ABSTRACT
One of the most important challenges to confront industrial society is how to devise ecologically and environmentally sustainable forms of production. This challenge is rooted in growing concerns about serious damage to environment and health from industrial growth (see chapter 2 by Hayter and Le Heron, and chapter 11 by Soyez). It is only in recent years, especially since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, that concerns about the sustainability of current industrial development patterns have spread globally (UNIDO, 1997). During the 1980s, diverse environmental problems such as global carbon pollution, ozone depletion, and loss of species, forests, and fertile soils suggested that environmental damage was more widespread and serious than expected (Schmidheiny and Zorraquin, 1996). The importance of sustainable development policies has been widely recognized, including developing countries where rapid industrialization and economic growth, especially in China, has led to severe environmental degradation and pollution (UNIDO, 1996; Zhang et al1999).
