Sustainable Development Concepts - World Bank

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WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENT PAPERNUMBER 2

I 45

Sustainable Development Concepts

An Economic Analysis

FILE COPY

Report No.:11425

Type: (PUB)

Title: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEP

Author; PEZZEY, JOHN

Ext.: 0 Room: Dept.:

BOOKSTORE NOVEMBER 1992

John Pezzey

Public Disclosure Authorized

Public Disclosure Authorized

Public Disclosure Authorized

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RECENT WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENT PAPERS

No. 1

Cleaver, Munasinghe, Dyson, Egli, Peuker, and Wencelius, editors, Conservationof WestandCentral AfricanRainforests/ConservatiodnelaforetdenseenAfriquecentraleetde l'Ouest

WORLDBANKENVIRONMENPTAPERNUMBER2

Sustainable Development Concepts

An EconomicAnalysis

John Pezzey

Thisbook is printed on recycled paper

The World Bank Washington, D.C.

Copyright 0 1992 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/THEWORLDBANK 1818H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433,U.S.A.

All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing November 1992

Environment Papers are published to communicate the latest results of the Bank's environmental work to the development community with the least possible delay. The typescript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formal printed texts, and the World Bank accepts no responsibility for errors.

The findings, interpretations, and condusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. Any maps that accompany the text have been prepared solely for the convenience of readers; the designations and presentation of material in them do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Bank, its affiliates, or its Board or member counries concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of the authorities thereof or concerning the delimitation of its boundaries or its national affiliation.

The material in this publication is copyrighted. Requests for permission to reproduce portions of it should be sent to the Office of the Publisher at the address shown in the copyright notice above. The World Bank encourages dissenunation of its work and will normally give pernission promptly and, when the reproduction is for noncommercial purposes, without asking a fee. Permission to copy portions for cdassroomuse is granted through the Copyright Clearance Center, 27Congress Street, Salem,

Massachusetts 01970,U.S.A. The complete backlist of publications from the World Bank is shown in the annual Index ofPublications,

which contams an alphabetical title list (with full ordering information) and indexes of subjects, authors, and countries and regions. The latest edition is available free of charge from the Distribution Unit, Office of the Publisher,TheWorld Bank,1818H Street,N.W.,Washington,D.C 20433,US.A.,or from Publications, The World Bank, 66, avenue d'Iena, 75116Paris, France.

John Pezzey is a lecturer in the Department of Economics,at the University of Bristolin the United Kingdom, and a consultant to the Environmental Policy and Research Division, in the Environment Department of the World Bank.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pezzey,John, 1953-

Sustainabledevelopmentconcepts: an economicanalysis / John

Pezzey.

p. cm. - (World Bank environment paper; no. 2)

Includesbibliographicalreferences.

ISBN0-8213-2278-8

1. Sustainabledevelopment. 2. Economicpolicy. I. Title.

II. Series.

HD75.6.P49 1992

338.9-dc2O

92-35724

CIP

Foreword

The decade of the 1980s has witnessed a fundamentalchangein the waygovernmentsand developmentagencies think about environment and development. The two are no longer regarded as mutually exclusive. It is now recognized that a healthy environment is essential to sustainable development and a healthy economy. Moreover, economistsand

planners are beginning to recognize that economic development which erodes natural capital is often not successful. Quite the contrary. Developmentstrategiesand programs which do not take adequateaccountof the state of critical resources-forests, soils, grasslands, freshwater, coastal areas and fisheries--may degrade the resource base upon which future growth is dependent.

Since its formulation, the Environment Department has conducted research and policy work on these important issues. The Department's work has focussed, in particular, on the links between environment and development, and the implications of these linkagesfor developmentpolicyin general. The objectiveof the EnvironmentPaper Series is to make the results of our work available to the general public.

The broad conceptof sustainabledevelopment was widelydiscussedin the early 1980s,but was placed firmly on the internationalagendawith the publicationof Our CommonFuture in 1987, the report ofthe World CommissiononEnviron-

mentandDevelopment. Whilethe term "sustainability"has been widely used since then, little attempthas been made to translate this concept into an analyticalframeworkthat canbe usedin the development of "sustainable' economicpolicies.

This paper attempts to analyze the concepts of sustainable development, sustainableresource use and sustainable growth in terms of conventional economicanalysis,to examinewhy free market forces may not achieve sustainability,and to explainhow policy interventions may help or hinder the achievement of sustainability. An earlier version of this paper was published as an EnvironmentWorking Paper and was widely distributed and quoted. I am pleased, therefore, to see it reissued in revised form as a Bank EnvironmentPaper, so that it may reach an even wider audience.

MohamedT. El Ashry Director, EnvironmentDepartment

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