Book Review: State of the World 1993 by Lester Rubdown

This volume of state of the world reflects upon the critical relationship between environment and business around the world. Various themes have been gone through in this book, such as scarcity of water, energy in developing countries, gender gap in development, trade and environment and the indigenous people.

Every theme has been elaborated with examples of various regions, ranging from Americas to Asia. Problems such as air pollution, soil erosion and floods caused by deforestation, have been indicated as the threats to the sustainable economy .

Environmental audit and management have been considered as the key towards creating a balance between trade and environment. Towards the concluding pages of the book, government’s role in forming public policy and including the component of environment in it has been stressed upon.The role of various stake holders including governmental and non- governmental organizations should be encouraged and supported. Throughout the book there has been an effort by the author to stress emphasis on the need for sustainable development all over the world, especially in the third world where much of the industrialization is still to be done.