Economic Instruments for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

The plea for a sustainable development path and the need to cope with transboundary and global
pollution issues requires the development of new and effective policies in which economic instruments have an important role to play.
The importance of economic instruments for environmental policy is emphasized in both the Rio
Declaration and Agenda 21, where it was stressed that the use of economic instruments represents a tool for national authorities to promote the internalization of environmental costs and to apply the polluter-pays principle in the most efficient manner. They provide a means of enhancing the capacity of governments to deal with environmental and development issues in a cost effective manner, promoting technological innovation, influencing consumption and production patterns, as well as providing an important source of funding.
This volume presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art on economic instruments for environmental management and sustainable development and reviews the experience of developed countries and its relevance to developing countries. It documents the experience of developing countries in the use of economic instruments in environmental management. It attempts to delineate the modalities for introducing economic instruments in developing countries and countries in transition and human resource requirements and financial implications. Finally it attempts to establish a strategy for successfully introducing economic instruments in developing countries. The document makes a successful contribution to the field of economic instruments and shows that even in poor countries the introduction of economic instruments is a bankable project.