14. The Political Economy of the Environment
This chapter focuses on the political economy of the environment and environmental change. The growth of the world economy is transforming the earth's environment. However, there are sharp disagreements over the nature of this transformation; for example, whether the globalization of capitalism is a force of progress and environmental solutions, or whether it is a cause of our current global environmental crisis. These questions are examined by considering the debates around some of the most contentious issues at the core of economic globalization and the environment: economic growth, production, and consumption; trade; and transnational investment. After providing an overview of the general arguments about how the global political economy affects the global environment, the chapter traces the history of global environmentalism — in particular, the emergence of international environmental institutions with the norm of sustainable development. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness of North–South environmental financing and international environmental regimes.