The conflict between what mainstream political thinking regards as economic growth and vital environmental demands is escalating. There is a growing belief that future prosperity on a global scale (if any) depends on the preservation of natural resources and on a Type of growth and development that is nesessary to eliminate poverty which is leading to the plundering of resources. In the past and up to now this idea has been confronted with the lack of inclination to do anything serious about it. In today' political reasoning there is no doubt that we do have global environmental decay, devestation of natural resources, population growth pressuring ecological ressources, and that there are development strategies doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. It is certain that these changes are nothing but different facets of a coinciding global economic and social development boosting global pollution and challenging social and ecological restrictions. However, there is no consensus as to what extent global change will affect human life on earth and how to respond politically.