"The era when the cold war and arms control dominated the international agenda is receding. New issues which are even more complex and threatening to humanity are creating a new agenda dominated by climate change. Defending the World takes a panoramic look at the environmental scene as governments begin work on the climate and atmospheric convention which will be the centrepiece of the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil in 1992. The huge pressures created by pollution increase and poverty make David Adamson sceptical about the validity of concepts like sustainable development. The first concern of much of humanity will be survival; whether what is done in the struggle to provide work and maintain standards of living is sustainable will be secondary. The trillions of dollars which developed nations will have to spend on defending themselves against the ravages of climate change make it unlikely that the amount of aid available to poor countries will be anywhere near commensurate with the often far greater problems they will face. Defending the World looks at the historical and political context of the new era in which environmental diplomacy will be at the centre of international relations. It examines the agreements already reached on the global commons and relates the key issues of nuclear power, energy and agriculture to our concerns over the greenhouse gases."--Bloomsbury Publishing.