Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

World Resources Institute. 1996. World Resources 1996-1997. Oxford University Press. pp xiv + 365. ISBN 0 19 521161 8. £17.99.

For this, the seventh issue of this biennial, the WRI is joined as fiffi partners by the UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank. This change is also marked by a change in format making the resulting document much closer to the standard UN house-style. Thus there is a single issue for part one and the data tables, for which the book is rightly renowned, are now part two. To keep the work in parallel with the Habitat H conference in Istanbul, part one is devoted to the urban environment. The six chapters cover a range of current issues - environment, health, resources, transport, priorities for action and sustainability. A range of data tables supports the work. Part two consists of the usual range of chapters but with less analysis than in the past and with the data tables appended to the chapter rather than together. For those new to this series the authors cover the following topics: basic economics, population, land, food, biodiversity, energy and minerals, water and fisheries, atmosphere and climate. For those people using the data tables as an on-going record there appears to be comparability with previous issues.

In the past this volume has outshone the competition. It's information has been seen increasingly in numerous reports and it enjoys a measure of respect for its data. One must confess to being less than happy with the change to the UN-style approach. For many students, the detailed investigation of the whole data-range (along with the case studies used) meant that one had an up-to-date source of information. Now there is the possibility of waiting some time for one's interest to become the cover story. This caveat aside, for the price and information it still remains the one text that every library, institutional or personal, should have.