Environmental Economics: Concepts, Methods and Policies

Environmental Economics explores the ways in which economic theory and its applications, as practised and taught today, must be modified to explicitly accommodate the goal of sustainability and the vital role played by environmental capital.

Pivoting around the first and second laws of thermodynamics, as well as the principles of ecological resilience, this book is divided into five key parts, which include extensive coverage of environmental microeconomics and macroeconomics. It drills down into issues and challenges including consumer demand; production and supply; market organisation; renewable and non-renewable resources; environmental valuation; macroeconomic stabilisation and international trade and globalisation. Drawing on case studies from forestry, water, soil, air quality and mining, this book will equip readers with skills that enable the analyses of environmental and economic policy issues with a specific focus on the sustainability of the economy. This new edition has been updated throughout and provides further coverage on topics such as energy transition, market organisation and the role of environmental economics in regulatory decision-making including critiques of contemporary policy directives like tradable pollution permits and net zero emissions. Challenges to achieving stabilisation and emission reduction have been expanded to include wars and conflicts such as those in the Middle East and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This book further reinforces the premise that there are clear limits to growth and that modesty and moderation are superior alternatives.

Rich in pedagogical features, including key concept boxes and review questions at the end of each chapter, this book will be a vital resource for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students studying not only environmental economics/ecological economics but also economics in general.

Dodo J. Thampapillai is an honorary professor in the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University, where he previously held a personal chair in environmental economics. He is currently a senior fellow in executive education at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, where he was previously a professor. He also held Visiting Professorships/Fellowships at Simon Fraser University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Christian Albrechts University of Keil and the Australian National University. Dodo Thampapillai has been teaching economics and environmental economics for over 50 years leading him towards a serious rethink of how economics is taught and practised.

Matthias Ruth is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of York, York, United Kingdom. He previously served as Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of Alberta, Canada and in various other leadership positions in the USA and with academic appointments in numerous fields, including economics, engineering, geography, public policy and urban affairs. His research focuses on dynamic modelling of natural resource use, industrial and infrastructure systems analysis and environmental economics and policy. His theoretical work heavily draws on concepts from engineering, economics and ecology, while his applied research utilises methods of non-linear dynamic modelling as well as adaptive and anticipatory management. Applications of his work cover the full spectrum from local to regional, to national and global environmental challenges, as well as the investment and policy opportunities these challenges present.