Award Date

Spring 1996

Degree Type


Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts


Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Dennis Soden

Number of Pages



In 1996 the natural resource base of the world is being depleted at a rate far below the sustainable level. This is very evident in less developed countries (IDC), where raw limited natural resources are being poorly utilized and/or exported to more developed countries (MDC). The More Developed Countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany use a high amount of natural resources and energy to maintain their material Standard Of Living (SOL), and this is at rates above what their own country can sustain with its own natural resources within its own borders. Both MDC's and LDC's are contributing to the decline of the earth's natural resources, the over-burdening the natural waste assimilation cycle, and the destruction of natural habitats. It is the MDC that hold global power in the form of technology, military might, and financial power, and they have the ability to be the forerunner in creating and implementing policies that would move themselves and the world toward a sustainable society worldwide. There are barriers that exist today in both MDC and LDC that prevent us from moving to a more sustainable society.

In this paper I hope to identify these barriers preventing sustainable development in MDC's and LDC's, and propose possible solutions to those barriers.


Cost and standard of living; Developed countries; Developing countries; Natural resources management; Sustainable development


Environmental Sciences | Growth and Development | Natural Resource Economics | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Sustainability