|
on Environmental Economics |
|
Issue of 2023‒05‒15
sixty-five papers chosen by Francisco S. Ramos Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |
| By: | Laura Cavalli (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Chiara Boeri (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | Climate change is one of the most important challenges for the present generation, which is living in decades characterized by a drastic increase in greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the most developed countries: not only the production realities – for which policies already largely provide for mitigation measures – contribute to emissions; but also, individual citizens to whom only a small part of the envisaged measures are addressed. Among the policies in which the demand side is little addressed are the Nationally Determined Contributions, which embody the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, as stated in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 between the Member States of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Integrating advice on carbon neutral lifestyles in NDCs and long-term strategies could have positive implications in both social, economic, and environmental terms, paving the way for more holistic and inclusive policies, fundamental elements to pursue a development that is sustainable in the short and above all in the medium-long term. Taking this into account, the present work, which forms an integral part of the studies of WP 7 within the Horizon 2020 Project CAMPAIGNers- Citizens Acting on Mitigation Pathways through Active Implementation of a Goal-setting Network1, aims to understand what the consequences deriving from the inclusion of carbon neutral lifestyle advice in the Nationally Determined Contributions and national climate strategies would be, and to operationally implement practical examples and ways to include behavioural aspects of the carbon neutral lifestyle in the sectors studied, based on national data and statistics from the countries participating in the Project2. The innovative aspect of the Project lies in integrating the quantitative aspects deriving from the scientific evidence of official statistics with qualitative aspects generated by the collaboration between partners and stakeholders, in the form of surveys and focus groups: in this way it is possible to effectively overlap the spheres of economic and environmental analysis with that of policy making, providing a tool capable of directing strategies and international agendas. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics, Government, Environmental, Regional Household Behavior |
| JEL: | D1 H7 R2 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2023.07&r=env |
| By: | Ximena Cadena; Helena García; María Claudia García; María José Mejía; Alexander González; Santiago Muñoz; Luisa Fernanda Vargas |
| Abstract: | El cambio climático y los problemas ambientales presentan desafíos multidisciplinarios que requieren acciones efectivas y holísticas. Es necesario que los ministerios de finanzas tomen un papel más activo en la acción climática, ya que se requiere una gran redistribución de recursos financieros y una acción transversal en áreas como la energía, el transporte, el agua y la agricultura. Los ministerios de finanzas deben disenar estrategias de mitigación a corto, mediano y largo plazo y coordinar acciones entre el sector público y privado. El informe se centra en la capacidad de los ministerios de finanzas para abordar el cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe, a través de entrevistas a distintos Ministerios de la región y el análisis de los avances realizados hasta el momento.****** Abstract: Climate change and environmental problems present multidisciplinary challenges that require effective and holistic actions. Finance ministries need to take a more active role in climate action, as a major redistribution of financial resources and cross-cutting action is required in areas such as energy, transportation, water and agriculture. Finance ministries should design short-, medium- and long-term mitigation strategies and coordinate actions between the public and private sectors. The report focuses on the capacity of finance ministries to address climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean, through interviews with different ministries in the region and analysis of the progress made so far. |
| Keywords: | Cambio Climático, Medio Ambiente, Política Pública, Ministerios de Finanzas, Economía Verde, Impuestos Verdes, Políticas de Crecimiento Verde, Climate Change, Environment, Public Policy, Finance Ministries, Green Economy, Green Taxes, Green Growth Potential Assessment |
| JEL: | F18 G15 H25 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2023–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020743&r=env |
| By: | Olayinka Oyekola (Department of Economics, University of Exeter); Lotanna E. Emediegwu (Department of Economics, Policy and International Business, Manchester Metropolitan University); Jubril Olayinka Animashaun (Department of Economics, University of Manchester) |
| Abstract: | There are considerable differences in greenhouse gas emissions across countries, with little consensus on the extent to which political regimes affect environmental outcomes. This paper shows that the incentives that resource endowments and prices generate are key to understanding the influence of political regimes on emission outcomes. We analyze the relationship between commodity windfalls and CO2 emissions in a model of stratified political regimes, identifying the limits of democracies for environmental quality. To study the impact of international commodity prices on CO2 emissions, we use a panel of 179 countries covering the period 1970 to 2018. We then explore democracies and autocracies as channels for the heterogeneous effects of commodity windfalls on environmental quality. Our panel fixed effects estimation strategies account for the rich dynamics of contemporaneous emissions. Our baseline results show that commodity windfalls increase CO2 emissions in the long run. Similarly, countries with above threshold scores by measures of democratic institutions, such as executive recruitment, executive constraints, and political competition, have a significantly higher levels of CO2 emissions than those with lower scores. These results are robust to several sensitivity checks. |
| Keywords: | commodity windfalls, democracy, environmental quality, carbon emissions |
| JEL: | Q56 Q33 O13 H87 H11 |
| Date: | 2023–04–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exe:wpaper:2306&r=env |
| By: | Chambers, Adam |
| Abstract: | Excerpts from the Introduction: Environmental markets can be leveraged by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help accomplish the agency’s mission of delivering conservation solutions so agricultural producers can protect natural resources and feed a growing world. This technical note has been developed to explain how environmental markets can help get more conservation on the ground. Environmental markets can be used as an economically efficient mechanism that helps identify the least-cost options for addressing some of our Nation’s most challenging environmental problems. These markets take the form of carbon markets, water quality markets, water quantity markets, and wildlife habitat markets. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Marketing, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:unrctn:334259&r=env |
| By: | Cavalli, Laura; Boeri, Chiara |
| Abstract: | Climate change is one of the most important challenges for the present generation, which is living in decades characterized by a drastic increase in greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the most developed countries: not only the production realities – for which policies already largely provide for mitigation measures – contribute to emissions; but also, individual citizens to whom only a small part of the envisaged measures are addressed. Among the policies in which the demand side is little addressed are the Nationally Determined Contributions, which embody the efforts of each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, as stated in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 between the Member States of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Integrating advice on carbon neutral lifestyles in NDCs and long-term strategies could have positive implications in both social, economic, and environmental terms, paving the way for more holistic and inclusive policies, fundamental elements to pursue a development that is sustainable in the short and above all in the medium-long term. Taking this into account, the present work, which forms an integral part of the studies of WP 7 within the Horizon 2020 Project CAMPAIGNers- Citizens Acting on Mitigation Pathways through Active Implementation of a Goal-setting Network1, aims to understand what the consequences deriving from the inclusion of carbon neutral lifestyle advice in the Nationally Determined Contributions and national climate strategies would be, and to operationally implement practical examples and ways to include behavioural aspects of the carbon neutral lifestyle in the sectors studied, based on national data and statistics from the countries participating in the Project2. The innovative aspect of the Project lies in integrating the quantitative aspects deriving from the scientific evidence of official statistics with qualitative aspects generated by the collaboration between partners and stakeholders, in the form of surveys and focus groups: in this way it is possible to effectively overlap the spheres of economic and environmental analysis with that of policy making, providing a tool capable of directing strategies and international agendas. |
| Keywords: | International Development, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:334237&r=env |
| By: | Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy); Matteo Alpino (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of weather shocks on yield of corn, durum wheat, and grapevine using two-way fixed effect models on Italian province-level panel data at the annual frequency. Our estimates reveal substantial non-linearity in the effect of temperature on agricultural yields, in line with the literature. Furthermore, grapevine appears less sensitive to heat than cereals. Combining our estimates with projections on future climate under the A1B scenario, we find that by 2030 the effects of climate change on crop yield will be non-negative. The crop at the highest risk of losses is corn. |
| Keywords: | temperature shocks, precipitation, agricultural yields, climate change |
| JEL: | Q10 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_756_23&r=env |
| By: | Christopher J. Smith; Alaa Al Khourdajie; Pu Yang; Doris Folini |
| Abstract: | Emissions pathways used in climate policy analysis are often derived from integrated assessment models (IAMs). However, such emissions pathways do not typically include climate feedbacks on socioeconomic systems and by extension do not consider climate uncertainty in their construction. Here we show that climate uncertainty alone significantly changes the cost-benefit optimal CO$_2$ emissions, varying from -14 to +12 GtCO$_2$ yr$^{-1}$ in 2050 (5-95% range) for an ensemble of scenarios that limit warming to 1.5{\deg}C with low overshoot. Climate uncertainty is also responsible for a factor of five range in the social cost of carbon (SCC) in this scenario ensemble. Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) and the strength of present-day aerosol radiative forcing are strong determinants of SCC and optimal mid-century CO$_2$ emissions. This confirms that reducing climate uncertainty can refine cost-optimal emissions projections, and points to a missing feedback between climate and emissions in scenario construction. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.08957&r=env |
| By: | Dikshya Singh (South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment) |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights the crucial role of energy in economic growth and the potential benefits of increased access to clean and affordable energy. The brief also emphasizes the importance of sustainable development given Nepal's social and ecological vulnerabilities. It presents pathways to green structural transformation and discusses the co-benefits of replacing petroleum products with cleaner energy sources. Overall, this brief aims to provide insights on how Nepal can achieve rapid and equitable economic growth while promoting sustainable development through a transition to clean energy. |
| Keywords: | Nepal , Clean energy , Economic growth , Sustainable development , Green structural transformation , Petroleum products , Renewable energy , Energy efficiency , Net-zero emissions , Climate change , Industrialization , Environmental costs , Fossil fuels , Policy overhaul , Economic readjustments |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:saw:ibrief:ib/22/01&r=env |
| By: | Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future); Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future); Wingenroth, Jordan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Paris Agreement’s first Global Stocktake (GST) is set to conclude at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in late 2023. The GST is the means by which parties to the Paris Agreement monitor progress towards its goals, including Article 2’s goal of limiting warming to between 1.5 °C and 2 °C above preindustrial levels and Article 4’s goal of peaking greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. However, as the UN Environment Programme stresses in the latest Emissions Gap Report, the window to achieving these goals is closing rapidly.In the vast majority of literature assessing future socioeconomic, energy, and climate systems, projections for emissions scenarios are based on current policies, nationally determined contributions, or hypothetical socioeconomic “pathways†—or are designed to target specific degrees of temperature rise. While these scenarios are informative for policymakers, they do not provide information on their relative likelihoods, which limits their value for assessing the probability of meeting Paris goals. |
| Date: | 2023–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-23-01&r=env |
| By: | Ralph Winkler |
| Abstract: | Many poor countries are ill-adapted to the current leave alone a changing future climate, because they lack the necessary financial means to invest in efficient and cost-effective safeguarding measures. International endeavours to fund institutions, such as the Green Climate Fund, to provide financial assistance in this respect have not been as successful has hoped for. In this paper, I set up a simple two-player two-stage model, in which a rich country (North) can invest into adaptation measures in a poor country (South). I show that a necessary condition for North to invest into adaptation investments in South is that this results in decreasing equilibrium emissions of South. I find that this can only happen if the funded adaptation measures also have a flavor of mitigation, i.e., apart from safeguarding South from climate damages they have to reduce South’s marginal abatement costs. My results have important policy implications for the selection of adaptation and mitigation projects by international adaptation funding organizations, such as the Green Climate Fund. |
| Keywords: | climate change, adaptation versus mitigation, cross-country adaptation investments, non-cooperative climate policy, strategic complementarity |
| JEL: | C72 D62 H41 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10371&r=env |
| By: | Foroogh Nazzari Chamaki (Department of Banking and Finance, Eastern Mediterranean University); Glenn Jenkins (Queen's University); Majid Hashemipour (Faculty of Engineering, Cyprus International University, North Cyprus) |
| Abstract: | One of the most effective strategies to mitigate water shortages worldwide is to reuse the treated wastewater for freshwater production employing reverse osmosis (RO) technology. This strategy is appropriate in urban areas of arid or semi-arid regions as it can provide a sustainable and reliable water source close to the consumers. One of the drawbacks of RO is the high variability of production costs due to the electricity intensity. In addition, depending on the electricity source, it can also result in substantial environmental costs.This study showed that upgrading pumping and RO membrane systems of a wastewater reuse plant in Cyprus can significantly alleviate these drawbacks in terms cost, water recovery rate, and air pollution. The water recovery rate of the upgraded RO plant increased from 43.2 to 75 percent which results in a substantial net financial benefit due to less quantity of wastewater to be purchased and more potable water to be produced. The upgraded system also reduced the electricity requirement from 3.63 kWh/m3 to 1.92 kWh/m3. Pollution emissions decreased substantially because of the reduction in electricity requirements. The beneficiaries of these lower emissions costs are the residents of Cyprus and global society. Overall, the benefit of upgrading the plant is highly attractive with more than 65 percent of annual real internal rates of re-turn in financial and economic terms. Positive net present values are realized for all the scenarios considered. |
| Keywords: | circular economy, reused wastewater, reverse osmosis, levelized cost, economic cost, membrane technologies, emission cost, environmental externalities, distributive analysis, energy saving |
| JEL: | I38 L95 H43 Q25 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1503&r=env |
| By: | Ottmar Edenhofer; Max Franks; Matthias Kalkuhl; Artur Runge-Metzger |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights the importance of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies for climate policy. We first describe their role in iconic transformation pathways and discuss removal costs and storage duration of different technologies. Based on economic principles, we characterize optimal removal flows and reservoirs for non-permanent removals. Furthermore, we discuss different pricing regimes that achieve an optimal allocation under different information and liability conditions. Notably, seemingly cheap removal technologies in the land sector can indeed be very expensive when increasing opportunity costs and and impermanence are appropriately accounted for. The use of non-permanent removal – though to a certain extent economically optimal – creates high liability to firms and regulators that warrants a careful and deliberative risk management. Based on these insights, we discuss how policy makers can embed the CDR option in the EU’s policy architecture. There are four key tasks for regulating bodies to ensure an optimal governance: the management of the net carbon emission cap; support for research, development and diffusion of CDR technologies; certification of the quality of removals; management of the liability implied by non-permanent CDR. We propose that three new institutions, a European Carbon Central Bank, a Carbon Removal Certification Authority and a Green Leap Innovation Authority, are established to carry out these tasks. |
| Keywords: | carbon dioxide removal, EU-ETS, social cost of carbon, climate policy, impermanence |
| JEL: | D61 H23 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10370&r=env |
| By: | Bergman, Aaron (Resources for the Future); Krupnick, Alan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Clean hydrogen can be a key component to decarbonization, particularly in the industrial sector. Beyond its current use in chemicals and refining, hydrogen has potential new and expanded uses in, for instance, process heat, iron and steel, electricity generation and transportation. However, current hydrogen production technologies yield significant carbon emissions, and little economic incentive has existed to expand the use of hydrogen to new areas. But that has begun to change, with the US Congress recently placing large bets on a future hydrogen economy. Last year’s Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) contains $9.5 billion funding for hydrogen, including $8 billion for hydrogen hubs. And this year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains two provisions that will subsidize clean hydrogen production. The first is a new tax credit (section 45V of the tax code) where the value of the credit is based on life cycle emissions. The second is a substantial increase in the value of the existing tax credit for carbon sequestration (section 45Q of the tax code), which is used to make “blue†hydrogen.Each of these tax credits can reduce the price difference between clean hydrogen and more carbon-intensive alternatives. To better understand the cost-effectiveness of these policies, this price difference can be converted into an implicit carbon price. As we will see, the values so obtained are significantly higher than many estimates of the social cost of carbon and may thus appear uneconomic. However, the goal of these tax credits is not solely to correct for the lack of a price on carbon but also to aid the deployment of nascent hydrogen technologies. Such deployment can have spillover effects, disseminating knowledge and potentially lowering costs in the future, an additional externality that, although difficult to quantify, may justify the higher implicit carbon prices.These tax credits have different impacts depending on the form of hydrogen production. Fossil-fuel based production generally uses natural gas (although it can use other fuels as we discuss later). This process produces greenhouse gas emissions from the carbon dioxide released as the hydrogen is extracted from the natural gas (or other hydrocarbon). To be clean hydrogen, these emissions must be captured. On the other hand, electrolysis, the production of hydrogen from water using electricity, produces no direct greenhouse gas emissions. However, electrolysis consumes large amounts of electricity that can lead to both high costs and high lifecycle emissions if the electricity is purchased on the wholesale market. Costs could be lowered, however, by using lower cost electricity, either through a direct connection to a generator or by only producing hydrogen when the price of electricity is low.Both forms of hydrogen production are potentially eligible for the 45V tax credit, but they must demonstrate low life cycle emissions to do so, with the magnitude of the credit depending on the level of emissions. In the case of fossil-fuel based production, beyond the direct emissions, the largest component of the life cycle emissions is upstream methane leakage; for electrolysis, it is the emissions associated with electricity production. The Treasury Department will have to issue a regulation on how to calculate these life cycle emissions, which will have a major impact on the subsidies available to hydrogen producers and the competitiveness of various forms of hydrogen production.In contrast to the 45V tax credit, only hydrogen producers using carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) are eligible for the 45Q tax credit. This tax credit is available irrespective of the life cycle emissions and, as we will see, can be more valuable than the 45V tax credit. Producers are not allowed to take both tax credits.We will analyze the impacts of these tax credits on the costs of hydrogen production using a set of hydrogen production models from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). We will see that the 45Q tax credit is sufficient to make some forms of fossil fuel–based hydrogen production competitive with current high-emission production on a levelized cost basis. The high cost of grid electricity and the associated emissions, on the other hand, make it hard for electrolysis to compete. However, electrolyzers that source cleaner and cheaper electricity can qualify for high levels of the 45V tax credit and compete with fossil-fuel based hydrogen production. In the long run, costs for electrolyzers are expected to decrease, and the grid should be less carbon intensive, making electrolyzers competitive more broadly.In this report, we will review various forms of hydrogen production and the changes to the tax law made by the Inflation Reduction Act. We will calculate the implicit carbon prices and discuss the calculation of life cycle emissions. Next, using the NREL models, we will discuss the impacts of the tax credits on the levelized and marginal costs of hydrogen production and see how they depend on upstream methane leakage rates and the carbon intensity of electricity production. We will also examine in detail how the relative competitiveness of the various forms of production depends on natural gas and electricity prices. We conclude with a discussion of the broader hydrogen economy. |
| Date: | 2022–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-13&r=env |
| By: | Jann Michael Weinand; Ganga Vandenberg; Stanley Risch; Johannes Behrens; Noah Pflugradt; Jochen Lin{\ss}en; Detlef Stolten |
| Abstract: | Lithium is a critical material for the energy transition, but conventional procurement methods have significant environmental impacts. In this study, we utilize regional energy system optimizations to investigate the techno-economic potential of the low-carbon alternative of direct lithium extraction in deep geothermal plants. We show that geothermal plants will become cost-competitive in conjunction with lithium extraction, even under unfavorable conditions and partially displace photovoltaics, wind power, and storage from energy systems. Our analysis indicates that if 10% of municipalities in the Upper Rhine Graben area in Germany constructed deep geothermal plants, they could provide enough lithium to produce about 1.2 million electric vehicle battery packs per year, equivalent to 70% of today`s annual electric vehicle registrations in the European Union. This approach could offer significant environmental benefits and has high potential for mass application also in other countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Italy, highlighting the importance of further research and development of this technology. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.07019&r=env |
| By: | Tom Krebs (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | Traditional climate policy is based on the market-liberal paradigm that relies on carbon pricing, a belief in self-regulating markets, and transfer payments for the so-called “losers†of the transfor- mation process. The market-liberal approach to climate policy is certain to fail because it is based on a two-fold theory of society that is far removed from reality: it neglects adjustment costs in the trans- formation process and also economic power relations in the labor market. In contrast, modern climate policy takes into account these features of real societies and delivers green and inclusive economic growth. This policy is built on the idea of a forward-looking government that creates “pro-worker green institutions†and uses a “pro-worker green industrial policy†to support people and companies in the transformation process. The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is an example of a modern climate policy in the sense that it includes several elements of a pro-worker green industrial policy. However, the US currently lacks the institutional structure to successfully implement a pro-worker climate agenda. European countries should embrace the general US approach to climate policy and develop their own, improved version based on their individual and institutional strengths. |
| Keywords: | Climate Policy, Pro-Worker Green Industrial Policy, Pro-Worker Green Institutions, New Paradigm |
| JEL: | D52 J50 J64 L32 L50 O43 O44 Q43 Q50 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agz:wpaper:2301&r=env |
| By: | Kim, Changmo; Butt, Ali Azhar; Harvey, John; Ostovar, Maryam; Saboori, Arash |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study was to develop a framework for determining the fuel use and environmental impacts caused by construction work zones (CWZs) on a range of vehicles and to produce initial calculations of these impacts by modeling traffic closure conditions for highway maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) activities. The framework was developed and demonstrated in several scenarios. The study included three common highway categories—freeways, multi-lane highways, and two-lane highways—and common California vehicle types. The framework uses realistic drive cycle values and CWZ operation scenarios as inputs to the simulation software MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) to estimate total fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions. In this study, the framework was demonstrated using three CWZ operations under different traffic congestion levels: light, medium, and heavy. Fuel consumption and pollutant emissions results obtained for the CWZ operation scenario with and without congestion were compared with those for a no-CWZ, no-congestion scenario. In the simulation results for a freeway with a CWZ and heavy congestion, fuel consumption increased by 85% and the CO2 equivalent (CO2-e) emissions increased by 86%, NOx by 62%, SOx by 85%, and PM2.5 by 128%. In the multi-lane highway scenarios, fuel consumption increased by 85%, and CO2-e emissions increased by 88%, NOx by 75%, SOx by 87%, and PM2.5 emissions by 129% for a CWZ with heavy congestion. Lessening traffic congestion in a CWZ from heavy (average speed 5 mph) to medium (average speed 25 mph for a freeway section and 15 mph for a multi-lane road section) reduced fuel consumption by 40% on a freeway and 33% on multi-lane highway. This study also included use of a pilot car in a CWZ on a two-lane road. This approach was undertaken to estimate the possible benefits of different CWZ lane closure strategies and traffic management plans. The pilot-car operation scenario results indicate that a one-lane closure with pilot-car operation on a two-lane road might consume 13% more fuel because of idling time and the slow movement of vehicles following the pilot car. This scenario generated emissions increases of 10% for CO2-e, 14% for NOx, 13% for SOx, and 65% for PM2.5. The results of these scenarios indicate that the impacts from heavy vehicles far exceed those from smaller vehicles in CWZs. Phase 2 of the study will develop methods for pavement management, conceptual evaluation, and project design that consider construction closures by implementing this life cycle assessment framework. These methods will also be used in studies to evaluate pavement design lives (20 years versus 40 years) and pavement selection for truck lanes and in-place recycling and to evaluate lane closure schedules and tactics to minimize CWZ impacts on highways by using project-specific traffic congestion levels. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, fuel consumption, greenhouse gas, life cycle assessment, air pollutant |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt02m0x1t7&r=env |
| By: | Jeffrey Wielgus; Monica Grasso; Charles Colgan; Jennifer Zhuang; Sarah C. Siegel; Joseph Conran; Tadesse Wodajo |
| Abstract: | In an effort to measure and track marine-dependent economic activities, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed two statistical tools: The Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW) and the Marine Economy Satellite Account (MESA). In both efforts, the focus has been on certain activities in selected sectors of the economy. MESA is developed within the framework of the System of National Accounts (SNA) and includes only economic activities that use essential marine inputs, produce goods or services to be used predominantly in the marine environment, take place in the marine environment, or need to be placed in proximity to the coast to take place. In addition, MESA only employs data on the annual flows of market-based values related to the marine activities. As an SNA-based tool, MESA also fails to systematically keep track of the contribution of the environment to the economy by properly accounting for the changes (both additions and reductions) in the environmental capital stock values. This paper proposes an initial extension of MESA to include natural capital considerations by employing key elements of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts Central Framework (SEEA-CF) adopted as the initial international statistical standard for environmental-economic accounting by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2012. In addition to reporting the economic activities captured by the SNA structure, the SEEA-CF requires measuring both additions to the environmental capital stocks (due to natural growth or improved resource management) and reductions in these stocks (resulting from depletion from use in the production process or removal of resources from the natural stock). Considering the complexity involved in the measurement of the natural capital foundations of the ocean-related economy, the paper proposes to launch the MESA extension as a pilot project focusing only on selected data rich marine activities defined in MESA, namely, offshore oil and gas, commercial fishing, and beach recreation. |
| JEL: | Q0 Q20 Q3 Q32 Q5 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31108&r=env |
| By: | Germán Caruso; Inés de Marcos; Ilan Noy |
| Abstract: | Climate change severely impacts critical facets of human capital across the life cycle. This is particularly alarming as both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather shocks continue to increase, and extremes appear to be the main channel of causality. At the same time, human capital has a vital role in driving effective climate change mitigation and adaptation. Here, we provide a framework for analyzing the multiple interlinkages between climate change and human capital and document the existing evidence on the impacts of climate change damages, and the effects of climate change mitigation and adaptation, on human capital across the life cycle. The framework presents two channels through which human capital is affected: direct effects on health, nutrition, and wellbeing, and indirect effects through changes in economic systems, markets, and through damage to infrastructure. These two channels call for different policy interventions, focusing on the different stages of the life cycle. For mitigation and adaptation, we find that while these are overall clearly beneficial, they are also associated with significant human capital costs for specific sectors and groups in society. Ignoring these costs can only lead to worse outcomes, as it can lead to diminishing public support for the required mitigation and adaptation (as has arguably been the case with globalization). Since there is also evidence that high human capital improves adaptation and mitigation, this suggests that adaptation and mitigation that accounts and compensates for these ‘sectoral’ losses can create a virtuous cycle that leads to positive outcomes for both climatic action and human capital. |
| Keywords: | climate change, human capital, mitigation, adaptation, health, education, labor |
| JEL: | I14 I15 I24 I25 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10374&r=env |
| By: | María Claudia García Dávila; María José Mejía; Ximena Cadena (Directora Proyecto); Luis Fernando Mejía (Director Proyecto) |
| Abstract: | El reconocimiento ambiental de la Amazonia no necesariamente se traduce en la implementación de políticas ni en la asignación de recursos financieros para su conservación. Además, recientemente se ha manifestado un creciente interés y compromisos financieros para la conservación de los bosques. Este documento busca identificar los fundamentos que debe tener un arreglo financiero para reconocer el valor del capital natural de la Amazonia colombiana. Para ello, se explica qué es el reconocimiento y valoración económica del capital natural; luego se expone la urgencia de tomar una acción al respecto; después, se describen fondos forestales; en seguida, se presenta el rol de la cooperación internacional en el financiamiento para conservación; y se finaliza con unas recomendaciones para fortalecer los mecanismos financieros existentes.******Abstract: The environmental recognition of the Amazon does not necessarily translate into the implementation of policies or the allocation of financial resources for its conservation. In addition, there has recently been a growing interest and financial commitment to forest conservation. This document seeks to identify the fundamentals that a financial arrangement should have to recognize the value of the natural capital of the Colombian Amazon. To this end, it explains what the recognition and economic valuation of natural capital is; then, the urgency of taking action in this regard is explained; next, forest funds are described; then, the role of international cooperation in financing conservation is presented; and it ends with some recommendations to strengthen the current financial mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Capital Natural, Contabilidad Ambiental, Financiamiento Ambiental, Amazonia, Natural Capital, Environmental Accounting, Environmental Finance, Amazon |
| JEL: | G23 O13 O16 Q23 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020715&r=env |
| By: | Francisco Estrada; Richard S. J. Tol; Wouter Botzen |
| Abstract: | Damage functions in integrated assessment models (IAMs) map changes in climate to economic impacts and form the basis for most of estimates of the social cost of carbon. Implicit in these functions lies an unwarranted assumption that restricts the spatial variation (Svar) and temporal variability (Tvar) of changes in climate to be null. This could bias damage estimates and the climate policy advice from IAMs. While the effects of Tvar have been studied in the literature, those of Svar and their interactions with Tvar have not. Here we present estimates of the economic costs of climate change that account for both Tvar and Svar, as well as for the seasonality of damages across sectors. Contrary to the results of recent studies which show little effect that of Tvar on expected losses, we reveal that ignoring Svar produces large downward biases, as warming is highly heterogeneous over space. Using a conservative calibration for the damage function, we show that previous estimates are biased downwards by about 23-36%, which represents additional losses of about US$1, 400-US$2, 300 billion by 2050 and US$17-US$28 trillion by the end of the century, under a high emissions scenario. The present value of losses during the period 2020-2100 would be larger than reported in previous studies by $47-$66 trillion or about 1/2 to 3/4 of annual global GDP in 2020. Our results imply that using global mean temperature change in IAMs as a summary measure of warming is not adequate for estimating the costs of climate change. Instead, IAMs should include a more complete description of climate conditions. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.08049&r=env |
| By: | Gregory Casey; Stephie Fried; Ethan Goode; Gregory P. Casey |
| Abstract: | We use theory and empirics to distinguish between the impact of temperature on transition (temporary) and steady state (permanent) growth in output per capita. Standard economic theory suggests that the long-run growth rate of output per capita is determined entirely by the growth rate of total factor productivity (TFP). We find evidence suggesting that the level of temperature affects the level of TFP, but not the growth rate of TFP. This implies that a change in temperature will have a temporary, but not a permanent, impact on output per capita growth. To highlight the quantitative importance of distinguishing between permanent and temporary changes in economic growth, we use our empirical estimates and theoretical framework to project the impacts of future increases in temperature caused by climate change. We find losses that are substantial, but smaller than those in the existing empirical literature that assumes a change in temperature permanently affects economic growth. |
| Keywords: | climate change, economic growth |
| JEL: | O44 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10375&r=env |
| By: | Viral V. Acharya; Richard Berner; Robert F. Engle III; Hyeyoon Jung; Johannes Stroebel; Xuran Zeng; Yihao Zhao |
| Abstract: | We explore the design of climate stress tests to assess and manage macro-prudential risks from climate change in the financial sector. We review the climate stress scenarios currently employed by regulators, highlighting the need to (i) consider many transition risks as dynamic policy choices; (ii) better understand and incorporate feedback loops between climate change and the economy; and (iii) further explore “compound risk” scenarios in which climate risks co-occur with other risks. We discuss how the process of mapping climate stress scenarios into financial firm outcomes can incorporate existing evidence on the effects of various climate-related risks on credit and market outcomes. We argue that more research is required to (i) identify channels through which plausible scenarios can lead to meaningful short-run impact on credit risks given typical bank loan maturities; (ii) incorporate bank-lending responses to climate risks; (iii) assess the adequacy of climate risk pricing in financial markets; and (iv) better understand and incorporate the process of expectations formation around the realizations of climate risks. Finally, we discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of using market-based climate stress tests that can be conducted using publicly available data to complement existing stress testing frameworks. |
| JEL: | G0 Q0 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31097&r=env |
| By: | Nassif, Marie-Helene (International Water Management Institute); Abi Saab, M. T.; Tawfik, Mohamed (International Water Management Institute) |
| Keywords: | Water reuse; Agricultural water use; Water quality standards; Regulations; Guidelines; Policies; Irrigation water; Wastewater; Physicochemical properties; Risk management |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwt:bosers:h051740&r=env |
| By: | Frank, Luis |
| Abstract: | Climate research has associated the South Pacific Oscillation (ENSO) with the occurrence of extreme weather events in South America, such as droughts and floods. However, agronomic and economic studies show that such effects are transferred weakly to agricultural production. The paper focuses on the impact of changes in the surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific on soybean yield in the Chaco-Pampean Region of Argentina. It is based on the hypothesis that the ENSO effect is not homogeneous throughout the region, and therefore computes semi-elasticities of soybean yield with respect to oceanic temperatures for 15 zones of the Chaco-Pampean region. Additionally, proposes an aggregation scheme for these semi-elasticities useful to project the national average yield. The results confirm that the effect of ENSO on the yield of the soybean crop is not homogeneous throughout the region, despite which an increase of 7.7% in the average national yield can be expected for each additional degree on the temperature of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. The effect can, however, oscillate between 0 and 21% according to the zone, without a clear gradient in any direction being noticed. The paper discusses possible causes of this variability and alternatives to improve the estimation of the semi-elasticities at zonal and general level. |
| Keywords: | ENSO, soybean, yield |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117109&r=env |
| By: | Juan Benavides; García Helena; Ximena Cadena; David Salamanca |
| Abstract: | El Estado colombiano ha avanzado en financiamiento climático. En 2016 se creó el Comité de Gestión Financiera (CGF) como uno de los dos comités que hacen parte de la Comisión Intersectorial de Cambio Climático (CICC) con la función principal de generar lineamientos de política pública para la inclusión de criterios de cambio climático en la planificación económica y financiera del país, así como la definición y actualización periódica de una estrategia financiera nacional para el cambio climático. Desde su publicación a la fecha se ha progresado en el desarrollo del mercado de seguros para enfrentar el cambio climático y en el acceso a fuentes de recursos de tipo público, privado e internacional. El presente documento realiza la actualización de la ENFC con su respectivo Plan de Acción y de Seguimiento (PAS).****** The Colombian State has made progress in climate financing. In 2016, the Financial Management Committee (CGF) was created as one of the two committees that are part of the Intersectoral Commission on Climate Change (CICC) with the main function of generating public policy guidelines for the inclusion of climate change criteria in the economic and financial planning of the country, as well as the definition and regular updating of a national financial strategy for climate change. From its publication to date, progress has been made in the development of the insurance market to face climate change and in access to public, private and international sources of resources. This document updates the ENFC with its respective Action and Monitoring Plan (PAS). |
| Keywords: | Financiamiento Climático, Acción Climática, Instrumentos Económicos y Financieros, NDC, Climate Finance, Climate Action, Economic and Financial Instruments, NDC |
| JEL: | K14 K42 |
| Date: | 2022–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020713&r=env |
| By: | Miranda, Javier; Börner, Jan |
| Abstract: | Sustainable use of land resources is at the core of the bioeconomy, and it is of central importance for development in the coming decades. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals reflect this aspect of development both directly and indirectly. Important global trends, such as a growing and richer world population, are consistently increasing demand for biomass products, leading to tradeoffs among related goals such as “Zero Hunger” and “Life on Land.” Regarding land supply for biomass production, there is a need for agricultural land and pressure in forest areas. Empirical evidence at regional and global levels points to land suitability, local and international markets, and governance as major drivers of land supply for the bioeconomy. However, global models lack an economically consistent description of the divergence between legal requirements for land use (de jure) and current land use trends (de facto) in tropical regions, where these tradeoffs are expected to be higher. Our analysis empirically estimates the average marginal effect of the socioeconomic, climatic, and governance drivers of land supply in the tropics. We used subnational panel data to construct a fractional response model to estimate these effects. Then, we used the econometric results to calculate heterogeneous individual land supply elasticities to commodity prices at the subnational level. Our results support the idea that in forest-abundant areas, soaring prices reinforce agricultural land expansion. Further, our results support previous evidence that the type of governance (conventional or environmental) determines the likelihood of a reduction or expansion of agricultural land in the tropics but with a very small magnitude compared to other drivers. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2023–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:334202&r=env |
| By: | Awokuse, Titus; Chan, Nathan W.; González-Ramírez, Jimena; Gulati, Sumeet; Interis, Matthew G.; Jacobson, Sarah; Manning, Dale T.; Stolper, Samuel; Ando, Amy (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights some ways in which scholarly work in environmental and natural resource (ENRE) economics may be affected by and unintentionally further racial inequity. We discuss four channels through which these effects may occur: (1) prioritization of efficiency over distribution, (2) inattention to procedural justice, (3) abstraction from crucial historical or social contexts, and (4) a narrow focus on problems perceived as tractable. We offer specific examples of how racial inequity may be furthered by work in the field through welfare and valuation methods, policy modeling choices, and treatment of the commons. We document opportunities to improve the field by better considering how racial inequity may affect and be affected by ENRE analysis. ENRE scholars have tools that can mitigate systemic racism in access to natural resources and a clean environment, but work must be done to realize that potential. |
| Date: | 2023–03–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-23-06&r=env |
| By: | Fulton, Lewis; Jenn, Alan; Yang, Christopher; Burke, Andrew; Acharya, Tri Dev; Li, Xinwei; Ogden, Joan; Miller, Marshall; Ira, Josh; Bourne, Beth |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences, hydrogen, low-carbon fuels, California |
| Date: | 2023–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt27m7g841&r=env |
| By: | Alvin Ulido Lumbanraja (Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management); Teuku Riefky (Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI)) |
| Abstract: | To tackle climate change, countries need to channel more capital to green projects. Additionally, typical green projects tend to have a lower return and/or higher fixed costs relative to brown investment projects. This, along with the higher cost of capital and limited fiscal spaces, means that the state budget of developing countries will not be enough to fulfil the financing needs of climate-related projects. Furthermore, shallow domestic financial markets also limit the available domestic funds for green projects in developing countries. This policy brief proposes an actionable framework to promote the flow of private capital from developed countries into green projects in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | international finance — t20 — financing gap — private capital — developing countries — developed countries |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lpe:t20ina:202203&r=env |
| By: | Ibrahim A. Adekunle (Babcock University, Nigeria); Olukayode E. Maku (Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria); Tolulope O. Williams (Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria); Judith Gbagidi (Africa PPP Advisory Services); Emmanuel O. Ajike (Babcock University, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | Purpose With heterogeneous findings dominating the growth and natural resources relations, there is a need to explain the variances in Africa’s growth process as induced by robust measures of factor endowments. This study used a comprehensive set of data from the updated database of the World Bank to capture the heterogeneous dimensions of natural resource endowments on growth with a particular focus on establishing complementary evidence on the resource curse hypothesis in energy and environmental economics literature in Africa. These comprehensive data on oil rent, coal rent, and forest rent could provide new and insightful evidence on obscure relations on the subject matter. Design/methodology/approach This paper considers the panel vector error correction (PVECM) procedure to explain changes in economic growth outcomes as induced by oil rent, coal rent and forest rent. The consideration of the (PVECM) was premised on the panel unit root process that returns series that were cointegrated at the first-order differentials. Findings The paper found positive relations between oil rent, coal rent and economic development in Africa. Forest rent, on the other hand, is inversely related to economic growth in Africa. Trade and human capital are positively related to economic growth in Africa, while population growth is negatively associated with economic growth in Africa. Research limitations/implications Short-run policies should be tailored toward the stability of fiscal expenditure such that the objective of fiscal policy, which is to maintain the condition of full employment, economic stability, and stabilise the rate of growth, can be optimised and sustained. By this, the resource curse will be averted, and productive capacity will increase, leading to sustainable growth and development in Africa, where conditions for growth and development remains inadequately met. Originality/value The originality of this paper can be viewed from the strength of its arguments and methods adopted to address the questions raised in this paper. This study further illuminated age-long obscure relations in the literature of natural resource endowment and economic growth by taking a disaggregated approach to the component-by-component analysis of natural resources factors (the oil rent, coal rent and forest rent) and their corresponding influence on economic growth in Africa. This pattern remains underexplored mainly in previous literature on the subject. Many African countries are blessed with an abundance of these different natural resources in varying proportions. The misuse and mismanagement of these resources along various dimensions have been the core of the inclination toward the resource curse hypothesis in Africa. Knowing how growth conditions respond to changes in the depth of forest resources, oil resources and coal resources could be a useful pointer in Africa's overall use and management. This study contributed to the literature on natural resource-induced growth dynamics by offering a generalisable conclusion as to why natural resource-abundance economies are prone to poor economic performance. This study further asks if mineral deposits are a source or reflection of illgrowth and underdevelopment in African countries. |
| Keywords: | Natural Resource Endowment; Economic Growth; Resource Curse Hypothesis; PVECM; Africa |
| JEL: | C33 O44 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/015&r=env |
| By: | Isaac K. Ofori (University of Insubria, Varese, Italy); Francesco Figari (University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy.); Nathanael Ojong (York University, Toronto, Canada) |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability literature by examining three important issues. First, the study examines the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic freedom on inclusive green growth (IGG) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Second, we investigate whether economic freedom interacts with FDI to promote IGG. Third, we identify minimum the thresholds required for economic freedom to cause FDI to foster IGG. The findings are based on macro data for 20 SSA countries. Evidence, based on instrumental variable regression, show that, unconditionally, FDI is not statistically significant for promoting IGG. Second, the study finds that SSA’s ‘Mostly unfree’ economic architecture conditions FDI to reduce IGG. Third, results from our threshold regression reveal that the minimum threshold required for economic freedom to cause FDI to foster IGG is 66.2% (Moderately free). The study sheds new light on investments necessary for SSA’s economic architecture to form relevant synergies with FDI to promote IGG. |
| Keywords: | Economic Freedom; FDI; Government Integrity; Inclusive Green Growth; Sustainable Development; sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | F21 F6 H1 P1 O55 Q01 Q56 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/023&r=env |
| By: | Waliu O. Shittu (University of Waikato); Gazi M. Hassan (University of Waikato); Frank G. Scrimgeour (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | The role of remittances has received considerable attentions at various national and regional economies due to their significant influence on growth and development indicators. Because of COVID-19, however, re-examining this relationship is necessary given the realities to trade and investment occasioned by the pandemic. Also, the extant literature has largely measured the effects of this variable on economic growth and development without expansion into sustainable development. Observing this relationship is, thus, considered appropriate due to the global outcry on climate change and the environment, which sustainable development better captures. Given these, this research measures the impact of COVID-19 on the nexus between remittances and sustainable development in SSA. Based on both static and dynamic estimators on a panel data from thirty-eight SSA countries, the empirical findings suggest that remittances raise sustainable development, though a negative effect sets in where remittances exceed 0.388 percent of the SSA region’s adjusted net savings. More so, the sign of the coefficient of COVID-19 is negative and the magnitude shows a severe impact. Finally, the interaction effect of remittances with COVID-19 is such that COVID-19 reduces the positive effect of remittances on sustainable development. The appropriate polices are discussed based on the findings of the study. |
| Keywords: | Remittances;COVID-19;sustainable development;instrumental variables;Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | C26 F24 G01 Q01 |
| Date: | 2023–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:23/05&r=env |
| By: | Nassif, Marie-Helene (International Water Management Institute); Tawfik, Mohamed (International Water Management Institute) |
| Keywords: | Water reuse; Agricultural water use; Planning; Water governance; Guidelines; Multi-stakeholder processes; Regulations; Institutions; Cost recovery; Water rights; Wastewater; Political aspects |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwt:bosers:h051744&r=env |
| By: | Costantiello, Alberto; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the determinants of CO2 Emissions-COE in the context of Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG model at world level. We use data of the World Bank for 193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We found that the level of COE is positively associated, among others to “Methane Emissions”, “Research and Development Expenditures”, and negatively associated among others to “Renewable Energy Consumption” and “Mean Drought Index”. Furthermore, we have applied a cluster analysis with the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method and we find the presence of four cluster. Finally, we apply eight machine-learning algorithms for the prediction of the future value of COE and we find that the Artificial Neural Network-ANN algorithm is the best predictor. The ANN predicts a reduction in the level of COE equal to 5.69% on average for the analysed countries. |
| Keywords: | Analysis of Collective Decision-Making, General, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behaviour, Bureaucracy, Administrative Processes in Public Organizations, Corruption, Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation, Implementation. |
| JEL: | D7 D70 D72 D73 D78 |
| Date: | 2023–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117110&r=env |
| By: | Gebrezgabher, Solomie (International Water Management Institute); Kodua, T.; Mateo-Sagasta, Javier (International Water Management Institute) |
| Keywords: | Water reuse; Projects; Cost recovery; Economic analysis; Cost benefit analysis; Wastewater treatment plants; Agriculture; Landscaping; Investment; Potable water; Prices; Aquifers; Groundwater recharge |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwt:bosers:h051739&r=env |
| By: | Tawfik, Mohamed (International Water Management Institute); Nassif, Marie-Helene (International Water Management Institute); Mahjoub, O.; Mahmoud, A. E. D.; Kassab, G.; Alomair, M.; Hoogesteger, J. |
| Keywords: | Water reuse; Water policies; Institutional development; Case studies; Wastewater treatment; Infrastructure; Water resources; Government; Regulations; Monitoring |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwt:bosers:h051738&r=env |
| By: | Dühr, Stefanie; Berry, Stephen; Moore, Trivess |
| Abstract: | This study investigated the challenges and opportunities that built environment professionals in Australia experience when planning, designing, and implementing sustainable housing developments at the neighbourhood scale. It also examined strategies and policy levers employed in case study eco-neighbourhoods from across Australia and Europe to inform future Australian policy and practice. Neighbourhoods are the ‘in-between scales’ between individual buildings and the urban scale and have been described as the ‘building blocks’ of a city. Planning for environments at a neighbourhood scale offers sustainability gains and economies of scale for decentralised systems (such as water and energy) and opportunities for integrated land-use and transport planning, biodiversity planning and social sustainability. Moreover, the neighbourhood scale allows consideration of the importance of communities and social capital for achieving sustainability. The research found there is a need for stricter regulatory requirements on urban sustainability in general, and for policy frameworks and development models to support sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale specifically. Policy expectations for sustainable neighbourhood developments should be performance-based, rather than prescriptive, and they should be supported by objectives and targets so that achievements can be measured and compared. Many research participants called for mandatory targets, and for binding policies and regulation and sustainable housing and neighbourhood-scale developments to be coordinated across different levels of government and jurisdictions. |
| Date: | 2023–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:wdfhs&r=env |
| By: | Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); McConnell, Virginia (Resources for the Future); Pesek, Sophie (Resources for the Future); Raimi, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Federal and state tax policies designed to fund the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure rely almost exclusively on excise taxes levied on petroleum products. But as the United States and the world seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boosting fuel economy and electric vehicle (EV) sales will reduce the demand for petroleum and associated public revenues. In this analysis, we use an economic model of the US household vehicle market to estimate the effects of three alternative revenue policies: one that adjusts tax rates for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and adds a new per-mile fee for EVs to maintain the performance of US roadways, a second that levies a per-mile fee on all vehicles in lieu of the gasoline tax, and a third that charges all motorists for the external costs of driving, including greenhouse gas emissions, “local†air pollution, traffic accidents, and congestion. We also examine the effects of extending fuel economy standards beyond their current levels. We find that current tax policies are insufficient by tens of billions of dollars per year to fund roadways and that either higher taxes on gasoline or a per-mile fee of $0.03 levied on all passenger vehicles could achieve the target revenue. Tightening fuel economy standards lowers the cost of operating ICE vehicles and reduces tax revenues. Imposing a per-mile fee on EV owners has virtually no effect on EV adoption because of interactions with other policies but does slightly reduce EV miles driven. We produce an updated estimate of the external costs of driving, averaging $0.16 per mile for gasoline vehicles ($3.85 per gallon) and $0.06 per mile for EVs, with large differences between urban and rural counties. Applying fees at this rate dramatically accelerates EV adoption, increases driving costs (especially for ICE vehicles), slightly reduces overall driving, and raises tax revenues well beyond the level needed to maintain roadway performance. |
| Date: | 2023–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-23-09&r=env |
| By: | Axel Gautier (HEC Liège); Julien Jacqmin (NEOMA - Neoma Business School); Jean-Christophe Poudou (MRE - Montpellier Recherche en Economie - UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | Renewable energy communities involve various agents who decide to jointly invest in renewable production units and storage. This paper examines how these communities interact with the energy system and can decrease its overall cost. First, we show that a renewable energy community can contribute positively to welfare if the electricity produced by the investment is consumed close to its place of production, i.e. if the community has a high degree of self-consumption. Second, our analysis identifies the condition on prices and grid tariffs to align the community's interest with welfare maximization. We also show that some of these grid tariffs do not have a negative impact on non-members of the community and could therefore limit potential distributional issues. Third, we argue that various internal organization of the renewable energy communities are feasible. The internal organization impacts the distribution of benefits among members but not the global efficiency of the community. |
| Keywords: | energy communities, decentralized production unites, energy transition, grid regulation |
| Date: | 2023–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04032253&r=env |
| By: | Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future); Fell, Harrison; Gordon, Deborah; Conway, TJ |
| Abstract: | Supply-side interventions that retire highly emitting fossil fuel assets have received increased attention from policymakers and private actors alike. Yet concerns about market leakage—wherein reduced supply from one source is partially offset by increased production from other sources—have raised questions about how much emissions reductions they can achieve. In this paper, we estimate the effects of these supply-side interventions on global emissions, accounting for both market leakage as well as the relative greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of different sources of supply. We account for uncertainty in market leakage rates and the emissions intensities of the curtailed and substitute sources of supply through a Monte Carlo analysis, drawing on supply and demand elasticities from the economics literature and emissions intensity data from the state-of-the-art Oil Climate Index plus Gas (OCI+) dataset on 586 oil and gas fields around the world. We find that the life-cycle emissions reductions from supply-side interventions are on the order of 40–50 percent of the gross life-cycle emissions of each barrel curtailed, depending on the relative emissions intensity of the curtailed and substitute sources of supply. Further, targeting the most emissions-intensive sources of oil supply could achieve yet further emissions reductions. How one compares methane and CO2 emissions also has important consequences for which sources to target. |
| Date: | 2023–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-23-11&r=env |
| By: | Giulia Bettin (Marche Polytechnic University and MoFiR); Amadou Jallow (University of the Gambia); Alberto Zazzaro (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and MoFiR) |
| Abstract: | The literature on the impact of natural disasters on remittances has provided mixed evidence so far, with identification remaining a key challenge. This paper studies the insurance role of remittances by investigating their dynamic response in the aftermath of a disaster. We use a novel and rich panel dataset of monthly remittance flows from Italy to 81 developing countries for the period 2005 to 2015. We find that monthly remittance flows on average increase by 2% due to natural disasters in migrants' home countries. The response gets significant a few months after the event and tends to disappear within a year from the disaster occurrence. The intensity and timing of remittances' responsiveness are heterogeneous according to the nature of the disaster, the receiving country's characteristics, and migrants' socio-economic conditions in the host country. |
| Keywords: | migrants' remittances, international migration, natural disasters |
| JEL: | F24 F22 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wmofir:179&r=env |
| By: | Bangsund, Dean; Hodur, Nancy |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2023–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:334313&r=env |
| By: | Basei, Matteo (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University); Ferrari, Giorgio (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University); Rodosthenous, Neofytos (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University) |
| Abstract: | The socioeconomic impact of pollution naturally comes with uncertainty due to, e.g., current new technological developments in emissions’ abatement or demographic changes. On top of that, the trend of the future costs of the environmental damage is unknown: Will global warming dominate or technological advancements prevail? The truth is that we do not know which scenario will be realised and the scientific debate is still open. This paper captures those two layers of uncertainty by developing a real-options-like model in which a decision maker aims at adopting a once-and-for-all costly reduction in the current emissions rate, when the stochastic dynamics of the socioeconomic costs of pollution are subject to Brownian shocks and the drift is an unobservable random variable. By keeping track of the actual evolution of the costs, the decision maker is able to learn the unknown drift and to form a posterior dynamic belief of its true value. The resulting decision maker’s timing problem boils down to a truly two-dimensional optimal stopping problem which we address via probabilistic free-boundary methods and a state-space transformation. We show that the optimal timing for implementing the emissions reduction policy is the first time that the learning process has become “decisive” enough; that is, when it exceeds a time-dependent percentage. This is given in terms of an endogenously determined threshold uniquely solving a nonlinear integral equation, which we can solve numerically. We discuss the implications of the optimal policy and also perform comparative statics to understand the role of the relevant model’s parameters in the optimal policy. |
| Keywords: | environmental policy, partial observation, real options, optimal stopping, free boundaries |
| Date: | 2023–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:677&r=env |
| By: | Anne-Sophie Tabau (DICE - Droits International, Comparé et Européen - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour - UTLN - Université de Toulon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Keywords: | ENVIRONNEMENT, Climat, Changement climatique, Création d'un fonds, Conférence de Charm el-Cheikh |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-04065323&r=env |
| By: | Loginova Veronika (Department of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the channels of influence of transitional climate risks on the value of companies and provides empirical evidence of the impact of transitional climate risks on the value of Russian companies on the example of the introduction of cross-border regulation in the EU. A study using the methods of event analysis and the construction of autoregressive models for assessing excess returns confirmed that these risks are taken into account by the Russian financial market, and proved the need to take them into account in the long-term evaluation of the company. |
| Keywords: | transitional climate risks, channels of influence, company value, event analysis, autoregressive models, cross-border regulation |
| JEL: | G14 G38 G39 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upa:wpaper:0049&r=env |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Abstract: | In 2022, the world faced multiple crises. Disruptions to food systems from the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, major natural disasters, civil unrest and political instability, and the growing impacts of climate change continued, as the Russia-Ukraine war and inflation exacerbated a global food and fertilizer crisis. The growing number of crises, their increasing impact, and rising numbers of hungry and displaced people have galvanized calls to rethink responses to food crises, creating a real opportunity for change. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; development; food security; hunger; policy; resilience; crises |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:136663&r=env |
| By: | Mastrangelo, João Paulo; Gori Maia, Alexandre |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the extent to which farms with secure land rights are less prone to deforest and more likely to comply with the Forest Code in the Brazilian Amazon. We use a unique dataset with farm-level information for the whole population of farms in the state of Acre, Brazil. We work with a proxy for land tenure security defined as the absence of overlapping property rights, which means that for each rural plot, there is only one land title attesting to whom the legal ownership belongs. We evaluate the impacts of secure land right on the farm's share of the deforested area and the likelihood that farmers comply with the Brazilian Forest Code, which defines a limit of 20% of the deforested area in each farm. The non-randomness between the treatment (land security) and control (land insecurity) groups is controlled using the inverse probability weighting regression adjustment. Our results highlight that land tenure security reduces the deforested area and increases compliance with the Forest Code. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc23:334335&r=env |
| By: | Vincent BERTRAND (CRESE - Centre de REcherches sur les Stratégies Economiques (UR 3190) - UFC - Université de Franche-Comté - UBFC - Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE], Réseau EDEN.i - Réseau EDEN.i - UFC - Université de Franche-Comté - UBFC - Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE]) |
| Abstract: | Les prix de gaz et du charbon s'envolent alors que le prix du carbone bat des records. Du jamais vu ! Face à cette situation, il convient d'examiner plus en détails le switch gaz/charbon, qui représente le principal gisement de réduction des émissions à court terme pour le marché européen du carbone. Un prix du carbone élevé renforce mécaniquement la compétitivité des centrales gaz par rapport au charbon : les exploitants et les fabricants de centrales gaz voient ainsi la profitabilité de leurs actifs augmenter. Mais le coût du switch est d'autant plus sensible au prix du gaz que l'effort de switch est élevé : l'augmentation du prix du gaz pourrait donc non seulement augmenter le coût de l'abattement (et le prix des quotas d'émission), mais de manière plus que proportionnelle. Au-delà, si le prix du gaz devient trop élevé (comme cet automne, où il a dépassé les 100 euros par MWh), le switch gaz/charbon peut se révéler non compétitif, alors même que le prix du carbone est très élevé et que l'Europe a besoin de réduire ses émissions. Dans ces conditions, pourrait-on arriver à une situation où l'hydrogène (via la co-combustion avec le gaz naturel dans les centrales gaz) pourrait permettre de rendre compétitif des configurations de switch gaz/charbon qui ne le seraient pas sans ? C'est la question que pose cet article et qui a de quoi alimenter les réflexion sur l'hydrogène dans la Région Bourgogne Franche-Comté. |
| Keywords: | Switching gaz/charbon, Carbon market, Switching gas/coal, Energy prices, Hydrogen, Marché du carbone, Prix des énergies, Hydrogène |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04052669&r=env |
| By: | Costantiello, Alberto; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the value of Research and Development Expenditures as a percentage of GDP-RDE in the context of Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG model. We use the ESG World Bank database. We analyze data from193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We apply a set of econometric techniques i.e. Pooled Ordinary Least Squares-OLS, Panel Data with Random Effects, Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Weighted Least Squares-WLS. We found that the level of RDE is positively associated, among others, to “Nitrous Oxide Emissions” and “Scientific and Technical Journal Articles”, and negatively associated, among others to “Heat Index 35”, “Maximum 5-day Rainfall”. Furthermore, we perform a cluster analysis with the application of the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method. The results show the presence of four clusters. Finally, we confront eight different machine-learning algorithms to predict the future value of RDE. We find that Linear Regression is the best predictive algorithms. RDE is expected to growth on average of 0.07% for the analysed countries. |
| Keywords: | Analysis of Collective Decision-Making, General, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behaviour, Bureaucracy, Administrative Processes in Public Organizations, Corruption, Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation, Implementation. |
| JEL: | D7 D70 D72 D73 D78 |
| Date: | 2023–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117013&r=env |
| By: | María José Restrepo; María José Mejía; Ximena Cadena (Directora Proyecto); Luis Fernando Mejía (Director Proyecto) |
| Abstract: | Existe un vacío en la literatura alrededor de cómo y por qué surgen las agro-iniciativas. Este estudio aborda este vacío mediante un enfoque cualitativo en el que se identifican los principales factores de éxito y cuellos de botella a partir de entrevistas a líderes de agro-iniciativas de cadenas de valor con ventaja comparativa latente en Caquetá, Guaviare y Putumayo. El análisis se basa en el CONPES 3866 “Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Productivo†y se tienen en cuenta 3 niveles para comprender los determinantes de productividad de las agro-iniciativas: 1) unidad productora, 2) factores de producción, y 3) entorno. Las recomendaciones del estudio se orientan hacia el fomento de emprendimientos locales basados en cadenas de valor con una ventaja comparativa latente, aumento de las posibilidades de expansión de agro-empresas locales, y la creación de una imagen inspiradora de agro-industrias y agro-empresas locales.******Abstract: There is a gap in the literature on how and why agro-initiatives emerge. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative approach in which the main success factors and bottlenecks are identified based on interviews with leaders of agro-initiatives in value chains with latent comparative advantage in Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo. The analysis is based on CONPES 3866 "National Plan for Productive Development" and considers three levels to understand the determinants of productivity of agro-initiatives: 1) production unit, 2) production factors, and 3) settings. The study's recommendations are oriented toward promoting local enterprises based on value chains with a latent comparative advantage, increasing the possibilities for expansion of local agribusinesses, and creating an inspiring image of local agro-industries and agribusinesses. |
| Keywords: | Emprendimientos, Agro-Iniciativas, Cadenas de ValorDesarrollo Productivo, Desarrollo Sostenible, Entrepreneurship, Agro-Initiatives, Value Chains, Productive Development, Sustainable Development |
| JEL: | O13 O25 O44 Q13 Q56 |
| Date: | 2022–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020716&r=env |
| By: | Gutierrez-Lythgoe, Antonio |
| Abstract: | The evolution of cities has led to changes in urban mobility patterns, including an increased number of trips, longer and more dispersed routes. Therefore, it is crucial to study urban mobility efficiently to promote sustainability and well-being. In this context, we reviewed the existing literature on the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in urban mobility research, specifically focusing on Deep Learning techniques such as CNN and LSTM models. These AI tools are being used to address the challenges of urban mobility research and offer new possibilities for tackling the pressing issues faced by cities, such as sustainability in transportation. AI can contribute to improving sustainability by predicting real-time traffic, optimizing transportation efficiency, and informing public policies that promote sustainable modes of transportation. In this study, we propose a Random Forest model for predicting demand for sustainable urban mobility based on machine learning, achieving accurate and consistent predictions. Overall, the application of AI in urban mobility research presents a unique opportunity to advance towards more sustainable, livable cities and resilient societies. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Urban mobility, Deep Learning, Machine Learning , sustainability |
| JEL: | C45 C53 Q56 R41 R42 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117103&r=env |
| By: | Hertwich, Edgar (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Using a general formulation of the hypothetical extraction method in input-output analysis, the relationship between linkage analysis following the approach of Cella and the supply chain impact method by Cabernard and colleagues is investigated. It is shown that forward linkage is the same as the demand of other sectors for inputs from target sectors in the supply chain impact method. It is acknowledged that Cabernard and colleagues also analysed the use of materials by other sectors. |
| Date: | 2023–04–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:6pjxg&r=env |
| By: | Sviataslau Valasiuk (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, School for Forest Management, Forest-Landscape-Society Network) |
| Abstract: | Despite their recent global expansion in nominal terms, many transboundary nature protected areas tend to avoid hands-on cross-border co-operation. One common explanation which is widely seen a major obstacle towards the concerted transboundary conservation is international free riding on the centralised decision-making level. I examine empirically whether international free-riding is embedded in citizens’ stated preferences for extended protection in the case of two transboundary nature protected areas Białowieża Forest and Fulufjället. I scrutinise a sub-set of merged survey samples from the four countries involved, including only the citizens assumingly incentivised to free-ride on unilateral foreign country’s conservation action. I apply attitudinal indicators to form effect-coded variables that measure free-riding, and control for use value, nationality, individual socioeconomic characteristics, and incentive compatibility of the survey design. The results indicate no widespread tendency of international free-riding; the conclusion is maintained with varying modelling approaches or sampling strategy employed. |
| Keywords: | transboundary nature protected areas, stated preferences, public good, free-riding, binary logit, negative binomial regression |
| JEL: | H41 Q23 Q28 Q51 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2023-09&r=env |
| By: | Nicholas Ingwersen; Elizabeth Frankenberg; Duncan Thomas |
| Abstract: | The impact of exposure to a major unanticipated natural disaster on the evolution of survivors’ attitudes toward risk is examined, exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in exposure to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in combination with rich population-representative longitudinal survey data spanning the five years after the tsunami. Respondents chose among pairs of hypothetical income streams. Those directly exposed to the tsunami made choices consistent with greater willingness to take on risk relative to those not directly exposed to the tsunami. These differences are short-lived: starting a year later, there is no evidence of differences in willingness to take on risk between the two groups. These conclusions hold for tsunami-related exposures measured at the individual and community level. Apparently, tsunami survivors were inclined to assume greater financial risk in the short-term while rebuilding their lives after the disaster. |
| JEL: | D12 D81 O12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31102&r=env |
| By: | Richard Freund (University of Cape Town, School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In 2021, Ethiopia experienced a prolonged drought after two consecutive failed rainy seasons. This paper investigates the effect of the drought on young adults’ experiences of anxiety and depression by applying a difference-in-differences strategy to this event, in a natural experiment. I construct a Standardised Precipitation Index using 40 years of satellite rainfall data to exogenously measure local drought intensity and combine with unique longitudinal data. I find that exposure to the drought increases the probability of young adults experiencing symptoms consistent with either mild or severe anxiety (depression) by nearly 12 (10) percentage points. This represents a 63% and 55% increase relative to the pre-drought sample averages, respectively. These results are robust across alternative model specifications and a variety of sensitivity checks. The impact on depression is driven by those who were severely exposed to the drought, while both mild and severe exposure affect anxiety. The drought has a greater impact on individuals in rural households, those working in agriculture, and on individuals born into the poorest households. According to the mediation model estimated, the increase in mental health issues may partly be explained by the drought’s impact on inflation, perceived household poverty, and physical illness. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:294&r=env |
| By: | Aedo, Marcela; Sotomayor Echenique, Octavio; Rodrigues, Mônica dos Santos; Wander, Paul; Rodríguez, Adrián G.; Sánchez, Jeannette |
| Abstract: | En la región, la cadena de la soja tiene una importancia crítica en materia económica, ambiental y geopolítica, pues su cultivo ocupa un 34% de la superficie cultivada regional y representa el 52% de la producción mundial. La cadena del café ocupa menos superficie pero es muy relevante desde el punto de vista ambiental y social. Mientras que la soja es un producto básico que se consume, en su mayor parte, como producto intermedio y como insumo industrial, el café es una materia prima y, al mismo tiempo, un producto final, con una intensa inversión en servicios. Estas dos cadenas sintetizan el dilema que enfrenta el sector agroalimentario: mantener su actividad en la fase de productos básicos o agregar valor. Por tal razón, en este estudio se caracterizan las cadenas de la soja y del café y se analizan sus orientaciones productivas, sus patrones de especialización, así como sus perspectivas de mediano plazo. |
| Keywords: | AGRICULTURA, DESARROLLO AGRICOLA, RECURSOS NATURALES, ALIMENTOS, SOYA, CAFE, PRODUCCION AGRICOLA, CADENAS DE VALOR, AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, FOOD, SOY BEANS, COFFEE, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, VALUE CHAINS |
| Date: | 2023–03–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:48771&r=env |
| By: | Ferreira Balieiro, Samuel |
| Abstract: | Estimating farmers’ supply responses to changes in framework conditions is important to inform decision-makers on the expected impacts on production volume as well as the resulting land-use shifts. Existing agricultural supply response models generally require either larger databases with farm-level data for microregional analysis or are implemented with a coarse resolution (e.g., country level) due to the lack of data. While such approaches are suitable for regions with abundancy of data or for global-scale analysis, there is a need for an alternative for micro-level analysis in countries with low data availability. In addition, it is important to include the spatial component in the regional supply response analysis, allowing not only the quantification of the overall change in output but also the likely spatial land-use change. Against this background, this dissertation aims to answer the research question whether a combination of a biophysical model with farm-level economic data can be used to estimate farm-level profitability of individual crops and respective cropping systems and thereby simulate farmers’ supply responses in countries with limited data availability. To answer this question, a new modeling approach called Profitability Assessment Model (PAM) is developed, tested and validated. This new modeling approach follows the principles of minimum data, focusing on delivering timely and quantitative analyses with satisfactory accuracy to inform decision-makers. That is an important feature since the overall goal of the concept is to limit the data required by the model to a minimum, allowing quick implementation while accepting moderate accuracy. The PAM is a spatially explicit model with simulation units’ size of spatial resolution grid varying between 5 and 30 arcmin (10x10 to 50x50 km in area), following that used by the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM). PAM estimates the profitability of each farming alternative at the simulation unit level and allocates the land to maximize farmers’ return to land. The PAM model is developed and calibrated for the Brazilian agricultural sector. Using Brazil as the case study is interesting due to its overall importance in the global production of agricultural commodities as well as the environmental impact of land-use changes. For this case study, four production system are represented in the PAM model: (a) double cropping of soybeans and maize, (b) soybeans with a cover crop, (c) sugarcane monoculture and (d) beef production. While the profitability of the arable crops is endogenously estimated, beef is considered as an opt-out option, which is modeled based on exogenous return-to-land information. Since soybean, maize and sugarcane production accounts for 84% of the total seeded area in Brazil, the current version of the PAM model represents the most important cropping alternatives to farmers in Brazil, but not all. An important methodological contribution of the dissertation is the development of routines for the extrapolation of each production cost component from the known typical farms’ data to all regions in the country. These routines are based on local expertise as well as existing information on yield levels, prevailing production systems and farming conditions. Each cost component is analyzed individually and, based on theoretical discussions, specific cost functions are proposed following the expected behavior of each cost item – e.g., linear relationship with yields or fixed per ha. That should improve the accuracy of the model in estimating production costs (and finally profitability) while also allowing the model to be adapted to simulate changes in framework conditions that may affect only selected cost items (e.g., a significant increase in fuel prices). In addition, the PAM model improves on existing models because it accounts for specific cost components such as the transport of sugarcane from farm to mill, which is required due to the perishability of the crop. Besides the important impact of inbound transport cost on the overall profitability of sugarcane production, the endogenous simulation of this cost item allows the model to spatially differentiate among regions depending on the current availability of mills. A major constraint for regional profitability analysis is the lack of information regarding farm input and output prices. To overcome this problem, the PAM model provides an interesting alternative by endogenously estimating prices via the transport module. By considering the different transportation costs of each crop and basing the distance estimation on the actual availability of roads, the model allows a straightforward conversion of reference prices to farm-gate prices. The ability to endogenously simulate transport cost is a useful feature for the simulation of scenarios based on price shocks. Apart from the development of the modeling approach, this dissertation focuses on the quantitative model validation as a key step to identify strengths and limitations of the concept. Projected yields are validated against regional statistics and production cost estimates are benchmarked against the two available datasets, with a suitable number of primary typical-farm data. Furthermore, the resulting land-use maps are evaluated against two simplified validation maps representing current land use. In the business-as-usual scenario, the PAM model estimates a national weighted average of returns to land of 248 USD/ha for double cropping and 188 USD/ha for sugarcane. This relationship, however, is different in the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, where, on average, sugarcane has a higher return to land than double cropping. Benchmarking PAM’s production cost estimates with observed local data shows a satisfactory model accuracy with a relative mean absolute error (rMAE) lower than 14%. The lowest error found in the production cost estimation is in sugarcane (rMAE of 8.7%) and the highest in second-crop maize (rMAE of 14%). The validation of the business-as-usual land-use map shows that the PAM model is able to satisfactorily reproduce the current land use in Brazil. The visual and quantitative validation results show a strong correlation between the available land-use maps, with PAM allocating the same crop as observed in 86% of total arable land. To test the ability of the PAM model to predict land-use and output changes due to changing framework conditions, a scenario analysis is carried out: What will happen in case yields of key crops change significantly as a consequence of climate change? Due to the strong reduction in the returns to land for grains (i.e., maize and soybeans) in the tropical region more than 24% of the current arable land is simulated to move from grains to sugarcane production. These results, however, vary significantly in the different regions, where the most affected states are Goiás, Paraná and Mato Grosso, jointly accounting for more than 55% of the total land-use change. This dissertation contributes to the overall development of regional farmers’ supply response models for countries with limited data availability, showing that it is feasible to combine a biophysical model and farm-level economic data as the basis for the profitability estimation in a high spatial resolution. The ability to estimate individual cost components separately gives the model the required flexibility for the simulation of market- and policy-related questions, providing timely and accurate information for decision-makers. The bottom-up approach based on local expertise is an important strength of the PAM model, avoiding unrealistic parametrization and ensuring that the majority of local features of production systems are included in the estimation. Finally, considering the overall goal of using minimum data, the model accuracy indicates a strong potential of the model to answer research questions, with additional parametrization and integration expected to further improve its performance. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2023–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:jhimwo:334261&r=env |
| By: | Franzel, Steven |
| Abstract: | About 1.5 billion people, most of the world’s poor, live on small farms in developing countries. Improving livelihoods requires investing in their “agriculture human capital†: skills, abilities and knowledge, social and personal attributes and experience to enable them to farm productively and sustainably. These include technical agricultural skills in crops and livestock, business skills in marketing, records, as well as functional skills such as empowerment, leadership, and innovation. There is high demand for human capital development but public agencies often cannot provide it and smallholders cannot afford to pay for it. There is great need for it as agriculture becomes more commercial, information- and skill-intensive and climate change increases weather hazards. This brief aims to assess the private sector’s role in developing smallholder human capital, and the advantages, limitations and challenges of this involvement. It outlines how development agencies and governments can facilitate the private sector to increase investment. The brief concludes with recommendations on how development agencies and governments can support and facilitate private sector investment. The main providers of non-formal agricultural train ing are extension and advisory services (EAS), mainly government, private companies, NGOs and farmer organizations. Other providers include agricultural technical and vocational education and training centres, on-the-job training such as internships, and informal interaction between farmers. |
| Keywords: | poverty; small farmers; developing countries; livelihoods; agriculture; climate change; weather hazards; private sector; investment; development; extension programmes |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:othbrf:136631&r=env |
| By: | Stefano Giglio; Matteo Maggiori; Johannes Stroebel; Zhenhao Tan; Stephen Utkus; Xiao Xu |
| Abstract: | We analyze survey data on ESG beliefs and preferences in a large panel of retail investors linked to administrative data on their investment portfolios. The survey elicits investors’ expectations of long-term ESG equity returns and asks about their motivations, if any, to invest in ESG assets. We document four facts. First, investors generally expected ESG investments to underperform the market. Between mid-2021 and late-2022, the average expected 10-year annualized return of ESG investments relative to the overall stock market was –1.4%. Second, there is substantial heterogeneity across investors in their ESG return expectations and their motives for ESG investing: 45% of survey respondents do not see any reason to invest in ESG, 25% are primarily motivated by ethical considerations, 22% are driven by climate hedging motives, and 7% are motivated by return expectations. Third, there is a link between individuals’ reported ESG investment motives and their actual investment behaviors, with the highest ESG portfolio holdings among individuals who report ethics-driven investment motives. Fourth, financial considerations matter independently of other investment motives: we find meaningful ESG holdings only for investors who expect these investments to outperform the market, even among those investors who reported that their most important ESG investment motives were ethical or hedging reasons. |
| JEL: | G4 G5 Q50 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31114&r=env |
| By: | Kerri Elgar; Yasmin Ahmad; Aussama Bejraoui; Eleanor Carey; Gregory De Paepe; Miami Choudhury |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the implications for development co-operation of increased spending on global public goods and “bads”. It explores shifts in the narratives and financing priorities of development co-operation providers over recent decades and puts forward key considerations for them on their future role. |
| Keywords: | country programmable aid, developing countries, development, development co-operation, global challenges, global public bads, global public goods, official development assistance, total official support for sustainable development |
| JEL: | H41 F3 |
| Date: | 2023–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dcdaaa:111-en&r=env |
| By: | Kato, Kazuhiko |
| Abstract: | This study theoretically examines whether a uniform relative emission standard improves a professional sports team's competitive balance and social welfare in a professional league. Our study shows that there are cases where tightening (resp. relaxing) such standards can improve competitive balance when the differences between the abatement cost conditions of different clubs are sufficiently small (resp. large). Social welfare improves when the standard is slightly tougher than an unregulated emission level standard. Furthermore, social welfare also improves when the standard set to a zero-emission level is slightly relaxed. |
| Keywords: | Competitive balance; emission standard; professional team sports league; welfare analysis |
| JEL: | Q50 Z00 |
| Date: | 2023–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117009&r=env |
| By: | - |
| Abstract: | En este documento se analiza la caracterización de la pobreza energética en el Uruguay, un problema multidimensional —social, económico y cultural— y estructural que afecta directamente a los hogares y su entorno. Se ha definido, más específicamente, como la imposibilidad de garantizar el derecho de las personas a satisfacer sus necesidades energéticas mediante servicios seguros, asequibles y de calidad. En los últimos años, el país ha presentado indicadores positivos de acceso y abastecimiento, así como una elevada eficiencia del sector energético. Además, registra altos rendimientos macro- y microeconómicos respecto de la distribución del ingreso y el acceso al financiamiento. Pese a ello, el Estado uruguayo ha establecido que, dependiendo de la metodología y las variables de medición utilizadas, entre el 28% y el 38% de los hogares (principalmente pobres, monoparentales, con jefas de hogar, de tramos etarios jóvenes y afrodescendientes) están bajo la línea de pobreza energética, especialmente respecto del acceso a fuentes energéticas seguras, artefactos modernos y calidad de la vivienda. Un segundo objetivo de este trabajo, por lo tanto, es identificar políticas públicas que promuevan el bienestar de los hogares mediante el acceso equitativo a servicios energéticos de calidad. |
| Keywords: | RECURSOS ENERGETICOS, POLITICA ENERGETICA, PLANIFICACION DE LA ENERGIA, SERVICIOS ENERGETICOS, ENERGIA ELECTRICA, ABASTECIMIENTO DE AGUA, VIVIENDA, ESTADISTICAS DE ENERGIA, ENERGY RESOURCES, ENERGY POLICY, ENERGY PLANNING, ENERGY SERVICES, ELECTRIC POWER, WATER SUPPLY, HOUSING, ENERGY STATISTICS |
| Date: | 2023–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:48767&r=env |
| By: | Nadège IANNI (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon) |
| Abstract: | This paper is introducing the conceptualisation of socially responsible ostentatious consumption. The primary concept of ostentation, which is historically associated with luxury, was extended to socially responsible categories of products. An empirical data was collected via a qualitative projective method, the Album On-Line, and a quantitative pilot study to explore, understand and measure the explanatory factors of socially responsible ostentatious consumption. The survey supports the pairing of the concepts of ostentation and socially responsible consumption with both status motivation and ecological involvement. Furthermore, the study introduces the effects of the concept of conspicuous socially responsible consumption, notably its positive impact on proselytizing, intent to purchase socially responsible products and willingness to reduce consumption. |
| Abstract: | Cette communication introduit la conceptualisation de la consommation ostentatoire socialement responsable. Le concept initial de l'ostentation, associé historiquement au luxe, a été appliqué à des produits de catégorie socialement responsable. Les données empiriques ont été collectées via une méthode qualitative projective, l'Album On-Line, et une étude pilote quantitative afin d'explorer, comprendre et mesurer les facteurs explicatifs de la consommation ostentatoire socialement responsable. L'étude valide le couplage des concepts d'ostentation et de CSR avec une motivation par le statut et l'implication écologique. Les résultats introduisent également les effets du concept de consommation ostentatoire socialement responsable, notamment son incidence positive sur le prosélytisme, l'intention d'achat de produits socialement responsable et la volonté de réduction de la consommation. |
| Keywords: | Socially responsible consumption, ostentation, status, ecological involvement, consumption reduction, Consommation Socialement responsable, Ostentation, Statut, implication écologique, Réduction de consommation |
| Date: | 2023–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04056863&r=env |
| By: | Davide Dottori (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Six years on from the earthquake in central Italy, in the municipalities in the earthquake zone the resident population has significantly decreased. Assessing to what extent the earthquake had an impact is not straightforward as in these territories the demographic trend was already declining even before this event. This study aims at estimating the impact following a diff-in-diff event-study econometric approach, which allowed to test whether before the earthquake (and given a set of pre-determined control variables) the population dynamics for the municipalities in the control group were comparable to those for the municipalities in the earthquake zone. The findings suggest that the earthquake significantly exacerbated the demographic decrease, with an estimated effect corresponding on average to almost two fifths of the reduction actually observed. The impact is statistically significant for the whole area, but its intensity was higher for the municipalities that suffered the most damage. The overall effect was mostly driven by a worsening in internal net migration. An impact in terms of an increased share of people aged 65 years or more was also detected. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters, inner areas, demography |
| JEL: | J11 Q54 R10 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_755_23&r=env |
| By: | Astrid Martínez; José David Gómez |
| Abstract: | El documento incluye la proyección de los precios internacionales del carbón térmico, con un horizonte de veinte anos, a partir del análisis de la oferta y la demanda internacional. Así mismo, presenta un modelo integral que incluye aspectos técnicos, jurídicos, financieros y proyecciones para simular diferentes escenarios de contraprestaciones económicas y otras obligaciones de los posibles adjudicatarios de las AEM para Carbón. Concluye con algunas recomendaciones para la definición de las variables económicas en el proceso de selección de un adjudicatario de las AEM para el Carbón basadas en el análisis del modelo integral. |
| Keywords: | Carbón, Consumo del CarbónMercado del Carbón, Minería del Carbón, Precios Internacionales del Carbón, Política Pública, Coal Consumption, Coal Mining, International Coal Price, Public Policy |
| JEL: | L71 L72 L11 L16 |
| Date: | 2022–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020717&r=env |