Socio-Economic Perspectives on Ecological Problems

Human activities are the main and root cause of ecological problems, while human activity is socio-economic activity. Therefore, ecological problems must be examined from the perspective of socio-economy. The identification of the Anthropocene concept in the international academic community and the implementation of IHDP and the Future Earth show the importance of socio-economic perspective on contemporary ecological problems. Ecological problem is essentially socio-economic issue, and it needs understanding from a socio-economic and political point of view. As a result, political ecology, theories of the tragedy of the commons and socio-ecosystem analysis have emerged. Examining the institutional factors of ecological problems and the reconstruction of degraded ecosystems from a socio-economic perspective indicate that the research on the socio-economic aspects needs to be strengthened so as to obtain the fundamental solutions. In this way, the development of social economy will be promoted and the degraded ecosystems can go on the right track of natural recovery. For these purposes, the study of ecological problems should seek solutions at three levels: institutional and political reform, development model transformation and scientific and technological innovation.