New book argues for integration of
environmental and development issues
The authors of a new book from UNU Press argue that environmental
problems should no longer be viewed as the side effects of development and
urge a new approach that promotes their integration. In Human Development and the
Environment – Challenges for the United Nations in the New Millennium,
edited by Hans van Ginkel, Brendan Barrett,
Julius Court and Jerry Valasquez, the principal message is that good
development involves conservation of the environment in a sustainable
manner.
Contributions outline productive ways in which the international
community and the UN system can address the major challenges of
eradicating poverty and reducing the rate of environmental deterioration.
They conclude that amongst the existing global institutions, only the UN
has the moral legitimacy, global credibility, and practical reach to
mediate and reconcile the competing pulls and tensions associated with
both the process and outcomes of globalization.
Other new titles from UNU Press include:
Trade Environment and the
Millennium (2nd edition) -
edited by Gary Sampson and Bradnee
Chambers
Provides an overview of the
key issues for negotiation at the World Trade Organization's Qatar
Ministerial meeting and well beyond. Resolving these issues is a
precondition for the launching of a new round of multilateral trade
negotiations – considered critical by many WTO member governments in
order to ensure a stable multilateral trading system that fully represents
the interests of developing countries.
Democracy in Latin America:
(Re)Constructing Political Society – edited by Manuel Antonio Garreton M.and
Edward Newman
Argues that the fundamental prerequisite of democracy is the existence
of a polity or ‘political society’, something that has been weak or
under threat in Latin America. Issues embraced include: dealing with past
abuses of human rights by balancing justice and reconciliation;
integrating societies into global market economics, with the accompanying
social and political impact this has brought; the manner in which external
actors - such as the United Nations, international financial institutions,
and multinational corporations - have conditioned or facilitated
democracy; the role of civil society; the problems of achieving a sense of
citizenship in many communities; the 'indigenous issue'; and the pervading
gap between the procedure and the substance of democracy.
The
Legitimacy of International Organizations – edited by Jean-Marc Coicaud
and Veijo Heiskanen
Presents the results of an interdisciplinary research project of the
Peace and Governance Programme of the United Nations University. The
authors, prominent experts in the fields of social and political
philosophy, law, political science, economics, and environmental studies,
take a fresh look at the philosophy of international organization, and
discuss why some have been able to retain or even reinforce their roles
while others have fallen from favour.
Financing for Development:
Proposals from Business and Civil Society – Edited by Barry
Herman, Federica Pietracci and Krishnan Sharma
Twenty-one authors, including business executives and civil-society
activists from developing and developed countries, address the question of
how to boost the financing of development. Topics covered range from micro
credit to large-scale project finance; from gender and poverty to bridging
the digital divide; from local to global environments for investment; from
domestic to international taxation; from trade expansion to debt relief;
and from official development assistance to reform of the United Nations.
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