One other simplification to note at the outset is that the framework in Figure 1 focuses on
the links between the natural and economic worlds without attempting to elaborate in detail the
allocation of resources within the economic sphere. In particular, we recognize that produced
final output in the economy takes many forms – agriculture, manufacturing, household
production, and commercial services for example – and that final output results from the
production and application of numerous intermediate goods. In practice growth and
development policies must be concerned with these issues of the composition of economic
activity – the efficiency of specific sectors, the impacts of trade liberalization, and so forth.
Again, the framework can readily be extended to address a richer composition of economic
activity, but the substantial complication of the diagram does not add much to the broad
understanding of environment-economic linkages at the economy-wide level. Environment economic
linkages for various sectors are elaborated in subsequent parts of the paper.