ABSTRACT
The chapter argues that environmental management is a social and political process, not a technical exercise, and therefore no one should be involved in management at any scale without some grounding in these issues. The approach set out here also implies that habitual distinctions between so-called developed and developing countries are not only meaningless in terms of sustainability, paternalistic and destructive of the idea of mutuality. Regenerative and assimilative capacities are treated here as 'natural capital', and failure to maintain these represents unsustainable capital consumption. Sustainable development requires an immense store of scientific knowledge about stresses on ecosystems and limits to carrying capacity. There may be a clue in areas of the world with sustainable resource use and low levels of non-renewable energy use, but also with a high quality of life, as measured by infant mortality, literacy and life expectancy. Market operations are necessary, not sufficient for a sustainable, healthy society, environmentally or socially.
