Valuing the global environment : actions & investments for a 21st century / Robert Livernash … [et al.]

Content

The vista of our blue planet from outer space is almost an environmental cliche in the 1990s. But at the end o f the 1960s my generation was profoundly influenced by the first images of Earth busting with life in an otherwise lifeless void. It brought home to us the vulnerability of our planet and helped inspire the start of global environmental awareness.
Conserving what is - or what may be - of potential economic value cannot be done in isolation. That thing we call 'nature' is a dynamic collection of genes, species, and ecosystems. As any builder knows, take out one stone too many and the house will collapse. We can be encouraged by two things. First, that nature is more resilient than is often supposed. And second, that even in our material world many nations are coming to see the importance of conserving their parts of the whole.
Nations have to think globally and harmonize local action to benefit the whole planet. How to do that was the problem which faced policy makers before the Earth Summit. At Rio the world's leaders assigned that task to the Global Environment Facility.

Includes bibliographical references and index