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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Antimiani, A.; Costantini, V.; Martini, C.; Tommasino, M.C. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatr13:152272&r=env |
| By: | Rösemann, Claus; Haenel, Hans-Dieter; Dämmgen, Ulrich; Poddey, Eike; Freibauer, Annette; Wulf, Sebastian; Eurich-Menden, Brigitte; Döhler, Helmut; Schreiner, Carsten; Bauer, Beate; Osterburg, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | In Europe, gaseous and particulate emissions from agriculture have been subject to both national and international regulations, as they adversely affect the energy dynamics of the atmosphere (physical climate), the formation of tropospheric and the destruction of stratospheric ozone, the amount of formation of secondary aerosols, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems due to atmospheric inputs of acidity and nutrients (acidification and eutrophication), human health and welfare and reduce atmospheric visibility. These internation regulations (protocols etc.) are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC5), the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP6), and within the European Union the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (NEC Directive7). The forementioned conventions require annual calculations of the emissions of the respective gases and air pollutants. The results have to be documented in an emission inventory and to be reported to the organisations in charge. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) is responsible for the entire German emission reporting. However, the sector “Agriculture” is dealt with under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). BMELV has charged the Institute for Climate-Smart Agriculture (AK) (the former Insitute of Agricultural Climate Research) of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (TI) with the establishment of the annual agricultural emission inventory where only emissions from agricultural animal husbandry and from managed agricultural soils are regarded as agricultural emissions. -- Deutschland hat umfangreiche internationale Verpflichtungen zur Emissionsminderung für Treibhausgase und Luftschadstoffe übernommen. Hierzu gehören insbesondere im Rahmen der Vereinten Nationen die Konventionen zur Vermeidung und Verminderung weitreichender grenzüberschreitender Luftverunreinigungen (UNECE CLRTAP mit seinen acht Protokollen), die Klimarahmenkonvention (UNFCCC) und das Kyoto-Protokoll, im europäischen Kontext die Richtlinien zur Einhaltung nationaler Emissionsobergrenzen (NEC) sowie der europäische Beobachtungsmechanismus für Treibhausgasemissionen und die Umsetzung des Kyoto-Protokolls. Zur Erfolgskontrolle dieser Verpflichtungen sind jährlich detaillierte Inventare nationaler Emissionen zu berechnen und international zu berichten. Weitere Verpflichtungen bestehen zur Berichterstattung von anlagenbezogene Emissionsdaten, wie z. B. das europäische Schadstoffregister PRTR. Die Zielstellungen der internationalen Regelungen bestehen in der Vermeidung bzw. Verminderung der Effekte der Klimaänderung, Gewährleistung des Schutzes der Ozonschicht, Vermeidung von Versauerung und Eutrophierung in Ökosystemen, Bekämpfung der Entstehung von bodennahem Ozon, Reduzierung der Feinstaubbelastungen, Einhaltung von Luftqualitätsstandards, Vermeidung gefährlicher (toxischer) Luftbelastungen, Information der Öffentlichkeit über den Umweltzustand. Das im Februar 2005 in Kraft getretene Kyoto-Protokoll verbindet zusätzlich und erstmalig umweltstrategische Ziele und flexible ökonomische Instrumente (Emissionshandel sowie gemeinsame Projekte mit Entwicklungsländern bzw. entwickelten Industrienationen) als weiteren Weg, die Ziele der Verpflichtungen zu erreichen. Durch die damit erfolgte indirekte ökonomische und monetäre Bewertung der Emissionen sind weitere umfangreiche Anforderungen an die Genauigkeit der Emissionsermittlung gestellt. Diese bestehen in der Forderung nach Transparenz der Ermittlung und Berichterstattung, Vergleichbarkeit der Ergebnisse mit denen anderer Länder, Konsistenz der berichteten Emissionszeitreihen, Vollständigkeit der Einbeziehung aller Quellen und Senken in das Inventar sowie die Bestimmung der Genauigkeit der Emissionen. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtire:1&r=env |
| By: | Rada, Nicholas |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatr13:152343&r=env |
| By: | Ingmar Schumacher (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X, IPAG - Business School); Benteng Zou (CREA - Center for Research in Economic Analysis - Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this article we study the implication of thresholds in preferences. To model this we extend the basic model of John and Pecchenino (1994) by allowing the current level of environmental quality to have a discrete impact on how an agent trades off future consumption and environmental quality. In other words, we endogenize the semi-elasticity of utility based on a step function. We motivate the existence of the threshold based on research from political science, from arguments based on regulation and standards, cultural economics as well as ecological economics. Our results are that the location of the threshold determines both the potential steady states as well as the dynamics. For low (high) thresholds, environmental quality converges to a low (high) steady state. For intermediate levels it converges to a stable p-cycle, with environmental quality being asymptotically bounded below and above by the low and high steady state. We discuss implications for intergenerational equity and policy making. As policy implications we study shifts in the threshold. Our results are that, in case it is costless to shift the threshold, it is always worthwhile to do so. If it is costly to change the threshold, then it is worthwhile to change the threshold if the threshold originally was su ciently low. Lump-sum taxes may lead to a development trap and should be avoided if there are uncertainties about the threshold or the eff ectiveness of the policy. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: thresholds, endogenous preferences, environmental quality, policy intervention. |
| Date: | 2013–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00850543&r=env |
| By: | Oskar Lecuyer (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech); Adrien Vogt-Schilb (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Climate change mitigation requires to replace preexisting carbon-intensive capital with different types of cleaner capital. Coal power and inefficient thermal engines may be phased out by gas power and efficient thermal engines or by renewable power and electric vehicles. We derive the optimal timing and costs of investment in a low- and a zero-carbon technology, under an exogenous ceiling constraint on atmospheric pollution. Producing output from the low-carbon technology requires to extract an exhaustible resource. A general finding is that investment in the expensive zero-carbon technology should always be higher than, and can optimally start before, investment in the cheaper low-carbon technology. We then provide illustrative simulations calibrated with data from the European electricity sector. The optimal investment schedule involves building some gas capacity that will be left unused before it naturally depreciates, a process known as \textit{mothballing} or \textit{early scrapping}. Finally, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is a misleading metric to assess investment in new capacities. Optimal LCOEs vary dramatically across technologies. Ranking technologies according to their LCOE would bring too little investment in renewable power, and too much in the intermediate gas power. |
| Date: | 2013–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00850680&r=env |
| By: | Anna Belova; Wayne B. Gray; Joshua Linn; Richard D. Morgenstern |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of environmental regulation on industry employment, using a structural model based on data from the Census Bureau’s Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures Survey. This model was developed in an earlier paper (Morgenstern, Pizer, and Shih (2002) - MPS). We extend MPS by examining additional industries and additional years. We find widely varying estimates across industries, including many implausibly large positive employment effects. We explore several possible explanations for these results, without reaching a satisfactory conclusion. Our results call into question the frequent use of the average impacts estimated by MPS as a basis for calculating the quantitative impacts of new environmental regulations on employment. |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-36&r=env |
| By: | Adrien Vogt-Schilb (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech); Guy Meunier (ALISS - Alimentation et sciences sociales - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) : UR1303); Stéphane Hallegatte (SDN - Sustainable Developpment Network - The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Climate mitigation is largely done through investments in low-carbon capital that will have long-lasting effects on emissions. In a model that represents explicitly low-carbon capital accumulation, optimal marginal investment costs differ across sectors. They are equal to the value of avoided carbon emissions over time, minus the value of the forgone option to invest later. It is therefore misleading to assess the cost-efficiency of investments in low-carbon capital by comparing levelized abatement costs, measured as the ratio of investment costs to discounted abatement. The equimarginal principle applies to an accounting value: the Marginal Implicit Rental Cost of the Capital (MIRCC) used to abate. Two apparently opposite views are reconciled. On the one hand, higher efforts are justified in sectors that will take longer to decarbonize, such as transport and urban planning; on the other hand, the MIRCC should be equal to the carbon price at each point in time and in all sectors. Equalizing the MIRCC in each sector to the social cost of carbon is a necessary condition to reach the optimal pathway, but it is not a sufficient condition. Decentralized optimal investment decisions at the sector level require not only the information contained in the carbon price signal, but also knowledge of the date when the sector reaches its full abatement potential. |
| Date: | 2013–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00850682&r=env |
| By: | Thomas, Timothy S.; Mainuddin, Khandaker; Chiang, Catherine; Rahman, Aminur; Haque, Anwarul; Islam, Nazria; Quasem, Saad; Sun, Yun |
| Abstract: | The goal of this research was to examine the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture in Bangladesh, and develop recommendations to policymakers to help farmers adapt to the changes. In this study, we use climate data from four general circulation models (GCMs) to evaluate the impact of climate change on agriculture in Bangladesh by 2050. We use the DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) crop modeling software to evaluate crop yields, first for the 1950 to 2000 period (actual climate) and then for the climates given by the four GCMs for 2050. We evaluate crop yields at 1,789 different points in Bangladesh, using a grid composed of roughly 10 kilometer (km) squares, for 8 different crops in 2000 and 2050. For each crop, we search for the best cultivar (variety) at each square, rather than limiting our analysis to a single variety for all locations. We also search for the best planting month in each square. In addition, we explore potential gains in changing fertilizer levels and in using irrigation to compensate for rainfall changes. This analysis indicates that when practiced together, using cultivars better suited for climate change and adjusting planting dates can lessen the impacts of climate change on yields, especially for rice, and in some cases actually result in higher yields. In addition, the analysis shows that losses in yield due to climate change can be compensated for, for many crops, by increasing the availability of nitrogen in the soil. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Impact model, Adaptation, Agricultural productivity, Crop yields, Varieties, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1281&r=env |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Sun, Yan; Bryan, Elizabeth; Abate, Caroline; Atlaw, Alumu; Keita, Mahamadou Namori |
| Abstract: | This report provides some reflections and insights on the level of awareness, practices, and organizational and institutional issues being faced by countries as they adapt to climate change, based on interviews with 87 practitioners working in government agencies, local organizations, international organizations, and think thanks reporting involvement in climate change adaptation. Data were collected in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali using both an e-survey platform and face-to-face interviews. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, analysis, Gender, Women, Risk, Resilience, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1279&r=env |
| By: | Calderone, Margherita; Maystadt, Jean-Francois; You, Liangzhi |
| Abstract: | Weather shocks and natural disasters, it has been argued, represent a major threat to national and international security. Our paper contributes to the emerging micro-level strand of the literature on the link between local variations in weather shocks and conflict by focusing on a pixel-level analysis for North and South Sudan at different geographical and time scales between 1997 and 2009. Temperature anomalies are found to strongly affect the risk of conflict. In the future the risk is expected to magnify in a range of 21 to 30 percent under a median scenario, taking into account uncertainties in both the climate projection and the estimate of the response of violence to temperature variations. Extreme temperature shocks are found to strongly affect the likelihood of violence as well, but the predictive power is hindered by substantial uncertainty. Our paper also sheds light on the vulnerability of areas with particular biophysical characteristics or with vulnerable populations. |
| Keywords: | Weather, Shocks, Conflict, Vulnerability, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1276&r=env |
| By: | Noble, Andrew |
| Abstract: | Who feeds the world? Two billion small-scale farmers who in addition to feeding themselves also produce surpluses for local markets — these are the food producers for a global population. Domestic markets along with the food consumed by the producers’ families constitute more than 70% of the world’s food consumption and are often overlooked in the food security debate. The importance of these producers to overall global food security is not in dispute, but can these farming systems continue to perform at current or improved levels, considering the influence of human-induced land and water degradation and associated effects on ecosystem services? Soil erosion, depletion of nutrients and soil organic matter, salinisation and surface and groundwater pollution are challenges that have confronted agricultural and urban communities for decades, and still do. Land degradation associated with inappropriate and unsustainable land use practices is estimated to affect 5–10 Mha annually; 34 Mha of global irrigated areas is affected by salinisation; it is estimated that 25% of global freshwater storage capacity will be lost in the next 25–50 years unless measures are taken to control sedimentation in reservoirs; approximately 2 Mt of waste is dumped into rivers, lakes and wetlands each day; and it is estimated that there are now 12,000 km3 of polluted water on the planet, a volume greater than the contents of the world’s ten biggest river basins. This litany of land and water degradation issues represents a diminished ability of ecosystems or landscapes to support functions and services required to sustain livelihoods. Small-scale farmers, the engine of global food supply, are the mainstay of most developing country rural economies and often occupy marginal and vulnerable lands. It makes sound economic sense to address this ‘slumbering giant’ of degradation through increased conservation investments in land and water resources within this sector. Whilst technologies, technology packages and management practices have been developed that demonstrate the practicalities of addressing these resource degradation issues, adoption at scale has been disappointing. Government institutions and development and research organisations are tasked with sustainably securing future food supplies. Their central challenge is to develop greater insights into constraints inhibiting adoption of productivity-enhancing and conserving interventions, and to identify the driving factors and relevant levers to address these constraints. Time may not be on our side in addressing land and water degradation, central to one of the nine thresholds that define ‘a safe operating space for humanity’. |
| Keywords: | International Development, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp12:152413&r=env |
| By: | Mundaca, Luis; Mansoz, Mathilde; Neij, Lena; Timilsina, Govinda R |
| Abstract: | Transaction costs are major challenge to moving forward toward low-carbon economic growth, as new technologies or policies tend to have higher transaction costs compared with those in the business as usual situation. However, neither a well-developed theoretical foundation nor a consensus interpretation is available for those transaction costs in the existing literature. The definitions and therefore the estimations of transaction costs vary across existing studies. The wide variations in the estimates could be attributed to several factors such as the very definitions and scope of transaction costs considered in the studies, the methodology for quantifying these costs, the type and size of low-carbon technologies, and complexities involved in the transactions. Nevertheless, the existing literature converges on addressing market failures, such as lack of information, in developing regulatory and institutional capacity to enhance private sector confidence in energy efficiency business as a key means to help reduce the transaction costs of low-carbon technologies. |
| Keywords: | E-Business,Environmental Economics&Policies,Energy Production and Transportation,Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2013–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6565&r=env |
| By: | Latruffe, Laure; Piet, Laurent; Dupraz, Pierre; Mouël, Chantal Le |
| Abstract: | We investigate the determinants of agricultural land price in several regions in France over the period 1994-2011 using individual plots transaction data, with a particular emphasis on agricultural subsidies and nitrate zoning regulations. We found a positive but relatively small capitalisation effect of the total subsidies per hectare. We found evidence that agricultural subsidies capitalised at least to some extent. However, the magnitude of such a capitalisation depends on the region considered, on the type of subsidy considered, and on the location of the plot in a nitrate surplus zone or not. Only land set-aside premiums significantly capitalise into land price, while single farm payments have a significant positive capitalisation impact only for plots located in a nitrate surplus zone. |
| Keywords: | Farm land price, agricultural subsidies, capitalisation, regulations, nitrate surplus area, France, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iatr13:152372&r=env |
| By: | Lybbert, Travis J.; Magnan, Nicholas; Spielman, David J.; Bhargava, Anil K.; Gulati, Kajal |
| Abstract: | Demand heterogeneity often makes it profitable for firms to price and promote goods and services differently in different market segments. When private consumption brings public benefits, this same heterogeneity can be used to target public subsidies. We explore the design of public–private targeting and segmentation strategies in the case of a resource-conserving agricultural technology in India. To understand farmers’ heterogeneous demand for laser land leveling (LLL), we conducted an experimental auction for LLL services with an integrated randomized controlled trial to estimate the private benefits of the technology. We use graphical and econometric approaches to characterize farmer demand for LLL. We then add detailed cost data from LLL providers to simulate and evaluate several potential targeted delivery strategies based on measures of (1) the cost-effectiveness of expanding LLL dissemination, (2) water savings, and (3) market surplus in a welfare framework. These simulations demonstrate inherent tradeoffs between increasing the amount of land that is leveled and expanding the number of farmers who adopt the technology, and between adoption and water savings. While segmenting and targeting are popular elements of many public–private partnerships to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies, formulating and implementing effective delivery strategies requires a rich understanding of costs, benefits, and demand. Our experimental approach generates such an understanding and may be relevant in other contexts. |
| Keywords: | conservation agriculture, resource management, demand heterogeneity, Market segmentation, Laser land leveling, technology targeting, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1274&r=env |
| By: | Anonymous |
| Abstract: | Proceedings of the 2012 Parliamentary Conference, with Sir John Beddington; Professor Jonathon Foley; Dr Derek Byerlee; Dr Frank Rijsberman and others |
| Keywords: | Food security, agriculture, natural resources, urbanisation, Malthus, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp12:152131&r=env |