Can sustainable economic development be achieved without strong environmental protections? Bringing together theoretical issues in development economics and a wide range of empirical evidence, this book examines this question and explores ways that environmental sustainability has been-and might be-incorporated into existing theories of economic development. Protection of the environment is an essential part of development, and the best chance for achieving long-term sustainable development is to systematically incorporate environmental issues into key aspects of economic development paradigms. To show this, Desta makes use of theoretical approaches, draws policy implications, and illustrates each point with in-depth case studies from developing countries.

Although economists have attempted to discern the factors that contribute to sustainable economic growth since the 18th-century, development economics did not emerge as a legitimate discipline until after World War II. By the 1980s, the view that environmental concerns pose economic constraints had given way to the belief that environmental and development issues are interwoven. This book integrates existing economic development theories and environmental issues in a comprehensive, user-friendly way. It pulls together and makes understandable a wide range of current thinking and historical development, concluding each chapter with a case study that shows the workings of these ideas in practice.