Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-244) and index.

1. A world fit for us all -- Crisis? What crisis? -- One planet, many globalizations -- The global dimensions of environmental change -- Our core propositions -- 2. A short history of globalization and the environment -- Introduction -- Discovering limits -- Remaking the planet - the long fuse of modernization -- The short fuse - globalization in the 20th century -- Consuming the planet -- Trading off the planet -- Conclusion - the return of limits -- 3. An overheated planet -- Introduction -- The long history of global warming -- Turning up the heat, sounding the alarm -- Adjusting the thermostat? The struggle for climate governance -- Conclusion - the future of climate governance -- 4. Remaking nature : biodiversity in peril -- The doomsday vault -- The biodiversity crisis -- The long fuse of modernization: ecological imperialism -- Shortening the biodiversity fuse: the global phase of modernization -- Why should we care -- Governing biodiversity -- 5. Governing the planet -- The failures of global environmental governance -- Reflexive modernization, reflexive globalization -- Future challenges to a green world order. "This book by two leading scholars offers the first systematic analysis of the relationship between globalization and the environment from the early Modern period to the present. Peter Christoff and Robyn Eckersley develop a broad conceptual framework for understanding the globalization of environmental problems and the highly uneven, often faltering, international political response. The authors develop linkages between economic globalization and environmental degradation and explore a range of key global environmental problems -- focusing on the two most challenging of all: climate change and biodiversity loss. Finally, they critically explore the challenges of environmental governance in a world defined by global capitalism and sovereign states. Providing a normative framework for evaluating global environmental governance, they suggest alternative institutional and policy responses. Through a rich set of case studies, including a special focus on the challenging global problems of climate change and biodiversity loss, this powerful book will help readers grasp the systemic causes of global environmental degradation as well as the myriad opportunities for reform of global environmental governance"--Publisher's description.