环境经济学是环境科学和经济学之间交叉的边缘学科，主要研究领域包括：

环境经济学研究如何充分利用经济杠杆来解决对环境污染问题，使环境的价值体现得更为具体，将环境的价值纳入到生产和生活的成本中去，从而阻断了无偿使用和污染环境的通路，经济杠杆是目前解决环境问题最主要和最有效的手段。

Environmental Economics is a sub-field of economics that is concerned with environmental issues. Quoting from the National Bureau of Economic Research Environmental Economics program:

Environmental economics is distinguished from ecological economics in that ecological economics emphasizes the economy as a subsystem of the ecosystem with its focus upon preserving natural capital. One survey of German economists found that ecological and environmental economics are different schools of economic thought, with ecological economists emphasizing "strong" sustainability and rejecting the proposition that natural capital can be substituted by human-made capital.