Ecological Economics

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This subfield studies the interactions between economic systems and ecological systems, focusing on the economic aspects of environmental problems and sustainability.

Ecological Economics: An Introduction: An overview of the field of ecological economics and its key concepts and principles.
Systems Thinking: An approach to understanding complex systems that considers the interplay between various natural, social, and economic factors.
Sustainability: The capacity of natural, social, and economic systems to maintain themselves over time.
Natural Resource Management: The management and conservation of natural resources to ensure their sustainable use.
Environmental Policy: The development and implementation of policies to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.
Ecosystem Services: The benefits that humans derive from the natural environment, such as food, water, clean air, and recreation.
Environmental Valuation: The process of assigning a monetary value to environmental goods and services.
Ecological Footprint: A measure of the impact that human activities have on the natural environment, expressed in terms of the area of land and water needed to sustain those activities.
Climate Change: The phenomenon of global warming and its impact on the natural environment and human societies.
Environmental Justice: The fair and equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across different populations and communities.
Energy and Resource Use: The use of energy and natural resources in the context of sustainable development.
Population Dynamics: The study of the changes in the size and composition of human populations over time and their impact on the natural environment.
Environmental Accounting: The process of measuring and reporting the environmental impact of economic activities.
Corporate Social Responsibility: The responsibility of corporations to contribute to sustainable development and act in the best interests of society as a whole.
Economic Growth and Development: The process of economic growth and development in the context of sustainable development.
Biophysical Economics: This type of ecological economics focuses on the physical processes and material flows of the economy in relation to the biosphere, including energy and resource use, waste generation, and ecosystem services.
Institutional Economics: This type of ecological economics examines the role of institutions, rules, and governance structures in shaping the interactions between the economy and the environment.
Behavioral Economics: This type of ecological economics focuses on human behavior, decision-making, and preferences related to environmental issues such as pollution and conservation.
Ecological Footprint Economics: This type of ecological economics assesses the impact of human activities on the environment by measuring the amount of ecological resources and services required to sustain them.
Thermodynamics and Emergy-based Economics: This type of ecological economics incorporates the principles of thermodynamics to analyze the relationships between energy, resources, and the economy.
Environmental Valuation and Accounting: This type of ecological economics attempts to measure the value of natural resources and ecosystem services in economic terms to help incorporate these costs into market transactions and policy decisions.
Degrowth Economics: This type of ecological economics argues for reducing the economy's dependence on growth and instead promoting policies that focus on sustainable development, social equality, and quality of life.
Planetary Boundaries Economics: This type of ecological economics emphasizes the need to maintain the integrity of the Earth's ecosystems and the critical thresholds or limits beyond which irreversible harm to the planet's systems can occur.
"Ecological economics is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems, both intertemporally and spatially."
"...the field of ecological economics is differentiated from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment."
"...ecological economists emphasizing strong sustainability and rejecting the proposition that physical (human-made) capital can substitute for natural capital."
"Ecological economics was founded in the 1980s as a modern discipline on the works of and interactions between various European and American academics."
"The related field of green economics is in general a more politically applied form of the subject."
"According to ecological economist Malte Michael Faber, ecological economics is defined by its focus on nature, justice, and time."
"Issues of intergenerational equity, irreversibility of environmental change, uncertainty of long-term outcomes, and sustainable development guide ecological economic analysis and valuation."
"Ecological economists have questioned fundamental mainstream economic approaches such as cost-benefit analysis."
"Ecological economists...contend that economics is unavoidably normative, i.e., prescriptive, rather than positive or descriptive."
"Positional analysis, which attempts to incorporate time and justice issues, is proposed as an alternative."
"Ecological economics shares several of its perspectives with feminist economics, including the focus on sustainability, nature, justice, and care values."
"Karl Marx also commented on the relationship between capital and ecology, what is now known as ecosocialism."
"By treating the economy as a subsystem of Earth's larger ecosystem..."
"...by emphasizing the preservation of natural capital..."
"The related field of green economics is in general a more politically applied form of the subject."
"...rejecting the proposition that physical (human-made) capital can substitute for natural capital..."
"Issues of intergenerational equity, irreversibility of environmental change, uncertainty of long-term outcomes, and sustainable development..."
"Ecological economists have questioned...the separability of economic values from scientific research..."
"Positional analysis, which attempts to incorporate time and justice issues..."
"Karl Marx also commented on the relationship between capital and ecology, what is now known as ecosocialism."