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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental economics > General
Despite the findings on global climate change presented by the scientific community, there remains a significant gap between its recommendations and the actions of the public and policy makers. So far scientists and the media have failed to successfully communicate the urgency of the climate change situation in such a way that long-term, comprehensive, and legally binding policy commitments are being made on the national and international level. This book examines the way the public processes information, how they perceive threats and other perceptual factors that have a significant effect on how and to what degree climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies are supported. Understanding public risk perception plays a vital role in communicating the challenges of global climate change. Using a diverse range of international case studies, this book explores the nature of public perceptions of climate change and identifies the perception factors which have a significant impact on the public's willingness to support global climate change policies or commit to behavioral changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban resiliency. The comparative study of social and cultural factors, beliefs, attitudes and trust provides an international overview of best practices regarding the design, implementation and generation of public support for climate change policies at a global level. Offering valuable insight into climate change and risk communication, the book should be of interest to students and scholars of environment studies, politics, urban planning, and media and cultural studies.
Changing patterns of energy production and consumption are transforming the geopolitics of the global system. The BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (not discussed in this volume), a loose conglomeration of emerging powers, are part of the change as are Western powers. Variations in the energy policies of the Americas, especially the United States and Canada, are altering existing dynamics. Both states are increasing energy production and are projected to become energy independent in the very near future. The BRICS themselves wield much energy power as well. Specifically, Russia's oil policy and China's coal policy are creating for the world a new infrastructure within which middle and weaker countries may consider as the future. This edited volume summarizes our analysis with particular emphasis on the rapidly changing role of the BRICS in the world's energy system. In this collection, energy experts and international relations analysts examine production and consumption of states, the exportation and importation of energy, and alternative strategies for maintaining the international order or changing the international order.
The book examines the trade liberalization measures, which were initiated in India during 1991 and which focused on manufacturing industries. This industry was considered because of its strong inter-sectoral links and its capacity to stimulate the growth of other sectors. The resulting liberal trade policies, involving a reduction in trade barriers and inflows of FDI, capital and technologies, were adopted to increase the manufacturing output. However, these measures were most beneficial to those industries whose products have greater demand in developed countries. Against this backdrop, the book breaks down the overall effect of trade-induced manufacturing growth into scale, composition and technique effects to discuss the impact on environmental externality. In addition to manufacturing activity, it also investigates the effect of other factors that improve with economic growth and examines the extent to which India's trade-led economic growth allows production activities to move to cleaner technologies and whether India has achieved its economic growth by specializing in pollution-intensive (low technology) industries. The book also estimates the impact of these environmental externalities on society's wellbeing.
The trade conflicts that the EU has faced within the EU or WTO context demonstrate that the question of how to balance trade and other societal values in situations of uncertainty has not been solved by the regulatory model evolved by the EU in the aftermath of the BSE crisis - one which privileges processes of depoliticisation and scientification. This book addresses the current key dilemmas around science, law and the regulation of trade, both on a regime level and in the context of particular industrial sectors, e.g pharmaceuticals, climate change and nanotechnology. It will present possible future research avenues by looking at both theory and practice and learning from various disciplines (law and social sciences), legal realities (WTO, USA and EU) and actors (regulators, stakeholders, courts).
Only a few economists have vigorously dealt with mineral economics. Among these few, Orris C. Herfindahl has probably probed the most deeply. This volume, originally published in 1974, presents Herfindahl's most significant and enlightening contributions to the field of resource economics. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies and economics, as well as to professional resource specialists.
This book helps power industry executives to systematically navigate the complex technological and organizational changes necessary to recreate power grids. This is especially pertinent in the current environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity conditions. Across the globe, the electric power sector is facing many forces of change as it transitions from a fossil-based system to cleaner sustainable resources. Leaders in the power sector face unprecedented challenges in responding to these changes while continuing to provide safe, reliable, clean, and affordable electricity. Recognizing that historical and existing ways will not work, Jagoron Mukherjee and Marco C. Janssen present a new paradigm for industry leaders to tackle some of the key questions to determine the best path forward: What will the business be like in the future? What technologies will likely prevail? How should my company respond to constant change? How expensive will the transition be? Will the customer expectations be met? How fast do we need to change? Drawing on well-known management principles, the book helps industry leaders to provide a methodology to tackle these questions and sharpen their decisions as they embrace innovation, new customer expectations and digitization in their efforts to steer the energy transition. Taking a holistic problem-solving approach, which addresses the power company as a whole, Recreating the Power Grid will be a valuable resource for all professionals working in this quickly evolving field.
R. Quentin Grafton brings together more than 90 previously published articles in this two volume collection on the economics of water resources. The articles featured cover a vast range of subjects, locations and methodologies and are divided into nine broad theme areas including environmental valuation, water pollution, irrigation, residential and non-residential water use and water pricing and management. During a period of increased international environmental awareness and change, this collection identifies the most important and influential pieces and will be an invaluable resource for students and water professionals alike.
East Asia is a key region in the global economy, including both the second and third largest global economies already and, led by China, continuing to expand at a rapid rate. This economic growth has led to unprecedented gains in prosperity in the region but it has also led to increasing environmental pressures and energy issues. This book assesses ways in which East Asia can continue or even increase existing rates of economic growth while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental degradation. Using advanced modelling approaches, future scenarios for four East Asian countries are assessed in detail, including analysis of particular challenges in each country (e.g. coal power in China, nuclear power in Japan). Prospects for each country's energy system are assessed in detail and the potential effects of various types of Environmental Tax Reform in the four countries are also considered carefully. The final section of the book explores the interaction between trade liberalization, a key driver of growth, and emission levels in the East Asia region.
Markets and the state are usually seen as opposed to each other as instruments of economic development. This important new book attempts to go beyond the state-market debate, which it sees as largely the intellectual legacy of neoclassical economics, and the related pendulum swings of opinion favouring one against the other. Arguing that development can be hindered and fostered by both the state and markets, the contributing authors suggest that the real challenge is not to choose between them but to find ways in which their virtues can be utilized jointly to further the goals of development. The first part provides some general perspectives which critically analyse mainstream neoclassical views on states and markets while also providing some alternative approaches. The contributors to the second part examine state-market interaction in Latin America, South Korea and India.
Moving beyond most conventional thinking about energy security in Europe which revolves around stability of supplies and the reliability of suppliers, this book presents the history of European policy-making regarding energy resources, including recent controversies about shale gas and fracking. Using the United States as a benchmark, the author tests the hypothesis that EU energy security is at risk primarily because of a lack of market integration and cooperation between member states. This lack of integration still prohibits natural gas to flow freely throughout the continent, which makes parts of Europe vulnerable in case of supply disruptions. The book demonstrates that the EU gas market has been developing at different speeds, leaving the Northwest of the continent reasonably well integrated, with sufficient trade and liquidity and different supplies, whereas other parts are less developed. In these parts of Europe there is a structural lack of investments in infrastructure, interconnectors, reverse flow options and storage facilities. Thus, even though substantial progress has been made in parts of the EU, single source dependency often prevails, leaving the relevant member states vulnerable to market power abuse. Detailed comparisons are made of the situations in the Netherlands and Poland, and of energy policy in the USA. The book dismantles some of the existing assumptions about the concept of energy security, and touches upon the level of rhetoric that features in most energy security and policy debates in Europe.
Originally published in 1972, this study aims to explore governmental interaction with people and publics interests and institutions in Metropolitan America. These papers discuss issues of how governance can be improved and the federal role in Metropolitanism as well as suggesting ways in which political reform can help. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Economics and professionals.
Asbestos dust is well-known for causing cancer and other life-threatening illnesses yet still contaminates countless schools, factories and office buildings. This raises the issue of the best way to deal with Asbestos; immediate removal, containment or removal at renovation or demolition. Originally published in 1986, this report aims to evaluate these methods of dealing with asbestos in relation to their cost-effectiveness to conclude the most appropriate solution. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies and Economics.
In preparation for the United Nation's Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, this study aimed to detail enduring environmental issues that might or might not have been considered at the conference. Originally published earlier that year, Global Development and the Environment questions the compatibility of goals for environmental protection, natural resource consequences and economic growth in relation to sustainability with essays on important topics such as biodiversity, agriculture and population issues. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies and Economics.
Originally published in 1990, this study tracks the issues, progress and problems in environmental issues in the United States from the 1980's. Improvements in air and water quality as well as regulation of hazardous waste and toxic substances has led to new policies such as the Superfund Act and a general increase in awareness about environmental issues on a federal level. Placing an emphasis on economics, these papers analyse the effectiveness of environmental policy and progress made in relation to air pollution, water quality, hazardous wastes, toxic substances and enforcement of regulations. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies.
This book discusses the state of global climate change policy and the financing of climate resilient public infrastructure. It explains the sources of tensions and conflict between developing and developed countries with regard to global climate protection policies, and highlights the biases and asymmetries that may work against gender equality, women's empowerment and poverty eradication. Gender and Climate Change Financing: Coming Out of the Margin provides an overview of the scientific, economic and political dynamics underlying global climate protection. It explores the controversial issues that have stalled global climate negotiations and offers a clear explanation of the link between adaptation and mitigation strategies and gender issue. It also maps the full range of public, private and market-based climate finance instruments and funds. This book will be a useful tool for those engaged with climate change, poverty eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment.
Humanity is facing an unprecedented global catastrophe as a result of global warming. This book examines the reasons why international agencies, together with national governments, are seemingly unable to provide real and binding solutions to the problems. The reasons presented relate to the existing dominant global economic structure of capitalism as well as the fact that global warming is too often seen as an isolated problem rather than one of a suite of exceptional, converging and accelerating crises arising from the global capitalist political economy. This book adopts a political economy framework to address these issues. It accepts the science of global warming but challenges the predominant politics and economics of global warming. To illustrate the key issues involved, the book draws on South Africa - building on Samir Amin's thesis that the country represents a microcosm of the global political economy. By taking a political economy approach, the book provides a clear explanation of the deep and pervasive problem of the denial which fails to acknowledge global warming as a systemic rather than a market problem. The book should be of interest to students and scholars researching climate change, environmental politics, environmental and ecological economics, development studies and political economics.
The impact of climate change is global both in its cause and its effect. Thus there is a global responsibility for international cooperation to tackle the causes through mitigation strategies such as those agreed at the Durban Platform of December 2011. This climate regime aims to define responsibilities, mechanisms, funding and compliance in order to achieve a clear objective regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Although tackling the causes of climate change through mitigation is necessary, it is also essential to examine the effect of climate change and what international cooperation can take place to ensure global adaptation measures. This pioneering book deals exclusively with the politics of why adaptation as a global responsibility continues to be ignored. Scientific consensus is that the impacts of climate change are increasing, as evident from the greater frequency, intensity and magnitude of climate disasters in recent years. This book asks why anticipatory and planned measures for reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change should not be regarded as a global responsibility in the same way as mitigation. This discrimination is likely to continue unless the framing and legal basis of adaptation can be strengthened. It is with this aim in place that Professor Khan utilises his experience in academia and as a negotiator to analyse the politics surrounding this important issue. In this book the author sets out a framework for establishing a legally-binding adaptation regime under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the view to reducing the gap between the strategic focus on mitigation and adaptation. This is invaluable research for students researching climate change from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including the politics, law and economics of the issue.
The four decades of neoliberalism, globalisation and financialisation have produced crises - financial and pandemic - and rising inequality. The climate emergency threatens the future of the planet. This book explores many dimensions of the background to these crises. There is the development of policy agendas to address the climate emergency. The rise in inequality is studied in terms of impacts of financialisation and the relationships between growth and inequality. The record of the neoliberal experiment in the USA is critically examined. The roles of financial institutions including public banks and micro-finance are explored, as is the need for improved financial oversight in the Economic and Monetary Union. The growth of global value chains has been a major aspect of globalisation, and the question is examined of whether such chains provide a ladder for development. Globalisation has also featured trade imbalances and large capital flows, and their causes and effects are examined with respect to China and South Africa respectively. This volume will be of great value to students, scholars and professionals interested in political economy, economic thought, climate change, sustainability and business studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, International Review of Applied Economics.
The future of clean energy is no longer about science and technology; it's all about access to finance. The fossil fuel industry has been subsidized for decades with tax breaks and government backing, while renewables have struggled to compete. But now clean energy is the safe bet for investors, as is argued in Renewable Energy Finance: Powering the Future, edited by Dr Charles Donovan, Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School.With a foreword by Lord Brown and contributions from some of the world's leading experts in energy finance, this timely book documents how investors are spending over US$250 billion each year on new renewable energy projects and positioning themselves in a global investment market that will continue to expand at double-digit growth rates until 2020. It documents first-hand experiences of the challenges of balancing risk and return amid volatile market conditions and rapid shifts in government policy.Renewable Energy Finance provides an insider's perspective on renewable energy transactions, and insight into how countries like the US, India and China are responding to the global energy challenge. Drawing together contributions from senior executives and leading academics, Renewable Energy Finance serves an audience of readers craving intelligent, practical perspectives on the future of clean energy investment.
The economic approach to environmental law and policy has become the dominant framework for analyzing pollution, resource management and many other environmental challenges throughout the world. This two-volume set presents essential articles from both the leading edge of methodological innovation in environmental law and economics and the bedrock of theory upon which all such innovations are built. The editors' extensive introduction contextualizes the selected papers, highlighting the central theoretical and empirical challenges facing future advancement of this discipline. An impressive collection that is indispensable to policymakers, scholars and those with an interest in the developments in this ever-important field.
The remarkable performance of the Chinese economy in the last three decades has placed China at the centre of the world stage. In 1993, China became a net importer of energy, although it was not until the early 2000s that the world began to pay more attention to China's energy needs and its potential impact on the world. With China's energy search occurring within a hegemonic global structure dominated by the United States, the US watches with interest as China enhances its ties with energy-rich states. The book examines this triangular relationship and questions whether the US and China are in competition regarding access to the energy of a third state, within the context of a potential power transition. It includes case studies on China's energy relationship with countries such as Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iran, Sudan and Venezuela and aims to understand the way a rising power interacts with the existing leading power and the possible outcome of this competition. The analytical framework employed helps the reader to understand not only the nature and pattern of triangles among US, China and the Resource Rich States under 'resource diplomacy', but also the salient features of US-China competition around the world. Making an impressive contribution to the literature in fields such as US-China relations, international relations, Chinese foreign policy and global energy geopolitics, this book will appeal to students and scholars of these subjects.
Filling a void in academic and policy-relevant literature on the topic of the green economy in the Arabian Gulf, this edited volume provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the key themes and challenges relating to the green economy in the region, including in the energy and water sectors and the urban environment, as well as with respect to cross-cutting issues, such as labour, intellectual property and South-South cooperation. Over the course of the book, academics and practitioners from various fields demonstrate why transitioning into a 'green economy' - a future economy based on environmental sustainability, social equity and improved well-being - is not an option but a necessity for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States. Through chapters covering key economic sectors and cross-cutting issues, the book examines the GCC states' quest to align their economies and economic development with the imperatives of environmental sustainability and social welfare, and proposes a way forward, based on lessons learned from experiences in the region and beyond. This volume will be of great relevance to scholars and policy makers with an interest in environmental economics and policy.
China has been subject to floods, droughts and heat waves for millennia; these hazards are not new. What is new is how rapidly climate risks are changing for different groups of people and sectors. This is due to the unprecedented rates of socio-economic development, migration, land-use change, pollution and urbanisation, all occurring alongside increasingly more intense and frequent weather hazards and shifting seasons. China's leadership is facing a significant challenge - from conducting and integrating biophysical and social vulnerability and risk assessments and connecting the information from these to policy priorities and time frames, to developing and implementing policies and actions at a variety of scales. It is within this challenging context that China's policy makers, businesses and citizens must manage climate risk and build resilience. This book provides a detailed study of how China has been working to understand and respond to climatic risk, such as droughts and desertification in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to deadly typhoons in the mega-cities of the Pearl River Delta. Using research and data from a wide range of Chinese sources and the Adapting to Climate Change in China (ACCC) project, a research-to-policy project, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into how China is developing policies and approaches to manage the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. This book will be of interest to those studying global and Chinese climate change policy, regional food, water and climate risk, and to policy advisors.
The future of clean energy is no longer about science and technology; it's all about access to finance. The fossil fuel industry has been subsidized for decades with tax breaks and government backing, while renewables have struggled to compete. But now clean energy is the safe bet for investors, as is argued in Renewable Energy Finance: Powering the Future, edited by Dr Charles Donovan, Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School.With a foreword by Lord Brown and contributions from some of the world's leading experts in energy finance, this timely book documents how investors are spending over US$250 billion each year on new renewable energy projects and positioning themselves in a global investment market that will continue to expand at double-digit growth rates until 2020. It documents first-hand experiences of the challenges of balancing risk and return amid volatile market conditions and rapid shifts in government policy.Renewable Energy Finance provides an insider's perspective on renewable energy transactions, and insight into how countries like the US, India and China are responding to the global energy challenge. Drawing together contributions from senior executives and leading academics, Renewable Energy Finance serves an audience of readers craving intelligent, practical perspectives on the future of clean energy investment.
Most volumes in the environmental economics literature consider the environment to be a public good and hence write out a role for the private sector in a source of supply. Yet there is ample evidence of the private sector being involved, driven both by profit and altruism. This book provides the necessary conceptual base for the inclusion of the private sector in the environmental protection supply equation and deliver an extensive set of examples in a wide range of contexts. In an economic climate where governments are attempting to reduce expenditures, the increased role for the private sector will be readily embraced by policy makers.The aim of the book is to establish the principles of markets in the provision of environmental protection and to provide an extensive experience-based set of contexts in which the private sector has acted to enhance the supply of environmental goods and services. These contexts include both pure-private sector initiatives in terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems and public-private sector 'joint initiatives' such as payment for environmental services (PES) schemes. |
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