Abstract

Rising inequalities and accelerating global environmental change pose two of the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century. To explore how these phenomena are linked, we apply a social-ecological systems perspective and review the literature to identify six different types of interactions (or "pathways") between inequality and the biosphere. We find that most of the research so far has only considered one-directional effects of inequality on the biosphere, or vice versa. However, given the potential for complex dynamics between socioeconomic and environmental factors within social-ecological systems, we highlight examples from the literature that illustrate the importance of cross-scale interactions and feedback loops between inequality and the biosphere. This review draws on diverse disciplines to advance a systemic understanding of the linkages between inequality and the biosphere, specifically recognizing cross-scale feedbacks and the multidimensional nature of inequality.

Keywords

global environmental change; multidimensional inequality; social-ecological systems; scale; feedbacks; climate change

Published in

Annual Review of Environment and Resources
2018, Volume: 43, pages: 61-83

SLU Authors

• Hentati Sundberg, Jonas

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Reduce inequality within and among countries


UKÄ Subject classification

Economic Geography


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025949

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/97068