Environmental economics and ecological economics: the contribution of interdisciplinarity to understanding, influence and effectiveness

Abstract

SUMMARYThis paper reviews developments in both environmental economics and ecological economics with respect to their progress towards environmental interdisciplinarity and towards providing solutions to environmental problems. The concepts, methods, theories and assumptions of each field of knowledge are reviewed and the extent to which they depart from the dominant neoclassical paradigm of economics is assessed. The contribution that interdisciplinarity has made to the success of each field is analysed in terms of understanding, influence and effectiveness and the constraints that it has imposed upon that success. Environmental economics has adopted the dominant economic neoclassical paradigm, including the power of the market to allocate environmental resources efficiently and in a socially optimal way. The solution to environmental problems is thus seen as a matter of ensuring that the environment is properly priced to reflect the relative scarcity of natural resources and assets and to ensure that environmental values are incorporated into the market. This specialized view of environmental problems is now reflected in government policy around the world including the use of extended cost benefit analyses, contingent valuations, environmental charges and emissions trading. Nevertheless, environmental problems continue to grow in severity and the solutions provided by environmental economists have proven ineffective. Thus lack of interdisciplinarity does not prevent a field of knowledge from gaining influence and dominance, however its effectiveness in terms of understanding environmental problems and solving them is impeded. Ecological economics seeks to incorporate the research of economists, ecologists, philosophers and social scientists, however its influence seems to be have been limited to areas in which it retains the standard economics framework, and this limits its effectiveness in terms of environmental solutions. Thus interdisciplinarity may increase understanding of the real world but * Correspondence: Dr Sharon Beder, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia e-mail: sharonb@uow.edu.au it cannot overcome political and social barriers to translating that understanding into the widespread implementation of effective environmental measures.

Métrica Proposta Para Valoração De Áreas Ambientais

“…"Os economistas ambientais falam que valorizar o meio ambiente, significa dar-lhe um preço de mercado com base na oferta e demanda e nas preferências individuais" (BEDER, 2011), ou seja, a valoração ambiental seria dada pela curva de oferta e demanda de cada indivíduo em relação a um bem ou serviço ambiental.…”

The Value Landscape in Ecosystem Services: Value, Value Wherefore Art Thou Value?

“…However, with reference to the latter development, such fruitful integration remains contingent on the challenges of identifying ecosystem services (ES), attributing values to ES, and resolving and validating the issue of societal dependence on ES all of which have yet to be fully resolved [8,9]. These difficulties are exemplified by the continuing exchanges occurring between environmental and ecological economists regarding the nature of ES, the role of valuation in the implementation of the ES paradigm and the translation of ES into practical decision-making processes and policy applications [8,10,11]. Largely, these debates centre on key differences related to ideas of sustainability, This quote makes two clear points.…”

Identificação e valoração sociocultural dos serviços ecossistêmicos - o caso da comunidade de Marujá, Ilha do Cardoso - SP, Brasil

“…Pode-se dizer que, mais recentemente, ocorreram duas grandes mudanças de pensamento em relação a esta temática. A primeira ocorreu em meados da década de 1960 com a organização de uma disciplina denominada atualmente de Economia Ambiental (BEDER, 2011;DALY;FARLEY, 2004;SPASH, 1999) e a segunda, com a discussão da entropia no processo econômico que culminou com o advento da Economia Ecológica na década de 1990 (BEDER, 2011;DALY;FARLEY, 2004;RØPKE, 2005). Estas, dentro de suas particularidades e importantes diferenças, passaram a compreender que os sistemas ambiental e econômico estão interligados, com influências e dependências mútuas.…”

“…Estas, dentro de suas particularidades e importantes diferenças, passaram a compreender que os sistemas ambiental e econômico estão interligados, com influências e dependências mútuas. E por isso, suas relações e suas consequências são tão diretas (BEDER, 2011;COMMON;STALG, 2005;DALY;FARLEY, 2004).…”

“…Com intuito de tornar estas relações mais explícitas e quantificáveis, para que as questões de influência e dependência pudessem ser melhor manejadas, fundamenta-se a ferramenta de valoração ambiental (BEDER, 2011;PÉREZ, 2011).…”