Environmental crisis: The missing dimension in the north-south dialogue

At a time when environmental policies in industrialized countries are beginning to prove successful, the growing ecological crisis in developing countries is progressively becoming a problem of worldwide significance. Although our earth can and should be understood to be a single homogeneous ecosystem, from the standpoint of environmental policies it is moving increasingly towards structural heterogeneity. This paper outlines the extent and dynamics of the ecological crisis in developing countries, and demonstrates, with relevant examples, its repercussions for the industrialized countries. The presumably mutual interests in preventing or alleviating these negative repercussions are examined. In conclusion, the author recommends taking a telescopic view of the environmental problems and calls for an early recognition of the interdependencies between ecology and economy in the North- South context.