Environmental economic geography and environmental inequality: challenges and new research prospects

Abstract

Abstract The environmental dimension and sustainability-related issues have increasingly gained momentum in Economic Geography. This paper argues that integrating the inequality perspective into Environmental Economic Geography (EEG) and trying to disentangle the manifold interrelationships between economic, social, and environmental disadvantage could be worthwhile efforts. Based on three case studies – the debate on urban environmental justice in German cities, the spread of alternative food systems and food-sharing initiatives in Germany, and the socially selective migration in hazard prone areas in rural coastal Bangladesh – we demonstrate that aspects of social inequality indeed matter for EEG thinking.