Background is provided on the nature of environmental and resource economics and its origins. The main current view of environmental/resource economists about the concept of sustainable development is outlined and the implications of this view for decision-making about optimal resource-use,...

Several different concepts of sustainable development exist in the literature (Tisdell, 1993, Ch. 9). However, it seems that no matter which of these concepts is adopted conservation of biological diversity is necessary for its achievement, even though there is room for argument •about the...

Ecological, evolutionary and economic issues involved in introducing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), mainly in agriculture, are discussed. The ecological and evolutionary impacts identified hamper (economic) valuation of GMOs and their biosafety regulation and creates difficulties for...

The most widely accepted view of sustainable economic development is that it is economic development ensuring that each succeeding generation is no less well off than its predecessor. This mainstream approach, however, has several limitations. It can, for example, result in a development path...

Indicates some of the different concepts of sustainable economic development and raises queries about how much present generations are concerned with future generations. A variety of conditions (ranging from very weak to very strong) have been suggested for achieving sustainable development....

Biodiversity is usually regarded as an asset or resource, the stock of which is partly natural and partly determined by humans. Humans both subtract from and add to this stock and consequently, the change in the stock is heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is not taken account of by some authors...