Taking Nature Into Account

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 1-11

3. Economic Growth and Western Society

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13

      PDF

   2. The History and Roots of Growth

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 15-27

   3. Economic Growth and Gross National Product

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 28-43

4. Paradoxes of Growth

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 45-45

      PDF

   2. State of the Environment

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 47-59

   3. Failures of the System of National Accounts

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 60-81

5. Sustainable Development

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 83-83

      PDF

   2. From Growth to Sustainability

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 85-98

   3. The Concept of Sustainability

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 99-123

   4. Vision of the South

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 124-141

   5. Indicators for Measuring Welfare

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 142-156

   6. The Role of Social Indicators

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 157-166

6. Environmental Adjustment of the System of National Accounts

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 167-167

      PDF

   2. Introduction

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 169-173

   3. Defensive Expenditures

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 175-186

   4. Depletion of Natural Resources

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 187-205

   5. Estimating Sustainable National Income

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 206-230

   6. Environmental Accounting and the System of National Accounts

      • Wouter Van Dieren

      Pages 231-251

Indicators used to direct ecomonic policy (GDP, national income, etc.) are based on a number of factors ß but nowhere in their calculation is there an acknowledgement of the degradation of natural resources. The numbers may look good, but continued deterioration of the environment is leading us closer to crises; meanwhile, policymakers and the public are basing decisions on dangerously incomplete information. In Taking Nature into Account, a number of the world's leading experts make the ethical, historical, economic, and ecological arguments for including environmental factors when measuring fiscal health. Initiated by the Club of Rome (an international group of influential businesspeople, statesmen, and scientists), and written in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, the report reviews existing methodologies and makes recommendations for adjusting the way we think about and measure the economy.

• development
• environment
• incomplete information
• natural resources
• society
• sustainability
• sustainable development
• welfare

Policies and ethics