Environmental economics : special considerations for small states

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to identify the key tenets of Environmental Economics and discuss them within the context of small states. We focus our research on three broad environmental characteristics, namely a country’s polluting activities, exposure of local population to pollution and governance in protecting the environment, with the purpose being to establish whether these characteristics are related to population size. We further aim at illustrating our findings via a case study that describes the situation in Malta with regard to its reliance on the natural environment, the challenges and issues that it faces as well as policy interventions aimed at protecting the environment.