The latter regions have more than substituted for the decline in natural capital by accumulating other capital assets. In other words, during the past three decades the rich world seems to have enjoyed “sustainable development,” while development in the poor world (barring China) has been unsustainable.
相比之下，中国和经济合作发展组织（OECD）国家却实现了人均GNP和人均财富的同步增长。后者通过积累其它的资本资产还超额补偿了自然资本的下降。换言之，在过去的30年里，富国似乎已经实现了“可持续发展”，而穷国（除中国外）的经济发展却是不可持续的。