[...]... tries to capture the societal debates about environment and political economy rather than just the academic debates over the theories of the political economy of the environment Naturally, given the breadth of our labels, many disagreements exist among those in each category We have tried to show the range of views subsumed under each of the four major worldviews, although at the end of this book you may... core debates Paths to a Green World would also function well as a university textbook to introduce the debates on the interface between political economy and global environmental change Instructors using this as a textbook may want to add case studies of particular global environmental problems In our own teaching, we add, for example, lectures and readings on the political economy of climate change,... countries The main drivers of environmental degradation, according to market liberals, are a lack of economic growth, poverty, distortions and failures of the market, and bad policies The poor are not viewed as unconcerned or ignorant Rather, to survive to eat, to build homes, to earn a living— they must exploit the natural resources around them They are, according to the World Bank, both “victims and agents... Harlem Brundtland in her role in the 1980s as head of the World Commission on Environment and Development and Canadian diplomat Maurice Strong as organizer of global environmental conferences The aim of this approach is to ensure that global economic policies work to both improve the environment and raise living standards.12 Controls at all levels of governance, from the local to the national to the. .. invaluable research assistance, special thanks go to Sam Grey for her tireless work and far-reaching talents Sharon Goad, Joshua Gordon, Jeca Glor-Bell, and Sanushka Mudaliar also helped immeasurably with the research We are grateful to the Australian Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for financial support for this research For perceptive comments and valuable... may want to integrate some literature with more of a disciplinary focus to expose students to the particular terminology and research methods that their discipline uses to analyze the political economy of global environmental change One of us, for example, teaches in a department of political science and supplements this book with readings that reflect the language and debates in the fields of international... concentrate exclusively on the political economy of the global environment, striving to integrate the debates within the “real world of global policy and the “academic world of theory It moves well beyond the traditional academic focus on international agreements and institutions in an effort to capture the views on politics, economics, and the environment within the halls of global conferences, on the. .. Four Environmental Worldviews We present four main worldviews on global environmental change and its relationship to the global political economy: those of market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists, and social greens These labels are intentionally transdisciplinary Many books on the global environment confine the analysis to one disciplinary box—by limiting it, say, to political science theories... deforestation, and biodiversity loss—are already destroying the planet Without doubt, too, many of the world s poorest people have already collided with their sun, dying from disease, starvation, war, and abuse The beginning of the end, these environmentalists lament, is already upon us We, as a species, are now beyond the earth’s carrying capacity, a trend accelerating in the era of globalization Unless... influences how we manage local, national, and ultimately global environments The issues that shape the relationship between the global political economy and the environment are, of course, often technical and scientific But they are frequently also socioeconomic and political Our hope is that by sketching the arguments and assumptions about socioeconomic and political causes with the broadest possible strokes, . Sanushka Mudaliar also helped immeasurably with the research. We are grateful to the Australian Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for financial. introduce the debates on the interface between political economy and global environmental change. Instructors using this as a textbook may want to add case studies of particular global environmental.