简介:Chinaisamongtheearliestcountriestodraftitsnationalsustainabledevelopmentstrategy.ShortlyaftertheUnitedNationsConferenceonEnvironmentandDevelopmentin1992,theChineseGovernmentdecidedtoformulateandimplementChina'sAgenda21-theWhitePaperonChina'sPopulation,EnvironmentandDevelopmentinthe21stCentury.ThisdocumentservesasthebasicguidelinetodirectthesocialandeconomicdevelopmentinChina.
简介:Whenwetrytoestimatefutureenvironmentalcostsresultingfromourcurrenteconomicactivities,weusuallycalculatethepresentvalueoftheconsequencesforourfuturegenerationsbyutilizingadiscountrateasastandardeconomicprocedure.Thepopularityofthisprocedureissolelysupportedbyitssimplicitywhichassumes:(1)aperfectfinancialmarketovereven100years,and(2)existenceofastabletimepreferencebetweentwoconsecutiveperiodsforanindividualconsumer.Anapparentdeficiencyofthisapproachisthatthepresentvalueoflifequalityoffuturegenerationsvariestoalargeextentalonganarbitrarilychosendiscountrate.Asamatteroffact,thediscountrate,whichcouldreflectthetimepreferenceas2%or5%,matterswhenwepredictcurrentstrategiesofenvironmentalprotectionforfuturegenerations.Simplyapplyingadiscountratetoevaluatethequalityofourfuturegeneration,withoutclarifyingtheactualproductionmechanismbehindthis,isalmosttothesameasignoringthefactthatallofthegoodsareproducedthroughanactualproductionprocessandthatenvironmentaldegradationreducestheefficiencyofthatprocess.Thegreatestconcernforourfuturegenerationsshouldnotbegivenbyanassumeddiscountrate,sincethediscountrateitselfisdeterminedbyfinancialmarketconditionsatcertainpointsintime.