The debate on the appropriate criteria for environmental sustainability encompasses a variety of approaches, ranging from conventional environmental standards through to complete system changes. In this paper, the relevance of the sustainability debate to practical decisionmaking is tested in an empirical context of nitrate pollution control in eastern England. Five alternative criteria (no control, aggregate and uniform standards, low and zero nitrogen-input systems) are specified for examination. These are assessed and compared by using a linear programming model. Conventional environmental standards are seen as more cost-effective than low and zero input systems. It appears that various approaches can be consistent with sustainability objectives and are relevant to environmental management problems. The choice of approaches has significant environmental and economic implications in practice. However, all the control alternatives have their own strengths and each may be preferable in some specific circumstances.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ADAS, 1988MAFF Reference Book 209. Fertilizer Recommendations5th edition, Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (HMSO, London)
2.
AndreassonI, 1990, “Costs for reducing farmers' use of nitrogen in Gotland, Sweden”Ecological Economics2287–299
3.
BaumolW JOatesW E, 1971, “The use of standards and prices for protection of the environment”Swedish Journal of Economics7342–54
4.
BaumolW JOatesW E, 1988The Theory of Environmental Policy2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
5.
ConradJ MClarkC W, 1987Natural Resource Economics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
6.
CrollB THayesC R, 1988, “Nitrate and water supplies in the United Kingdom”Environmental Pollution50163–187
7.
CrossonP ROstrovJ E, 1988, “Alternative agriculture: sorting out its environmental benefits”Resources for the Future number 92 (Summer) 13–16
8.
DalyH E, 1990, “Towards some operational principles of sustainable development”Ecological Economics21–6
9.
DykeG VGeorgeB JJohnstonA EPoultonP KToddA D, 1983, “The Broadbalk wheat experiment 1968-78: yields and plant nutrients in crops grown continuously and in rotation”, in Annual Report for 1982Rothamsted Experiment Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ, part II, pp5–44
10.
EC, 1980, “Council directive relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption”Official Journal of the European Communities23 (80/778, no. L229) 11–29
FribergMHettneB, 1985, “The greening of the world: towards a non-deterministic model of global processes”, in Development as Social Transformation: Reflections on the Global Problematique Eds AddoH and others (Hodder and Stoughton, London) pp 204–270
13.
HawkinsS WRossP H, 1979, “The relationship between the rate of fertilizer nitrogen applied to grassland and milk production: an analysis of recorded farm data”Grass and Forage Science34203–208
14.
IUCN/UNEP/WWF, 1991Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living International Union for the Conservation of Nature, United Nations Environment Program, World Wide Fund for Nature (IUCN, Gland, Switzerland)
15.
JacobsM C, 1991The Green Economy (Pluto Press, London)
16.
JohnsonS JAdamsR MPerryG M, 1991, “The on-farm costs of reducing groundwater pollution”American Journal of Agricultural Economics731063–1073
17.
JonesR J AThomassonA JRobsonJ DCarterA D, 1989, “Mapping potential nitrate leaching losses from agricultural land in the UK”, in Agricultural: Computerisation of Land Use Data Eds JonesR J ABiagiB, EUR 11151 EN (Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg) pp 85–96
18.
MAFF, 1988, “Milk production before and after quotas”, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (HMSO, London)
19.
MAFF, 1990, “The basic rules of the Set Aside Scheme”, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH
20.
MeadowsD HMeadowsD LRandersJ, 1992Beyond the Limits: Global Collapse or a Sustainable Future (Earthscan Publications, London)
21.
MollisonB, 1988Permaculture: A Designer's Handbook (Tagari, Talgrum, NSW)
22.
MurphyM C, 1989–91, “Report on farming in the eastern counties of England”, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1990/91, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
23.
NCG, 1986, “Nitrate in water”, pollution paper 26, Nitrate Coordination Group, Department of the Environment (HMSO, London)
24.
PanJ, 1992Economic Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability: A Synthetic Approach unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
25.
PearceD W, 1987, “Foundations of ecological economics”Ecological Modelling379–18
26.
PearceD WTurnerR K, 1990Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment (Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, Herts)
27.
PearceD WMarkandyaABarbierE, 1989Blueprint for a Green Economy (Earthscan Publications, London)
28.
PopeSAppletonMWhealE, 1991The Green Book: The Essential A—Z Guide to the Environment (Hodder and Stoughton, London)
29.
SSEW, 1983, “Soils of eastern England, map scale 1:250,000”, Soil Surveys of England and Wales, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts AL5 2JQ
30.
STW/MAFF/DoE, 1988, “The Hatton catchment nitrate study: a report of a joint investigation on the control of nitrate in water supplies”, Severn Trent Water Ltd, 2297 Coventry Road, Birmingham B26 3PU
31.
ThimmC, 1989, “Possibilities of economic performance in organic agriculture”, in Economic Aspects of Environmental Regulation in Agriculture Eds DubgaardANielsonA H (Wissenschaftsverlag Vauk, Kiel) pp 279–287
32.
WijnandF G, 1990, “Farming systems in the Netherlands: perspectives for integrated arable mixed system”Crop Protection in Organic and Low Input Agriculture monograph 45, Ed. UnwinR, British Crop Protection Council, 49 Downing Street, Farnham GU9 7PH, pp 139–146
33.
World Bank, 1992World Development Report 1992 (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
