ABSTRACT
This chapter examines economic approaches to assessing sustainability. First, we provide a brief background on the nature and scope of economics identifying the entry points for an economic assessment of sustainability. We then consider the different ways in which economists define sustainability, as this heavily influences their approach to assessment. An important distinction is made between the narrow concept of economic sustainability and the broader concept of sustainability which is the main focus of this chapter. The discussion then turns to how economic approaches, in particular the modelling of relationships between economic, environmental and social variables can be used to estimate the magnitude of sustainability impacts (whether in biophysical or monetary terms) in different situations. Finally, we review the economic tools available to evaluate and compare economic, environmental and social impacts and to overcome the problem of different units of measurement.
