Innovatively rethinking the discipline of political economy, Fred P. Gale builds on a range of contemporary examples to develop a pluralistic conception of sustainability value that underpins sustainable development. He identifies why current approaches are having no meaningful impact and unifies diverse perspectives into one integrative approach. This definitive work argues that sustainability value?s realization requires a complete rethink of the way firms and polities are governed, challenging the idea that preferences are rational. Treating sustainability value as supervening on four other elemental economic values, the book illustrates how '?tetravaluation?' is being partially realized at the level of the firm and the state. With vast differences in institutional requirements across conventional liberal, nationalist and socialist frameworks, Gale implores political economy to abandon its monistic modernist legacy and embrace the pluralistic, reflexive and interdisciplinary standpoint that sustainability demands. With striking implications for existing political, economic and cultural institutions, Gale offers a new perspective on generating better policy outcomes for public policy professionals and sustainability practitioners. This book is a must-read for public policy theorists, political and ecological economists, and environmental policy researchers, as Gale challenges the conventional ideas linked to the functioning of liberal democracy and explores the future of political economic thought.

Significant growth in economic activity in the Arctic has added weight to the argument that projects must be developed responsibly and sustainably. Addressing growing concerns regarding the exploitation of the Arctic's natural resources, this timely book presents and evaluates examples of best practice in Arctic environmental impact assessment. Timo Koivurova and Pamela Lesser succinctly synthesise primary data gathered from interviews with local communities, indigenous peoples, NGOs, government officials and businesses in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, Canada, Russia and the USA. Considering all stakeholder perspectives, they present the regulatory processes of all eight Arctic countries, and also provide helpful flowcharts that depict the process graphically for each country. Measuring these practices against the 1997 Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment in the Arctic, the only Arctic environmental impact assessment guidance document that has been officially approved by the ministers of all eight Arctic countries, this book identifies key areas where adherence to best practice is high, such as stakeholder outreach and development, as well as those areas that fall short. Thorough and accessible, Environmental Impact Assessment in the Arctic will provide an excellent reference for academics in the fields of law and environmental studies as well as for government officials and stakeholders who stand to benefit from best practice.

Innovatively rethinking the discipline of political economy, Fred P. Gale builds on a range of contemporary examples to develop a pluralistic conception of sustainability value that underpins sustainable development. He identifies why current approaches are having no meaningful impact and unifies diverse perspectives into one integrative approach. This definitive work argues that sustainability value?s realization requires a complete rethink of the way firms and polities are governed, challenging the idea that preferences are rational. Treating sustainability value as supervening on four other elemental economic values, the book illustrates how '?tetravaluation?' is being partially realized at the level of the firm and the state. With vast differences in institutional requirements across conventional liberal, nationalist and socialist frameworks, Gale implores political economy to abandon its monistic modernist legacy and embrace the pluralistic, reflexive and interdisciplinary standpoint that sustainability demands. With striking implications for existing political, economic and cultural institutions, Gale offers a new perspective on generating better policy outcomes for public policy professionals and sustainability practitioners. This book is a must-read for public policy theorists, political and ecological economists, and environmental policy researchers, as Gale challenges the conventional ideas linked to the functioning of liberal democracy and explores the future of political economic thought.

Rejection of politics is deep and widespread. Even sincere and responsible individuals who practice it hold their nose while doing so. Yet politics must be practiced, and well, if the planet and the people are to survive. A clue for our future success as a species lies in the fact that ecology has never really been tried in politics. Yet ecology holds the secret of success for planet and people precisely in politics. Deep in ecology is the astounding fact, scientifically examined and attested to, that we are already related. Though taught by elite after elite that we are separate from nature and thus from everyone and everything, this can now be seen as the great mistake and a perpetuated lie from generation to generation. A new ontology of being related is the gateway of consciousness to a new and exciting politics for survival and democracy. Waves of transformation lap at barriers in the political sphere. But they are repulsed by an entrenched politics rooted not only in the greed and power hunger of a dominant few, or in outmoded structures of economic and political power, but in the old millennial ontology of being separate. Our extraordinary times call for a new political party animated by the ecology of being related. It is a party of a different kind, one that frees itself from giant worldwide corporations, is fully and overtly dedicated to non-violence and rooted in the awareness that the people come first. This party knows that elections must be fair and equal and must enable undistorted dialogue, and that people in government must not only proclaim but practice the principle of being of, for, and by the people. This book challenges The Green Party, now on a footing in over 100 countries, to be this party of a different kind.

The European Union's renewable energy policy is one of the most ambitious attempts to facilitate a transition towards more sustainable energy systems. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the policy and its implementation. It contains key case studies for understanding how member states have shaped the policy, how the EU has affected the policies of its member states and how renewable energy policies have diffused horizontally. An analysis of its external dimension is also included. This remarkable guide is the first comprehensive attempt to shed light on the complex dynamics of renewable energy promotion in the European multilevel system. Theoretically driven, the study employs Europeanization as an analytical framework for assessing policy change, both at the EU level and in the member states, and compares the development of renewable energy policies in the electricity and transport sectors from the 1980s to the present. Comprising contributions from leading scholars, the book is an indispensible guide for academics, researchers and students interested in EU energy and climate policies in general and EU renewable energy policy specifically, as well as practitioners and stakeholders involved in renewable energy policy and climate protection. Contributors include: A. Ancygier, M. Bechberger, P. Bocquillon, S. Davidescu, L. Di Lucia, M.R. Di Nucci, H. Dyrhauge, G. Escribano, A. Evrard, J. Fairbrass, R. Fernandez, B. Hirschl, R. Hiteva, T. Hoppe, K. Jankowska, H. Joergens, T. Maltby, D. Ohlhorst, E. OEller, D. Russolillo, I. Solorio, E. van Bueren, T. Vogelpohl

The current political economic system is misaligned for meeting the global imperatives of rapidly reducing greenhouse gases and sharing wealth more equitably. This book makes the case for a new environmentalism that implements a systems change approach to reorient the economy to be more sustainable, just, and democratic. This book addresses the laws and policies needed to support the emergence of a new economy across a variety of major areas - including energy, food, common pool resources, and the shifting of investments to capitalize locally-connected and mission-driven businesses. The contributors take the approach that these challenges are much broader than setting parameters around pollution, and indeed go to the heart of the dominant global political economy. The authors also explore the values needed to transform our current economic system into a new economy supportive of ecological integrity, social justice, and vibrant democracy. Law and Policy for a New Economy: Sustainable, Just, and Democratic will be of interest to academics and scholars of environmental law, climate change, environmental studies, political ecology and environmental economics. Contributors include: S.H. Baker, D. Bollier, M. James, K.B. Jones, C.I. Magallanes, J. Orsi, J. Purdy, L. Ristino, M.K. Scanlan, L. Sheehan, J.G. Speth, J. Taub, D.R.H. Winters, M.C. Wood

On Human Nature: Biology, Psychology, Ethics, Politics, and Religion covers the present state of knowledge on human diversity and its adaptative significance through a broad and eclectic selection of representative chapters. This transdisciplinary work brings together specialists from various fields who rarely interact, including geneticists, evolutionists, physicians, ethologists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, sociologists, theologians, historians, linguists, and philosophers. Genomic diversity is covered in several chapters dealing with biology, including the differences in men and apes and the genetic diversity of mankind. Top specialists, known for their open mind and broad knowledge have been carefully selected to cover each topic. The book is therefore at the crossroads between biology and human sciences, going beyond classical science in the Popperian sense. The book is accessible not only to specialists, but also to students, professors, and the educated public. Glossaries of specialized terms and general public references help nonspecialists understand complex notions, with contributions avoiding technical jargon.

Marine Ecotoxicology: Current Knowledge and Future Issues is the first unified resource to cover issues related to contamination, responses, and testing techniques of saltwater from a toxicological perspective. With its unprecedented focus on marine environments and logical chapter progression, this book is useful to graduate students, ecotoxicologists, risk assessors, and regulators involved or interested in marine waters. As human interaction with these environments increases, understanding of the pollutants and toxins introduced into the oceans becomes ever more critical, and this book builds a foundation of knowledge to assist scientists in studying, monitoring, and making decisions that affect both marine environments and human health. A team of world renowned experts provide detailed analyses of the most common contaminants in marine environments and explain the design and purpose of toxicity testing methods, while exploring the future of ecotoxicology studies in relation to the world's oceans. As the threat of increasing pollution in marine environments becomes an ever more tangible reality, Marine Ecotoxicology offers insights and guidance to mitigate that threat.

Russia and the Politics of International Environmental Regimes is an important and timely analysis of Russia's interaction with the international environmental policy process. The three authors draw on a wealth of research experience working within the region in order to explore Russia s activities with respect to climate policy, water protection and fisheries management. Their detailed analysis provides an illuminating and much-needed insight into the interaction between Russian foreign and domestic policy goals and international environmental regimes operating at a range of scales.' - Jonathan Oldfield, University of Birmingham, UK'This is a timely contribution to our understanding of the motives behind, and results to be expected from, Russia's international environmental engagement. By focusing on climate change policy, Barents Sea fisheries, and regional seas protection in the Baltic, the authors judiciously conclude that trans-boundary environmental commitments are primarily the result of 'great power' concerns including domestic economic growth, regional trade, and a globally favorable image - not ecological conscience. The book represents a major step forward in post-Soviet foreign policy studies.' - David Feldman, University of California, Irvine, US 'This valuable book brings together the insights and research of three established scholars. Students new to the environmental aspects of Russia's international engagement will appreciate the clear and readable case studies. The findings and discussion that result from the authors' unique and rigorous cross-case comparison will be of great interest to scholars of Russia s foreign policy and environmental policy more broadly.' - Elana Wilson Rowe, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs Russia and the Politics of International Environmental Regimes examines the political relationship between Russia and other states in environmental matters. Based on detailed empirical analysis and data, including interviews and media sources, this groundbreaking book scrutinizes the dynamics of Russia's participation in international environmental politics. The authors explore three detailed case studies focusing on climate policy, water protection and fisheries management. They then recommend how best to negotiate with Russia on key environmental issues. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of environmental politics, international relations and Russian studies. Environmental policymakers will also find this to be a useful tool when looking to understand environmental politics within Russia. Contents: Preface 1. Introduction 2. Environmental Regimes and Russia's Approaches to Environmental and Foreign Policy 3. The Global Case: The Climate Regime 4. The Regional Case: Protecting the Environment of the Baltic Sea 5. The Bilateral Case: Fisheries Management in the Barents Sea 6. Discussion: Two levels of Discourses in Russian Environmental Policy 7. Conclusion: Environmental Encounters? References Index

There has been an exponential growth in international environmental treaty-making over the past fifty years, to the point of 'treaty congestion' - with a total of more than 1,300 multilateral (global and regional) agreements on the topic and close to 3,000 bilateral ones currently in force. This research review addresses this phenomenon from a variety of disciplinary perspectives: international law, political science, and 'ecological economics'. The objective is comparative analysis, with a view to identifying common features and common problems of transnational environmental regimes, in light of their historical evolution, their application and effectiveness in practice, and possible lessons learned in their institutional 'interplay' with each other.

Today's highly industrialized and technologically controlled global food systems dominate our lives, shaping our access and attitudes towards food and deeply influencing and defining our identities. At the same time, these food systems are profoundly and destructively impacting the health of the environment and threatening all of us, human and nonhuman, who must subsist in ecological conditions of increasing fragility and scarcity. This collection examines and exposes the myriad ways that the food systems, driven by global commodity capitalism and its imperative of growth at any cost, increasingly controls us and conforms us to our roles as consumers and producers. This collection covers a range of topics from the excess of consumers in the post-industrial world and the often unacknowledged yet intrinsic connection of their consumption to the growing ecological and health crises in developing nations, to topics of surveillance and control of human and nonhuman bodies through food, to the deep linkages of cultural values and norms toward food to the myriad crises we face on a global scale.

Modern civilization and the social reproduction of capitalism are bound inextricably with fossil fuel consumption. But as carbon energy resources become scarcer, what implications will this have for energy-intensive modes of life? Can renewable energy sustain high levels of accumulation?? Or will we witness the end of existing capitalist economies? This book provides an innovative and timely study that mobilizes a new theory of capitalism to explain the rise and fall of petro-market civilization. Di Muzio investigates how theorists of political economy have largely taken energy for granted and illuminates how the exploitation of fossil fuels increased the universalization and magnitude of capital accumulation. He then examines the likelihood of renewable resources providing a feasible alternative and asks whether they can beat peak oil prices to sustain food production, health care, science and democracy. Using the capital as power framework, this book considers the unevenly experienced consequences of monetizing fossil fuels for people and the planet.

Marine Paleobiodiversity presents a concise history, development and current status of paleobiodiversity research, thus forming a reference work for beginners, graduates and postgraduates, who are interested in this subject and intend venture into serious research. This book provides a link-reference between text book and highly-specialized journal articles, and so will be valuable for a wide audience of geologists and climatologists.