Environmental Conflicts in the Mirror of the «Civilization of Maximization»

Abstract

The type of civilization formed on the planet can be defined as a «civilization of maximization», which is focused on the growth of financial results, production of goods and services, and consumption. This type of civilization leads to numerous environmental conflicts at all levels. In this regard, it seems promising to study the mechanisms of internalization of externalities as a basis for preventing and overcoming environmental conflicts. The types of environmental conflicts are identified, depending on the scope of the covered impact and the externalities that generate them: temporal, global, intercountry, intersectoral, interregional and local. The article analyzes the problem of climate change as a significant example of an environmental conflict caused by the temporal and global externalities of the «civilization of maximization». Large corporations, being the drivers of the «civilization of maximization,» at the same time increasingly participate in the environmental transformation of the world and national economies