Blueprint Series – serie

Blueprint 3 is the direct sequel to the ground-breaking Blueprint for a Green Economy. Taking the argument much further, David Pearce and his colleagues show how progress towards sustainability in the UK can be measured. They set out the conditions for sustainable development and the measures of economic progress these imply, before looking in detail at all the main areas of economic activity to which the measures are applicable. The result is a wide-ranging and cogent critique of existing policies which also offers new options - options which will require far-reaching reform of this country's existing political and institutional structure. Blueprint 3 will be a touchstone for future discussions of all the major policy areas.

This report has been prepared by the London Environmental Economics Centre (LEEC). LEEC is a joint venture, established in 1988, by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the department of Economics of University College London (UCL). Popularly known as The Pearce Report, this book is a report prepared for the Department of the Environment. It demonstrates the ways in which elements in our environment at present under threat from many forms of pollution can be costed. The book goes on to show ways in which governments are able, as a consequence of this analysis, to construct systems of taxation which would both reduce pollution by making it too costly and generate revenue for cleaning up much of the damage. The book ends with a series of skeleton programmes for progress.

Evidence has come to light regarding the impact of benzene emissions from road transport, the incidence of asthmatic attacks and the possible toll of particulate matter from diesel engines on human health. This book examines the issues and argues that, without a fundamental change in policy, it is inevitable that the transport sector will continue to impose increasing costs on the natural environment, human health and the economy. It also quantifies the external costs of road transport and suggests new measures, such as road pricing and financial incentives, to pave the way to a sustainable transport system.

Blueprint 4 continues the theme of Blueprint 2 in looking at the opportunities for using market forces for environmental ends. It assesses a range of possible imaginative 'global bargains', which give all parties a self-interested incentive to improve the global environment. The book begins by reviewing the principle global issues to be addressed, and then explains the mechanisms of resource degradation: how economic systems fail, the operation of trade on the environment and the effects of population growth and consumption patterns. It then shows how environmental value can be captured, and the basis, means and institutions for doing so.

Following 'Blueprint for a Green Economy' (the Pearce Report), David Pearce and his team have turned their attention to global environmental threats. If it makes sense to apply economic analysis to national environmental problems, then it makes even more sense to apply it to world-wide dangers. The authors start by describing the reasons for using economic approaches to common resources like climate, ozone and biodiversity. They then take a detailed look at the economic ways of tackling the issues involved in global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental degradation in the Third World, population, rain forests, aid, equity, international environmental co-operation and what might amount to green foreign policies. They show not only how to take all these things into account in economic theory, but also the economic price of failing to do so. Blueprint 2 is an agenda for international and governmental economic action.

This report has been prepared by the London Environmental Economics Centre (LEEC). LEEC is a joint venture, established in 1988, by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the department of Economics of University College London (UCL). Popularly known as The Pearce Report, this book is a report prepared for the Department of the Environment. It demonstrates the ways in which elements in our environment at present under threat from many forms of pollution can be costed. The book goes on to show ways in which governments are able, as a consequence of this analysis, to construct systems of taxation which would both reduce pollution by making it too costly and generate revenue for cleaning up much of the damage. The book ends with a series of skeleton programmes for progress.

Following 'Blueprint for a Green Economy' (the Pearce Report), David Pearce and his team have turned their attention to global environmental threats. If it makes sense to apply economic analysis to national environmental problems, then it makes even more sense to apply it to world-wide dangers. The authors start by describing the reasons for using economic approaches to common resources like climate, ozone and biodiversity. They then take a detailed look at the economic ways of tackling the issues involved in global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental degradation in the Third World, population, rain forests, aid, equity, international environmental co-operation and what might amount to green foreign policies. They show not only how to take all these things into account in economic theory, but also the economic price of failing to do so. Blueprint 2 is an agenda for international and governmental economic action.

Blueprint 3 is the direct sequel to the ground-breaking Blueprint for a Green Economy. Taking the argument much further, David Pearce and his colleagues show how progress towards sustainability in the UK can be measured. They set out the conditions for sustainable development and the measures of economic progress these imply, before looking in detail at all the main areas of economic activity to which the measures are applicable. The result is a wide-ranging and cogent critique of existing policies which also offers new options - options which will require far-reaching reform of this country's existing political and institutional structure. Blueprint 3 will be a touchstone for future discussions of all the major policy areas.

Blueprint 4 continues the theme of Blueprint 2 in looking at the opportunities for using market forces for environmental ends. It assesses a range of possible imaginative 'global bargains', which give all parties a self-interested incentive to improve the global environment. The book begins by reviewing the principle global issues to be addressed, and then explains the mechanisms of resource degradation: how economic systems fail, the operation of trade on the environment and the effects of population growth and consumption patterns. It then shows how environmental value can be captured, and the basis, means and institutions for doing so.

Evidence has come to light regarding the impact of benzene emissions from road transport, the incidence of asthmatic attacks and the possible toll of particulate matter from diesel engines on human health. This book examines the issues and argues that, without a fundamental change in policy, it is inevitable that the transport sector will continue to impose increasing costs on the natural environment, human health and the economy. It also quantifies the external costs of road transport and suggests new measures, such as road pricing and financial incentives, to pave the way to a sustainable transport system.

Ten years ago, Blueprint for a Green Economy made front-page news. Its central message, that environmental problems have their roots in economic 'failures', served to change the direction of environmental policy. The goal of sustainable development was seen to be illusory unless an economic perspective was brought to bear on the issue. A decade on, two of the original authors, David Pearce and Ed Barbier, return to the original theme to see what has changed. They find that the picture has improved, with governments worldwide now talking the language of environmental economics and making steps towards an economics-based environmental policy. However, there is a long way to go and Blueprint for a Sustainable Economy maps out the agenda again, with special reference this time to developing country problems where the neglect of environmental quality is costing nations dear. The authors show that their original formulation of the meaning of sustainable development has flourished into whole theories of how to achieve sustainability and how to measure a sustainable path for modern economies. They also show that all the principles applicable to a nation, or to the world as a whole, are equally applicable to corporations. Here is a blueprint for the start of the century.