Comments on ‘Key issues for attention from ecological economists’ by Paul Ehrlich

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-28
Author(s):  
STEPHEN POLASKY

Paul Ehrlich has a clear message for the economics profession: humanity faces a number of serious environmental problems and economists have a central role to play if we are to successfully address them. The article lays out an important research agenda for economists, which includes climate change, loss of biodiversity, release of toxic substances, epidemiological concerns, population, and over-consumption. Even if one disagrees with some of the particulars, and my guess is that many economists who read the article will, the big ideas contained in this article and the main messages are worthy of close attention. Rather than being on the periphery of the economics profession, those of us in economics who focus on environmental issues, whether called ecological economists, environmental economists or resource economists, should be at the heart of an economics profession focused on the most important and relevant issues facing society.

What must we do to achieve a sustainable society? There is no one answer. The first steps towards sustainability cover a whole spectrum of economic, social and environmental issues. In this volume Australian leaders from a wide range of fields discuss the key issues we must address if we are to move towards a more just and sustainable future. They identify the major concerns and challenges for achieving sustainability in the areas of: human health, water resources, land use and natural ecosystems, energy, equity and peace, economic systems, climate change, labour forces and work, urban design and transport, and population. Achieving sustainability will require major changes in our current approaches. The thought-provoking chapters in this book provide a solid introduction to the issues in the search for a genuine path to sustainability.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Iris Allan ◽  
Jennifer Hadden

This chapter explores key issues and questions related to civil society participation in comparative environmental politics. In doing so, it considers what the increased size, diversity, and complexity of civil society networks means for future scholarship. In particular, the authors reflect on the importance of focusing on events and institutions, the role for social network analysis, and the challenge posed by outcome complexity. They also suggest areas where the field can progress and what they consider to be important research frontiers in comparative environmental politics. These frontiers include cross-national comparative work, particularly in the developing world, as well as work on legitimacy and private authority.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Thuc An ◽  
Dau Kieu Ngoc Anh

The 2018 Nobel Economics Prize was awarded to two American economists - William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer - who designed methods for better assessing environmental issues and technological advances on growth. This year’s Laureates, Nordhaus was the first person to create an intergrated model to assess interactions between society and nature and Romer laid the foundation for what is now called endogenous growth theory. According to the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, these two macroeconomists’ research have helped “significantly broaden the scope of economic analysis by constructing models that explain how the market economy interacts with nature and knowledge” which integrates climate change measures into long-term sustainable economic growth. Keywords Nobel in economics, William D. Nordhaus, Paul M. Romer, climate change, endogenous growth theory, economic growth References [1] Y Vân (2018), “Lý lịch 'khủng' của hai nhà khoa học vừa giành giải Nobel Kinh tế 2018”, Vietnambiz, đăng tải ngày 08/10/2018, https://vietnambiz.vn/ly-lich-khung-cua-hai-nha-khoa-hoc-vua-gianh-giai-nobel-kinh-te-2018-95776.html[2] Jonas O. Bergman, Rich Miller (2018), “Nordhaus, Romer Win Nobel for Thinking on Climate, Innovation”, đăng tải ngày 8/10/2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-08/nordhaus-romer-win-2018-nobel-prize-in-economic-sciences [3] Antonin Pottier (2018), “Giải Nobel” William Nordhaus có thật sự nghiêm túc?”, Nguyễn Đôn Phước dịch, đăng tải ngày 11/10/2018, http://www.phantichkinhte123.com/2018/10/giai-nobel-william-nordhaus-co-that-su.html[4] Thăng Điệp (2018), “Giải Nobel kinh tế 2018 về tay hai người Mỹ”, đăng tải ngày 8/10/2018, http://vneconomy.vn/giai-nobel-kinh-te-2018-ve-tay-hai-nguoi-my-20181008185809239.htm[5] Lars P. Syll (2018), “Cuối cùng - Paul Romer cũng có được giải thưởng Nobel”, Huỳnh Thiện Quốc Việt dịch, đăng tải ngày 14/10/2018, http://www.phantichkinhte123.com/2018/10/cuoi-cung-paul-romer-cung-co-uoc-giai.html[6] Phương Võ (2018), “Nobel Kinh tế 2018: Chạm tới bài toán khó của thời đại”, đăng tải ngày 9/10/2018, https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-quoc-te/nobel-kinh-te-2018-cham-toi-bai-toan-kho-cua-thoi-dai-20181008221734228.htm[7] Đông Phong (2018), “Nobel Kinh tế cho giải pháp phát triển bền vững và phúc lợi người dân”, đăng tải ngày 8/10/2018, https://news.zing.vn/nobel-kinh-te-cho-giai-phap-phat-trien-ben-vung-va-phuc-loi-nguoi-dan-post882860.html[8] Thanh Trúc (2018), “Giải Nobel kinh tế 2018: Thay đổi tư duy về biến đổi khí hậu”, https://tusach.thuvienkhoahoc.com/wiki/Gi%E1%BA%A3i_Nobel_kinh_t%E1%BA%BF_2018:_Thay_%C4%91%E1%BB%95i_t%C6%B0_duy_v%E1%BB%81_bi%E1%BA%BFn_%C4%91%E1%BB%95i_kh%C3%AD_h%E1%BA%ADu[9] Cẩm Anh (2018), “Nobel kinh tế 2018: Lời giải cho tăng trưởng kinh tế bền vững”, đăng tải ngày 11/10/2018, http://enternews.vn/nobel-kinh-te-2018-loi-giai-cho-tang-truong-kinh-te-ben-vung-137600.html.


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S.J. Tol

Urban Studies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Tu

From the catalogue of environment-related publications in Urban Studies, this paper identifies and reviews 12 thought-provoking articles that have addressed the issue of climate changes and cities from complementary perspectives. It argues that to advance a holistic understanding of urban environmental issues it is necessary to embrace a broad multi-disciplinary approach, particularly as moving towards low carbon urban living will require integrated social, political and technical adaptation processes. Ultimately, the paper advances a forward-looking research agenda that extends beyond consideration of how to improve urban environmental performance to include evaluation of how urban consumers, firms and local government endeavour to achieve sustainable urban development.


Author(s):  
Emily Brady

What kinds of issues does the global crisis of climate change present to aesthetics, and how will they challenge the field to respond? This paper argues that a new research agenda is needed for aesthetics with respect to global climate change (GCC) and outlines a set of foundational issues which are especially pressing: (1) attention to environments that have been neglected by philosophers, for example, the cryosphere and aerosphere; (2) negative aesthetics of environment, in order to grasp aesthetic experiences, meanings, and dis/values in light of the catastrophic effects of GCC; (3) bringing intergenerational thinking into aesthetics through concepts of temporality and ‘future aesthetics’ (4) understanding the relationship between aesthetic and ethical values as they arise in regard to GCC.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-99
Author(s):  
Mohammad Khalil Elahee

The challenge of global climate change requires a radical change in our understanding of environmental issues, for its causes are linked to our dominant development model and its impact is significant at the grassroots level. Addressing energy production and consumption remains at the heart of any feasible solution. In this article, I define energy management (EM) as a systemic and systematic endeavor to optimize energy use through engineering and management tools in order to achieve political, economic, and environmental objectives. I also discuss what underpins EM’s ethical dimension, focusing on sustainability, and critically analyze the Islamic perspective to elaborate a value-based, universally acceptable, realistically applicable, and objective environmental ethic. By using EM as a vehicle toward sustainability, hence addressing climate change, I evaluate the outcomes of such a radical change in our understanding of environmental issues. I conclude by investigating whether a difference in vision with regard to faith and the hereafter can hinder a common engagement. Evidence is also sought from relevant specialist studies by non-Muslims, in which such Islamic principles as ordering the good and prohibiting the evil, ijmā‘, istiḥsān, istiṣḥāb, or istiṣlāḥhave been implemented to a given extent in all but name.


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