This book highlights the roles of inter-regional networks in regional economies to explore the drivers of sustained regional economic growth. Many industrialized countries are currently undergoing a period of population decline. To enhance sustainability in the regional economy, it is necessary to increase productivity and improve energy efficiency. This book provides new approaches to describing the economic effects of inter-regional networks, which are key to enhancing regional economic growth, using productivity analysis. In addition, it also furnishes considerable evidence on the formation of high-speed transportation infrastructure. Traditional studies on agglomeration economies have focused on external economies that occur in spatially limited areas and have not considered agglomeration economies from a broader perspective, i.e., from the perspective of inter-regional networks. In particular, recent studies have identified that the actual spatial range that would benefit from agglomeration economies is broader than that covered by conventional studies. This volume explains the phenomenon using Alonso's concept of borrowed size. This is the first book to show the impact of inter-regional networks on Japan's regional economy using the concept of the borrowed-size effect. Based on empirical evidence, the roles of inter-regional networks are determined in the context of the regional economy that faces population decline and environmental constraints. A deeper consideration of the analytical methods and understanding the results of detailed analyses will make it possible to propose desirable regional economic policies in the face of population decline. This book thus provides valuable insights into the regional economic development of Japan, which is particularly pertinent to other countries with similar land structures.

It has always been thought that some level of pollution and waste is unavoidable in development projects. But no one has made much effort to quantify and assess the extent of this sort of damage. In this book a group of analysts from the Asian Development Bank and from the East West Center propose a means of constructing useful economic evaluations of the impacts of development projects on the environments in which they are constructed. This study demands the systematic evaluation of all the intentional and unintentional consequences of development initiatives before they are determined upon. It is essential reading for development economists, analysts and bankers. Originally published in 1986

China has achieved rapid economic growth since the market-oriented reform in 1978 and became the second largest economy in the world in 2010. However, the growth model in China is still extensive in nature and may be characterized with high energy consumption and heavy environmental pollutions etc. In fact, China has successively become the largest carbon emitter since 2007 and the largest energy consumer since 2009 in the world. This book endeavors to analyze whether such energy driven and environment restricted economic growth can be sustainable in China in the long run.

The book describes the basic situations of energy consumption and environmental pollution in China from the dimensions of industries, regions and energy-types. It also introduces the evolution of energy and environmental policies implemented in China. In particular, this book makes use of the environmental activity analysis model to assess the sustainable transformation of economic model in Chinese industries and regions. This model captures the negative externalities of pollutants and estimates the environmental total factor productivity accurately. The possibilities of win-win development and double dividend are also forecasted.

This book proposes new methods to measure the environmental total factor productivity, evaluate the process of low carbon transformation, quantify the structural bonus, estimate the abating cost and forecast the win-win development and so on. Researchers may find these methodologies useful for measuring other pollutants and for analysis in other countries.

Drylands are a sizeable part of the world's potentially arable land. They vary from the hyper-arid regions of the classic deserts of Africa and Asia to the more common semi-arid and sub-humid areas that support extensive agricultural systems dependent on rainfall or irrigation. Following their successful and innovative work The Economics of Dryland Management the editors have assembled twenty case studies from nine countries in the continents of Africa, Asia, North America and Australia. They help to explore more fully the costs of land degradation and illustrate the economics of reclamation, rehabilitation and prevention. The cases in this book present a rich, varied and readable survey of a wide range of drylands and their resources. Originally published in 19990

This book enlarges our understanding of economic development by bringing together items or aspects of historical experience relevant to the present-day problems of developing countries; by looking at the problems over a longer period than is usual in development economics, so that the influence of underlying forces may be made evident; and by comparing the experiences of different countries in similar situations. A variety of countries are dealt with and most of the significant problems in development economics are covered in one context or another. The authors of this symposium, each an internationally acknowledged authority, offer expert assessments of development as it has actually taken place. The chapter by Professor Rosovsky shows what is significant, what is peculiar and what could be imitated in Japan; Professor Black takes the little-studied case of Ireland, and Dr Macpherson gives an informed and balanced account of Indian development. This unique book was first published in 1972.

Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets provides a study of environmental regulation when energy markets are imperfectly competitive. This theoretical treatment focuses on three relevant cases of energy markets. First, the residential space heating sector where hybrid regulation such as taxation and emissions trading together are possible. Second, the electricity market where transactions are organized in the form of multi-period auctions. Third, namely natural gas (input) and electricity (output) markets where there is combined imperfect competition in vertical related energy markets. The development of free or low carbon technologies supported by energy policies, aiming at increasing security of supply, is also explored whilst considering competition policies that reduce market power in energy markets thus improving market efficiency. Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets discusses the key issues of whether imperfect competition can lessen the ability of environmental policy to reduce pollution and/or to minimize the cost of meeting environmental targets. Policymakers, analysts and researchers gain a thorough understanding of the performance of environmental policy from Pollution Under Environmental Regulation in Energy Markets leading to better design of simulation models of performance and costs of environmental regulation.

The utilization of natural resources to satisfy worldwide growing consumption of goods and services has severe ecological consequences. Aside from the projected doubling of food consumption in the next fifty years, the growing trade of biofuels and other commodities is a global challenge as the economic activities in the primary sector (i.e. mining, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry and agriculture) can damage biodiversity and ecosystem services. This should be taken into account in the decision-making affecting the global value chains linking consumer, retailer, processor, and producer in the North and the South. To cover the topic of ecosystem services and global trade this book is organized into four major parts. Part 1 gives the theoretical framework from an ecological, economic and political perspectives. Part 2 explores how internationally traded biophysical commodities from agriculture, forestry and fisheries translates into a virtual flow of land, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Part 3 describes how two widely used accounting tools (i.e., Life Cycle Assessment and Green National Accounts) deal with international aspects of ecosystem services, and Part 4 shows how instruments like labelling, bans, or payments for ecosystem services in the private and public sector can influence trade patterns and the management of ecosystem services. This collection is a valuable contribution to the global change science dealing with ecosystem services. It illustrates the consequences of international trade on global ecosystem services and provides an overview of accounting tools and of market-based policy instruments to address negative and positive externalities. The book is certainly innovative, because it brings together research findings from distinct disciplines especially Industrial Ecology and Ecosystem Sciences, as well as Environmental Economics and Political Science.

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of museum building around the world and the subsequent development of a body of research to understand the myriad issues. Museum Architecture: A New Biography focuses on the stories we tell of museum buildings in order to explore the nature of museum architecture and the problems of architectural history when applied to the museum and gallery. Starting from a discussion of the key issues in contemporary museum design, the book explores the role of architectural history in the prioritization of specific stories of museum building and museum architects and the exclusion of other actors from the history of museum making. These omissions have contemporary relevance and impact directly on the ways in which the physical structures of museums are shaped. Theoretically, the book places a particular emphasis on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Henri Lefebvre in order to establish an understanding of buildings as social relations; the outcome of complex human interactions and relationships.The book utilizes a micro history, an in-depth case study of the 'National Gallery of the North', the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, to expose the myriad ways in which museum architecture is made. Coupled with this detailed exploration is an emphasis on contemporary museum design which utilises the understanding of the social realities of museum making developed above to explore ideas for a socially sustainable museum architecture fit for the 21st century.

This book provides a detailed look at REDD+ business case studies and best practice and highlights the future of REDD+ in providing a promising mechanism for financing forest conservation while increasing the sustainability and profitability of forward-thinking companies. How can sustainability leaders reverse tropical deforestation? What exactly are payment for ecosystem service forest conservation projects, otherwise known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), and how can these projects contribute to business sustainability and profitability? Tropical forests are quickly disappearing - at a rate of nearly one football or soccer field every few seconds. REDD+ simultaneously offers a scalable conservation finance mechanism and a platform for business sustainability. This DoShort focuses on the nexus between tropical forest conservation projects and the sustainability practices of major global businesses. The book contextualizes the issues, defines REDD+ and focuses on its significance to business sustainability including: - the role of REDD+ in mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions while reducing business risk to a changing climate; - as part of a firm's philanthropic work; - a mechanism to increase consumer loyalty; - benefiting upstream local communities and ecosystem services; - enhancing corporate social responsibility image and upholding corporate principles; - and providing unique marketing opportunities and product positioning through private-sector support of charismatic REDD+ projects.

Climate science paints a bleak picture: The continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions is increasingly likely to cause irreversible and catastrophic effects. Urgent action is needed to prepare for the initial rounds of climatic change, which are already unstoppable. While the opportunity to avert all climate damage has now passed, well-designed mitigation and adaptation policies, if adopted quickly, could still greatly reduce the likelihood of the most tragic and far-reaching impacts of climate change. Climate economics is the bridge between science and policy, translating scientific predictions about physical systems into projections about economic growth and human welfare that decision makers can most readily use but it has too often consisted of an overly technical, academic approach to the problem. Getting climate economics right is not about publishing the cleverest article of the year but rather about helping solve the dilemma of the century. The tasks ahead are daunting, and failure, unfortunately, is quite possible. Better approaches to climate economics will allow economists to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. This book analyzes potential paths for improvement.

In recent years there have been several alarming predictions about the future of the planet s fish stocks. As a result, many national governments and supranational institutions, including the European Union, have instituted reforms designed to mitigate the crisis.

This book examines the discourse and practice of good governance in the context of fisheries management. It starts by examining the crisis of fisheries in the North Sea, caused primarily by overfishing and failure of the European Union s Common Fisheries Policy. It then goes on to analyse reforms to this policy enacted and planned between 2002 and 2013, and the proposition that collapse of fish stocks could occur as a result of deficiencies in new governing arrangements, i.e. failure to apply principles of good governance . The book argues that impediments to good governance practice in fisheries are not merely the result of implementation deficits, but that they constitute a more systematic failure. Governance theory addresses issues of power, but it does not recognise the many important spatially contingent and relational forms of power that are exercised in actual governing practice. For example, it frequently overlooks spatial practices and strategies, such as scale jumping, rescaling and the discursive redrawing of governing boundaries. This book exposes some of these spatial power relationships, showing that the presence of such relationships has implications for accountability and effective policymaking.

In sum, this book explores some of the ways in which we might better understand governance practice using theories of scale and relational concepts of power, and in the process it offers a critique and rethinking of governance theory. These reflections are made on the basis of an in-depth case study of the attempted pursuit of good governance in the European Union via institutional reforms, focusing particularly on the thorny and fascinating case of North Sea fisheries management.

Developed countries have committed to provide financial support for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries. Current financial support is of the order of $10 to $15 billion per year, but over the past few years studies of the cost of mitigation and adaptation in developing countries have estimated the amounts as high as several hundred billion dollars per year. This Special Issue presents the first comprehensive overview of climate change finance in the peer reviewed literature, covering: ' Estimates of the cost of mitigation and adaptation in developing countries; ' The economic issues involved in estimating adaption costs; ' The link between adaptation and development; ' How funds could be raised and effective allocation of the available funds; ' Effective delivery of finance. Assembling and comparing estimates currently available only from a variety of reports, the volume provides a vital overview of the subject of climate change finance for negotiators, policymakers and researchers.

The existence of environmental dilemmas and political conflicts leads us to appreciate the need for individuals and groups to behave strategically in order to achieve their goals and maintain their wellbeing. Global issues such as climate change, resource depletion, and pollution, as well as revolts and protests against corporations, regimes, and other central authorities, are the result of increased levels of externalities among individuals and nations. These all require policy intervention at international and global levels. This book includes chapters by experts proposing game theoretical solutions and applying experimental design to a variety of social issues related to global and international conflicts over natural resources and the environment. The focus of the book is on applications that have policy implications, relevance and, consequently, could lead to the establishment of policy dialogue. The chapters in the book address issues that are global in nature, such as international environmental agreements over climate change, international water management, common pool resources, public goods, international fisheries, international trade, and collective action, protest, and revolt. The book's main objective is to illustrate the usefulness of game theory and experimental economics in policy making at multiple levels and for various aspects related to global and international issues. The subject area of this book is already widely taught and researched, but it continues to gain popularity, given growing recognition that the environment and natural resources have become more strategic in human behavior.

This book brings together geological, biological, radical economic, technological, historical and social perspectives on peak oil and other scarce resources. The contributors to this volume argue that these scarcities will put an end to the capitalist system as we know it and alternatives must be created. The book combines natural science with emancipatory thinking, focusing on bottom up alternatives and social struggles to change the world by taking action. The volume introduces original contributions to the debates on peak oil, land grabbing and social alternatives, thus creating a synthesis to gain an overview of the multiple crises of our times. The book sets out to analyse how crises of energy, climate, metals, minerals and the soil relate to the global land grab which has accelerated greatly since 2008, as well as to examine the crisis of profit production and political legitimacy. Based on a theoretical understanding of the multiple crises and the effects of peak oil and other scarcities on capital accumulation, the contributors explore the social innovations that provide an alternative. Using the most up to date research on resource crises, this integrative and critical analysis brings together the issues with a radical perspective on possibilites for future change as well as a strong social economic and ethical dimesion. The book should be of interest to researchers and students of environmental policy, politics, sustainable development and natural resource management.

This book aims to explore the avenue of landscape economics and provides the building blocks (from different scientific disciplines) for an economic analysis of landscapes. What exactly constitutes and determines the value of a landscape? It focuses on the value of landscapes in its broadest sense, thereby covering a variety of topics including stakeholder involvement in landscape design, landscape governance and landscape perceptions from different countries. Merely saying that landscapes have value or are important is not sufficient - not when resources are scarce and have alternative uses. Measuring and quantifying the economic value of changes in landscapes would help ensure that landscape management decisions are both (economically) rational and sound.

This book examines East Asia's inter-state collaborative energy projects to address energy vulnerability. It focuses on projects that have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing vulnerabilities faced by the ten states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan, and South Korea in Northeast Asia. Including case studies on uncertainties in external sources of oil and gas supply, maritime piracy, continuation of energy poverty, and geographical barriers to cross-border electricity interconnection, expert contributors highlight how collaborative energy projects have been more successful than the traditional state rivalry in energy-related issues. The book develops the framework of energy vulnerability, avoiding usual securitization approaches, instead examining non-traditional security conceptualizations in studying energy policies to examine how issue-specific cooperation efforts between states arise and develop. Using East Asia as a starting point, contributors introduce a framework that advances the study of international energy cooperation. Managing Regional Energy Vulnerabilities in East Asia will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, sociology, development studies, and international political economy particularly the political economy of East Asia, energy and development studies, regional and global governance of energy and the environmental economics.

In the midst of human-induced global climate change, powerful industrialized nations and rapidly industrializing nations are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Even if we arrive at a Hubbert's peak for oil extraction in the 21st century, the availability of technologically recoverable coal and natural gas will mean that fossil fuels continue to be burned for many years to come, and our civilization will have to deal with the consequences far into the future. Climate change will not discriminate between rich and poor nations, and yet the UN-driven process of negotiating a global climate governance regime has hit serious roadblocks. This book takes a trans-disciplinary perspective to identify the causes of failure in developing an international climate policy regime and lays out a roadmap for developing a post-Kyoto (post-2012) climate governance regime in the light of lessons learned from the Kyoto phase. Three critical policy analytical lenses are used to evaluate the inherent complexity of designing post-Kyoto climate policy: the politics of scale; the politics of ideology; and the politics of knowledge. The politics of scale lens focuses on the theme of temporal and spatial discounting observed in human societies and how it impacts the allocation of environmental commons and natural resources across space and time. The politics of ideology lens focuses on the themes of risk and uncertainty perception in complex, pluralistic human societies. The politics of knowledge lens focuses on the themes of knowledge and power dynamics in terms of governance and policy designs, such as marketization of climate governance observed in the Kyoto institutional regime.

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.

In a world of climate change and declining oil supplies, what is the plan for the provisioning of resources? Green economists suggest a need to replace the globalised economy, and its extended supply chains, with a more 'local' economy. But what does this mean in more concrete terms? How large is a local economy, how self-reliant can it be, and what resources will still need to be imported? The concept of the 'bioregion' - developed and popularised within the disciplines of earth sciences, biosciences and planning - may facilitate the reconceptualisation of the global economy as a system of largely self-sufficient local economies. A bioregional approach to economics assumes a different system of values to that which dominates neoclassical economics. The global economy is driven by growth, and the consumption ethic that matches this is one of expansion in range and quantity. Goods are defined as scarce, and access to them is a process based on competition. The bioregional approach challenges every aspect of that value system. It seeks a new ethic of consumption that prioritises locality, accountability and conviviality in the place of expansion and profit; it proposes a shift in the focus of the economy away from profits and towards provisioning; and it assumes a radical reorientation of work from employment towards livelihood. This book by leading green economist Molly Scott Cato sets out a visionary and yet rigorous account of what a bioregional approach to the economy would mean - and how to get there from here.

This book addresses the use, operation and maintenance of new renewable energy systems, taking into account their integration in the current electrical markets and in the new emergent uses of energy. The book is based on practical experiences which present different perspectives about what occurs once an energy production plant based on sources of renewable energy is in production. Questions to be addressed include: how the energy produced is integrated into the current system of energy production, what is its consideration in the electrical market, what the impact is on society, how differential the strategies of operation and maintenance are with respect to conventional systems of energy production, etc.

This book looks at environmental governance in both Asia and Europe and offers a comparative analysis of the two regions in order to provide a better understanding of the concept of 'environmental governance' and its status in Europe and Asia. The book assesses the legislative, institutional and participatory mechanisms which affect the overall development of environmental governance, and analyses current issues, concerns and strategies in respect of environmental governance at the local, national, and international levels. The rapid changes in economic, social and political life have had an enormous impact on Asia's ecosystems and resources. Asian countries, in the name of economic development, are following the same environmentally destructive path their European counterparts followed in the past. The key to the environmental future of these two regions lies in the evolution of the character of governance - the ensemble of social ethics, public policies and institutions which structure how state actors and the civil society interact with the environment. This book will be valuable to scholars and students of environmental politics, EU and Asian studies, public policy, environmental law, and to decision makers and policy analysts.

Ecological Economics from the Ground Up takes a unique and much-needed bottom-up approach to teaching ecological economics and political ecology, using case studies that focus on a wide range of internationally relevant topics, to teach the principles, concepts, methods and tools of these fields, which are seen as increasingly important in the context of the current triple social, economic and environmental crisis. This book provides learning materials which are grounded in the experience of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), with case studies chosen by CSOs and developed collaboratively with leading ecological economists. The case studies come from Europe, India, Latin America, and Africa, and are presented thematically along three lines: 1) social metabolism and accounting methods, 2) institutions and participation, and 3) valuation and environmental policy tools. Core tools, concepts and glossary terms are embedded in topics chosen as a matter of urgency by activist organizations, related to mining and fossil fuel extraction, integrated transport infrastructure development, deforestation and agro-fuel production, sustainable tourism, waste management, wetlands and water management, payments for ecosystem services, natural disasters and hazards, and corporate accountability. Ecological Economics from the Ground Up has been designed to be an accessible learning aid for students of the sustainability sciences and for those CSOs that have recognised the value that ecological economics and political ecology tools and methods hold for their research and advocacy work.

Ecological Economics from the Ground Up takes a unique and much-needed bottom-up approach to teaching ecological economics and political ecology, using case studies that focus on a wide range of internationally relevant topics, to teach the principles, concepts, methods and tools of these fields, which are seen as increasingly important in the context of the current triple social, economic and environmental crisis. This book provides learning materials which are grounded in the experience of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), with case studies chosen by CSOs and developed collaboratively with leading ecological economists. The case studies come from Europe, India, Latin America, and Africa, and are presented thematically along three lines: 1) social metabolism and accounting methods, 2) institutions and participation, and 3) valuation and environmental policy tools. Core tools, concepts and glossary terms are embedded in topics chosen as a matter of urgency by activist organizations, related to mining and fossil fuel extraction, integrated transport infrastructure development, deforestation and agro-fuel production, sustainable tourism, waste management, wetlands and water management, payments for ecosystem services, natural disasters and hazards, and corporate accountability. Ecological Economics from the Ground Up has been designed to be an accessible learning aid for students of the sustainability sciences and for those CSOs that have recognised the value that ecological economics and political ecology tools and methods hold for their research and advocacy work.

In modern society, we tend to have faith in technology. But is our concept of 'technology' itself a cultural illusion? This book challenges the idea that humanity as a whole is united in a common development toward increasingly efficient technologies. Instead it argues that modern technology implies a kind of global 'zero-sum game' involving uneven resource flows, which make it possible for wealthier parts of global society to save time and space at the expense of humans and environments in the poorer parts. We tend to think of the functioning of machines as if it was detached from the social relations of exchange which make machines economically and physically possible (in some areas). But even the steam engine that was the core of the Industrial Revolution in England was indissolubly linked to slave labour and soil erosion in distant cotton plantations. And even as seemingly benign a technology as railways have historically saved time (and accessed space) primarily for those who can afford them, but at the expense of labour time and natural space lost for other social groups with less purchasing power. The existence of technology, in other words, is not a cornucopia signifying general human progress, but the unevenly distributed result of unequal resource transfers that the science of economics is not equipped to perceive. Technology is not simply a relation between humans and their natural environment, but more fundamentally a way of organizing global human society. From the very start it has been a global phenomenon, which has intertwined political, economic and environmental histories in complex and inequitable ways. This book unravels these complex connections and rejects the widespread notion that technology will make the world sustainable. Instead it suggests a radical reform of money, which would be as useful for achieving sustainability as for avoiding financial breakdown. It brings together various perspectives from environmental and economic anthropology, ecological economics, political ecology, world-system analysis, fetishism theory, semiotics, environmental and economic history, and development theory. Its main contribution is a new understanding of technological development and concerns about global sustainability as questions of power and uneven distribution, ultimately deriving from the inherent logic of general-purpose money. It should be of interest to students and professionals with a background or current engagement in anthropology, sustainability studies, environmental history, economic history, or development studies.

The first authoritative study of Japan's environmental problems by the acclaimed environmental economist, placing environmental issues within a socioeconomic context. In providing an historical account of environmental disruption in Japan, the author takes a number of key cases of industrial pollution in the pre-war and post-war periods and illustrates the effectiveness of taking into account socioeconomic affairs. Finally, he proposes a set of concrete countermeasures against environmental problems, applicable to all developed countries today, aimed at achieving a new 'quality of life'. First published in 2000, this title is part of the Bloomsbury Academic Collections series.