Environmental Economics

Drawing out from the definition of economics, environmental economics can be defined as the study
of how humans decide on how to dispose of environmental resources. At this juncture, the focus of
management is mainly on environmental resources.

But what consists environmental resources? To make clear this concept, I enumerate some of the
environmental resources below that man derives benefit from and need to be managed:

General: air, water, and land

Specific:

trees or plants that supply the life-giving oxygen humans need;

crops that provide food to humans;

clean drinking water to keep human metabolism working and flush out bodily wastes;

metals that serve as raw materials for human ingenuity such as creation of tools, rigid structures for
abode and cars for transport; and

oil to fuel industries that manufacture products that people need.

Of course, the list could go on. There are so many other environmental resources that you can think
of that are used to satisfy human needs and wants.

Ideally, all human needs and wants should be fulfilled, but this is far from reality. Why? That’s
because human needs and wants vary. Needs may be fulfilled but wants are virtually without limit.
But environmental resources have limits; thus, both resources and human needs and wants must be
managed.

So what has environmental economics got to do with human needs and wants? The main purpose of
environmental economics is to attain environmental resource sustainability. It is only an instrument
by which human needs and desires or wants may be addressed, as much as possible, without
depleting finite environmental resources.

Regoniel, Patrick A. (2013, Januari 11). Retrieved from https://simplyeducate.me/2013/01/11/what-

is-environmental-economics/