Ecological economics in relation to democracy, ideology and politics

• Autores: Peter Söderbaum
• Localización: Ecological Economics, ISSN-e 1873-6106, Nº. 95, 2013, págs. 221-225
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Two recent studies and policy documents are discussed in the present article. One is a UN report prepared by experienced politicians as input into the 2012 Rio de Janeiro Conference, the other a study about the ecological economics of biodiversity.

    The UN report is of interest in informing about the thinking of politicians and their recommendations for action. It is however a consensus report where more fundamental changes in perspectives are not considered but rather avoided. A number of ecological economists participated in the second study on biodiversity. They demonstrated consciousness about many of the critical arguments about Cost�Benefit Analysis but finally argued in favor of relying on the conceptual framework of neoclassical economics with its CBA. The present author is criticizing this idea of �mainstreaming� the economics of biodiversity contending that radical change in perspectives is needed.