ABSTRACT
This chapter involves a treatment of the climate change dilemma from an ecological economics perspective. Ecological economics is a relatively new trans-disciplinary paradigm that extends and integrates the study and management of ‘nature’s household’ (ecology) and ‘humankind’s household’ (economy). Owing to its holistic approach to problem-solving, ecological economics differs markedly from mainstream economics in two main ways. First, instead of dealing with a particular issue or problem in isolation, ecological economists endeavour to tackle problems within an appropriate broader context. Second, ecological economists consider whether the problem under review is primarily the consequence of a much deeper problem and whether it is possible to resolve the former by successfully tackling the latter. Despite the unique challenges that human-induced climate change presents, ecological economists believe the climate change dilemma is a consequence of a more fundamental problem that is generally overlooked or, in some cases, emphatically denied.
