The International Political Economy of the Environment

Abstract

In spite of assertions of a ‘common future’ (the title of the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development) and the imperatives for building a ‘global partnership for sustainable development’ (the purpose of Agenda 21) the international political economy of the environment is shaped by differences over how that common future is to be achieved, what principles should inform it and what strategies should be adopted to achieve it. Those issues have been touched upon in earlier chapters but they are given greater attention here and in Chapter 8. The International Political Economy (IPE) of the environment is almost always couched, at some point, in terms of a North—South divide to which this chapter first turns. Tensions arise not only over the principles which should address the relationship between rich and poor countries but also over how those principles should be put into practice. Attempts to articulate the view that all countries have obligations but that those obligations might differ in the light of a range of historical and contemporary factors have been give expression in the notion of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ which is explored later in this chapter.