Energy, environment and international development

The paper traces the several events that happened during the early seventies which contributed to the development of the energy crisis, even though most of them have taken years, or even decades, in the making. The energy crisis dramatized the fragility of the world economy and the lack of world order. The paper also discusses the alternatives for energy development, the role of technological developments to alleviate energy shortages and conservation by more efficient use of energy. The authors conclude that effective policies in the area of energy and the environment can only be developed within a multidisciplinary context.