Environmental Issues and Policy : Exploring Past, Present, and Future Socioecological Relations

Environmental Issues and Policy: Exploring Past, Present, and Future Socioecological Relations presents readers with a collection of essays by experts in the field exploring some of the key environmental problems, its intersections with societal processes and the resultant issues that emerge at the local, regional, and global scale. 

Readers learn about ozone depletion, water pollution, food security, environment conservation and conflict, deforestation, climate change impacts, energy security, health challenges and sustainable urban practices. Chapters also examine the role of policy in addressing these environmental problems via market reforms, engineered and design solutions, political intervention, scientific innovation, and social organization. Persistent issues are explored in retrospect to illustrate the emergence and peak of these challenges and evaluate societal responses so far to address them. 

A fresh addition to literature that explores the connection between environment and society, Environmental Issues and Policy is an illuminating resource for courses in environmental studies, especially those that explore the discipline’s relationship with public policy. The volume is also useful for the general public and policy makers who seek knowledge on key environmental topics.

Ekaterina Svyatets is a faculty member of environmental studies at the University of Southern California. Her research is focused on economic and social policies related to the environment, in the United States and globally, as well as international affairs, energy security, and sustainability. She holds a Ph.D. in politics and international relations from the University of Southern California. She is also the author of Climate Change and Geopolitics: New International Rivalries (Lynne Rienner, forthcoming in 2020) and Energy Security and Cooperation in Eurasia: Power, Profits and Politics (Routledge, 2016), and several other peer-reviewed publications.

Monalisa Chatterjee is an assistant professor (teaching) of environmental studies at the University of Southern California. She holds a Ph.D. in geography from Rutgers University. Dr. Chatterjee previously worked as a consultant with the United Nations Development Program and as an adaptation specialist in the Technical Support Unit of the Working Group II for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report. She examines the impact of climate and societal change on the distribution of risks, vulnerability, and resilience; integrated policy frameworks of vulnerability reduction; and sustainable adaptation. She has written in several peer reviewed journals, books, and reports.