It is not only the economic gap between “North” and “South” which has dramatically widened: the same is true of the ecological gap. However, because the Earth is one ecological unit, the progressively worsening environmental crisis in the developing countries is of significance for the...

This paper is about excessive overuse of resources and about serious environmental impacts, and the need for a global ecological turnaround. Ideas about a social contract for sustainability are being discussed, and examples given of resource decoupling and impact decoupling. Global environmental...