生态经济学是一个跨学科的学术研究领域，旨在了解在不同时间和空间下，人类经济与自然生态间的共同演化和互相依存的关系。有别于环境经济学，环境经济学是对环境的主流经济分析，生态经济学则把经济视作为生态系统下的子系统，并强调保存天然资本。一个由德国经济学家所作的调查发现，生态经济学和环境经济学是不同的经济学派，因为生态经济学家强调强而有力的可持续性，并且否定人造资本可以取代天然资本的看法。

生态经济学创建于Kenneth E. Boulding、Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen、Herman Daly、Robert Costanza及其他学者的研究之上。而绿色经济，一般来说，就是生态经济学在政治上更实在的应用。

Ecological economics/eco-economics refers to both a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary field of academic research that aims to address the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems over time and space. It is distinguished from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment, by its treatment of the economy as a subsystem of the ecosystem and its emphasis 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.