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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental economics > General
Common wealth dividends are universal cash payments funded by fees on the private use of common resources like land, minerals, and the atmosphere as a carbon sink. Thomas Paine's 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice and Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend are staples in the literature on Basic Income, but there is much more to common wealth dividends beyond these highlights, and common wealth dividends have a distinctive ethical justification and distinctive policy implications that merit discussion. This monograph, the most comprehensive study of common wealth dividends to date, will be of interest to students, teachers, and advocates of Basic Income and those in the field of environmental studies, including sustainable development, natural resource management, and climate policy.
This book presents an important discussion on the implementation of sustainable soil management in Africa from a range of governance perspectives. It addresses aspects such as the general challenges in Africa with regard to soil management; the structural deficiencies in legal, organizational and institutional terms; and specific policies at the national level, including land cover policies and persistent organic pollutants. This fourth volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is divided into four parts, the first of which deals with several aspects of the theme "sustainable soil management in Africa." In turn, the second part covers recent international developments, the third part presents regional and national reports (i.a. Mexico, USA and Germany), and the fourth discusses cross-cutting issues(i.a. on rural-urban interfaces). Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensible tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The "International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy" is a book series that discusses central questions in law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land - at the international, national and regional level.
This book highlights the latest advances in waste management, resource recovery and resource circulation in various countries, with a special emphasis on India. It leads the way towards a sustainable circular economy developing local economy and enhances the sustainability of the energy sector as a whole by holistically addressing waste management. Waste management is a major problem around the globe; effective waste disposal is one of the most plaguing issues faced by municipalities. Yet waste can also serve as a major source of energy rather than a disposable material. The book discusses various upstream and downstream aspects of waste management systems, e.g. conversion processes and collection methods, that are needed in order to make waste management systems into an effective industry and move closer to a circular economy. It also provides information on management tools for analysis and decision support. All chapters included here are based on high-quality research papers presented at the conference IconSWM 2018.
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.
This book is a collection of insights from experts of various fields, and will entail discussions of the recurring haze problem in Southeast Asia.It discusses multiple aspects of the haze problem. What is the cause of the haze? Who are the perpetrators and victims? What are the impacts and costs of the haze? Why has the haze problem persisted for decades? Are there prospects of resolving the pollution? How should we analyze the issue? Which solutions are more or less effective than others? How can we involve the stakeholders? The book provides a wide range of views on the haze problem. Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book allows the readers to easily access across different fields and develop a deeper understanding of the haze.
Industrialized countries strive to fulfil at least part of their obligation to reduce greenhouse gases by investing in projects in developing countries rather than at home. Developing countries have been rather critical of this idea. This book outlines the development of the international negotiations on the subject and analyses different design options for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), taking into account the interests of various groups, especially host countries. Two case studies - one on a renewable energy project in Indonesia and another on Costa Rican climate policy - show the problems that are likely to be encountered by CDM and illustrate the importance of active host country involvement. The authors discuss the problems that will be addressed by forthcoming negotiation rounds and propose practical solutions for the CDM including baseline-setting, institutional structure and credit sharing. Moreover, a long-term view on linking climate and development policy is taken to achieve an equitable allocation of emission rights.
The authors of this in-depth study describe the theory and techniques that can be applied to the specific case of valuing potable water provided by groundwater supplies. The theory and techniques can be extended to valuing drinking water provided by surface water supplies, and also to valuing alternative levels of water quality. The theory and case studies discussed in the book suggest that important determinants of the economic value of water quality include: the probability of contamination measured objectively and subjectively, information on actual levels of contamination in household water supplies, socioeconomic characteristics of households, and the extent to which the values of water quality people hold include non-use components. The case study results also suggest that empirical valuation results are sensitive to study design effects such as the particular statistical technique used to estimate mean or median values. These results suggest that estimating water quality values using benefits transfer techniques is problematic, but perhaps feasible with improved data and valuation models. Government agencies, private consulting firms and NGOs involved in water quality policy as well as academic researchers, professors and students will find this volume of theory, application and technique an invaluable reference.
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.
There has been an explosion in the literature and research on environmental and resource economics in recent years. This major annual publication provides a cutting-edge survey of current research by the leading experts in the field. The latest Yearbook includes contributions on: economics and the land use-environment link issues in the economics of water use the economics of residential solid waste management population and the environment subsidiarity, federalism and the environment transboundary pollution and international cooperation environmental valuation and standard economic theory.
This book explores the development of the gas industry within Latin Europe (France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain). Through charting the growth of this industry during the 19th and 20th centuries, the technology and public policies used are examined to highlight the long term impact of the industry. Utilising a comparative analysis, similarities and variation between the development of gas within the Latin European countries is compared and contrasted with the aid of specific case studies. This book aims to place the development of gas resources in Latin Europe within a global perspective that takes into account the development of energy resources in the rest of Europe and the world more generally. It will be of interest to students and researchers working within energy economics and economic history. The book forms part of the results of the research project 'Gas in Latin Europe: a comparative and global perspective (1818-1945)', financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government and ERDP Funds.
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.
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.
The twin benefits of improving environmental quality and reducing tax distortions through the recycling of environmental tax proceeds prove an attractive policy objective. This book analyses the use of the double dividend concepts for evaluating ecological tax reforms. The author aims to analyse unilateral environmental policy measures thoroughly and to assess under which conditions a double dividend can be achieved. The analysis is undertaken in the context of international capital mobility and cross-border externalities. He also includes a discussion of an empirically relevant example for an ecological tax reform scenario in Germany - the DIW proposal. International Environmental Externalities and the Double Dividend will be of great interest to all researchers and those working in NGOs in the areas of environmental economics, ecological tax reform issues as well as trade and the environment.
The former Soviet empire spanned eleven time zones and contained half the world's forests; vast deposits of oil, gas and coal; various ores; major rivers such as the Volga, Don and Angara; and extensive biodiversity. These resources and animals, as well as the people who lived in the former Soviet Union - Slavs, Armenians, Georgians, Azeris, Kazakhs and Tajiks, indigenous Nenets and Chukchi - were threatened by environmental degradation and extensive pollution. This environmental history of the former Soviet Union explores the impact that state economic development programs had on the environment. The authors consider the impact of Bolshevik ideology on the establishment of an extensive system of nature preserves, the effect of Stalinist practices of industrialization and collectivization on nature, and the rise of public involvement under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, and changes to policies and practices with the rise of Gorbachev and the break-up of the USSR.
Can trade liberalization and environmental protection be pursued together, or do the two objectives inevitably conflict? The rapid evolution of international regimes and institutions is increasingly bringing such conflicts to the fore. A consensus, both on the extent of the clash, and on how it can be resolved, does not yet exist. This volume includes the proceedings from the RIIA's April 1997 conference on trade and the environment, which brought together prominent contributors from all sides of the debate, including industry, governments, academics, NG0s and intergovernmental institutions such as the World Trade Organization, UNEP, UNCTAD and the OECD. They examine the background to the issue; the impacts of trade-related environmental measures; the relationship between environmental policy, competitiveness and investment; industry and developing country concerns; and the evolution of dispute settlement procedures in the EU and the WTO. The concluding chapter features a wide-ranging discussion on the future of the debate and of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment.
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.
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
Intuitive ideas of stability in dynamics of a biological population, community, or ecosystem can be formalized in the framework of corresponding mathematical models. These are often represented by systems of ordinary differential equations or difference equations. Matrices and Graphs covers achievements in the field using concepts from matrix theory and graph theory. The book effectively surveys applications of mathematical results pertinent to issues of theoretical and applied ecology. The only mathematical prerequisite for using Matrices and Graphs is a working knowledge of linear algebra and matrices. The book is ideal for biomathematicians, ecologists, and applied mathematicians doing research on dynamic behavior of model populations and communities consisting of multi-component systems. It will also be valuable as a text for a graduate-level topics course in applied math or mathematical ecology.
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.
This important volume brings together an authoritative selection of the leading papers on the subject of maritime transport. With a new introductory essay by the editors, the collection provides a thorough examination of the topics associated with this area, including maritime economics, transport law and policy. Part I includes articles on carrier management and operations. Part II looks in detail at competition policy and pricing. Part III discusses finance, the fiscal treatment of shipping and flag of registry issues. Part IV covers the area of law and policy and Part V examines market and structures. Finally, Part VI focuses on ports. This collection will be an invaluable resource for major maritime academies and to students and researchers in the subject of maritime transport.
K. William Kapp's heterodox theory of social costs proposes precautionary planning to pre-empt social costs and provide social benefits via socio-ecological safety standards that guarantee the gratification of basic human needs. Based on arguments from Thorstein Veblen, Karl Marx, and Max Weber, social costs are conceptualized as systemic and large-scale damages caused by markets. Kapp refutes neoclassical solutions, such as bargaining, taxation, and tort law, unmasking them as ineffective, inefficient, inconsistent, and too market-obedient. The chapters of this book present the social costs of markets and neoclassical economics, the social benefits of environmental controls, development planning, and the governance of science and technological standards. This book demonstrates the fruitfulness of the heterodox theory of social costs as a coherent framework to develop effective remedies for today's urgent socio-ecological crises. This volume is suitable for readers at all levels who are interested in the theory of social costs, heterodox economics, and the history of economic thought.
Corporate responsibility and sustainable development are two concepts that may be able to reconcile many of the big challenges facing the world; challenges such as tensions between respect for the natural environment, social justice, and economic development; the long view versus short-term imperatives and the competing priorities between developed and developing economies. This book explores the gaps and overlaps between corporate responsibility and sustainable development. These concerns overlap because they implicate corporate practices, state development policy challenges, the concerns and priorities of non-governmental organisations, and the potential for innovative forms of organisation to address these challenges. This collection examines these questions in terms of tensions and interdependencies, between competing claims to resources, rights and responsibilities, strategy and governance, between public and private interest, and the implications for equity and the common good over the long term. This is a valuable resource for researchers, lecturers, practitioners, postgraduate and final year undergraduates in business strategy, international business and international management, public sector policy and management, international development, political economy. It is also suitable for more specialist courses on sustainability, corporate responsibility, governance and international development.
This book is a remarkable case study of an environmental policy initiative for a national environmental regulatory system in the information age. In 1995 the Indonesian Ministry of Environment took the bold step to launch an environmental disclosure initiative called the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER). Under PROPER, environmental performance of companies is mapped into a five-color grading scale - Gold for excellent, Green for very good, Blue for good, Red for non-compliance, and Black for causing environmental damage. These ratings are then publicly disclosed through a formal press conference and posted on the internet. Not only did this simple rating scheme create a major media buzz and enhanced environmental awareness of the general public, but it also unleashed a wide range of performance incentives that showed how markets with environmental information could function in a developing country setting. The authors provide a multidisciplinary analysis of how the PROPER program harnessed the power of public disclosure to abate the problem of industrial pollution. They describe how the program has successfully improved the average environmental compliance rate from close to thrity per cent in 1995 to as high as seventy per cent in 2011. This improvement was driven primarily by information disclosure, which avoided expensive and unpredictable legal enforcement through the court system of Indonesia. The combination of institutional history and detailed economic and analyses sheds light on the role of policy entrepreneurs who laid the foundation for disclosure and transparency, despite the constraints of the Suharto regime. The PROPER program is now internationally recognized and continues to serve as a model for many developing countries.
Access to new sources of energy and their efficient conversion to provide useful work have been key drivers of economic growth since the industrial revolution. Western countries now need to transform their energy systems and move away from the single-minded pursuit of economic growth in order to reduce our carbon emissions, and to allow the environmental space for other countries to develop in a more sustainable way. Achieving this requires understanding of the dynamics of economic and industrial change with appreciation of the dependence of economies on ecological systems. Energy and Economic Growth thus examines the links between three issues: history of energy sources, technologies and uses; ecological challenges associated with the current dominant economic growth paradigm; and the future low carbon energy transition to mitigate human-induced climate change. Providing a historical understanding of the relevant connections between physical, social and economic changes, the book enables the reader to better understand the connection between their own energy use and global economic and environmental systems, and to be able to ask the right questions of our political and business leaders. This is a valuable resource for students, scholars and policy makers with an interest in energy, climate change and economic thinking.
Water scarcity is an increasing problem in many parts of the world, yet conventional supply-side economics and management are insufficient to deal with it. In this book the role of water trading as an instrument of integrated water resources management is explored in depth. It is also shown to be an instrument for conflict resolution, where it may be necessary to reallocate water in the context of increasing scarcity. Recent experiences of implementation in different river basins have shown their potential as instruments for improving allocation. These experiences, however, also show that there are implementation challenges and some limitations to trading that need to be considered. This book explores the various types of water trading formulas through the experience of using them in different parts of the world. The final result is varied because, in most cases, trading is conditioned by the legal and institutional framework in which the transactions are carried out. The role of government and the definition of water rights and licenses are critical for the success of water trading. The book studies the institutional framework and how transactions have been undertaken, drawing some lessons on how trading can improve. It also analyses whether trading has really been a positive instrument to manage scarcity and improve water ecosystems and pollution emission problems in those parts of the world which are most affected. The book concludes by making policy proposals to improve the implementation of water trading. |
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