Barbier, Edward B.; Pearce, David W.; Markandya, Anil
Abstract
The introduction introduces the idea of sustainable development and how environmental and economic factors are incorporated into policy. The rest of the selection explains the basics of the economic valuation of environmental services. The implication of valuation procedure is the understanding that 1) environmental services are not free; 2) cost-benefit analysis is useful 3) many things cannot be valued in money terms; 4) economic systems must take into account the positive economic values for environmental quality.
