Too often, economics disassociates humans from nature, the economy from the biosphere that contains it, and sustainability from fairness. When economists do engage with environmental issues, they typically reduce their analysis to a science of efficiency that leaves aside issues of distributional analysis and justice. The aim of this lucid textbook is to provide a framework that prioritizes human well-being within the limits of the biosphere, and to rethink economic analysis and policy in the light of not just efficiency but equity. Leading economist Éloi Laurent systematically ties together sustainability and justice issues in covering a wide range of topics, from biodiversity and ecosystems, energy and climate change, environmental health and environmental justice, to new indicators of well-being and sustainability beyond GDP and growth, social-ecological transition, and sustainable urban systems. This book equips readers with ideas and tools from various disciplines alongside economics, such as history, political science, and philosophy, and invites them to apply those insights in order to understand and eventually tackle pressing twenty-first-century challenges. It will be an invaluable resource for students of environmental economics and policy, and sustainable development.

Environmental Economics: Theory, Application, andPolicy's strong policy-oriented approach to environmental economics draws in current research and case studies to illustrate topics on the cutting edge of worldwide policy debates. The author introduces students to subjects such as biodiversity, climate change, air pollution, and forestry by presenting the actual data and methods used by experts in these fields. In addition, considerable material on emerging areas such as macroeconomics and trade, agriculture, ecological economics, and sustainability gives students a full understanding of the environmental economics field. The book's focus on basic economic concepts in the introductory chapters prepares students to understand these issues. Chapman does not discuss economics in the abstract: examples, historical contexts, and case studies are used to illustrate key points. And throughout the book, there is a heavy emphasis on social issues and ethics. *Strong policy approach - seen in its integration of practical examples and issues that are both domestic and international in nature - combines scientific and economic interpretations of environmental problems *Focus on core economic th

Taking as its starting point the interdependence of the economy and the natural environment, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of ecological economics. The authors, who have written extensively on the economics of sustainability, build on insights from both mainstream economics and ecological sciences. Part I explores the interdependence of the modern economy and its environment, while Part II focuses mainly on the economy and on economics. Part III looks at how national governments set policy targets and the instruments used to pursue those targets. Part IV examines international trade and institutions, and two major global threats to sustainability - climate change and biodiversity loss. Assuming no prior knowledge of economics, this textbook is well suited for use on interdisciplinary environmental science and management courses. It has extensive student-friendly features including discussion questions and exercises, keyword highlighting, real-world illustrations, further reading and website addresses.

Environmental issues are of fundamental importance, and a broad approach to understanding the relationship of the human economy and the natural world is essential. In a rapidly changing policy and scientific context, this new edition of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics reflects an updated perspective on modern environmental topics. Now in its fourth edition, this book includes new material on climate change, the cost-competitiveness of renewable energy, global environmental trends, and sustainable economies. The text provides a balanced treatment of both standard environmental economics and ecological economics, based on the belief that these two approaches are complementary. Several chapters focus on the core concepts of environmental economics, including the theory of externalities, the management of public goods, the allocation of resources across time, environmental valuation, and cost-benefit analysis. Material on ecological economics includes such topics as macroeconomic scale, entropy, and "green" national accounting. Topical chapters focus on: energy; climate change; water resources; international trade; forests; fisheries; and agriculture, with an emphasis on designing effective policies to promote sustainability and a "green" economy. Harris and Roach’s premise is that a pluralistic approach is essential to understand the complex nexus between the economy and the environment. This perspective, combined with its emphasis on real-world policies, is particularly appealing to both instructors and students. This is the ideal text for classes on environmental, natural resource, and ecological economics. The book's companion website is available at: http://www.bu.edu/eci/education-materials/textbooks/environmental-and-natural-resource-economics/

This important book deals with the essential principles of resource and environmental economics, provides applications to contemporary issues in this field, and outlines and assesses policies being used or proposed for managing the use of environmental and natural resources. Covering specific contemporary topics such as agriculture and the environment, water use, greenhouse gas management, biodiversity conservation, tourism and the environment, and environmental economics and health, leading issues in resource and environmental economics are outlined and analyzed in an innovative manner. Institutional economics (both new and traditional) is applied and compared with other approaches such as neoclassical economics, behavioral economics and the Austrian School of Economics. This heterogeneous, multi-perspective approach enables problems to be considered from several different angles, thus enhancing the reader's comprehension of the subject matter. Furthermore, using minimal technical jargon, the book takes into account aspects of modern economic analysis such as the costs of and constraints on decision-making and the transaction costs involved in policy implementation.

This multidisciplinary book provides new insights and hope for sustainable prosperity given recent developments in economics – but only if swift and strong actions consistent with Earth’s biophysical limits and principles of justice are universally taken. It is one thing to put limits on resource throughput and waste generation to conform with the ecosphere’s biocapacity. It is another thing to efficiently allocate a sustainable rate of resource throughput and ensure it is equitably distributed in the form of final goods and services. While the separate but interdependent decisions regarding throughput, distribution, and allocation are the essence of ecological economics, dealing with them in a world that needs to cure its growth addiction requires a realistic understanding of macroeconomics and the fiscal capacity of currency-issuing central governments. Sustainable prosperity demands that we harness this understanding to carefully regulate the rate of resource throughput and manipulate macroeconomic outcomes to facilitate human flourishing. The book begins by outlining humanity’s current predicament of gross ecological overshoot and laments the half-century of missed opportunities since The Limits to Growth (1972). What was once economic growth has become, in many high-income countries, uneconomic growth (additional costs exceeding additional benefits), which is no longer advancing wellbeing. Meanwhile, low-income nations need a dose of efficient and equitable growth to escape poverty while protecting their environments and the global commons. The book argues for a synthesis of our increasing knowledge of the ecosphere’s limited carrying capacity and the power of governments to harness, transform, and distribute resources for the common good. Central to this synthesis must be a correct understanding of the difference between financial constraints and real resource constraints. While the latter apply to everyone, the former do not apply to currency-issuing central governments, which have much more capacity for corrective action than mainstream thinking perceives. The book joins the growing chorus of authoritative voices calling for a complete overhaul of the dominant economic system. We conclude with policy recommendations based on a new economics that, if implemented, would come close to guaranteeing a sustainable and prosperous future. Upon reading this book, at least one thing should be crystal clear: business as usual is not a viable option.