Global environmental politics / Piper Bavin.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Emergence of global environmental politics -- Environmental politics and sustainable politics -- Corporate war in environmental politics -- Climate change and concerns -- The future of global environmental politics.

"In political theory, deliberative democracy has been discussed as a political model more compatible with environmental goals. Deliberative democracy is a system in which informed political equals weigh values, information, and expertise, and debate priorities to make decisions, as opposed to a democracy based on interest aggregation. New materialism is a strain of thought in philosophy and the social sciences that conceives of all material as having life or agency. It criticizes frameworks of justice that center on human attributes like consciousness as insufficient for modern ethical problems that concern the natural environment. It isa post-humanist consideration of all matter that rejects arguments of utility that privilege humans. This politically relevant social theory combats inequality beyond the interpersonal plane. Brazil, Russia, India, and China (known as the “BRIC” nations) are rapidly industrializing, and are increasingly responsible for global carbon emissions and the associated climate change. Other forms of environmental degradation have also accompanied the economic growth in these nations. Environmental degradation tends to motivate action more than the threat of global warming does, since air and water pollution cause immediate health problems, and because pollutants can damage natural resources, hampering economic potential. With rising incomes, environmental degradation tends to decrease in industrializing nations, as depicted in the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Citizens demand better air and water quality, and technology becomes more efficient and clean when incomes increase. This book is vital reading for students of environmental politics and anyone wishing to understand the current state of the field and to make informed decisions about which policies will best safeguard our environment for the future"-- Back cover.