ABSTRACT
The goal of a sustainable and healthy economic growth inherently requires careful environmental consideration. But, the financial crisis in most developing countries in particular-due especially to falling prices and earnings from commodity exports-has, for instance, sharply increased their debt-repayment burdens. By virtue of the fact that such countries are heavily in debt, it becomes difficult to justify any spending of scarce public funds on environmental initiatives. Thus, in most developing countries, it takes an extra strong national leadership, willing to gamble both politically and economically, to appreciate and make policy decisions on environmental issues.
