About the Event
There has been a persistent erosion of thought and evidence-based decision-making in public discourse, as citizens and politicians actively ignore the findings from environmental science, especially the science of climate change. This is occurring at a time of unprecedented expansion of scientific knowledge about climate change and its drivers. Economics has become the language of public policy, yet the principles of neoclassical economics are poorly aligned with contemporary environmental challenges. Ecological economics offers a new economic agenda for environmental policy, reflecting 21st-century knowledge and challenges. This agenda includes the pursuit of a just and sustainable society while staying within biophysical limits.
About the Speaker
Dr. Robert Richardson is an ecological economist at Michigan State University with interests in the study of the environment and development, particularly the contribution of ecosystem services to socioeconomic well-being. He uses a variety of methods from the behavioral and social sciences to study decision-making about the use of natural resources and the values of ecosystem services. He has conducted research related to agricultural-environmental linkages, household food security, and tradeoffs in decision-making about environmental management in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia, as well as in the USA.