Ecological vs Environmental Economics: How Ecological Economics Influenced Human Development Reports?

Abstract

This thesis examines how ecological and environmental economics have shaped the discourse of sustainability in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Reports (HDRs) from 1990 to the present by using a qualitative and interpretive research methodology. The analysis considers key concepts such as natural capital, resilience, planetary boundaries, and intergenerational equity, tracing their appearance, frequency, and contextual use in HDRs over time. In addition to drawing on the established frameworks of ecological and environmental economics, the study incorporates a Marxist ecological perspective to critically assess the structural political–economic constraints that influence the adoption of sustainability concepts. A qualitative documentary analysis is combined with manual literature mapping to identify the extent and nature of ecological economics’ influence on HDR language and framing. Findings indicate that ecological economics has become increasingly visible in HDRs, particularly after 2010, often through rhetorical adoption of its terminology and principles. However, this uptake has rarely translated into a fundamental shift in the HDRs’ underlying policy framework, which continues to be shaped largely by mainstream economic approaches. The Marxist ecological perspective highlights how this pattern reflects deeper systemic contradictions, where rhetorical commitment to ecological sustainability coexists with a growth-oriented development paradigm. The thesis advances the body of literature on sustainability transitions by outlining the conceptual avenues along which international development policy is influenced by economic thought.