A return on investment framework can help businesses identify the costs and benefits of participating in voluntary programs under the US Endangered Species Act that aim to encourage conservation by the private sector—beyond what is required for compliance.

New data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show the country decreased its coal consumption for the second year in a row. This could be a temporary pause caused by economic restructuring from manufacturing to services, or it could indicate a larger trend toward lower coal intensity.

The recent history of China has been one of spectacular economic growth. The country’s GDP soared from 3.43 percent of global GDP in 2000 to 11.35 percent in 2012. Its per capita income of US$6,100 in 2012 puts China in the category of middle-income countries such as South Africa, Egypt, and Thailand.

Mun S. Ho and Zhongmin Wang trace China’s rapid economic growth and the associated environmental problems to its unique and fundamental institutions—and discuss the implications for a more sustainable path.

One of the indicators the World Bank uses to measure the sustainability of a country’s growth is adjusted net savings (ANS), which includes an estimate of the costs of health damages from exposure to outdoor air pollution. This pollution damage indicator is published annually in the World Development Indicators, together with estimates of annual average PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter) in cities of 100,000 or more.