Decades of research and discussion have shown that the human population growth and our increased consumption of natural resources cannot continue - there are limits to growth. This volume demonstrates how we might modify and revise our economic systems using nature as a model. The book describes how nature uses three growth forms: biomass, information, and networks, resulting in improved overall ecosystem functioning and co-development. As biomass growth is limited by available resources, nature uses the two other growth forms to achieve higher resource use efficiency. Through a universal application of the three 'R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle, nature thus shows us a way forward towards better solutions. However, our current approach, dominated by short-term economic thinking, inhibits full utilization of the three 'R's and other successful approaches from nature. Building on ecological principles, the authors present a global model and futures scenario analyses which show that implementation of the proposed changes will lead to a win-win situation. In other words, we can learn from nature how to develop a society that can flourish within the limits to growth with better conditions for prosperity and well-being.

Capitalism and its Critics offers an accessible account of major theories of capitalism from the industrial revolution to the present day. The book provides a comprehensive account of the economic and social thought of key theorists from Adam Smith and Karl Marx to David Harvey and Thomas Piketty. Capitalism has long been the subject of passionate debate, and today such contestations are perhaps more timely than ever. For its advocates, capitalism brings democracy and freedom and is the cornerstone of modernity and of progress. For its critics, capitalism is based on the exploitation of labour and is responsible for the destruction of the environment as well as colonialism. Whether capitalism survives the century, or whether an alternative social system emerges, may very well determine the fate of humanity. Capitalism and its Critics gives a comprehensive critical analysis of the most important theorists of capitalism, including Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Polanyi, F.A. Hayek, J.M. Keynes, David Harvey, and Thomas Piketty. The book discusses some of the main debates about capitalism and considers alternatives in the twenty-first century. The 12 chapters are loosely chronologically organised around the main approaches and historical phases in the history of capitalism. Central themes of the book are the ideas of capitalist crisis and of tensions between democracy and capitalism in the making of modernity. A highly readable, informative and engaging text, Capitalism and its Critics is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding capitalism and its alternatives.

Between the 1950's and 1970's, the Sulphur industry continued to grow despite occasional shortages and excesses. In this study originally published in 1970, Hazleton focuses on the Frasch sulphur industry to explore issues such as competing sources of sulphur, the possibilities of sulphur being obtained as a result of pollution-abating policies and the conditions under which future supplies are likely to become available. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies.

Recent developments like the rising trend in crude oil price, the international economic crisis, the civil revolts in Northern Africa and the Middle East, the nuclear threat in Japan after the tsunami, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the economic growth of emerging countries like China and India have a direct relation to the security of energy supply anywhere in the world. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of energy risks, energy scenarios and energy policies with special reference to the European Union and its member states, emphasizing the economic and geopolitical dimensions of energy security.

The book assesses both quantitatively and qualitatively the socioeconomic and political risks related to the European energy supply, together with the EU s energy relations with other countries. Two innovative indicators have been developed to estimate geopolitical energy risks and energy-related relations with other countries. The book also examines the process of convergence of member states energy security policies, the path towards a common European energy policy, and the process of Europeanization projected towards the energy corridors through which the EU receive energy imports. In addition, alternative strategic scenarios related to energy risk are assessed. Finally, guidelines for the EU s energy policy and new strategies using energy corridors are suggested in order to maximize EU s energy security.

The book should be of interest to students and researchers across a wide range of subjects, including energy economics and policy, energy and foreign policy in the EU, energy policies in EU member states and several aspects related to international political economy."

The first World Climate Conference, which was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization in Geneve in 1979, triggered an international dialogue on global warming. From the 1997 United Nations-sponsored conference-during which the Kyoto Protocol was signed-through meetings in Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, and most recently Doha (2012) and Warsaw (2013), worldwide attention to the issue of global warming and its impact on the world's economy has rapidly increased in intensity. The consensus of these debates and discussions, however, is less than clear. Optimistically, many geoscience researchers and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have supported CO2 emission reduction pledges while maintaining that a 2 DegreesC limit in increased temperature by the year 2100 is achievable through international coordination. Other observers postulate that established CO2 reduction commitments such as those agreed to at the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference (2009) are insufficient and cannot hold the global warming increase below 2 DegreesC. As experts theorize on precisely what impact global warming will have, developing nations have become particularly alarmed. The developed world will use energy to mitigate global warming effects, but developing countries are more exposed by geography and poverty to the most dangerous consequences of a global temperature rise and lack the economic means to adapt. The complex dynamics that result from this confluence of science and geopolitics gives rise to even more complicated issues for economists, financial planners, business leaders, and policy-makers. The Oxford Handbook of the Macroeconomics of Global Warming analyzes the economic impact of issues related to and resulting from global warming, specifically the implications of possible preventative measures, various policy changes, and adaptation efforts as well as the different consequences climate change will have on both developing and developed nations. This multi-disciplinary approach, which touches on issues of growth, employment, and development, elucidates for readers state-of-the-art research on the complex and far-reaching problem of global warming.

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.

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.

* Placing an economic value on biodiversity is seen by many as the best and perhaps only successful way of preserving it while also protecting livelihoods* This is the most comprehensive examination of valuation ever conducted, focusing on one of the world's top eight biodiversity "hotspots," with principles widely applicable across the world* Original comparisons of the different "values" of biodiversity, trade-offs, incentives for conservation, case studies of coffee growing and wildlife conservation and practical policy optionsEconomic valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is possibly the most powerful tool for halting the loss of biodiversity while maintaining incomes and livelihoods. Yet rarely have such approaches been applied to tropical forest "hotspots," which house the vast majority of the planet's plant and animal species. This groundbreaking work is the most comprehensive and detailed examination of the economics of environmental valuation and biodiversity conservation to date. Focusing on the Western Ghats of India, one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, this volume looks at a cross-section of local communities living within or near sanctuaries and reserve forests such as coffee growers, indigenous people and farmers-pastoralists to assess the use and non-use values that people derive from tropical forests. It also looks at the extent of their dependence on forests for various goods and services, and examines their perceptions and attitudes towards biodiversity conservation and wildlife protection. The book concludes with an assessment of the institutional alternatives and policies for promoting biodiversity conservation through economic valuationmethods.

During the past three decades of rapid industrial growth, China has suffered from devastating environmental degradation. Most scholarly and popular publications have painted a rather pessimistic picture about the worrisome trend. Yet a somewhat more optimistic view has emerged in the past decade given the Chinese government's increased commitment to fighting industrial pollution, the public's increased concerns regarding the adverse effects of pollution, and domestic and international civil society's increased involvement in promoting environmental protection in China. Drawing on the authors' extensive research on Guangdong Province and a few large cities in other provinces, this book provides an in-depth study on China's environmental governance and regulatory enforcement in the past two decades. Section 1 examines various institutional constraints for environmental regulation enforcement at the local level and how governance reform efforts in the past decade have contributed to the lessening of those constraints. Section 2 draws on data derived from surveys and interviews conducted in multiple cities and times; it examines the dominant regulatory enforcement styles of local environmental protection bureaus and how these styles vary across different regions and over time. Section 3 examines how various stakeholders-the general public, environmental groups, government entities, and corporations-affect the environmental governance process. Overall, the book presents a cautiously optimistic view on the evolution of environmental governance in China. While highlighting many political, institutional, social, and economic constraints, it also documents many changes that have taken place-including reform efforts from within the government administrative system, increasingly societal concerns and actions, and changing attitudes among corporate executives-potentially paving the way for more effective environmental governance in the future.

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.

India has been traditionally well-endowed with large freshwater reserves, but increasing population, urbanization and agricultural growth in recent decades are causing overexploitation of surface and groundwater. As consumption of water grows, wastewater increases significantly and in the absence of proper measures for treatment and management, is polluting existing freshwater reserves. As a result, water pollution has emerged as one of the nation's gravest environmental threats. This book draws a link between water pollution generated by different industries and the various economic activities of the Indian economy using the Input-output framework. It constructs a detailed water pollution coefficient matrix involving different types of water pollutants. The book estimates the total amount of water pollution generated directly and indirectly in different sectors and activities, and also calculates the water pollution content in India's foreign trade sector. It also accounts for defensive expenditure from water pollution and estimates Green GDP for the extent and scope of environmental challenges. Analysis of the result indicates the variation in the pollution content of different economic activities. Finally, the book offers a portfolio of policies and assesses the implications of such policies on pollution generation in India.

Geoengineering has become the focus of a vital debate about the intended and unintended consequences of innovation. This introduction to responsible innovation, as a new approach to governance, explains the broad sweep of technoscience that is brought under the umbrella of geoengineering. The possibility of exerting control over the global climate introduces profound social, political and ethical questions. The book explores these issues through the lens of the research project SPICE (Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering) one of the first major geoengineering studies worldwide, and one of the first to include an outdoor test of a technology for Solar Radiation Management the reflection of sunlight to cool the planet. The book uses the idea of experimentation to consider how and why research projects become controversial. It also introduces recent experiments in governance, involving new conversations with civil society and others, to explain science-in-society and suggest new ways forward. SPICE is not just a case study of geoengineering research in action. It is also a case study of responsible innovation in action. It illustrates broader dynamics that are of substantial relevance to both wider geoengineering debates and wider science and technology governance debates.The book discusses a full range of geoengineering issues including other cases of real-word experimentation, such as the Haida Gwaii ocean iron fertilisation experiment, and other expert assessments, such as those by the GAO and Bipartisan Policy Commission. This book takes a critical stance on existing assumptions about ethical issues and economics and thus gives students, researchers and the general reader interested in the place of science in contemporary society a compelling framework for future thinking and discussion.

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.

This book discusses the basic and cutting-edge theories in the area of energy diplomacy in the global context, focusing on topics such as international dialogues on energy, government-directed partnerships, international energy games, the activities of international agencies, and public energy diplomacy. It also analyzes in detail the relationship between global energy diplomacy and international energy, while at the same time identifying the major problems of China's energy diplomacy to provide a framework for the country's energy diplomacy strategy-an essential component of China's overall diplomatic strategy.

Contemporary society is dependent on man's ability to work fundamental changes in the natural environment. In using resources to produce high and rising levels of income, however, effects are often produced that are incidental to the main purpose. This study, first published in 1965, explores some research approaches to the economic analysis of some of the key environmental problems, including water and air pollution, the introduction of chemical substances into the environment and the development of urban and rural space. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies and economics.

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.

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 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.

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.

Recent international appeals for sustainable development policies have renewed efforts to explore the common ground between economics and ecology. This volume presents a collection of papers from leading researchers around the world, who evaluate the analytical foundations and empirical systems that are being developed to integrate economic and environmental indicators. These specialists identify key data requirements and modeling systems. Economists, ecologists, and policy makers will find this work introducing integrated modeling systems thought-provoking and useful.

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 timely contribution to social entrepreneurship research from a Scandinavian view. Taking entrepreneurship as creative action in society as a whole, the authors counter widely held perceptions of (social) entrepreneurship: it is not an elite phenomenon but a form of action that we all engage in from time to time; it is not about system-changing disruptions but generally about small but real improvements in everyday life; it is not about autonomous action but about realizing freedom potential in societies where knowledge and learning have become essential for civic action.' - Rafael Ziegler, University of Greifswald, Germany'This book offers an innovative, theory-driven account of social entrepreneurship that is located in new thinking around the constructs of community and 'public' entrepreneurship. Bjerke and Karlsson draw on a wide range of sources to offer useful new insights and analyses of this emerging sector and contribute a variety of useful and challenging new models of the relationship between society, innovation, and politics. All in all, this represents a valuable addition to the growing theoretical literature on social innovation and entrepreneurship.' - Alex Nicholls, University of Oxford, UK This informative book examines some social entrepreneurs in practice in several countries whilst concentrating on entrepreneurs in the third sector. The authors call them citizen entrepreneurs. Such people are not only becoming more common but also more necessary in the world of today. Entrepreneurs are seen as people who aim 'to act as if and make a difference', that is, who act out of the ordinary and come up with noticeable solutions to various problems without being restricted by existing resources or possibilities. This book applies these criteria to citizen entrepreneurs, focusing on public entrepreneurs operating in public places. The authors conduct in-depth case studies to examine these public entrepreneurs thoroughly and offer some theoretical reflections on social entrepreneurship. Students and researchers studying social entrepreneurship will find this book of great interest. Social entrepreneurs and practitioners would also benefit considerably from this enriching resource.

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.

This major annual publication presents a comprehensive overview of cutting-edge issues in environmental and resource economics. The expert contributors address some of today's most pressing environmental concerns including: pollution control policies Graphical Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis disclosure strategies for pollution control environmental policy under imperfect competition transport and the environment optimal forest harvesting. The Yearbook is an essential resource for economists, scholars and practitioners working in environmental and resource economics.

In the past decade, the growing realization that biodiversity and human wellbeing are inextricably linked has led to the adoption of numerous environmental policies. The concept of the Green Economy has gained particular attention as an economic system where growth is possible within environmental limits. The preservation of ecosystem services and the halt of biodiversity loss are identified as key pillars of the Green Economy. Despite the concept's momentum there is still no clear understanding of how biodiversity fits within a Green Economy. In the current debate, biodiversity is rarely acknowledged in economic sectors other than agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism, and when it is acknowledged biodiversity and its conservation feature more as buzzwords than as concrete and tangible components of the Green Economy. This book aims to identify, understand and offer pragmatic recommendations of how biodiversity conservation can become an agent of green economic development. This book establishes ways to assess biodiversity's contributions to the economy and to meaningfully integrate biodiversity concerns in green-economy policies.