Publisher's Synopsis
Sustainable development offers promising visions of the future. However, implementation of more sustainable policies seems frustratingly slow. This book presents a forecasting method directed to overcoming some barriers to the implementation of more sustainable economic policy. Using a case study, the authors describe how economic and environmental forecasts can be developed that are relevant to the immediate concerns of policy-makers and are thus more likely to lead to policy changes. A combination of forecasting methods is illustrated that reliably evaluates a range of current alternatives in a future context. While similar techniques have been used in developing countries, this is the first effort to use this combination to examine alternative development paths for an industrialized economy. The forecasting techniques are combined with methods that make sustainability a matter of more concern for immediate policy options. Information can be produced that has greater potential to shift economic policies towards greater sustainability.
