Integrating Environment and Economy provides a detailed and accessible examination of how integrated approaches enable economic and social activities to support environmental objectives. This is a key text for the many taught Masters courses covering the issues of environmental management and economic development
Features of the book:
* covers strong areas of undergraduate and postgraduate study
* detailed practice-based case studies at both local and regional levels
* up-to-date theory using real-life examples


eBook available with sample pages: 0203012895

This study integrates scientific findings about the Global Warming Potential (GWP) - for example, the roles of pollution, population growth, agricultural development and sustainable resources - with advances in economic theory and methods, so as to explain how and why climate and economy are complementary at the local, national and global levels. The primary purpose of this work is to provide analytical bases for the creation of pragmatic, ecology-environment-economy policies, rather than to overwhelm the reader with technical processing that does not offer any comprehensive examination of the effects of the economy upon the environment, and vice versa. Modelling and data processing are treated as secondary requirements and follow, rather than precede, the framework developed in this book.

Integrating Environment and Economy provides a detailed and accessible examination of how integrated approaches enable economic and social activities to support environmental objectives. This is a key text for the many taught Masters courses covering the issues of environmental management and economic development
Features of the book:
* covers strong areas of undergraduate and postgraduate study
* detailed practice-based case studies at both local and regional levels
* up-to-date theory using real-life examples

The economies located in East, South and Southeast Asia have witnessed an interesting growth-sustainability trade-off over the last decades. While growth considerations have paved ways for deepened ties with growing trade-investment waves and increasing population pressure necessitated exploitation of hitherto unutilized natural resources, focus on environmental sustainability has been a recent consideration. The growth impetus still playing a key role in these economies, it becomes imperative that the countries effectively address the key sustainability concerns, e.g. air and water pollution, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, climate change issues like CO2 emissions etc. But how prepared is the governance mechanism of these countries, covering not only the legislative and administrative framework but also involvement of the judiciary, presence of spirited civil society and active engagement of stakeholders in policy-framing dialogues, to rise up to these challenges? The book seeks an answer to this question through the environmental governance mechanism and natural resource conservation policies in three vibrant regions within Asia. A holistic development dimension of sustainable development path emerges, through discussion of policies adopted by developed (Japan, South Korea), upper-middle (China, Malaysia), developing (India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand) and least developed countries (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal).

The concept of green growth, coupled with one of green economy and low carbon development, is a global concern especially in the face of the multiple crises that the world has faced in recent years - climate, oil, food, and financial crises. In East Asia, this concept is regarded as the key in transforming cheap-labour dependent, export-oriented industries towards a more sustainable development. Green Growth and Low Carbon Development in East Asia examines the beginnings of low carbon, green growth in practice in East Asia and how effectively it has directed East Asian nations, especially Korea, China and Japan, to put environment and climate challenges as the core target zone for investment and growth. Special focus is paid to energy and international trade - areas in which these nations compete with pioneered nations of Europe and the United States to develop renewable energy industries and enhance their international competitiveness. On the basis of the lessons learned in East Asia, together with a comparison of Russia, this book discusses the applicability and limitations of this developmental approach taken by the developing nations and resource-rich emerging economies, including the conditions and contexts in which nations are able to transition into sustainable development through the use of low carbon, green growth strategies.

A typical consumer underestimates the benefits of future energy savings and underinvests in energy efficiency, relative to a description of the socially optimal level of energy efficiency. To alleviate this energy-efficiency gap problem, various programs have been implemented. In recent years, many governments have started providing consumers with subsidies on the purchases of eco-friendly products such as hybrid cars and energy efficient appliances. This book conducts a comprehensive analysis of the environmental subsidy programs conducted in Japan and examines their impacts on consumer product selection, consumer product use, and environmental outcome. The book also proposes recommendations for future environmental and industrial policies. The book's empirical findings will be of interest to those who are researching on and policymakers of environmental and industrial policies.

Over the past decades, considerable debate has emerged surrounding the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to analyze and make recommendations for environmental and safety regulations. Critics argue that CBA forces values on unquantifiable factors, that it does not adequately measure benefits across generations, and that it is not adaptable in situations of uncertainty. Proponents, on the other hand, believe that a well-done CBA provides useful, albeit imperfect, information to policymakers precisely because of the standard metrics that are applied across the analysis. Largely absent from the debate have been practical questions about how the use of CBA could be improved. Relying on the assumption that CBA will remain an important component in the regulatory process, this new work from Resources for the Future brings together experts representing both sides of the debate to analyze the use of CBA in three key case studies: the Clean Air Interstate Rule, the Clean Air Mercury Rule, and the Cooling Water Intake Structure Rule (Phase II). Each of the case studies is accompanied by critiques from both an opponent and a proponent of CBA and includes consideration of complementary analyses that could have been employed. The work's editors - two CBA supporters and one critic - conclude the report by offering concrete recommendations for improving the use of CBA, focusing on five areas: technical quality of the analyses, relevance to the agency decision-making process, transparency of the analyses, treatment of new scientific findings, and balance in both the analyses and associated processes, including the treatment of distributional consequences.

The cities of the Pacific Rim are in one of the most dynamic spheres of the global economy. In the twenty first century the focus of global affairs is destined to shift from the West to the East. These cities offer a wide range of different responses to the demands that rapid growth puts on planning and infrastructure : from the laxity that has lead to the urban sprawl of Bangkok to the regulation that is characteristic of Singapore.
This book considers the interactive relationships between the operation of the planning system and the role and performance of property development and real estate markets in 14 Pacific Rim cities drawn from both the Eastern and Western perspective. The dynamic underlying these relationships considers the interplay between administrative structures, legislative controls and policy issues examining the role of actors and agencies in the property development and investment process.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203478215

'Part primer, part field report, part textbook, this is an intelligent synthesis pulled together by people who have paid their dues on the front lines of marine conservation.' Carl Safina, Ph.D, author of Song for the Blue Ocean An account of one of the world's crucial resource issues. The authors argue that the decline in fish stocks and collapse of fisheries is primarily economic - current incentives offer fishermen little alternative. They offer an understanding of the science and management of fish stocks, using case studies and presenting authoritative information. They examine policy options and the effects of different access regimes.

This is a book about the work of scientists in the era of the Anthropocene: where human beings appear to have become a driving force in the evolution of the planet. It is a diverse collection of empirical, methodological and theoretical chapters concerned with the practice of interdisciplinary social-ecological systems research. The aim of the contributors is to give the reader an appreciation for the range and complexity of the challenges faced by researchers, research institutions and wider communities trying to make sense of the causes and consequences of the this new era of global environmental change. The tragedy of the Anthropocene, of the large scale anthropogenic habitat destruction and planet-wide impacts of anthropogenic climate change, is not that science has failed humanity but rather that it has served humanity all too well, making possible in just a few hundred years volumes and scales of human activity far exceeding anything ever seen before. Coming to terms with that success was the aim of the 1969 Alpbach Symposium, from which this book draws its name, where contributors including Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Bertalanffy, asked themselves: what theory, practices and standards are required to move beyond reductionism? Like those from 1969, the answers presented in this collection are hugely diverse, ranging from PhD students concerned with research methods and institutional obstacles, to mid-career scholars presenting their innovative 'beyond-reductionism' research methods, to emeritus professors looking back over what has been achieved in the past 30 years and suggesting where things might go from here. All the contributors begin from the premise that the challenges of the Anthropocene can only be successfully met if interdisciplinary research effectively brings together social and natural sciences, the humanities, stakeholders and decision makers. They conclude, in unison, that both the institutional and the methodological foundations needed to do this work are still sorely lacking. While this may seem a dismal position, the book is full of success stories, such as: the integrative approach of MuSIASEM (Multi-Scale Integrative Assessment of Social-Ecological Metabolism) developed by Mario Giampietro's group in Barcelona, Spain; the alternative perspectives of what Ariel Salleh calls the 'meta-industrial' discourse in Ecofeminism; or the innovative trans-departmental status of the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden. Putting both the theoretical and methodological challenges of moving beyond reductionism on the table for discussion, this text aims to help a growing community of passionate thinkers and actors better understand themselves and their work.

How will humanity continue to meet its energy needs without destroying the conditions necessary to sustain human life on earth? The search for an answer to this question depends as much on the past as on the present; and as much on the physical sciences as on the social sciences. This book offers a truly trans-disciplinary and trans-cultural look at the problem of energy production and consumption in modern times. Discussing issues of history, politics, science, risk, lifestyle and representation, contributors demonstrate that experiences through time can provide insights into the kinds of solutions that have succeeded, as well as reasons why other solutions have failed. They also show what different countries and cultures might learn from each other, emphasizing how discoveries in one discipline have inspired new approaches in another discipline. Among many other important conclusions, the book suggests that energy transitions do not occur simply because of the exhaustion of old energy sources, and any solutions to the incipient energy crisis of the 21st century will depend on people's perceptions of science, environment and risk, informed and shaped in turn by the media.

Advanced Principles in Environmental Policy clearly and systematically presents current developments in the economic theory of environmental policy. A key feature is the systematic exposition of the use of mathematical tools in environmental economics.Professor Xepapadeas builds on and extends the basic theoretical framework of environmental policy and pays special attention to the inter-relationships between environmental economics and other branches of economics. He considers dynamic investment theory, industrial organization, international economics and relaxes standard assumptions underlying his basic model. A key feature of this book is a systematic exposition of the use of mathematical tools in environmental economics. Important practical research topics in the theory of environmental policy are presented, including: emission taxes nonpoint source pollution transboundary pollution the link between international trade and environmental policy international environmental cooperation. Advanced Principles in Environmental Policy will provide stimulus for further research in the theory of environmental policy. It will prove essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in environmental economics as well as for professionals, researchers and policymakers seeking to understand the fundamentals of environmental policy.

The crisis of environmental degradation has createcharemd an immense volume of literature which focuses on controlling environmental problems. Economic Rights and Environmental Wrongs goes one step further to extend and complement the current debates. Using property rights the book examines the causes and possible solutions to environmental and resource degradation. Written in a non-technical, reader-friendly style the book also offers: numerous examples and case studies an up-to-date list of world wide web sites relevant to the subject a detailed glossary of environmental and economic terms a guide to the literature at the end of every chapter Economic Rights and Environmental Wrongs is an essential supplementary text for undergraduates and postgraduates studying environmental and natural resource management, environmental studies, ecology, environmental science, environmental economics, agricultural economics and geography.

The debate on the physical limits and constraints to the economic growth of globalized society is now widespread. This book explores the physical and economic aspects of the conflict between humans, with their thoughtless focus on growth through material production, and environmental constraints. In the context of the looming shortage of material resources and the latest science on climate change, Physical Limits to Economic Growth offers new insights which provide a broad and comprehensive picture of the conflict between humans and environmental constraints. The authors' approach goes beyond the boundaries of specialized disciplines to explore climate change, resource depletion, technical innovation and the interactions between these within the socio-economic-institutional systems we live in. This volume looks at opportunities for rethinking these systems if we moved away from fossil fuel dependence, while considering the status of current mainstream economic thinking around this subject. Physical Limits to Economic Growth provides a genuine interdisciplinary examination of the physical limits to economic growth. It will be of interest to both students and academics in various disciplines in the areas of natural sciences, climate change and economics.

Several senior natural resource analysts study the role played by innovation, particularly technological innovation, in the pursuit of heightened productivity. Increasing the output of a given input improves a firm's bottom line, makes it more competitive internationally, and reduces the potential for resource depletion and shortages. Thus, high productivity is a necessary ingredient of economic prosperity. This book illustrates the importance of technological innovation in achieving an acceptable level of output and efficiency.

In this important new offering, a team of resource scholars describes and chronicles the development of recent innovations in selected natural resource industries. The authors also reveal the causes, sources, and net effect of such innovation on productivity. In all of these sectors productivity has increased considerably since the early 1980s, although the level of improvement varies across industries. To what degree did technological innovation contribute to that increase?

Individual detailed case studies detail important innovations in America's coal, petroleum, copper, and forest industries. The primary focus is on extraction and production technologies, although the existence and importance of innovation in other areas such as management technique also enter the picture. For example, the combination of new technology with restructuring seems to have breathed new life into a floundering U.S. copper industry. The authors describe the origin and diffusion of important innovation, and the concluding chapter quantifies the net effect of such innovation on productivity.

The Living Land sets out a new 'stakeholder' vision for rural regeneration in Europe. It integrates three themes: sustainable agriculture, localised food systems and rural community development. All three offer ways of rebuilding natural and social capital, and a large 'sustainability dividend' is waiting to be released from current practices - creating more jobs, more wealth and better lives from less.

The full effects of decisions made today about many environmental policies -including climate change and nuclear waste- will not be felt for many years. For issues with long-term ramifications, analysts often employ discount rates to compare present and future costs and benefits. This is reasonable, and discounting has become a procedure that raises few objections. But are the methods appropriate for measuring costs and benefits for decisions that will have impacts 20 to 30 years from now the right ones to employ for a future that lies 200 to 300 years in the future? This landmark book argues that methods reasonable for measuring gains and losses for a generation into the future may not be appropriate when applied to a longer span of time. Paul Portney and John Weyant have assembled some of the world's foremost economists to reconsider the purpose, ethical implications, and application of discounting in light of recent research and current policy concerns. These experts note reasons why conventional calculations involved in discounting are undermined when considering costs and benefits in the distant future, including uncertainty about the values and preferences of future generations, and uncertainties about available technologies. Rather than simply disassemble current methodologies, the contributors examine innovations that will make discounting a more compelling tool for policy choices that influence the distant future. They discuss the combination of a high shout-term with a low long-term diescount rate, explore discounting according to more than one set of anticipated preferences for the future, and outline alternatives involving simultaneous consideration of valuation, discounting and political acceptability.

This important book explores the cutting edge of contemporary environmental policy. It examines key issues and proposes innovative strategies for environmental problems facing us in the twenty-first century. The authors argue that the current structure of human activity is not sustainable and that there is a need for fundamental change in the way the environment is perceived and how decisions affecting the environment are made. They address the subject of environmental policy from the perspective of sustainability and issues related to equity. Included in the discussion is an examination of agricultural sustainability and biodiversity, energy productivity, technological change, ecological sustainability and industrial competitiveness, environmental valuation and the role of international finance for environmental settlements. In conclusion the authors argue for greater social assessment in decision making, and a need to involve a wider population in the decision-making process emphasising democracy, transparency, fairness, reciprocity and community. Sustainability and Global Environmental Policy will be of interest to policymakers in government and non-government institutions and academics working in the fields of environmental and development studies.

Non-market environmental valuation (NMEV) is undergoing a period of increased growth in both application and development as a result of increasing recognition of the role of economics in environmental policy issues. Against this backdrop, The International Handbook on Non-Market Environmental Valuation brings together world leaders in the field to advance the development and application of NMEV as a tool for policy-making. The expert contributors provide insights into the state of the art across the spectrum of both revealed and stated preference methods and highlight new directions being taken. A sequence of topical applications demonstrate various techniques and illustrate what can be achieved using NMEV: deliberately diverse case studies are drawn from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia with valuation targets ranging across use and non-use values of the environment. A number of reviews of cutting-edge issues are also presented. This outstanding resource will enable those interested in environmental valuation from theoretical, practical or policy perspectives to bring themselves to the forefront of developments and practice. As such, this Handbook will prove invaluable to a wide-ranging audience encompassing academics, researchers, students, practitioners and consultants involved in environmental economics and NMEV.Contributors: S. Bain, I.J. Bateman, J. Bennett, E.Y. Besedin, M.C.J. Bliemer, R. Brouwer, R.T. Carson, J. Champ, J. Cheesman, S. Colombo, J. Downing, J. Englin, S. Garcia, M. Giergiczny, A. Gonzalez-Caban, T. Groves, N. Hanley, J.A. Herriges, S. Hess, T. Holmes, Y. Jeon, R.J. Johnston, H.A. Klaiber, C.L. Kling, Y. Liu, J. Loomis, P.-A. Mahieu, K.E. McConnell, S. Navrud, A. Pang, G.L. Poe, P. Riera, J. Rolfe, J.M. Rose, E.T. Schultz, K. Segerson, V.K. Smith, J. Strand, P.J. Thomassin, D. Tinch, P. van Beukering, C.A. Vossler, X. Wang

While our world is characterized by mobility, global interactions, and increasing knowledge, we are facing serious challenges regarding the knowledge of the places around us. We understand and navigate our surroundings by relying on advanced technologies. Yet, a truly knowledgeable relationship to the places where we live and visit is lacking. This book proposes that we are utterly lost and that the loss of a sense of place has contributed to different crises, such as the environmental crisis, the immigration crisis, and poverty. With a rising number of environmental, political, and economic displacements the topic of place becomes more and more relevant and philosophy has to take up this topic in more serious ways than it has done so far. To counteract this problem, the book provides suggestions for how to think differently, both about ourselves, our relationship to other people, and to the places around us. It ends with a suggestion of how to understand ourselves in an eco-political community, one of humans and other living beings as well as inanimate objects. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of environmental ethics and philosophy as well as those interested in the environmental humanities more generally.

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 Malalysia 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.

This volume explores the impact of the twin process of democratization and marketization on the environment in East Central Europe. Three environmental matters are investigated: how the twin processes of change have affected the physical environment; the expression of environmental interest; and the effectiveness of environmental management policies. The book also examines the role of the European Union because of the influence it exercises on environmental policy in East Central Europe. It finds that political and economic instability and external pressures have displaced environmental considerations from centre stage. This has meant a failure within East Central Europe to realise a more far-reaching and more sustainable approach towards the management of transition.

This series is designed to cover all aspects of sound financial management for local governments in developed and developing countries and economies in transition. Concepts of good governance, transparency and accountability are woven into the text of every chapter, and the needs and potential obstacles to greater decentralization and democracy are highlighted. Each volume is self-contained with its own Trainer's Guide, exercises and web resources. Chapters are divided into basic and advanced concepts and the detailed relationship of each topic to the others covered in the series is explained.

This volume explores the impact of the twin process of democratization and marketization on the environment in East Central Europe. Three environmental matters are investigated: how the twin processes of change have affected the physical environment; the expression of environmental interest; and the effectiveness of environmental management policies. The book also examines the role of the European Union because of the influence it exercises on environmental policy in East Central Europe. It finds that political and economic instability and external pressures have displaced environmental considerations from centre stage. This has meant a failure within East Central Europe to realise a more far-reaching and more sustainable approach towards the management of transition.

Global climate change has emerged as one of today's most challenging and controversial policy issues. In this significant new contribution, a roster of premier scholars examines economic and social aspects of that far-reaching phenomenon. Although the 1997 "summit" in Kyoto focused world attention on climate, it was just one step in an ongoing process. Research by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been ongoing since 1988. An extensive IPCC Working Group report published in 1995 examined the economic and social aspects of climate change. In this new volume, eminent economists assess that IPCC report and address the questions that emerge. The result is a reasoned, cogent look at the realities of climate change and some methods (and difficulties) of dealing with them.

William Nordhaus's introduction establishes the context for this book. It provides basic scientific background, reviews the IPCC's activities, and explains the genesis of the project. Subsequent contributions fall into two categories. Early chapters review analytical issues critical to social and economic understanding of climate change. For example, Granger Morgan looks at how typical decisionmaking frameworks relate to this topic. Other chapters in this section discuss discounting and intergenerational equity, the possible role of cost-benefit analysis, and the institutional architecture needed to address the problem effectively.

A second set of chapters address specific economic questions surrounding climate-change policy. For example, John Weyant and Tom Kram look at the costs of slowing climate change. Weyant agrees with the IPCC that the economic cost is high, relative to othereconomic and environmental policies. There is tremendous uncertainty in these estimates, however, and different approaches to modeling -- economic, engineering, and social-psychological -- yield very different interpretations and prognoses. In another chapter, Robert Mendelsohn examines the costs of not slowing climate change. What impacts can we expect, how might they vary among different nations and regions, and how likely are we to encounter catastrophic results?