Sustainable Development: The Economic and Environmental Case for Policy Reform

Abstract. Acceptance of the concept of sustainable development as a long term goal has shifted the nature of the debate about the environment and its relation to development. Previously, emphasis was on the adverse effects of economic development on the environment. It is now argued that a degraded and deteriorating environment is a threat to economic development. However, if the promise of sustainability is to be fully explored some fundamental changes must be made. The most important changes concern: first, the way ecological factors are integrated into economic decision making; second, the design of domestic policies; third, the emergence of environmental change as a force in international relations; and, fourth, the need to restructure the international economy and global political arrangements. Canada and New Zealand provide examples of efforts to tackle these issues, to halt environmental destruction and resource depletion, and to meet global development needs.