New developments in the disciplines of environmental and resource economics

Abstract

The disciplines of environmental and resource economics have been developed over decades as a substantial specialisation of economic theory and application. Environmental economics evaluates environmental goods while resource economics analyses scarce resource allocation. Given that climate change, biodiversity loss, water crisis and other aspects of environmental change are clearly evident to society, it is only natural that economists should also focus on economic sustainability. Therefore, nowadays environmental economics has become a more integrated sustainability science with a focus on resources and resource productivity and the part it plays in the circular economy. In this paper then, we consider recent developments of stock measures of capital, where investment plays a key role. Then, we introduce this special issue development and how policy and investments interact with the environment.