This article seeks to delimit the field of work of Political Economy of the Environment. A conceptual framework is proposed to deal with environmental problems with an approach that addresses both the collective sphere of the economy and the relations of power and conflict of interest in the appropriation and use of nature. To achieve the overall objective, three specific tasks are identified: review the meaning of political economy, establish the relationship between political economy and environmental problems and contrasting the field of analysis of political economy and environment with other complementary fields of work as political ecology.