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Title: Environmental Policies in the Third World: A Comparative Analysis (Contributions in Political Science) by O. P. Dwivedi, Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi ISBN: 0-313-29397-X Publisher: Greenwood Press Pub. Date: 28 February, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $99.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent resource on developing countries, with reservation
Comment: The book is a comparative study of environmental policy frameworks, in terms of the development of institutions, laws and regulations, for environmental management in developing countries. The first two chapters deal with global developments in the environmental arena and how they impact on developing countries in general, and the next seven chapters are case studies of specific countries (India, China, Indonesia, Africa, Nigeria, Chile, and Mexico). It is excellent in terms of detail of information presented on the development of regulatory frameworks in the case studies presented. The first two chapters also present an excellent historical review of global developments and the shifts in paradigms and emphasis. So in terms of being an information source, the book is excellent.

However the main drawback of the book is that there is an apparent lack of understanding of technical issues related to the environment and how the different issues are linked. It is somewhat understandable, given that most of the contributers are political scientists, but it is unfortunate that nobody reviewed it for technical environmental issues. In the second chapter, the ozone layer and global warming are combined together as one issue and the impacts are listed together in one list. Global warming does not cause skin cancer and CFCs are not significant greenhouse gases! It is amazing that the authors did not realize that the issue of the ozone layer is on its way to being solved with binding international treaties and protocols in effect and substitutes found for CFCs, the main cause of the hole; while there is still substantial disaggreement on global warming in terms of reaching consensus on what needs to be done to reduce fossil fuel use (the main reason for carbon dioxide emissions) and how it can be done. In the case studies, it is the chapter on China that stands out as having required review of the technical issues. Among other minor inaccuracies, the author attributes a change in the climate in China as being due to deforestation and pollution in China! Climate change is a global, not a local, phenomenon and the whole problem with reaching international agreement is that what happens in one country has an impact globally and not locally.

The other main drawback is that, although the case studies are excellent in the wealth of information they present on the development of the policy frameworks, they often mention that these frameworks were ineffective in having a real impact on the problems and issues. There is limited analysis on why that is the case and what the main constraints were. You can reach some tentative conclusions yourself, based on the information provided, but there is no structured analysis of this issue in the case studies.