ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces four different approaches that have tackled this issue: Environmental Economics, International Political Economy and Development Studies, Global Environmental Governance and Earth System Governance, as well as Political Ecology. It also introduces these perspectives and highlights their main contributions to the literature in their historical context. The chapter discusses different theoretical and conceptual approaches to the interplay between economic globalization and environmental issues. In contrast to the Kuznets-Curve, advocates of green growth are aware of the need for policies and regulation to foster a sustainable economic development and often call for a strong involvement of the state. The philosophy behind the concept of Buen Vivir has inspired several social movements in Latin America and has lately even been expressed at political and institutional levels, including the international climate negotiations. The studies of global environmental politics have to overcome the old dichotomy of critical vs. problem-solving approaches, as environmental scholarship, almost by definition, has to be both.
