ABSTRACT
By the 1990s, environmental factors had become an issue for governments, business and society in a way that was unheard of only a
few years previously. The common perception is that the environment has been deteriorating for many years, that it continues to do so and
that human beings bear the primary responsibility for this. The reasons for this view are not difficult to understand. The world’s population has expanded from about 2.5 billion in 1950 to over 6 billion in 2000 and the accompanying increase in economic activity places additional demands and strains on the world’s resources. World energy demand, for example, has risen inexorably promoting additional emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming. Pressure on water resources is also increasing and is set to become a major environmental and political flashpoint. Deforestation continues, world fish stocks are strained and biodiversity generally is threatened as a result of the pressure on habitats and of pollution.
