Green Development - Environment and sustainability in a developing world - 3rd edition - Revised and updated guide

Aug 31, 2026

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Green Development examines sustainability as the core challenge linking environment and development, and analyzes how governments, business, and environmental organizations respond in both theory and practice. The third edition updates the book with advances in sustainability thinking and changes in international policy, giving particular attention to political ecology, environmental risk, and development impacts. It covers the origins and evolution of sustainability, mainstream approaches, alternative theories, and sustainability dilemmas across degradation, deforestation, biodiversity, dams, and urban and industrial development, including policy strategy choices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages478

Reading Time20 h 5 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations and acronyms

1 The dilemma of sustainability

Sustainable development

Sustainable development as Pollyanna

The discourse of development

The challenge of poverty

The challenge of environmental change

Environment and development: one problem, two cultures

Outline of the book

Summary

Further reading

Web sources

2 The origins of sustainable development

Environmentalism and the emergence of sustainable development

Global environmentalism

Nature preservation and sustainable development

International environmental organization

Ecology and the balance of nature

Ecology and tropical development

Ecological managerialism

The ecological impacts of development

Environmental limits, population and global crisis

Global science and sustainable development

Summary

Further reading

Web sources

3 The development of sustainable development

Before the mainstream: the Stockholm Conference

The World Conservation Strategy

Integrating conservation and development

The Brundtland Report

Caring for the Earth

Summary

Further reading

Web sources

4 Sustainable development: making the mainstream

The Rio Conference

Sustainable development at Rio

The Convention on Biological Diversity

The Framework Convention on Climate Change

From Rio to Johannesburg

The World Summit on Sustainable Development

Summary

Further reading

Web sources

5 Mainstream sustainable development

Market environmentalism

Corporations and sustainabilit

Green Development The concept of sustainability lies at the core of the challenge of environment and development, and the way governments, business and environmental groups respond to it. Green Development provides a clear and coherent analysis of sustainable development in both theory and practice. The third edition retains the structure of previous editions, but has been updated to reflect advances in ideas and changes in international policy. Greater attention has been given to political ecology, environmental risk and the environmental impacts of development. This fully revised edition discusses: t the origins of thinking about sustainability and sustainable development, and its evolution to the present day; t the ideas that dominate mainstream sustainable development (Ecological Modernization, Market Environmentalism and Environmental Economics); t the nature and diversity of alternative ideas about sustainability that challenge‘business as usual’ thinking (for example eco-socialism, eco-feminism, Deep Ecology and political ecology); t the dilemmas of sustainability in the context of dryland degradation, deforestation, biodiversity conservation, dam construction, and urban and industrial development t the nature of policy choices about the environment and development strategies, and between reformist and radical responses to the contemporary global dilemmas. Green Development offers clear insights into the challenges of environmental sustainability, and social and economic development. It is unique in offering a synthesis of theoretical ideas on sustainability and in its coverage of the extensive literature on environment and development around the world. The book has proved its value to generations of students as an authoritative, thought-provoking and readable guide to the field of sustainable development. Professor Bill Adams has worked for over thirty years on the problems of conservation and development in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is Moran Professor of Conservation and Development in the Department of Geography at Cambridge. He was awarded the Busk Medal by the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers in 2004. His book Against Extinction: the story of conservation was published in 2004 (Earthscan, London) . Green Development 3rd edition Environment and sustainability in a developing world W. M . Adams First edition published 1990 Second edition published 2001 Third edition published 2009 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of [eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk](eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk)” © 1990, 2001, 2009 W. M. Adams All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Adams, W. M. (William Mark), 1955– Green development : environment and sustainability in a developing world / W.M. Adams.– 3rd ed. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Sustainable development—Developing countries. 2. Green movement—Developing countries. I. Title. HC59 .7.A714 2008 338.9'27091724–dc22 2008002208 ISBN 0-203-92971-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN13: 978-0-415-39508-3 (pbk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-39507-6 (hbk)

FAQs

What does Green Development focus on regarding sustainability and development?

It treats sustainability as central to the environment-and-development challenge and explains how governments, business, and environmental groups respond, linking theory with practical analysis.

What key updates are included in the third edition?

The structure remains, but the edition is updated to reflect new ideas and shifts in international policy, with greater attention to political ecology, environmental risk, and the environmental impacts of development.

Which mainstream and alternative ideas are discussed?

Mainstream approaches include Ecological Modernization, Market Environmentalism, and Environmental Economics. Alternative perspectives examined include eco-socialism, eco-feminism, Deep Ecology, and political ecology.

Aug 31, 2026

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