This book makes an important and timely contribution to the debate on foreign direct investment and sustainable development. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of environmental economics, development economics, international finance, law and management, as well as to policy-makers, environmental advocates, and private investors. Their analyses of the impacts, both positive and negative, of capital investment on environment and natural resources in emerging market countries yield the first objective assessment of how capital flows affect the prospects for sustainable development. This book will become a basic reference for policy makers, business executives, students of development, and environmental groups in discussions of the environmental consequences of economic globalization in the 21st century. The lessons of experience summarized here provide a strong set of directions for putting both wealthy nations and emerging market countries on the path to sustainable development.
Private capital flows, properly channeled, can contribute to our goal of sustainable development.