and thus may be negative. Awareness has grown – and continues to grow – that the question of how economic growth is affecting people and the planet needs to be addressed. Countries are slowly learning that it is cheaper and causes much less suffering to try to reduce the harmful effects of an economic activity or project at the beginning, when it is planned, than after the damage appears. To do this is not easy and is always imperfect. But an awareness of the need for such an effort indicates a greater understanding and moral concern than did the previous widespread attitude that focused only on creating new products and services.
This book combines the economic, environmental, and the social components into the concept of development. We use the neutral and expanded definition of development because economic development alone has sometimes led to negative social and environmental consequences that rival in scale the economic benefits generated. We have chosen this definition because there is no widespread agreement on what these desirable and undesirable features are.
In this book we will look at some of the most important current issues related to development. The well‐being of people depends on how governments and individuals deal with these issues. We will first look at issues related to wealth and poverty, then turn to population, food, and energy. We’ll then turn to the environmental impacts: climate change, natural resources, and pollution. In the last two chapters, we consider the role of technology and then conclude with a consideration of what the future holds. As you read this book, consider for yourself: If the goal is “development,” what are we developing toward? And how do we manage the interdependent relationships between societies, the environment, and a globalized economy? The way we answer these questions informs how we address global issues.
Further Reading
World Bank, The 2018 Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals: an all‐new visual guide to data and development. World Bank Data Team 05/24/2018 http://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/2018‐atlas‐sustainable‐development‐goals‐all‐new‐visual‐guide‐data‐and‐development?cid=ECR_LI_worldbank_EN_EXT (accessed December 2018).
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Website: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable‐development‐goals/ (accessed October 13, 2015).
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals website containing the text of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, expandable by topic: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/ (accessed October 13, 2015).
United Nations Press Release, Historic New Sustainable Development Agenda Unanimously Adopted by 193 UN Members, at http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/09/historic‐new‐sustainable‐development‐agenda‐unanimously‐adopted‐by‐193‐un‐members/ (accessed October 13, 2015).
Notes
1 1 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 2004 (New York: UNDP, 2004), p. 127.
2 2 See, generally, Wolfgang Sachs, The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2003).
3 3 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), World Economic and Social Survey 2010: Retooling Global Development (New York: United Nations, 2010).
4 4 Ibid.
5 5 Nancy Birdsall and Francis Fukuyama, “The Post‐Washington Consensus: Development after the Crisis,” Foreign Affairs (March/April 2011); UN DESA, World Economic and Social Survey 2010.
6 6 Barbara Ward, Progress for a Small Planet (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979).
7 7 African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, Art. 22 (1982).
8 8 Birdsall and Fukuyama, “The Post‐Washington Consensus.” (“The global food, energy and financial crises that exposed the systemic flaws inherent in the functioning of deregulated global markets required governments to step in to address those crises – and in ways that dealt a blow to the conventional wisdom underpinning the Washington Consensus.”)
9 9 Ibid.
10 10 United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014, p. 4, at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2014%20MDG%20report/MDG%202014%20English%20web.pdf (accessed July 2015).
11 11 Ibid.
12 12 United Nations, Millennium Development Goals website, at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml (accessed December 2018).
13 13 Birdsall and Fukuyama, “The Post‐Washington Consensus.”
14 14 See, generally, Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, Development Assistance Committee website, at https://data.oecd.org/oda/net‐oda.htm (accessed December 2018).
15 15 Compton Bourne, Financing for Development Challenges in Caribbean SIDS: A Case for Review of Eligibility Criteria for Access to Concessional Financing. United Nations Development Programme (2015).
16 16 See, generally, The Giving Pledge website, at www.givingpledge.org (last accessed December 2018); see also Stephanie Strom, “Billionaires’ Pledge to Give Away Half Gains Followers,” New York Times (August 5, 2010), p. A15.
17 17 The Giving Pledge website, at www.givingpledge.org (last accessed December 2018).
18 18 Peter Koteki, “The billionaire ‘Giving Pledge’ signed by Bill Gates and Elon Musk could soon be worth up to $600 billion.” Business Insider (July 18, 2018), at https://www.businessinsider.com/bill‐gates‐elon‐musk‐giving‐pledge‐may‐reach‐600‐billion‐2018‐7/
