Climate changes, raw materials shortage, and economic development

The possibility of a climate change being brought about by our national economies has dominated the national and international ecopolitical discussion of the past few years like no other topic. The present study is an attempt at an as comprehensive an examination as possible of this problem. It works from the assumption that examining and solving environmental problems requires the cooperation and creativity of investigators from different disciplines. It accordingly develops a concept permitting an integration of scientific, economic, and ethical questions impinging on the problem of the greenhouse effect. Thus the study contributes to the groundwork of an ecological economics. The interdisciplinary approach to analysing the connections between climate changes, raw materials consumption, and economic development is variously seen to pinpoint the complex temporal structure of the problems. It becomes clear that ecopolitical measures take a long time to actually become effective. Besides shifiting the focus to questions as to the scope and limits of politico-economic action, the temporal strucutre of the problem also reveals the limitations of scientifically founded ecopolitical recommendations. This brings the ethical aspect of analysing and solving environmental problems to the fore. (orig./UA)