The growing discussion on questions of environmental management has given rise to consideration of such matters in relation to the economic development of the Third World. Economic development is accompanied by damage and disruption to both the physical and social environment, and the extent to...

The long-forgotten subject of the ecological disadvantages of the tropics has been brought to the fore once again by the catastrophic droughts in the Sahel and in southern Africa. The naive belief that economic development is simply a matter of finding the right technology and of spreading...

The nuclear meltdown in Fukushima has given renewed momentum to the anti-nuclear power movement across Europe. However, the degree of momentum varies greatly from country to country, and considering the geographically widespread consequences of a nuclear accident, it hardly appears optimal for...

The relatively new concept of debt-for-nature swaps is intended to take account of the connection between the indebtedness of developing countries and the destruction of the environment taking place there, the consequences of which are increasingly also perceived as a threat in the industrial...

Combining debt reduction with halting deforestation seems to be an attractive way of solving two urgent global problems at the same time at hardly any cost. But this view may be overly optimistic. What are the advantages and the drawbacks of debt-for-nature swaps? Are there any better alternatives?