Message-ID: <35ACF0BC.2799@worldscope.co.uk> Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 18:11:08 +0000 From: John Stuart <mailto:greenleaf@worldscope.co.uk> Subject: Environmental Management in Developing Countries To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Call for Contributions on the topic of ÔEnvironmental Management in Developing CountriesÕFollowing the success of the special issue of Greener Management International on this topic, Greenleaf Publishing invites contributions in the area of:
Environmental Management in Developing Countries
The contributions are invited to produce a book, edited by Dr. Walter Wehrmeyer and Dr. Yacob Mulugetta from the Centre for Environmental Strategy at University of Surrey in the UK.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT is a global phenomenon, embracing all businesses in all countries, whether or not there already exists an organised response to managing environmental impact. With rapid economic growth and corresponding increases in consumption in many developing countries, their environmental impact is soon to be substantially more significant than that of developed countries. Important factors include: the long-standing debate about the export of Ôdirty industriesÕ, the often underdeveloped and ill-enforced legal system, inferior technology for most organisations and the greater dependency on primary products for foreign exchange earnings. In short, developing countries have a specific set of parameters and priorities that make environmental management appear very different.
However, the previously assumed homogeneity of developing countries in terms of their social and economic structures has now been largely replaced by a more differentiated picture of economic and social development, which accounts for specific social, cultural and political circumstances much more than previous models. In this, the business approach to environmental protection is of particular importance, yet it is almost inevitably geared towards international markets, due to the virtually complete absence of green consumer markets in most developing countries.
To address these issues, the forthcoming book will broadly follow four main themes:
1. Globalisation. The long-established debate about unequal distribution of resources, power and consumptive opportunities between the North and the South has recently been transformed by the debate about the globalisation of economics and of trade. The environmental implications of globalisation, though captivated in a recent OECD report, are not yet fully understood and may require a different heuristic paradigm. One way to promote this better understanding may be the application of self-organisation theory in explaining the environmental implications of globalisation.
2. Current Status of Environmental Management in Developing Countries. This theme aims to shed further light on the current patterns of environmental industrialisation (or barriers to it) in developing countries. This particularly covers the contemporary debate on the use and purpose of ISO 14001 as well as on actual evidence to the argument that tighter legislation in the developed world will force firms to trans-locate into the developing world. The international trade in hazardous waste and the appropriateness of developed world environmental issues for developing countries are additional issues of interest.
3. The impact of Trade and Debt on Environmental Industry. The debt crisis and the resulting opening of developing economies towards the globalised marketsÑoften with the assistance of Structural Adjustment ProgrammesÑhas had a significant effect on the environmental quality in many developing countries. This theme aims to explore the analysis of this link with the hope to find structural patterns behind this development.
4. Environmental Management and Sustainable Development. Six years have passed since the UNCED Rio Declaration. The time has come to start to assess the impact Sustainable Development has hadÑin particular in the greening of development, the increase in sustainable welfare among poorer nations and the lessons we can learn from the general take-up of this still-confused concept ÔSustainable DevelopmentÕ.
In particular, contributions are being sought to addres the following topics: ¥ Public policy and legislation issues; ¥ Existence and extent of pollution havens; ¥ Local drivers for environmental improvements; ¥ Climate change and less developed countries; ¥ Protection and trade of forests and biodiversity; ¥ Leapfrogging technology and development; ¥ Micro-economics of environmental management; ¥ Theories of economic development and environmental management; ¥ Social and ethical dimensionsÑin particular corporate social responsibility.
We are looking for theoretical (but applicable and relevant) papers as well as appropriate case studies.
We would like to invite you to submit a paper or an outline abstract for a paper. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 1st September1998, with those contributions invited for inclusion in the book to be submitted by January 1st, 1999. The anticipated publication date will be in Spring1999. For further details, please write to:
Editorial information:
Dr. Walter Wehrmeyer or Dr. Yacob Mulugetta
Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0) 1483 259 075 Fax: +44 (0) 1483 259 521 E-mail: mailto:w.wehrmeyer@surrey.ac.uk E-mail: mailto:y.mulugetta@surrey.ac.uk
Sample copies and contribution guidelines can be obtained from:
-- John Stuart Managing Editor Greenleaf Publishing, Broom Hall, 8-10 Broomhall Road, Sheffield S10 2DR, UK Tel: +44 114 2663789 Fax: +44 114 2679403http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com