Instrument of significant importance, the cost-benefit analysis earned a well-deserved statute in justifying the modernization of investments, choosing the less poluant technologies and environment policies. For rezolving the complex problems within the environment field, a high degree of coordonation and integration of economic measures is necessary. The cost-benefit analysis was mostly used in U.K. and U.S.A. In the United States it was applied to the actions of environmental protection, education and health. The obstacles that intervein in this type of analysis are: lack of information, environment exploitation, ethics.
The cost-benefit analysis is a method through which it is decided if a certain project must be executed, by comparing the relevant economic costs with the potential benefits. It can also be used for private investment projects, calculating the revenues and expenses by estimating the net present value of the project, and it is frequently used by governments with the purpose of evaluating all the social costs and benefits of the project.