VII. ISSUES AND PROBLEMS: SOME POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
[ VII-A | VII-B | VII-C | VII-D | VII-E | VII-F | VII-G | VII-H | VII-I | VII-J| VII-K| VII-L| VII-M ]
B. Setting priorities
Ideally, priority setting can be based on the collection and analysis of available data, careful evaluation of the costs and benefits of various types of interventions, the assessment of the administrative burden of alternatives and participatory decision-making. It is much easier to analyse the symptoms of non-sustainable development than to make difficult choices concerning priorities for intervention. In practice, priorities are best set as a result of a process involving both technical and public inputs and by taking into account scientific, economic and medical evidence as well as the intensity of public concern over risk.
In the final analysis, the government has to decide what level of environmental quality is politically and economically feasible and what instruments should be deployed to achieve those environmental goals.
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