'Useful reading for green policy-makers and CEOs, who may discover that they can have their profits - and their environment too.' - Business Today;Many questions related to environmental economics and policy are still open including the definition of goals, the choice of instruments, the impacts of environmental policies and the levels at which different environmental problems should be addressed. The papers collected in the book are intended to stimulate further discussion on some of these issues and to bring together studies in specific areas of environmental policy and from all around Europe.;Following the introduction by the editors, the papers fall into four main areas: the evaluation of environmental damages and costs, the relationship between international trade and the environment, the analysis of incentive systems and the problem of sustainable development.

Internationalization of the economy accelerated at the turn of the century. Growing national, regional, and global environmental problems associated with globalization present new challenges for policy-makers and international cooperation. Crucial problems concern air pollution, environmental problems from trade and transportation, and global warming. This book, based on theoretical and empirical analysis, comes up with new and innovative policy options, including proposals related to the Kyoto protocol.

This book provides an in-depth economic analysis of the challenges associated with bioenergy use and production. Drawing on New Institutional Economics and the theory of economic policy, it develops theory-based recommendations for a bioenergy policy that strives for efficiency and sustainability. Further, it shows how to deal with diverse uncertainties and constraints, such as institutional path dependencies, transaction costs, multiple and conflicting policy aims, and interacting market failures, while also applying the resulting theoretical insights to a case study analysis of Germany's bioenergy policy. As such, the book aims to bridge the gap between practical bioenergy policymaking on the one hand, and neoclassical theory-based concepts that strictly focus on a minimization of greenhouse gas mitigation costs on the other.

The accounting profession, especially in the US, has lost credibility and this has serious implications for environmental reporting. As a number of papers in this volume attest, the amount of environmental reporting has increased in the period from the 1980s-mid 1990s. However, the value of those disclosures is open to serious question. The research for most of the papers in this volume was completed prior to the Enron scandal, but the findings indicate a need to re-evaluate what is reported about the firm's relationship to the physical environment.

Climate change is a matter of global concern and specific sectors of society such as universities need to engage and be active in the search for regional and local solutions for what is a global problem. Despite the fact that many universities all around the world are undertaking remarkable efforts in tackling the challenges posed by climate change, few of such works are widely documented and disseminated. The book "Universities and Climate Change" addresses this gap. The book pursues three aims. Firstly, it presents a review of the approaches and methods to inform, communicate and educate university students and the public on climate change being used by universities around the world. Secondly, it introduces initiatives, projects and communication strategies undertaken by universities with a view to informing students and other stakeholders in order to raise awareness on matters related to climate change. Finally, the book documents, promotes and disseminates some of the on-going initiatives.

This book systematically describes and evaluates the impact of energy cooperatives as a key driving force in the German energy transition toward a sustainability-oriented energy sector. Based on a comprehensive survey and three case studies, it provides an instructive overview of the overall dimensions and scope of energy cooperatives in Germany, and of their history, structure and current investment projects. The book not only contributes to the energy policy discourse in Germany, but also highlights the role of energy cooperatives to enable an international readership to explore their potential in other countries. Further, it makes a theoretical contribution toward substantially supplementing actor research in general, and enterprise research in particular, in the field of sustainability transitions science.

The subject of this volume is the human economy and its coevolutionary relationship with the natural world. This relationship is examined in three broad types of societies; hunter--gatherers, agriculturalists, and modern market economies. A growing body of scientific evidence has made it clear that the current human impact on the environment is far above the level that can be maintained without causing profound changes in the biophysical world to which we belong. The new fields of ecological economics and evolutionary economics can help us understand the relationship between the economy, society and the environment and may help us to formulate effective policies to manage these changes.

This book investigates the socio-economic impacts of Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific region. The authors put forward a strategy and action plans that can enhance the capacity of government agencies and non-governmental organizations to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. The needs and interests of critical and neglected groups are highlighted throughout the book, alongside the need for improving knowledge management on climate change. The case studies presented offer regional analyses for countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Mongolia, Nepal and the Philippines and cover issues such as livelihood vulnerability and displacement, climate migration, macroeconomic impacts, urban environmental governance and disaster management.

Energy is becoming a prominent driver of economic development. Each year, billions of dollars are invested around the world by the public and private sectors in low-emissions energy development and energy efficiency planning. Energy-based economic development (EBED) is a domain that seizes the opportunities inherent in clean energy development to drive innovation and generate economic growth. Energy-based economic development: How clean energy can drive development and stimulate economic growth delivers working definitions, common approaches, descriptions of supportive policy mechanisms, and suggested metrics for evaluation. The book offers a unified framework for EBED that is supported by examples and leaves readers better equipped to design, plan, and implement EBED initiatives. Case studies illustrate how national and subnational initiatives adopt to a locale's energy asset base, energy and economic development needs, and the context in which the initiative operates. Descriptions of the energy projects supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act offer insights about what worked and what did not and suggest ways in which governments can be better prepared to manage EBED projects in the future. This book provides the tools necessary to work toward simultaneous energy and economic development goals and facilitates discussion for an advanced policy agenda of energy efficiency, energy diversification, innovation-led economic growth, and job creation.

Due to rapid urbanization and development, water get polluted by the noxious waste released from industrial, sewage and agricultural runoffs. Sustainable Materials for Sensing and Remediation of Noxious Pollutants covers two most widely used aspects in the field of wastewater i.e. sensing and rapid remediation with a possible solution of successful technology commercialization. Chapters include information on low cost materials as sensing and remediating agents for the rapid removal of noxious impurities from wastewater. It includes chapters on the sensing of noxious metals, low cost adsorbents for the removal of noxious impurities i.e. inorganic (metal ions) and organic (dyes). Additional chapters include future/upcoming scopes of work and one chapter on the general introduction of the field. The book content will be technical and focused for the audience like graduate students, academicians, researchers and industrial professionals. Sustainable Materials for Sensing and Remediation of Noxious Pollutants is single reference source for environmental scientists and engineers interested in low cost sensing and remediation strategies.

Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics Revisited is the first attempt to bring together a selection of classic papers in natural resource economics, alongside reflections by highly regarded professionals about how these papers have impacted the field. The seven papers included in this volume are grouped into five sections, representing the five core areas in natural resource economics: the intertemporal problem; externalities and market failure; property rights, institutions and public choice; the economics of exhaustible resources; and the economics of renewable resources. The seven papers are written by distinguished economists, five of them Nobelists. The papers, originally published between 1960 and 2000, addressed key issues in resource production, pricing, consumption, planning, management and policy. The original insights, fresh perspectives and bold vision embodied in these papers had a profound influence on the readership and they became classics in the field. This is the first attempt to publish original commentaries from a diverse group of scholars to identify, probe and analyse the ways in which these papers have impacted and shaped the discourse in natural resource economics. Although directed primarily at an academic audience, this book should also be of great appeal to researchers, policy analysts, and natural resource professionals, in general. This book was published as a series of symposia in the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research.

As the list of sub-national, national, and international regulations, markets, and carbon reduction targets grows and merges, business must take action to become more efficient and reduce carbon. "Cracking the Carbon Code" provides the tools to "profit "from this trend, describing practical steps to make almost any business more efficient, sustainable, and competitive in the global economy. It is important to know when new regulations will apply to your business and when hidden carbon liabilities could threaten a company's profitability. Carbon is a measurement of waste, so identifying a company's carbon footprint--and how to reduce it--will save money and unnecessary regulatory burdens. Filled with eye-opening facts, insights, and practical action steps to profit from the low-carbon economy of the 21st century, this book is for anyone who wants to build value, grow market share, and secure acceptance by consumers and regulators alike.

This work stems from the activities carried out under the European Science Foundation's Environmental Toxicology Programme and its daughter programme, Environmental Damage and its Assessment. The work served also as a pilot study for the ESF Scientific programme on Environment, Science and Society (ESS), thus demonstrating the interdependence of the natural and social sciences with respect to environmental issues. The book is unique in the sense that it records the results of a four year collaboration between environmental toxicologists, economists and institutionalists. Its objective was to achieve better characterized or even novel insights into the theory and practice of water resource management, quality assurance and chemical safety regulation.

This book focuses on the issue of 'resurgence of nuclear power' and discusses the feasibility of nuclear in the energy mix of Asian economies. It discusses nuclear energy sector in detail in the context of India, a country where currently overseas supply of hydrocarbon fuels plays a major role in meeting the domestic energy needs. The book presents an in-depth analysis of nuclear energy policy as well as regional and global politics surrounding the nuclear industry, and the relevance of nuclear energy from the low-carbon energy perspective. To do so, it explores three different perspectives. To start with, the resurgence of nuclear power is discussed from a global energy perspective to understand whether and how it has been increasingly gaining policy attention among Asian economies. Secondly, it highlights the role of nuclear power in Asia and examines how the collaboration with the global nuclear sector is influencing that role. While the epicentre of nuclear power growth can be seen shifting to the Global East, there is a growing need for strengthening the industry, its legal and regulatory infrastructure and knowledge management. The third perspective focuses on the challenges and opportunities for the nuclear power industry and explores, to what extent the public perception is in favor of nuclear sector in the region. The perceived risks of nuclear power, public perception related to legal and regulatory issues, and concerns regarding land acquisition for nuclear facilities are also discussed. The book contains contributions from specialists in the global energy and nuclear sector, and examines some of the most sought-after topics related to the energy policy studies, especially in the Asian context.

Contingent valuation (CV) measures what is called passive use value or existence value. The CV method has been used to measure the benefits of environmental policy actions. CV measures of economic value rely on choice. In CV studies, choices are posed to people in surveys; analysts then use the responses to these choice questions to construct monetary measures of value. The specific mechanism used to elicit respondents' choices can take a variety of forms, including asking survey respondents whether they would purchase, vote, or pay for a program or some other well-defined object of choice. It can also be a direct elicitation of the amount each respondent would be willing to pay (WTP) to obtain an object of choice or the amount each respondent would be willing to accept (WTA) in compensation to give it up. This volume is composed of three sections. The first section provides background into the issues underlying the public and academic discussion regarding CV and the reliability of CV estimates of economic value. In addition, this section reviews the theory underlying the measurement of economic value and discusses those aspects of the theory most relevant to CV. The second section focuses on issues that have formed the core of the CV discussions including: sensitivity of WTP estimates to the size of the program offered, tests for theoretical consistency of CV results, and the sensitivity of results to context and numerous other features of the survey and its administration. The final section addresses the application of CV to actual economic valuation tasks and discusses the types of practical problems the CV researcher will encounter.

Originally published in 1996. In order to increase exports and expand profits, U. S. manufacturers must be able to adapt to changing competitive pressures. This book presents methods to quantify competition and help predict profitability to help hardwood lumber manufacturers adapt to changing market conditions based on three research studies. This title will be of interest to students of environmental economics.

The success of Brazil in the large-scale production and use of fuel ethanol has been widely discussed and analyzed by other countries interested in adopting policies designed to encourage the use of biofuels. Within this context, certain questions arise: Could the Brazilian experience be replicated in other countries? What were the conditions that enabled the creation of the Brazilian Proalcool (National Ethanol Program and what lessons can be learned? To examine these issues, it is important to understand the functioning of the key, interconnected markets (those for sugarcane, sugar and ethanol), which, from their inception, were the objects of extensive government intervention until 1999. Two main conditions enabled the creation of Proalcool: robust production of sugarcane and sugar (tightly regulated by the government, which applied the numerous regulations then in place); and the military regime that was in place at the time, whose decision-making and enforcement powers were quite broad, facilitating the carrying out of the necessary actions, as well as making it easier to coordinate the activities of the various stakeholders and sectors involved. This book increases understanding of the functioning of the sugarcane supply chain in Brazil, not only during the phase of government intervention but also in recent years (in the free-market environment). The lessons, positive and negative, gleaned from the Brazilian experience can contribute to reflection on and the development of alternative modalities of biofuel production in other countries, making the book of interest to scholars and policy-makers concerned with biofuel and renewable resources as well as economic development.

This book gathers the main scientific outputs related to POREEN, a four-year project on partnering opportunities between Europe and China in the renewable energy and environmental industries, financed by the European Commission. It investigates the main challenges and opportunities related to Sino-European cooperation in the green sector with a focus on sustainable growth. The first part of the book outlines the characteristics of Chinese and European cooperation, from a policy, macro and microeconomic point of view. It examines the key elements of green policy developed so far, bilateral trade flows, as well as bilateral investment flows. The second part presents an overview and recommendations on what legal framework is necessary to boost integration between Europe and China. In addition, corporate social responsibility and firm related aspects are considered. The third part of the book focuses on engineering-related research activity. It highlights the state of the art of Europe-China cooperation in key areas such as low carbon buildings, mobility and transportation that may have a huge potential impact on bilateral cooperation between Europe and China in the years ahead.

In this age of overlapping and mutually reinforcing deep global crises (financial convulsions, global warming, mass migrations, militarism, inequality, selfish nation-states, etc.), there needs to be more realistic dialogue about radical alternatives to the status quo. Most literature produced heretofore has focused on the surface causes of these crises without much attention given to the sorts of major societal changes needed in order to deal with the crises we face. This book moves the debate beyond the critiques and the false or not fully realised alternatives, to focus on what can be termed "practical utopias". The contributors to this book outline a range of practical proposals for constructing pathways out of the global economic, ecological and social crisis. Varieties of Alternative Economic Systems eschews a single blueprint but insists on dealing directly with the deep structural problems and contradictions of contemporary global capitalism. It provides a diverse array of complementary proposals and perspectives that can inform both theoretical thinking and practical action. This volume will be of interest to academics and students who study political science, ecological economics, international politics and socialism.

Utilizes basic concepts of economics and finance to explain the relationship of the economy to the ecosystem, seeing the ecosystem as imposing biophysical constraints on economic growth. Means of sustainable economic development and sustainable resource use are stressed.

Background material and alternative, more efficient, problem-solving approaches are included.

The impact of the environment in general and climate change in particular is now entrenched as a key political concern. The comprehensively revised edition of this popular text provides an accessible, concise and genuinely international introduction to the politics of the environment in theory and practice at both national and global level.

"Integrated Risk Governance: Science Plan and Case Studies of Large-scale Disasters" is the first book in the IHDP-Integrated Risk Governance Project Series. It consists of two parts: Part I: Integrated Risk Governance Project Science Plan, which outlines the challenge, research programme, outcomes, and implementation strategy of the IRG Project; and Part II: Case Studies of Large-scale Disasters, which includes case analyses of experience, lessons learned and recommendations on various large-scale disasters around the world, such as the Tangshan and Wenchuan earthquakes and the great ice storm in China, European heat waves, and Hurricane Katrina in the USA. The community model of integrated natural disaster risk governance and paradigm of catastrophe risk governance in China are also presented. Prof. Peijun Shi works at Beijing Normal University, China; Prof. Carlo Jaeger works at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany; Prof.Qian Ye works at Beijing Normal University, China.

In this concise, engaging, and provocative work, Richard Porter introduces readers to the economic tools that can be applied to problems involved in handling a diverse range of waste products from business and households. Emphasizing the impossibility of achieving a zero-risk environment, Porter focuses on the choices that apply in real world decisions about waste. Acknowledging that effective waste policy integrates knowledge from several disciplines, Porter focuses on the use of economic analysis to reveal the costs of different policies and therefore how much can be done to meet goals to protect human health and the environment. With abundant examples, he considers subjects such as landfills, incineration, and illegal disposal. He discusses the international trade in waste, the costs and benefits of recycling, and special topics such as hazardous materials, Superfund, and nuclear waste. While making clear his belief that not every form of waste presents the same amount of risk, Porter stresses the need for open-minded approaches to developing new policies. For students, policymakers, and general readers, he provides insight and accessibility to a subject that others might leave out-of-sight, out-of-mind, or buried under an impenetrable prose of statistics and jargon.

The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997 was a major achievement in the endeavour to tackle the problem of global climate change at the dawn of the 21st century. After many years of involvement in the negotiation process, the book's two internationally recognised authors now offer the international community a first hand and inside perspective of the debate on the Kyoto Protocol. The book provides a comprehensive scholarly analysis of the history and content of the Protocol itself as well as of the economic, political and legal implications of its implementation. It also presents a perspective for the further development of the climate regime. These important features make this book an indispensable working tool for policy makers, negotiators, academics and all those actively involved and interested in climate change issues in both the developed and developing world.

In addition to constituting an evolving area of inquiry within the social sciences, agricultural certification, and particularly its Fair Trade and organic components, has emerged as a significant tool for promoting rural development in the global South. This book is unique for two reasons. First, in contrast to existing studies that have tended to examine Fair Trade and organic certification as independent systems, the studies presented in this book reveal their joint application within actual production settings, demonstrating the greater complexity entailed in these double certification systems through the generation of contradictions and tensions compared with single certification systems. Second, the authors, who are both Asian, reveal the realities of applying Fair Trade and organic certification systems within Asian agriculture. In doing so, they challenge the fact that most Fair Trade studies have been undertaken by Western scholars who have tended to focus on Latin American and African producers. Drawing on a wealth of grounded case studies conducted in India, Thailand, and the Philippines, this pioneering study on double certification makes a significant contribution to studies on Fair Trade and organic agriculture beyond Asia.