Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Economic growth, the environment and welfare : are they compatible? -- 2. The impact of perverse subsidies on international trade and the environment -- 3. Valuing statistical lives -- 4. The valuation of health impacts in developing countries -- 5. Economic instruments for waste management in Brazil -- 6. Deforestation, land degradation and rural poverty in Latin America : examining the evidence -- 7. Public policies and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon -- 8. Technology, climate change, productivity and land use in Brazilian agriculture -- 9. Economic incentives and forest concessions in Brazil.

The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of topics varying from the general problems of growth and conservation to specific applications such as; pollution costs, environmental taxation, deforestation and climate change. This volume also offers policymakers a comprehensive view of the challenges they face, and the legacies they leave, in order to convert environmental policy making into an actual programme of welfare improvement.