Environmental Policy and Societal Aims

Sustainable development and environmental improvement are often regarded as intrinsically valuable a priori. As a result, the policies by which these goals are to be attained is often inadequately scrutinised. In this book, ecological economics addresses the institutional and policymaking aspects of environmental problems, thus covering a broad socioeconomic research agenda, in contradistinction to mainstream economic approaches. The approach advocated here is open to differing viewpoints on the same issue, sees conflict resolution as a social process, and accepts the need for research into political-economic issues, according a prominent position to the aims of society itself. An in-depth analysis of the policy process is followed in order to understand the pitfalls and barriers that will confront society on the road to sustainable development.
Readership: The broad approach advocated will appeal to all involved in environmental problems - decision makers, NGO members, and academic scholars.

Inhalt
Environmental Policy and Societal Aims.- Industry Preferences for Instruments of Environmental Policy.- A Carbon/Energy Tax for Sustainable Development.- The Use of National Savings in Sustainability Analysis.- Sustainable Development and Ecological Modernisation.- Localized Technical Change and the Efficient Control of Global Warming.- Do Local Authorities Have a Part to Play in a Sustainable Development?.- Sustainability and Civic Participation in Environmental Local Auditing. Contributions from the Experience in Catalonia.- Local Sustainable Development: How Can Equity Issues Be Examined at the Local Level?.- Cultural Empowerment: (Re)Building Locality and Facilitating Collective Vision as Interventions Toward Sustainable Rural Development.- Qualitative Growth - Employment: A Revised Relationship.- From the Expected to the Desired Future of Passenger Transport. A Stakeholder Approach.- Sustainable Development and Social Justice: The Tool of the Reduction in Income Inequalities.