Environmental Accounting Explorations In Methodology

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Given the sense of urgency in the international debate and keenness to usher in fiscal and financial reforms for environmental protection, one would believe that the global community is ready to draw a road map to sustainable development. The UN Framework Convention on climatic Change has raised expectations of a global ecological order. However, if the environmental concerns are to be placed within the jurisdiction of national/international law and governance, the parameters of cost and benefit must be defined without any ambiguity. Without that, the environmental discourse would not rise above an emotional appeal and policy exhortations, which by the experience of the past decades is of little use in putting in place an effective redressal mechanism. Indeed, there is an apprehension that the issues pertaining to depletion and degradation of natural resources are not receiving due policy attention partly due an absence of a framework for natural resource accounting is developed at national level. The present volume makes an attempt to address these critical issues pertaining to measurement of environmental impact of development. It includes papers that address methodological issues at macro level. There are others tat pertain to individual sectors, attempting an assessment of physical volume of the capital stock, their utilisation and monetary value of their depletion. The objective is to evolve a methodology for environmental accounting which can ensure sustainability of development process at national level and contribute to establishing a global ecological order.

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Dr. Amitabh Kumar is Professor of Economic at Jawahaarlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a member of National Statistical Commission. He has been a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, and Maison des Sciences de L'homme in Paris, University of Amsterdam, University of Kaiserslautern and South Asian Institute Heidelberg, Germany. He has done research for UNDP, UNESCO, UNCHS, ILO, Government of Netherlands, University of Toronto, Sasakawa Foundation etc. He has worked as Director at National Institute of Urban Affairs, Indian Council of Social Science Research and Gujarat Institute of Development Research. Currently he is on the Editorial Boards of Manpower Journal, Urban India, Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Indian Journal of Labour Economics. He has about twenty books and two hundred research articles, published in India and abroad, to his cridit. Prof. Dr. Michael von Hauff is Proffessor of Economic and Economic and Economic Policy at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. He studied at the University of Augusta/Georgia, USA, and at the Universities of Stuttgart and Constance. He obtained his PhD degree in 1977 and completed his post doctoral habilitation in 1987. He has been a Visiting Professor at Delhi University, India, the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Instute of Economics, Yangon Myanmar. He is in the editorial boards of several international journals, such as Progress in Industrial Ecology and International Quarterly for Asian Studies and member of several national and international organizations including the European Academy of Science and Arts.