![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental economics > General
Over 90 per cent of the world population lives in countries that share a river basin with others. Freshwater resources are scarce and different nations, actors and users compete for limited resources in transboundary river basins; often conflicting with each other. Water is a resource with no substitute: it cannot be secured in sufficiently large quantities through long-distance trade deals; and, due to the interconnectivity of the hydrological system, the actions of one country in its water management have a direct bearing on the interests of neighbouring countries. For instance, in the Mekong River Basin, current hydropower and navigation developments in certain countries impact on traditional sources of income such as fisheries, and rice production in others. These kinds of changes in water use have given rise to conflict between countries in that region and others, but have also led, in some cases, to greater cooperation. The past few decades have seen a number of new agreements about the sharing of river resources and cooperation between riparian states. Negotiating for Water Resources explores the drivers of conflict and cooperation between states in transnational river basins. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews on the Mekong, Danube and La Plata River Basins, the book provides a three level analysis across three case studies, including the regional framework (EU, ASEAN and Mercosur), the River Basin Organisations (ICPDR, MRC and CIC) and the micro-level. The key question of the book is: To what extent do power asymmetries prevent or inhibit cooperation between riparian states over water resources? This is linked to the question of how institutions contribute to mitigate competition for natural resources and how states interact in a multilateral arena. Overall, the book argues that cooperation in transboundary river basins is possible even where there are asymmetric power relations, challenging realist assumptions about competition and conflict over resources.
China's recent climate-energy policy, an outcome of contemporary challenges, has generated conflict of interest amongst major stakeholders. Coupled with a boost in demand for oil, gas and coal, as well as a rapid growth in wind and solar power, it has not only affected domestic fossil fuel and renewable energy providers, but has also provoked a resource boom, affecting development pathways internationally. This book therefore seeks to examine the economic, social and ecological effects associated with China's climate-energy policy. Assessing how the policy has been and will be formulated and implemented, it analyses the changing use of energy, CO2 emissions and GDP, as well as social and environmental impacts both domestically and internationally. It presents in-depth case studies on specific policies in China and on its resource exporting countries, such as Indonesia, Australia, Myanmar and Mongolia. At the same time, using quantitative data, it provides detailed input-output and applied computable general equilibrium analyses. Arguing that China has actively advanced its climate-energy policy to become a leader of global climate governance, it demonstrates that China ultimately relocates the cost of its climate-energy policy to resource exporting countries. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy, the environment and sustainability, as well as Chinese Studies and economics.
This volume includes many of the most influential and interesting academic articles related to the economics of mobile source pollution control. The papers included explore why vehicles and vehicle markets are unique, provide estimates of the type and magnitude of the social costs of driving and examine estimation methods and estimates of the various elasticities of vehicle demand. Analysis of the social costs and policies to reduce both traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions are included. Selected articles review the range of evaluation of both regulatory and market-based approaches to controlling emissions. The complexity of the effects of different policies are emphasized and the unintended consequences of regulation are explored in the context of vehicle emissions reduction policies.
Advanced Cultural Districts explores the organisational design issues within the cultural heritage sector, with particular focus on the advanced forms of cultural districts for local socio-economic development.
What are our obligations towards future generations who stand to be harmed by the impact of today's environmental crises? This book explores ecological sustainability as a human rights issue and examines what our long-term responsibilities might be. This interdisciplinary collection of chapters provides a basis for understanding the debates on the provision of sustainability for future generations from a diverse set of theoretical standpoints. Covering a broad range of perspectives such as risk and uncertainty, legal implementation, representation, motivation and economics, Towards the Ethics of a Green Future sets out the key questions involved in this complex ethical issue. The contributors bring theoretical discussions to life through the use of case studies and real-world examples. The book also includes clear and tangible recommendations for policymakers on how to put the suggestions proposed within the book into practice. This book will be of great interest to all researchers and students concerned with issues of sustainability and human rights, as well as scholars of environmental politics, law and ethics more generally.
Biofuels are a renewable source of energy used mainly for transportation. They link together food, energy and natural resources sectors, and involve ecological, social and inequality issues. They are an emblematic example of the interactions between economic, environmental, social and political decisions and, as a recent and complex issue, require updated and detailed information to be understood. This book aims to shed light on several economic, social and environmental issues connected to biofuel production and policies. The Economics of Biofuels adopts detailed descriptions, rigorous data analysis and precise econometric methods to estimate the effects of biofuel on different socio-economic factors, avoiding complicated and sometimes ineffective models based on context-specific parameters. In particular, the book focuses on the impact of bioenergy policy on biocommodity production and trade, and on the related phenomenon of land acquisitions to grow biofuel commodities. The book's main findings are derived by an original and unique dataset collecting information on the investors acquiring land in Africa and on the voluntary standard, certification and labelling schemes adopted by them as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. The analysis links together in an original way public and private initiatives to make biofuel sustainable. Therefore, this book represents an improvement in the understanding of biofuel production and policy's sustainability. This book is of interest to those who study environmental economics, agricultural economics and sustainable development. It is also suitable for those in the renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on biofuel sustainability.
Ecologists and economists both use models to help develop strategies for biodiversity management. The practical use of disciplinary models, however, can be limited because ecological models tend not to address the socioeconomic dimension of biodiversity management, whereas economic models tend to neglect the ecological dimension. Given these shortcomings of disciplinary models, there is a necessity to combine ecological and economic knowledge into ecological-economic models. Gradually guiding the reader into the field of ecological-economic modelling by introducing mathematical models and their role in general, this book provides an overview on ecological and economic modelling approaches relevant for research in the field of biodiversity conservation. It discusses the advantages of and challenges associated with ecological-economic modelling, together with an overview of useful ways of integration. Although being a book about mathematical modelling, ecological and economic concepts play an equally important role, making it accessible for readers from very different disciplinary backgrounds.
Land Administration overviews recent advances in building formal property systems throughout the world and examines the land administration infrastructure required to support such systems. It gives particular attention to the survey, registration, valuation and land use control functions, and provides an extended discussion of the associated information management challenges.
Efforts to effectively conserve and manage marine resources are facing increasing complexity of environmental and governance challenges. To address some of these challenges, this book presents advancements in fisheries bioeconomics research that provides significant ideas for addressing emerging environmental and fisheries management issues. Advances in Fisheries Bioeconomics gives insights into innovative approaches dealing with these issues, as well as novel ideas on changes in fisheries management paradigms. With contributions from leading experts in the field, this book offers an examination of a number of topics including: ecosystem based fisheries management; by-catch management and discard bans; the number of players in the fisheries game; the effects of ocean acidification; and the trends and impacts of eco-labeling and eco-certification of fisheries. Through integrating resource biology and ecology with the economics of fishers' behaviour, the authors provide valuable analysis of the current issues in fisheries management. This book will be of interest to those on advanced courses in fisheries science, natural resource biology and ecology, and environmental and natural resource economics. It will also appeal to researchers, policy makers, and advocacy groups around the world.
It is widely accepted that limiting climate change to 2 DegreesC will require substantial and sustained investments in low-carbon technologies and infrastructure. However, the dominance of market fundamentalism in economic thinking for the past three decades has meant that governments have generally viewed large spending programs as politically undesirable. In this context, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) represented a huge opportunity for proponents of public investment in environmental projects or "Green Keynesianism". This book examines the experience of Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and the United States with Green Keynesian stimulus programs in the wake of the GFC. Unfortunately, on the whole, the cases do not provide much optimism for proponents of Green Keynesianism. Much less funding than was originally allocated to green programs was actually spent in areas that would produce an environmental benefit. Furthermore, a number of projects had negligible or even detrimental environmental outcomes. While the book also documents several success stories, the research indicates overall that more careful consideration of the design of green stimulus programs is needed. In addition to concrete policy advice, the book provides a broader vision for how governments could use Keynesian policies to work toward creating an "ecological state". This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, environmental economics, political economy, and sustainable development.
1. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS: WHAT AND WHY? Why environmental policy analysis? Environmental issues are growing in visibility in local, national, and world arenas, as a myriad of human activities leads to increased impacts on the natural world. Issues such as climate change, endangered species, wilderness protection, and energy use are regularly on the front pages of newspapers. Governments at all levels are struggling with how to address these issues. Environmental policy analysis is intended to present the environmental and social impacts of policies, in the hope that better decisions will result when people have better information on which to base those decisions. Conducting environmental policy analysis requires people who understand what it is and how to do it. Interpreting it also requires those skills. We hope that this book will increase the abilities, both of analysts and of decision-makers, to understand and interpret the impacts of environmental policies. Policy analysis books almost invariably begin by pointing out that policy analysis can take many forms. This book is no different. As you will see in Chapter 1, we consider policy analysis to be information provided for the policy process. That information can take many forms, from sophisticated empirical analysis to general theoretical results, from summary statistics to game theoretic strategies.
This book examines the possibilities and limitations of corporate social responsibility in minimising the violent conflict often associated with natural resource exploitation. Through detailed and penetrating empirical analysis, the author skilfully asks why previous corporate social responsibility practices have not always achieved their aims. This theme is explored though an analysis of two of the most complex and protracted conflicts linked to natural resources in the Asia Pacific region: Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) and West Papua (Indonesia). Drawing on first-hand accounts of corporate executives and communities affected by resource conflict, this book documents the translation of global corporate social responsibility into local peace. Covering topics as diverse as post-colonialism, law, revenue distribution, security, the environment and customary reconciliation, this ambitious text reveals how and why current corporate social responsibility initiatives may be unable to assist extractive companies avoid social conflict. The study concludes that this is attributable to the failure of extractive companies to respond to the social and environmental issues of most concern to local host communities. The idea is that extractive companies could actively contribute to peace building if they were to engage with the interdependencies between business activity and the root causes of conflict. What sets this book apart is that it offers a holistic framework for extractive companies to engage with the complexity of resource conflict. 'Interdependent Engagement' is an integrated model of corporate social responsibility that encourages extractive companies to deal with the underlying causes of resource conflict, rather than applying solutions or critiques of their symptoms.
1 Einleitung.- 1.1 Teil I - Ausrichtung der Umweltkostenrechnung.- 1.2 Teil II - Realisierung und Nutzung des Reststoff-Controlling.- 1 - Ausrichtung der Umweltkostenrechnung.- 2 Anforderungen an die kostenrechnerische Unterstutzung des Umweltmanagements.- 2.1 Anforderungen an die Kostenrechnung.- 2.1.1 Einordnung in das System Betrieb.- 2.1.2 Einordnung in die betriebliche Datenverarbeitung.- 2.1.3 Modellbildung, Kostentheorie und Kostenrechnung.- 2.1.4 Funktionale Anforderungen.- 2.1.4.1 Effektivitat durch relevante Kosteninformation.- 2.1.4.2 Effektivitat durch Empfangerorientierung.- 2.1.5 Strukturelle Anforderungen.- 2.1.6 Zusammenfassung der Anforderungen.- 2.2 Aufgaben des Umweltmanagements.- 2.2.1 Umweltschutz und Kuppelproduktion.- 2.2.1.1 Kuppelproduktion und die industrielle Gutererzeugung.- 2.2.1.2 Begriffliche Strukturierung von Inputs und Outputs.- 2.2.1.3 Begriflliche Strukturierung der Handhabung von Reststoffen.- 2.2.2 Umweltschutz und die betriebliche Leistungserstellung.- 2.2.2.1 Funktionen der Umwelt fur die betriebliche Leistungserstellung.- 2.2.2.2 Umwelt als Produktionsfaktor.- 2.2.2.3 Prazisierung des Begriffes Umweltschutz.- 2.2.3 Umweltschutz und das Zielsystem.- 2.2.3.1 Das Zielsystem der Untemehmung.- 2.2.3.2 Typische Formalziele.- 2.2.3.3 Umweltziele sowie Sach- und Formalziele.- 2.2.3.4 Einordnung des Umweltschutzes in das Zielsystem.- 2.2.4 Aufgaben des Umweltmanagements.- 2.2.4.1 Aufgaben und Ausrichtung.- 2.2.4.2 Zentrale Ansatzpunkte.- 2.2.4.3 Einrichtung eines Umweltmanagementsystems.- 2.3 Anforderungen an Umweltinformationssysteme.- 2.3.1 Systematisierung von Umweltinformationssystemen.- 2.3.1.1 Gliederung nach Teilsystemen.- 2.3.1.2 Relevante Elemente der Teilsysteme.- 2.3.2 Funktionale Anforderungen.- 2.3.3 Strukturelle Anforderungen.- 2.3.3.1 Funktionsubergreifend einheitliche Begriffssystematik und Datenbasis.- 2.3.3.2 UEbersetzung von physischen Daten in monetare Daten.- 2.3.3.3 Durchgangige Stoffstromtransparenz.- 2.3.4 Zusammenfassung der Anforderungen.- 2.4 Anforderungen an die kostenrechnerische Unterstutzung des Umweltmanagements.- 2.4.1 Funktionale Anforderungen.- 2.4.1.1 Interne Anforderungen.- 2.4.1.2 Extemer Informationsbedarf.- 2.4.2 Strukturelle Anforderungen.- 2.4.3 Zusammenfassung der Anforderungen.- 3 Definition des Kostenblocks 'Umwelt'.- 3.1 Bedeutung der Kostendefinition.- 3.2 Umweltschutzkosten auf der Basis intemalisierter Kosten.- 3.2.1 Definition der Umweltschutzkosten.- 3.2.2 Enthaltene Kostengruppen.- 3.2.3 Bewertung der Umweltschutzkosten.- 3.2.3.1 Motivation von Management und Mitarbeitem.- 3.2.3.2 Eindeutigkeit und Praktikabilitit.- 3.2.3.3 Vollstandigkeit und Relevanz.- 3.2.3.4 Zusammenfassung der Bewertung.- 3.3 Umweltschutzkosten auf der Basis extemalisierter Kosten.- 3.3.1 Gliederung und Hoehe extemalisierter Umweltschutzkosten.- 3.3.2 Bewertung unter dem Formalziel Gewinn.- 3.3.3 Bewertung unter dem Formalziel Umweltschutz.- 3.3.4 Einbeziehung extemalisierter Kosten durch Lenkungspreise.- 3.4 Reststofikosten als Kostenblock 'Umwelt'.- 3.4.1 Ableitung des konzeptionellen Ansatzes.- 3.4.2 Definition der Reststofikosten.- 3.4.2.1 Enthaltene Kostengruppen.- 3.4.2.2 Variabilitat.- 3.4.3 Bewertung der Reststofikosten.- 3.4.3.1 Vollstandigkeit und Relevanz.- 3.4.3.2 Eindeutigkeit und Praktikabilitat.- 3.4.3.3 Motivation von Management und Mitarbeitern.- 3.4.3.4 Zusammenfassung der Bewertung.- 3.5 Abgrenzung zu verwandten Kostenbloecken.- 3.5.1 Kosten von Kuppelprodukten.- 3.5.2 Fehlleistungsaufwand und Qualitatskosten.- 2 - Realisierung und Nutzung des Reststoff-Controlling.- 4 Realislerung und Nutzung des Reststoff-Controlling.- 4.1 Anwendungsgebiete.- 4.2 Grundsatzliche Festlegungen.- 4.3 Reststoff-Mengenrecbnung.- 4.3.1 Datenmodell der Mengenrecbnung.- 4.3.1.1 Mengenstelle.- 4.3.1.2 Material.- 4.3.1.3 Bewegung.- 4.3.1.4 Stoffstrom.- 4.3.1.5 Beschrankung aufrelevante Mengenstellen und Bewegungen.- 4.3.1.6 Konsequenzen fur Stuckliste und R
The Behavioral Economics of Climate Change: Adaptation Behaviors, Global Public Goods, Breakthrough Technologies, and Policy-Making shows readers how to understand mitigation strategies emerging from global warming policy discussions and the ways that changing climate conditions can alter these strategies. Through quantitative analyses, case studies and policy examples, this bottom-up approach to climate change economics gives readers the tools to create effective responses to global warming. This self-contained book on the topic covers key scientific and economic subjects in an applied, innovative and immediately relevant fashion.
Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice describes the various pieces of knowledge necessary to speak the language of EIA and carry out EIAs focusing on a variety of environmental issues, including impacts on environmental components, like air, water, soils, land, noise and biological environments. Organized into 15 chapters, the book provides engineers with the tools and methods to conduct an effective assessment, including report preparations, design measures and relevant mitigation steps that can be taken to reduce or avoid negative effects. Case Studies are presented, providing guidance professionals can use to better understand, plan and prepare environmental impact assessments.
Reauthorization of the Superfund law continues to be a major source of controversy among political leaders and environmental activists. Some seek a major overhaul of the statute, arguing that considerable cleanup still needs to be done. Others oppose major changes, asserting that cleanup is almost complete. One of the most contentious issues in the debate is whether the taxes that once stocked the Superfund Trust Fund need to be reinstated. The answer depends in large part on how much money EPA will need to implement the Superfund program. To inform this discussion, the U.S. Congress asked Resources for the Future (RFF) to estimate the program's future costs. The results of this research are included in Superfund's Future, a book that will become an essential reference for all participants in the debate about one of the nation's most controversial environmental programs.
The major purpose of this book is to contribute to better economic policy analysis through improvements in models studying the economic impacts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, and to show ways in which economic instruments can effectively be put to use to alleviate such problems. Global Environmental Economics is an integrated economic assessment of GHG emissions impacting economic growth and welfare change along major considerations of uncertainty, technological change and cooperation. A theoretical treatment of the issues is emphasized, using modern tools of economic theory and based on 'simple' models that yield illustrative results in terms of 'what-if' questions. With this focus the book distinguishes itself uniquely from other economic analytic approaches in the field that have appeared in the past few years. It focuses on the analysis, control and optimization of modelling forms rather than the collection and analysis of data. More concretely, the book searches for optimal fossil fuel use, research and technology policies rather than prediction of the future. The collection appeals to researchers interested in environmental economics, economic theory, and mathematical methods (in particular optimal-control theory) and economic growth.
Illich's theories on the effectiveness of cars, air travel, and energy showed that industrial progress actually hampers the speed and effectiveness we have as people who were born capable of walking to our desired destinations. Roads, airports, stations, traffic jams, all take away the benefits of using complicated engineered methods of travel, and make our actual travel times longer.
Every year, the world's governments spend over US $700 billion subsidizing activities that harm the environment. The Natural Wealth of Nations shows how cutting these wasteful subsidies can actually boost the economy, save tax and help the environment. By raising taxes on harmful activities like air pollution whilst cutting taxes on payrolls and profits, pollution is discouraged and both work and investment boosted. In a comprehensive global survey, The Natural Wealth of Nations provides examples from Sweden to Spain to Malaysia of the growing number of countries that are successfully using these market-based approaches to clean up their environments. This is an accessible, practical book offering concrete proposals for cleaning up the world's environment and overcoming ecological ignorance.
Energy from wave and tidal power is a key component of current policies for renewable sources of energy. This book provides the first comprehensive exploration of legal, economic, and social issues related to the emerging ocean energy industry, in particular wave and tidal energy technologies. This industry is rapidly developing, and considerable technical literature has developed around the technology. However, it is shown that challenges relating to regulation and policy are major impediments to industry development, and these aspects have not previously been sufficiently highlighted and studied. The book informs policymakers, industry participants, and researchers of the key issues in this developing field. Ocean energy is considered in the context of the blue economy and an industrialising ocean, and the topics covered include: development of policy (policy instruments, risk and delay in technology development); legal aspects (consenting processes, resource management, impact assessment); human interactions (conflicts, consultation, community benefits); and spatial planning of the marine environment. While offshore wind energy, sited in the oceans but not strictly derived from the ocean, is not the primary focus of the book, there is also discussion of the similarities and differences between offshore wind and wave and tidal power policy dimensions.
The book, as originally conceived, was to be limited to technical considerations, but the scientific course of event has been so interwoven with non-scientific, but nevertheless related events, the authors felt necessary to include an account of this situation. Accordingly, the book is divided into five sections entitled: Stratospheric ozone Atmospheric processes influencing stratospheric ozone Does man influence stratospheric ozone Effects and research Public policy
Revenues from commodities are extremely important for Latin America and the Caribbean, yet there is very little literature on the structure of these industries and on the various ways in which the state obtains commodity revenues. This book aims to understand the trade-off between the degree of taxation overall, the profitability of the relevant industry and the amount of investment and subsequent production in the region, as well as the relevance of institutions in the performance of the sector. This volume focuses on economic efficiency: where Latin America stands in terms of the current tax system for the extractive sector; how policies have changed in this regard; and how policies may be improved. The Economics of Natural Resources in Latin America is timely, since this new era of lower and volatile prices and possible reconfiguration of investment flows poses a challenge to natural resource tax systems in the world. The argument of the book will be made by a collection of papers around the issue of tax efficiency in the region and concludes with chapters on institutions and the role of transparency. This book shows that there are varieties of experiences in resource taxation and management of revenues in Latin America that could be used to shape policy interventions in other regions. This variety is not only related to their diverse impact on welfare, but also on the policy challenges faced by the countries in the region. This volume is well suited for those who study and find interest in development economics, political economy and public finance, as well as policy
Racial minorities in the United States are disproportionately exposed to toxic wastes and other environmental hazards, and cleanup efforts in their communities are slower and less thorough than efforts elsewhere. Internationally, wealthy countries of the North increasingly ship hazardous wastes to poorer countries of the South, resulting in such tragedies as the disaster at Bhopal. Through case studies that highlight the type of information that is seldom reported in the news, Faces of Environmental Racism exposes the type and magnitude of environmental racism, both domestic and international. The essays explore the justice of current environmental practices, asking such questions as whether cost-benefit analysis is an appropriate analytic technique and whether there are alternate routes to sustainable development in the South.
We stand on the threshold of a "post-growth" world - one in which the relentless pursuit of economic growth has ceased to constitute a credible societal project. The symptoms that mark the end of an era are clear and incontrovertible: a return to the regularities of the past is illusory. The pursuit of economic growth no longer constitutes a credible societal project for ecological, social, and geopolitical reasons. Edited by an impressive array of experts, this book identifies several areas in which we must fundamentally rethink our societal organisation. They ask what it means to abandon the objective of economic growth; how we can encourage the emergence of other visions to guide society; how global visions and local transition initiatives should be connected; which modes of governance should be associated with the required social and technological innovations. Alongside the necessary respect of ecological limits and equity in distribution, the promotion of autonomy (involving all in the building of socio-political norms) could serve for guidance. The topics addressed over the chapters range from the future of work to the de-commodification of economic relations; the search for new indicators of progress to decentralized modes of governance; and from the circular economy to polycentric transitions. Each contribution brings a unique perspective, a piece of a larger puzzle to be assembled. Post-growth Economics and Society is an important volume to those who study ecological economics, political economy and the environment and society. It invites theorists as much as practitioners to re-explore the roots of our societal goals and play an active role in the systemic shift to come.
Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, and one of The Observer's 'Thirty books to help us understand the world'. Are we really to blame for the climate crisis? Over 70 per cent of global emissions come from the same 100 organisations, but fossil-fuel companies have taken no responsibility themselves. Instead, they have waged a 30-year campaign to blame individuals. The result has been disastrous for our planet. In The New Climate War, renowned scientist Michael E. Mann argues that all is not lost. He draws the battle lines between the people and the polluters - fossil-fuel companies, right-wing plutocrats, and petro-states - and outlines a plan for forcing our governments and corporations to wake up and make real change. |
You may like...
The Adventures of Frenchy the Little Red…
Monica Wagner, Christian Stahl
Hardcover
R481
Discovery Miles 4 810
|