analysis of the industrial and distributional impacts of new biotechnologies, addressing in detail the significant consequences for developing countries. One of the most important facets of biotechnological change is the development of new technologies for appropriating the value of innovations in related industries. In agriculture these new appropriation technologies are known as 'genetic use restriction technologies', which enable the innovator to capture the value of innovative plant varieties by preventing their reproduction after purchase. This book analyses the implications of such technologies in terms of global agricultural production, the rate of innovation at the technological frontier and, in particular, the diffusion of these innovations across the globe. The authors set forth the economic and institutional framework within which innovations are occurring, focusing on the impacts on the least technologically advanced nations and their incentives to conserve genetic resources for use in future research and development. This stimulating book should be widely read by agricultural and resource economists, development economists, and scholars and researchers of environmental economics. Policymakers in developing countries will also gain valuable insights into the distribution of the potential benefits from biotechnology.

The environment has been exposed to a range of damaging contaminants from a wide variety of sources. Regulation of and legislation against offending parties has frequently been hampered because of the difficulty with cooperation among disparate disciplines in the natural, social and political sciences. This volume forms the conclusion of five years' collaboration among toxicologists, economists and lawyers in the understanding and solution of the problem of accumulative chemicals. As well as being a case study of the accumulation of pesticides in groundwater in one particular region (the European Union), the book forms a general study of the value of interdisciplinary approaches in environmental policy making. The volume will be a valuable resource for a broad group of academics and researchers in the area of environmental science and environmental policy.

The cause of global change has been the subject of heated debate in the past few years, especially in relation to climate change and biodiversity decline. However, a systematic explanation for changes in the biosphere at global level has still to be found. In this volume, a wide range of viewpoints from ecology and economics are surveyed to see if some light can be shed on this problem. Economists analyse how economic growth predictably alters the Earth, and ecologists consider how the drive for fitness and consequent population growth changes the globe. Both look at the institutional interface between humans and biosphere, and explain global change as the consequence of human non-cooperation and conflict. The conclusion is left to the reader: the object of this volume is to initiate debate on global change at this most fundamental level.

Swanson's book provides a good framework for understanding the extinction process in deeper socio-economic terms, and for evaluating some of the suggestions that have been made to arrest the decline. I am sure it will be of great interest to environmental economists working in this area.' - A. Markandya, Harvard Institute for International Development 'Tim Swanson's International Regulation of Extinction is the most important work on biodiversity to appear for many years. It should cause all concerned, environmentalists, economists, governments, regulators, international agencies to think again. They have misunderstood the causes of extinction, and have misdirected many of their policies as a result. Tim Swanson's work will spawn a whole new era of research. Most importantly, it can help save the world's biodiversity.' - Professor David Pearce, Director, CSERGE, University College London The book presents an economic analysis of the forces contributing to the global decline of biological diversity, and the policies available to control extinctions. The first part of the volume sets forth a revised economic theory of extinction, incorporating the terrestrial and institutional constraints on maintaining existing diversity. It analyses the existing conflicts between human development and biological diversity, entailing an application of the economic theory of learning-by-doing and global nonconvexities. The second half of the volume demonstrates the inefficiency of decentralised (multinational) regulation of biological diversity, and develops the range of approaches available in a global (international) approach to the resource. The policies analysed include transferable development rights, wildlife trade regimes, and intellectual property rights. The book concludes with a proposed agenda for the specification of the framework convention on biological diversity adopted at UNCED in Rio de Janeiro.

During the summer of 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro was hailed as a watershed moment in the ecology movement. Over 100 nations signed a new international treaty intended to conserve biological diversity. Yet, every day, species--many not even discovered--are driven into extinction and the ecological crisis continues to be a pressing global problem.

Stressing the need to build bridges between the scientific community and international policymakers, Timothy Swanson here develops a new theory of the interplay between human society and the biological world. Biodiversity regulation, he argues, must focus specifically on the regulation of the global economic forces driving species into extinction. As the global development process becomes increasingly sophisticated, the spectre of a homogenized biosphere looms large.

Yet, while biological diversity is responsible for a host of global benefits, it confers few tangible gains onto individual nations that offset the financial advantages of exploiting these same natural resources. The same economic rationale that drives farmers to grow coca leafs instead of grain compels countries to exploit natural resources, rather than conserve them. In order to stave off the decline of biological diversity, Swanson proposes the creation of specific policies that will internalize the benefits of biodiversity on a national level.