Romanian Statistical Review nr. 12 / 2013 14 SOME THEORIES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract The paper deals with the arguments with which the neoclassical have approached the problems of sustainability, giving life to that branch of political economy that studies the problems related to the use of natural resources and environmental externalities. Environmental Economics studies, insights and additions that bind knowledge economy with the application of economic theory to environmental problems seek to provide in this paper an comprehensive framework and as exhaustive as possible of speculations around the concept of sustainability. We highlight, also, how environmental aspects are processed within a defi ned perimeter of economic instruments to defend the neoclassical orthodoxy in front of the market failure and to support the undertaking of a path of development that is sustainable