ABSTRACT
In the past several decades the advancement of globalization has sharpened many contentious arguments that arise regarding the intensifi ed fl ows of international trade and investment, on one hand, and the character of environmental transformation, on the other; the balance between economic development and environmental quality; and the linkages between global markets and domestic environmental rights and obligations. Has globalization become a driving force of economic growth, increased wealth, policy innovation, and environmental solutions? Or is it a vehicle of increasing economic inequality, environmental degradation, and inadequate policies? There are no perceptions of the linkages between globalization and the environment that can be completely unambiguous, unbiased, and everlasting. Therefore, this chapter reveals the many complexities of the globalization-environment interface. It demonstrates that economic globalization accelerates market, structural, institutional, and societal change, thus altering the industrial and policy structure of countries, resource use patterns, and policy responses at the domestic and international levels.
