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Environmentalism of the poor

Theories of ‘environmentalism of the poor’ (Guha and Martinez-Alier, 1997; Guha, 2000; Martínez-Alier, 2002) and ‘liberation ecology’ (Peet and Watts, 2004) have much in common with the branch of the …

Land grabbing

Used in earlier times, the notion of land grabbing has had mainly political connotations, referring to the aggressive taking of land, often by military force, for the expansion of territorial …

Devlin Kuyek on the ProSavana project2

Imagine a land of 14 million hectares, bigger than Switzerland and Austria combined. Populated by millions of farming families that together practice shifting cultivation. Now imagine a foreign consultant saying …

Socially sustainable economic degrowth

The concept of degrowth has been described as an equitable downscaling of production and consumption that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions at the local and global level, in the …

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)

For economists, a policy/program/project is justifiable in terms of public interest, and contributes to social welfare if the benefits, to whomever they accrue, outweigh the estimated costs. This approach is …

Life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying/comparing the whole life cycle, or cradle-to-grave, environmental impacts of the creation, marketing, transport and distribution, operation and disposal of specific human …

Jevons’ Paradox (Rebound Effect)

A central concept in industrial ecology, the term Jevons’ Paradox was derived from a passage in The Coal Question (Jevons, 1865), in which the author analysed improvements in the efficiency …

Resource intensity and productivity

Resource intensity is a measure of the resources (e.g. materials, energy and water) required for the provision of a unit of a good or service. It is usually expressed as …

Devlin Kuyek on the ProSavana project1

Imagine a land of 14 million hectares, bigger than Switzerland and Austria combined. Populated by millions of farming families that together practice shifting cultivation. Now imagine a foreign consultant saying …

Decoupling of the economy

Decoupling, also referred to as dematerialisation of the economy, refers to the disconnection or separation of economic and social well-being from the use of biophysical resources. According to the MEFA …