ABSTRACT
Environmental issues are inextricably linked to human existence, from the earliest hunter-gatherer groups through to the settlement and cultivation of territories, and subsequent competition for land and associated resources. Yet it is only relatively recently that environmental issues have become a signicant part of the international political agenda. During the late 1960s and early 1970s environmental consciousness was raised and the environment became, and remains, a highly politicised issue. This chapter will look at the actors, issues and processes relevant to the political economy of the environment.
