"First published in Great Britain by Business Books Ltd., an imprint of Random Century Ltd., in association with the Economist Books Ltd."--Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-326) and index.

Introduction -- Growth and sustainable development -- Costs and benefits -- Where governments fail -- Making polluters pay -- Energy efficiency -- Conservation -- International environmental management -- The challenge to companies -- The green consumer -- Waste disposal -- Recycling -- Cleaner processes, cleaner products -- Environmental management -- Industry and the global environment. In Costing the Earth, Frances Cairncross shows the ways in which government can and must create the right conditions for businesses to develop environmentally sound practices and products. Covering issues such as water pollution, the greenhouse effect, and the destruction of the rain forests in a global context, the author shows how governments can design environmental policies that spur industry to innovate. Using economically based arguments, she demonstrates how the needs of industry must go hand in hand with those of ecology.