Essays discuss environmental issues, interest groups, security and trade considerations, and future approaches to environmental policy

This book argues that environmental problems are, first and foremost, political and, therefore, about power. Using a framework of political economy and political ecology, the authors deconstruct current environmental problems to identify root causes and address those problems through mobilization of collective action and social power. The second edition also offers: •Updated examples and stories of political struggles and the actors involved •Explicit attention to various forms of power in environmental politics, including structural and social power •Local politics and collective action as related to global environmental politics •Discussion of emerging issues such as synthetic biology; commodification and financialization of nature, including carbon markets; and geoengineering

As wildfires rage, pollution thickens, and species disappear, the world confronts environmental crisis with a set of global institutions in urgent need of reform. Yet, these institutions have proved frustratingly resistant to change. Introducing the concept of Temporal Focal Points, Manulak shows how change occurs in world politics. By re-envisioning the role of timing and temporality in social relations, his analysis presents a new approach to understanding transformative phases in international cooperation. We may now be entering such a phase, he argues, and global actors must be ready to realize the opportunities presented. Charting the often colorful and intensely political history of change in global environmental politics, this book sheds new light on the actors and institutions that shape humanity's response to planetary decline. It will be of interest to scholars and advanced students of international relations, international organization and environmental politics and history.

Traditional views of global environmental politics take the structures and relations of international politics as a given. Solutions to environmental problems, then, must be products of concession, negotiation, and inevitable compromise—a world of top-down planetary management. Lipschutz challenges students to question these conventional approaches. He argues that much light can be shed on global environmental degradation if we look beyond the politics of conflict and cooperation and explore environmental problems from their very "roots." Using a framework that accounts for the ontologies, material conditions, and power relations that structure global environmental problems, Lipschutz is able to more effectively question attempts to clean up the globe and sustain the world′s natural resources. Throughout the text, the author uses compelling cases to illustrate the effects of globalization and capitalism, yet is careful to make the link between the local and the global to show how we, as individuals, are both consumers of goods and producers of pollution. A powerful new approach How is the financing of a water system in Bolivia linked to long-standing forestation practices in India? Taking nothing for granted, the root causes of major global environmental problems are exposed and subjected to rigorous analysis. Lipschutz shows, for instance, how privatization operates in different global contexts with strikingly similar consequences. In what ways are liberalism and realism actually two sides of the same coin? Both make self-interest—of the individual and of the state—key operating terms. In a revealing comparison, Lipschutz explores the limits of these dominant political models to effectively frame and solve environmental problems. What kinds of political, social, and environmental practices bring about meaningful change? By emphasizing the global impacts of local actions, the text shows how attempts to control environmental problems may actually reproduce the very systems they are meant to ameliorate. Combined with practical pedagogy Rich historical background helps contextualize contemporary issues. Extensive suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter guide students to further research, while tables and figures elegantly show data and concepts. The emphasis on assessing the root causes of global environmental problems and models encourages critical thinking. Students are also encouraged to rethink their own role in the global environmental system and to get involved in effective forms of social change.

What will it take to protect the global environment? In this book, Ronnie D. Lipschutz argues that neither world government nor green economics can do the job. Governmental regulations often are resisted by those whose behavior they are intended to change, and markets—even green ones—look to profits more than to protection. What will be needed, Lipschutz believes, is not global management but political action through community- and place-based organizations and projects. People acting together locally can have a cumulative impact on environmental quality that is significant, long lasting, and widespread. The comparative case studies of environmental activism in Northern California, Hungary, and Indonesia (the latter written by Judith Mayer) illustrate one of the central premises of this book: that local action is linked increasingly to globe-spanning networks of knowledge and practice, in what Lipschutz calls global civil society. The result is a system of governance that is both local and global, to which states and international organizations are turning increasingly for help and advice.

Understanding Global Environmental Politics develops a new, critical approach to global environmental politics. It argues that the major power structures of world politics are deeply problematic in ecological terms, and that they cannot be easily used to resolve major environmental challenges such as global warming. Instead of simply advocating the construction of new international institutions to respond to such challenges, therefore, the book argues that the construction of alternative social and political structures in necessary.

Global Environmental Politics is the perfect introduction to this increasingly significant area. The text combines an accessible introduction to the most important environmental theories and concepts with a series of detailed case studies of the most pressing environmental problems. Features and benefits of the book: Explains the most important concepts and theories in environmental politics. Introduces environmental politics within the context of political science and international relations theories. Demonstrates how the concepts and theories apply in a wide variety of real world contexts. Case studies include the most important environmental issues from climate change and biodiversity to forests and marine pollution. Each chapter is written by an established international authority in the field. ? This exciting new textbook is essential reading all students of environmental politics and will be of great interest to students of International Relations and Political Economy.

Offers a critical and realistic reassessment of the threats posed to the environment in the Middle East, and what can be done about them.

Global Environmental Politics has provided an accurate, up-to-date, and unbiased understanding of the world’s most pressing environmental issues for thirty years. The eighth edition continues this practice by covering critical new developments in global environmental politics and policymaking. Updated case studies on key issues such as on climate change, endangered species, ozone depletion, desertification, whaling, hazardous wastes, toxic chemicals, and biodiversity detail the ongoing development of major environmental treaty regimes, and new case studies on mercury and marine biodiversity showcase the challenges of creating new treaties during a period of significant global change. There is also new material on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, trade and environment, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental diplomacy. Updated information about global environmental trends, paradigms, and actors completes this comprehensive introduction to contemporary international environmental politics. Global Environmental Politics is vital reading for students of environmental politics and anyone wishing to understand the current state of the field and to make informed decisions about which policies will best safeguard our environment for the future.

More than twenty years after the Bruntland Commission report, Our Common Future, we have yet to secure the basis for a serious approach to global environmental governance. The failed 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development showed the need for a new approach to globalization and sustainability. Taking a critical perspective, rooted in political economy, regulation theory, and post-sovereign international relations, this book explores questions concerning the governance of environmental sustainability in a globalizing economy. With contributions from leading international scholars, the book offers a comprehensive framework on globalization, governance, and sustainability, and examines institutional mechanisms and arrangements to achieve sustainable environmental governance. It: considers current failures in the framework of global environmental governance addresses the problematic relationship between sustainability and globalization explores controversies of development and environment that have led to new processes of institution building examines the marketization of environmental policy-making; stakeholder politics and environmental policy-making; socio-economic justice; the political origins of sustainable consumption; the role of transnational actors; and processes of multi-level global governance. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of political science, international studies, political economy and environmental studies.