The OECD Development Centre and the Centre for Economic Policy Research share a desire to stimulate economic analysis with policy applications. Sustainable development has come to the top of the international and domestic policy agendas. The broad commitments have proved difficult to implement, however, not least because the meaning of ‘sustainable development’ and its implications for economic policy making remain poorly understood.

This volume aims to clarify the relationship between economic and environmental policies. It breaks new ground in approaching environmental policies from an economy-wide perspective. In addition to addressing the broad question of the relationship between growth and sustainability, it considers specific domestic and international economic policies which support sustainable development as well as the need to clarify the measurement and definition of sustainable growth.

The volume represents the results of the joint Development Centre/CEPR Conference on Sustainable Economic Development: Domestic and International Policies, held in Paris in May 1993. We expect it to provide a timely contribution to those engaged in the vital task of designing national and international policies which ensure that development is indeed sustainable.