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Paul Safonov
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium and Russian Academy Science, Moscow, Russia
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Vincent Favrel
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Walter Hecq
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Urban transport policies and greenhouse gases emissions in Brussels
http://www.ulb.ac.be/ceese/STAFF/safonov/ISEE2000.htm
The emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation in Belgium, and especially in the Brussels area, are observed as a major and increasing factor of environmental pressure. This is linked to a growth of economic activity, especially in the tertiary sectors, which require more and more offices, and thus commuting. In the framework of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change (1997) a target of 7.5% reduction of GHG emissions by the year 2010 (from the level of 1990) is an accepted Belgian obligation, for which feasibility and implementation measures should be assessed. The aim of the paper is to analyse the GHG emissions from mobility induced by transport and other urban policies. Among the main environmental impacts of mobility, the emission of carbon dioxide, and consumption of non-renewable fuel (gasoline and diesel-oil) are assessed for a case study of the Brussels-Capital region, comparing the Kyoto framework and business-as-usual scenarios. For this purpose a system of models is being developed, including: forecasts of population and employment dynamics in accordance with regional economic development, a mobility model, providing scenarios of traffic intensity and its spatial distribution in the region; a model linking mobility and GHG emissions. Scenario simulations are based on different groups of assumptions and targets for the improvement of policy making in regional and urban planning in Brussels. In particular, for transport policy in the urban area and its surroundings, office stock and market development, regulations on vehicles use and composition of park of vehicles, road taxation and other environmental instruments, and contribution to Kyoto Protocol targets for the GHG emissions abatement.
Rene Charles Salzmann
Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forest and Landscape, Basel, Switzerland
Thomas Gerber
Aarau Town Environmental Section and Building Department, Switzerland
Wildlife and forest management models: effective implementation of forestry policy targets
http://home.balcab.ch/rene.salzmann
As Meadows (1993) postulates: 'Developments in our world are the result of the interactions of dynamic processes mutually influencing each other. The outcomes of these interactions are usually very different from our intuitive expectations: the system is much more than the sum of its parts. To understand better our present situation and our future options, we must understand how they are linked together, and we must be able to assess the consequences of these interactions and of our own action or inaction'. The private and public sector in both developed and developing countries are often faced with the complex and ambiguous task of deciding whether to accept or reject a particular resource conservation project, program or policy. We argue that only through an integrated approach of ecological-economic modelling and analysis can the decision-making process of resource conservation projects be improved. The paper reviews the tools currently available for improving the design of a possible 'project mix' i.e. a program, and their subsequent potential applicability, with special reference to the management of environmental resources. The outlined tools are based on system dynamics, i. e. they take into account the ecological-economic interdependencies between the various system support functions and the threshold values ultimately responsible for the physical balance and wellbeing of the system under analysis. The paper focuses on: The concept of sustainability (including the characteristics of, impediments to, and potential for combining different factors such as habitat, population and forest with the economic sector), and delivering a cost-effectiveness analysis. The identification of key system elements, their interdependencies and their impacts upon the system e.g. with an increase in hunting, numbers of predators, fodder availability or afforestation areas etc. The possibilities to value alternative forest-, hunting and landscape management. The elaboration of an effective management tool which is capable of assessing different environmental resources, possible projects and their likely impact on the overall system development. The ecological sector (habitat, deer population and forest) and its valuable output flows are linked to the economic sector, where different development paths are analysed. The linkages and interdependencies between different elements (habitat, population and forest) increases our understanding about the functioning of systems in general, where and how to intervene in such complex systems, and effectively analyses the changes of proposed impacts.
Rui Santos
Ecoman Centre, Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Sciences nad Technology, New University of Lisbon, Portugal
Paula Antunes
Ecoman Centre, Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Portugal
Efficiency and equity considerations in permit markets: modelling the negotiation process of SO2 trading in Europe
Permit trading programs are considered as having the potential to attain efficient solutions for pollution control. However, in order to attain the minimum cost solution, it is often assumed that no trade can take place until the unique and cost minimising equilibrium is discovered, which implies that the trading process is modelled as simultaneous and multilateral. Several authors (e.g. Atkinson and Tietenberg, 1991; Burtraw et al, 1993) consider that the bilateral and sequential nature of trading process is one of the reasons why these systems fail in achieving all the potential cost savings, namely when used to regulate a pollutant that has spatially differentiated impacts. These authors focus only on modelling the sequence of trades, but forget that to achieve successful agreements trading partners also need to agree on the way to allocate savings obtained with trade. We consider that both aspects, sequence of trades and allocation of cooperation gains, should be modelled to learn about permit markets behaviour, and mainly to evaluate the potential to attain efficient and equitable solutions. This paper focuses on exploring the similarities between the negotiation process in a permit trading system and in joint cost allocation problems. The sequence of trades and the allocation of cooperation gains in each step are modelled through a proposed game theoretical based heuristic. The approach used to model the trading process provides useful insights in explaining inefficient outcomes of permit markets and about expected agents behaviour. The implementation of a permit-trading program for the control of acidification in Europe is used as a case study. A simulation exercise is constructed using SO2 control cost functions, deposition targets and transport coefficients for 13 European countries, obtained from RAINS model and EMEP databases. Several trading scenarios are explored and the results discussed.
Karl Schaefer
Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Municipal water pricing and sustainable water use in Ontario, Canada
Compared to many other developed nations, municipal water supply prices in Canada are low. Consequently, per capita water use has been high. Environment Canada has been collecting detailed municipal water use and pricing information since 1983; with major surveys in the years 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1994 and 1996. This period corresponds with a greater awareness by municipalities and residents of water conservation options and full cost pricing. This poster examines the trends in water use and prices between 1983 and 1996. Over this time, total per capita use has declined, and monthly water bills have increased significantly, suggesting that there may be some link between price signals and more efficient water use. The paper also explores changes in the level of water and wastewater servicing, rate structures and volumetric prices. Observations are also made on the level of water metering and usage and municipal size and water pricing structures.
Judith A. Meyer Schultz
University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Aquaculture of salmon and shrimp: impact of scale on economic valuing, environmental quality and sustainability
Global fisheries stocks have been in precipitous decline since the mid-l970's, resulting in a favourable economic environment for aquaculture or fish farming. Aquaculture, initiated as small-scale industry, was originally heralded as the panacea for demand placed upon world food supply by a rapidly growing world population, and to relieve pressure on wild fisheries. Global aquaculture production currently accounts for more than a quarter of all fish consumption by humans globally. Two of the most economically lucrative and widely traded aquaculture products are shrimp and salmon, which make up one-fifth by value of global aquaculture. Farmed shrimp, produced mainly in developing countries for markets in industrialised nations, accounts for 25% of global shrimp production - a l0-fold increase from the mid-l970s. Driven largely by short-term economic motives, explosive growth and promotion of shrimp and salmon farming in both rich and poor countries has been supported by national governments, private investors, and international development agencies motivated to generate foreign exchange, private profits, and employment. Increasing scale of these enterprises is currently having unforeseen ecological consequences, with high potential for biological pollution. As coastal ecosystems are converted to aquaculture ponds, pollution destroys sensitive estuarine and bay nursery areas supporting ocean fisheries. Environmental costs of feed and stock inputs, effluent assimilation, and coastal land conversion are not recognised in the market, allowing ocean resources-including fisheries- to deteriorate. Economic incentives, including regulation, pollution taxes, or reduction of financial subsidies are urgently needed to improve aquaculture efficiency, thereby reducing environmental impacts of shrimp and salmon farming through international trade agreements.
Michelle Scoccimarro
Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Andrew Walker
Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Integrated water resource assessment: a case study of northern Thailand
Claims are made in northern Thailand that there has been substantial clearing of upstream forested areas for agricultural development. It is argued - often by downstream communities - that this has compromised water quality and quantity within the catchment and generated problems of flooding and sedimentation. A methodological approach is outlined that considers the social, economic and biophysical implications of recent agricultural development in a catchment in northern Thailand and explores a range of possible scenarios related to future water use. In particular, proposals for new dam investments are assessed using an integrated set of hydrological and socio-economic modelling tools. We consider agricultural development from a household perspective and explore some of the relationships between resource conflict and variation in the socio-economic attributes of agricultural households within the catchment. The paper is based on research undertaken as part of the Australian-Thai Integrated Water Resources Assessment and Management Project.
Irmi Seidl
Institut für Umweltwissenschaften, University of Zürich, Switzerland
Sigrid Stagl
University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria
Institutional change for sustainable local food markets
http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/esee2000/
Demand for organic food has increased significantly in many countries during the last few years. Initiatives aimed at more sustainable agricultural practices were mostly concerned with the reduction of chemical use (e.g., van den Grijp and den Hond, 1999) but to a lesser extent with criteria like biodiversity protection or transport reduction. To reach such goals it is hypothesised that new markets and economic activities are needed with regard to type and quality. Institutional economics both conceptualises markets within its institutional setting and describes markets as sets of institutions (Hodgson, 1988; Bårgenmeier, 1992). Hence, local and regional markets are different to larger markets with regard to co-ordination (price-building, communication) and goals. Organic farmers' markets as well as more recent institutional innovations like Community Supported Agriculture are simple forms of local markets that emerge without governmental support. Although such markets may foster a wider perception of food quality, and may enhance biodiversity and even consumers' learning about environmental concerns (Stagl and O'Hara, 1999); they have obvious barriers in viability, expansion (Stagl and Gowdy, forthcoming), and complexity (no or little processing). Based on the theory of institutional innovation (Rutton and Hayami, 1984) this paper investigates the overall conditions of new markets, economic activities and institutions which allow for a more sustainable food production and distribution with high value-added. Also, we will apply network theory (Powell and Smith-Doerr, 1994) to investigate the relationships of the participants of such markets and economic activities, and to show how these latter come into being and how they work. These points are illustrated by the use of two case studies, one from Switzerland and one from Austria. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the European context.
Tian Shi
New England Ecological Economics Group, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
Sihua Liu,
Chinese Society for Ecological Economics, Zhongnan University of Finance and Economics, China
The progress of ecological economics in China
In this paper, the authors trace the formation and progress of ecological economics in China, summarise its outcomes, review features of theoretical research and practical applications over the past twenty years, and forecast theoretical and practical issues that may arise in the future for ecological economics. In future, ecological economics needs to focus on positive analyses and studies of ecological-environmental issues that are coming to the fore as a result of China's rapid economic and social development in the 21st century. The theory of ecologically and economically coordinated development will shift towards establishing a 'sustainable development economics' to guide the market economy. The practical outcome of ecological economics, integrated with the strategy of sustainable development, will be to promote sustainable development of China's future ecology, economy and society.
Barry Solomon
Dept. of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Michigan, USA
Russell Lee
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennesseee, USA
Environmental justice and emissions trading systems
Since the mid-1970s an increasing number of emissions trading systems have become available to electric utilities and other major stationary sources of air pollution in the United States. These programs have included: the EPA Emissions Trading Program, the national Acid Rain Program for SO2 trading, the RECLAIM Program for NOx and SOx trading in the Los Angeles air basin, and the NOx Budget Program in the Northeast United States. Emissions trading also has been used to reduce CFC production, and most recently has been proposed for greenhouse gas control. Despite increasing success in achievement of cost-effective emissions reduction, these trading systems have been criticised by several environmental organisations for allegedly creating toxic 'hot spots', and skirting fuller emissions reduction potentials. We discuss the difference between uniformly and non-uniformly mixed air pollutants, and the potential for the latter to lead to significant geographic variation in environmental externalities. A significantly unequal spatial distribution of environmental risks resulting from emissions trading leads to environmental injustice, which should be prevented or controlled. Most emissions trading programs in fact have traded pollutants that can lead to such problems. While there are several options for geographic restrictions on trading to avoid undue concentration of air pollution, application of these restrictions to date, however, has been increasingly rare. We discuss the reasons for the limited restrictions placed on emissions trading programs, and the ultimate justice (substantive and procedural) of these systems.
Randall Spalding-Fecher
Energy & Development Research Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Environmental benefits of electrification in developing countries: a quantitative assessment in South Africa
Most of the international literature on externalities in the electricity sector has focused on the damages caused by air pollution and other negative environmental consequences. In many developing countries, while the power sector may be a major contributor to pollution, electrification programs can also reduce environmental and health impacts at a household level by displacing 'dirtier' traditional fuels such a coal and wood. This paper builds on research on the external costs of household fuels and fuel use patterns in low income communities to present a quantitative assessment of the environmental and health benefits of electrification for South Africa. Electricity will not completely replace other fuels for a variety of social, economic and cultural reasons, which are described in the paper, so the analysis includes developing a model of the evolution of fuel use patterns after electrification for rural versus urban areas. The external costs addressed are primarily indoor air pollution for wood and coal, fires and burns from paraffin and candles, poisoning from paraffin, and the social costs of fuel wood scarcity. Initial results indicate that the external benefits of electrification are significant in comparison to previously estimated damages from power station emissions. The paper highlights, however, the urgent need for longitudinal research to more accurately assess the benefits of electrification, given that this program will in the future compete with other government programs for resources.
Randall Spalding-Fecher
Energy & Development Research Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Bernhard Graeber
Institute for Energy Economics and Rational Use of Energy, University of Stuttgart, Germany
Southern African electricity development and the environment: multi-criteria decision making and evaluation of future development paths
Increased integration and co-operation within the Southern African power sector has opened up significant opportunities for reducing both the economic and environmental costs of providing wider access to electricity in Southern Africa. Natural gas fields in Namibia and Mozambique and vast hydroelectric potential in Zambia, Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo could displace new coal fired power stations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. To date, however, most of the planning is still being conducted independently by national utilities on a financial cost basis, rather than in a more integrated regional framework. This paper investigates the economic and environmental benefits of regional integrated planning for electricity, and the impact on technology choice and financial cost of including environmental criteria in the decision making process. The analysis is based on a regional optimisation model of the electricity generation and transmission system that incorporates a range of technical, economic and environmental characteristics of generation and transmission investments. We first examine how moving from an independent planning framework to an integrated regional planning would reduce the cost of electricity, the local and global environmental impacts of the regional power sector - and how those benefits and costs would be distributed unevenly among Southern African countries. We then consider the degree to which self-sufficiency requirements, particularly for South Africa, would limit the economic and environmental benefits for the region. Finally, we analyse a regional project as a multi-country Clean Development Mechanism project, and propose how the resulting credits could be allocated among countries.
Ashley Sparrow
Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Ian Spellerberg
Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
Alan Ambury
The Malleus Group, Christchurch, New Zealand
Branton Kenton-Dau
Trucost Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
Paradigm issues in the development of an index of environmental sustainability for the marketplace: clarification of criteria
An index of environmental sustainability capable of being applied to goods and services in the marketplace is an ambitious target, yet one worth striving for. Part-focussed and goal-focussed approaches to developing such an index are discussed. It is unlikely that the commonly adopted part-focussed approach, in which it is necessary to understand and quantify the environmental significance of different parts of a good or service, will be successful. A goal-focussed approach, in which indices are constructed upon goals of environmental sustainability, shows potential as an alternative.
Clive Spash
Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Claudia Carter
Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Interdisciplinary approaches to environmental valuation
http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/eve/meetings.html
Environmental Valuation in Europe (EVE) is an on going concerted action coordinated by Dr Spash and funded by DG-XII at the European Commission. This 30-month project has brought together fifteen partners from eight European countries representing economic, ecological, philosophical, ethical and socio-political perspectives on environmental valuation. The underlying methodological and conceptual foundation of the EVE project was the belief that research into, and policy formation regarding, current complex environmental issues require an interdisciplinary mindset and approach to achieve fair outcomes. Despite much of the rhetoric of sustainable development, the perceived need to 'unlock' natural resources for development and job creation is based on a set of values which remain largely in conflict with those reflected by environmental concerns. The EVE program has focused on a series of workshops in which these issues have been debated from an interdisciplinary perspective. EVE recognises the significance of environmental valuation in the policy-making process on important international issues such as biodiversity preservation, natural capital maintenance and sustainable development, but also the role it has played at regional and national levels in policy justification. The range of research currently being undertaken on environmental valuation reflects this diverse scope with analysis from human health to ecosystem function and specifics from legal compensation to the philosophical definition of value and environmental ethics. This in turn encourages reflection upon the criticisms, problems and experience of others. Ways to prevent problems and encourage progress towards effective understanding of complex environmental problems and the role for environmental valuation will be outlined, based on the experience of the EVE project in facilitating interdisciplinary engagement. All nine EVE workshops will have taken place by the time of this conference, and examples of methodological problems and disciplinary, cultural and institutional difficulties and solutions, will be presented from these.
Ian Spellerberg
Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
Alan Ambury
The Malleus Group, Christchurch, New Zealand
Branton Kenton-Dau
Trucost Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
Ashley Sparrow
Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Developing an index of environmental sustainability for the marketplace: A discussion of approach
An index of environmental sustainability capable of being applied to goods and services in the marketplace is an ambitious target , yet one worth striving for. Part-focused and goal-focused approaches to developing such an index are discussed. It is unlikely that the commonly adopted part-focused approach, in which it is necessary to understand and quantify the environmental significance of different parts of a good or service, will be successful. A goal-focused approach, in which indices are constructed upon goals of environmental sustainability, shows potential as an alternative.
Archana Srivastava
School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Impact of economic growth of environment under non-market conditions
Since the Earth came into existence there has been continuous change in the environment. Anthropogenic factors have surpassed other factors, which has resulted in turmoil. The present paper analyses the impact of economic growth (in terms of industrial development) on the environment (air pollution) under non-market systems. Developed and developing countries, irrespective of their economies, have contributed substantially to environmental degradation. Under market systems, it is claimed that profit oriented firms and industries are the major contributors for polluting the atmosphere. However, under non-market systems (a case study of Soviet Russia is worked out, for example), especially under a command economy, where equal distribution of resources and economic development were propagated, the results of environmental degradation are similar. Then what went wrong? It is the policies and the way they are implemented that makes the impact. Soviet Union adopted socialism. The theory of socialism is brilliant but in practicality there are various factors, which must be taken into consideration, as far as economic development is concerned. Making laws and implementing them from the centre proved a failure. Environmental policy issues in the USSR have been contradictory and divergent i.e. practical outcomes were not realised. Industrialisation at any cost, catching up with the developed economies, faulty policies, etc. were a few of the several reasons which directly and indirectly have affected the environment. Technological optimism is the key word today, but proper implementation of policies for checking environmental pollution must be in the forefront.
David Stern
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Attributing changes in global sulfur emissions
http://cres.anu.edu.au/anzsee/wp.html
The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes that there is an inverted U-shape relation between environmental degradation and income per capita. Explanations for this pattern include proximate variables such as input-output structure that mediate the effects of underlying causes such as changing comparative advantage or increased environmental awareness with higher incomes. In this study, I develop a method to systematically 'attribute' changes in emissions to the major proximate causes of the EKC relationship: change in input mix, change in output mix, scale, and technical change. The method is applied to a global panel data set.
Dirgha Tiwari
Environmental Economist, Kathmandu, Nepal
Green accounting: natural resource depreciation and environmental costs and implications for environmental policy integration in Nepal
This paper briefly reviews theoretical concepts of green accounting and analyses methodological and practical issues regarding the application of green accounting measures in the context of the least-developed countries. A partial framework for the adoption of green accounting in Nepal is presented, and the forest resource depreciation and soil nutrient depletion costs are estimated over a period of 12 years (1984/85-1995/96). The environmental health costs associated with air pollution in urban areas, and water pollution both in the urban and rural areas are also estimated and presented to provide a rough indication of these costs as a percentage of the GDP. Both the net price and user cost methods are used for accounting of forest resources. The depreciation of fuelwood is estimated using a shadow wage rate, and the environmental health cost associated with mortality and morbidity cases due to water pollution is computed by estimating the statistical value of life, treatment costs and work loss days. The estimated green GDP and NDP obtained by deducting forest resource depreciation and soil nutrient depletion costs indicate the widening gaps and unsustainable use of natural resources in Nepal over the period. The analysis also attempts to measure net savings and derives implications of green accounting measures for fiscal policies in Nepal. The analyses again showed widening gaps between gross savings and net savings, and negative adjusted net savings for the whole period. The paper concludes that, Nepal at present is depleting its natural capital at a faster rate. There is a need for capturing more resource rents, generating revenue from polluting activities and reinvesting more for raising the natural capital curve above the basic needs level, or to at least maintain natural capital intact without widening current fiscal deficits. An institutional framework for making these necessary changes are suggested.
Kathryn Troll
Alaska Resource Management Services, Juneau, Alaska, USA
Seeking enviro-nomic solutions to resource issues
In many resource-dependent communities economic health and environmental protection are seen as diametrically opposed. It's jobs versus the environment. The politics and rhetoric of polarity outweigh the need and ability to see linkage. Either you want to stop all logging or you are a rape and pillage advocate. There is no voice for the middle ground. To help change versus into economy and the environment, the author uses the term 'enviro-nomics'. The author advocates use of eight enviro-nomic principles that help to fuse the development and environmental agenda on a wide range of natural resource issues. These principles are based on the author's 15 years resource management and policy experience in Alaska, case studies, economic analysis, polls and results from ecosystem management projects. Furthermore, these principles are rooted in the belief that people's hearts are good, that human intellect spurs technological and scientific wisdom for sustainable living and restoration, and that the market place along with government can succeed in implementing this wisdom. These principles, singly or in combination, can be used to de-polarise resource conflicts and re-focus the discussion into how best to advance both economic and environmental interests&&.how best to develop enviro-nomic solutions.
Michael Tucker
Fairfield University, Connecticut, USA
Trading carbon tradeable offsets under Kyoto's clean development mechanism: the economic advantages to buyers and sellers of using call options
Under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, developed countries may purchase or trade carbon tradeable offsets (CTOs) from or with developing countries. Selling CTOs presents pricing problems for both sellers and buyers as a market has not yet actually developed and may not develop until 2008 and major participants have not even ratified the Protocols. In the case of sequestered carbon and in the example of a Costa Rican project, it may be economically beneficial to both buyer and seller alike for the buyer to purchase the right but not the obligation to purchase a CTO. Valuing such options and implying advantages to both seller and buyer demonstrate their efficacy at least until a true market in actual CTO trading develops.
Tessie Tumaneng-Diete
Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Brett Waring
Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Australia
Sustainable forest management context: the case of the Gold Coast Hinterland State Forest
Sustainability is a debatable issue yet attempts have been made to determine criteria and indicators for planning, implementation and monitoring purposes in forest ecosystems. Government agencies mandated to adopt a sustainable forest management policy are confronted with a complex undertaking considering the multiple uses of these ecosystems, an ecologically complex forest ecosystem and a mixture of socio-economic demands on the resource. In Southeast Queensland (SEQ), optimising community benefits from multiple forest uses entails developing an appropriate land use zoning system. However, with a plethora of objectives embodied in the sustainable forest management framework, the approach taken- whether to use an optimisation approach or resource use efficiency approach - has been a contentious issue. An optimisation approach maximises socio-economic and ecological goals within resource, time and institutional constraints whereas the resource use efficiency approach uses community values reflecting consumer utilities of both market and non-market or environmental attributes of the forest resource. This paper explores the process of assessing community values and determining their roles in contributing to the outcomes of a transparent and participatory forest planning process in the SEQ region. Specifically, the discussions draw on two case studies assessing community values regarding Gold Coast Hinterland State Forests using a multi criteria analysis tool such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process' pairwise comparison technique, and Choice Modelling.
Daniel Tyteca
Centre de Recherche sur la, Biodiversité and Centre Entreprise - Environnement
Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Frans Berkhout
SPRU - University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
Jerome Carlens
Centre Entreprise Environnement, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Julia Hertin
SPRU University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
Xander Olsthoorn,
Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marcus Wagner,
Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
Walter Wehrmeyer,
Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
Environmental indicators in industry - the MEPI experience
The measurement of environmental performance in industry with indicators is a very active emerging research field. There is much discussion about the information that must be accounted for, is available, and relevant for reflecting the burden placed by business companies on the environment. Other fundamental issues are standardisation - since there are presently no absolute guidelines as to the homogeneity of the methods to be applied - and aggregation, which would allow general comparisons to be performed among firms in an industrial sector, or among (sub-)sectors. This paper reports on the experience gained in these matters, in the scope of a European Commission funded project involving seven research partners across Europe, termed MEPI (Measuring Environmental Performance of Industry). Different aspects of standardisation and aggregation have been investigated, through the study of different categories of indicators, namely, physical indicators, economic and management indicators, and impact indicators. Practical applications of the project cover six industrial sectors (electricity, pulp and paper, printing, textiles, fertilisers, computer manufacturing) within six European countries. The indicators have also been organised in two broad categories, termed generic (applicable to all sectors) and specific (to companies within a sector). Exploiting the adopted indicators for data collected in the scope of the MEPI project allows us to draw conclusions about the influence of various factors and to provide both managers and decision makers with information that is useful for the overall improvement of environmental strategies and environmental regulation.
Daniel Tyteca
Centre de Recherche sur la, Biodiversité and Centre Entreprise - Environnement, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
On the links between biodiversity and sustainable development - with special emphasis on Orchids (Orchidaceae)
In recent years, biodiversity has become an attractive theme for environmental and ecological economists. This is due to identification of biodiversity as (1) a major issue in natural resource management, essential for long term survival of our life support systems, and (2) an essential resource for various kinds of human activities and industries. The crisis of species extinction and ecosystem collapse has reached such a point that maintaining or improving the present level of biodiversity appears as a necessary (but not sufficient) condition toward sustainable development. The first part of the paper is devoted to a review and synthesis of recent literature devoted to these general topics. Then it concentrates on a particular class of living beings, the Orchids, a highly evolved and widely diversified family of plants. Orchids constitute a group with evident socio-economic features, due to intensive search and cultivation efforts, as well as a special aura in (eco-)tourist activities. Although the function of Orchids in ecosystem stability and resilience is less evident to the non-specialist, it is argued that they play a special role as an indicator of the good standing and high value of a natural ecosystem. This justifies any effort towards obtaining better knowledge about them and protecting their representatives, biotopes and partners in the living world. Thus socio-economic as well as ecological peculiarities provide Orchids with a special value in understanding and ascertaining sustainable development. Examples are examined at the level of both western-European countries and tropical countries.
Rebecca Valenzuela
Department of Economics, Monash University, Caulfield Campus ,Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia
Lata Gangadharan
Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Interrelationships between income, health and the environment: extending the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis
This study examines the link between the health indicators and the environmental variables for a cross-section of countries widely dispersed in the economic development spectrum. While environment and income are seen to have an inverted U-shaped relationship (Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis), it is also well established that health and environment are positively related. Our study focuses on the implications of this for the relationship between health and income. In the early phases of income growth, the gains in health and the losses in environmental quality could cancel each other out and this challenges the idea that as incomes increase health would always improve. To empirically analyse these issues, we estimate a two-stage least squares model that focuses on the impact of income and the environment on health status, with environment being an endogenous variable. Our results show that the environmental stress variable has a significant negative effect on health status. At the same time, GNP levels and improvements in access to better sanitation and safe water are shown to vary positively with health status variables. We find that the health gains obtained through improved incomes can be negated to a significant extent if the indirect effect of income acting via the environment is ignored. Research findings in this regard would be a useful policy instrument towards maximising both the environmental and health gains that come with economic growth and development.
Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh
Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universitéit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A. Ferrer-i-Carbonell
Foundation for Economic Research, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Testing theories of sustainable consumption
The issue of sustainable consumption is addressed by considering the determinants and the environmental consequences of consumption. Both theoretical and empirical aspects are discussed. A framework is presented to study the relationship between consumption, lifestyles and environmental sustainability. This offers a multidisciplinary approach. Subsequently, various theories of consumer behaviour are reviewed from the perspective of sustainable consumption. Each of these is argued to imply particular policy rules and instruments. Next, indicators and data are identified to support testing of the theories. This is followed by an empirical econometric study performed for the Netherlands. This study links data on income expenditures -- covering a wide range of non-durable goods, durable goods and services -- to data on socio-economic determinants of consumption -- such as income, employment type, working hours, gender, household type, family size, age, and geographical characteristics. The results are compared with those obtained by other empirical studies.
C. Martijn van der Heide
Department of Spatial Economics, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh
Department of Spatial Economics, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ekko C. van Ierland
Department of Environmental Economics, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Nature policy within an integrated ecological-economic framework
Integrated frameworks are useful for studying the interactions between economic and ecological processes, and analysing specific issues such as the protection of species and biodiversity, sustainable and optimal use of renewable resources, land use and physical planning, maintenance and acquisition of nature areas, and development of outdoor recreation areas. Economic theories relating to nature and ecosystems have focused on notions of capital theory and intertemporal trade-offs, decision making under uncertainty and irreversibility, and marginal valuation and cost-benefit analysis. Recently, the conservation and valuation of biodiversity and the resilience of ecological and combined ecological-economic systems have attracted a great deal of attention in the environmental and resource economics literature. In addition, the distinction between local and global costs and benefits of environmental and biodiversity policies has been analysed in detail, with its implicit impacts for international cooperation in this area. Ecology can be incorporated in economic analyses in various ways, notably by offering information about the hierarchy of dynamic ecological processes, including population dynamics, ecosystem succession and cycles, trends and elements of evolution (selection). Characterising, formalising and quantifying uncertainty can improve economic analysis of decisions relating to ecosystem irreversibility. Finally, valuation studies can be complemented by detailed information about ecosystem functions. The paper outlines the existing approaches to integrate economics and ecology, and suggests a number of general frameworks and models to address pressing policy questions relating to conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of natural resources, and sustainable land use.
Ester van der Voet
Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Ruben Huele
Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Ruud Stevers
Ministry of Traffic and Waterways, The Netherlands
Pandas, pets and pests: evolutionary reactions on human dominance in the biosphere
The human relationship to the biosphere has changed profoundly since the beginning of history. Part of nature at the beginning, humanity now has colonised large parts of the biosphere for its own use. For some species human dominance means reduction of habitat area, for others enlargement. The ultimate evolutionary reactions are extinction and speciation. Extinction occurs in most groups of 'higher' plants and animals. Biodiversity declines and humanity has to ask itself to what extent the biosphere should be protected. Recent publications suggest that self-interest is a much more powerful motive than nature conservation: nature will eventually recover from a human-induced disaster, but humanity may lose its position as a dominant species. Some species benefit from human activity. Domesticated species like e.g. cattle and dogs are more numerous now than they would have been in their wild state. Opportunist species profit from the infrastructure created for them. Speciation can be expected at first in rapidly reproducing and highly variable species, causing pests like rats, insects, and diseases to flourish as never before. Due to the speed of their reproduction, they rapidly adapt to our attempts at control. Both phenomena invite caution in further degrading the biosphere. Inverting the process of colonisation is not possible, but we should look for ways that leave intact biological processes and natural feedback mechanisms as much possible.
Lorrae Van Kerkhoff
Department of Geography and Human Ecology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Integrated or accumulated? Moving beyond conglomerate environmental research
Many calls for integrated environmental research has resulted in an ad hoc accumulation of different approaches to diverse aspects of environmental management. Each of these approaches (such as social/participatory research, interdisciplinary research, systems analysis, environmental or ecological economics, and science communication) represent separate intellectual and practical developments in understanding the relationships between humans and our biosphere. Consequently, many research organisations and funding bodies have taken the view that if each separate approach represents a useful contribution to understanding, then better research projects will do them all. In this paper I will discuss some of the theoretical implications of accumulating different research tools and methods in this way. I will also report on my own methodological approach to investigating these issues, and some preliminary research findings.
Daan van Soest
Department of Economics, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands
Erwin Bulte
Department of Economics, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands
Environmental degradation in developing countries: households and the (reverse) environmental Kuznets curve
The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes an inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita income and environmental pressure or degradation. The EKC is a statistical regularity for some environmental indicators and, while there is some ad hoc reasoning regarding the mechanisms driving it, formal modelling in this field is scarce. As yet, few models generate EKCs endogenously, although research in this field is expanding rapidly. In this paper we present a dynamic model generating the hump-backed relation between income and environmental pressure reported in empirical studies. We focus on developing countries, where production and consumption patterns of (rural) households are an important cause of environmental damage. Using a conventional dynamic household model we demonstrate that the EKC may arise when the restrictive assumption of a set of perfect markets for factors and commodities is relaxed. Imperfect (or even missing) markets imply that the household's production and consumption decisions are no longer separable. The crucial variable in the model therefore is the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption. As many markets are far from perfect in developing countries, the implications of the model are relevant for policy makers. The model highlights the importance of selecting the appropriate dependent variable in regression analyses. Depending on whether the pollution stock or flow is considered, we demonstrate that an inverted or an ordinary U shape depicts the relationship between income and environmental degradation.
Vivek K Varma
School of Forestry,University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Ian S. Ferguson
School of Forestry,University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Leon Bren
School of Forestry,University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
A land use strategy to achieve sustainability of forest resources under the conditions of uncertainty
Sustainability of forest resources is commonly interpreted as meeting forest-based needs of the current generation while keeping intact the options of future generations. A forest land use strategy may be considered sustainable if it makes provisions for supplying in perpetuity a non-declining total utility available from forest-related goods and services. Formulating such a strategy, however, is difficult due to a number of reasons: a multi-faceted role of the resource involving diverse ecological, economic and social processes; a large number of variables, conflicting objectives and constraints; multiple scales of resource management; concerns related to short as well as very long time scales; and, the recognition of land use pattern as an expression of societal needs and aspirations. The problem is further complicated due to the considerations of complexity, uncertainty and irreversibility of the ecological, economic and social processes. A review of literature revealed that in spite of a realisation of the issues enumerated above, they have not been adequately integrated in sustainable forestland use strategy. By addressing these issues, this paper further develops the land use planning approach proposed earlier by Varma et al. (Varma, V. K., Ferguson, I. S., & Bren, L., Aspiration-based decision support for sustainable forest land-use planning. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Global Concerns for Forest Resource Utilization - Sustainable Use & Management, Miyazaki, Japan, 5 - 8 October 1998) for application at regional level. The approach now is based on employing the concepts of: (1) non-declining utility for intergenerational transfer of resource; (2) bounded rationality for dealing with complexity; (3) possibilistic multi-objective linear programming for dealing with uncertainty; and (4) social choice theory for aggregating the societal preferences for sustainable resource allocation. By incorporating these unaddressed considerations in the proposed methodology, it is expected that sustainable resource use would be promoted. An example of the proposed approach is also presented in the paper.
Jose Vasquez
Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA
Tourism as a development strategy: The Lake George case
The Lake George region is located on the eastern edge of the Adirondack Park in New York State. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students and faculty have begun a comprehensive study of the watershed through Rensselaer's Fresh Water Institute located on Lake George. Economists, biologists, sociologists, and environmental engineers have been working together with Lake George communities to monitor water quality, quantify development patterns and environmental impact, and help facilitate the political planning process and capacity building of community stakeholders. In addition, Rensselaer's graduate course in Ecological Economics has been taught at the Freshwater Institute, teaching students how to integrate the social and natural sciences in a hands-on setting. The course has stimulated a number of regional, interdisciplinary graduate research topics and dissertation committees. This presentation will report on an investigation of historical development patterns around the lake and interdisciplinary research on linking changes in water quality parameters to residential and tourism development.
Maria del Carmen Vera Diaz
Nucleo de Altos Estudos Amazonicos, Universidade Federal do Para, Belem, Para, Brazil
Mario M. Amin
Universidade da Amazonia, Brazil
Integrating mineral resources depletion into Eastern Amazonia's GDP (Para-Brazil)
Confronted with the world largest external debt, the Brazilian government has implemented in the Amazonian region, over the last 20 years, specific programs directed to promoting the export of mineral resources, as the main and most rapid source of foreign exchange for fulfilling its obligations. The State of Para, in eastern Amazonia, owner of one the world's largest mineral reserves, has been the main target of these programs. Iron ore and transformed bauxite exports represent about 75% of the State's exports annual revenue and about 13% of the Gross State Domestic Product. The State's depletion and degradation of natural assets, however, has been completely ignored in the national and regional accounting systems. The objective of this study is to measure, using the 'net-price' and 'user-cost' methods, how much the depreciation of the State's natural assets base, due to iron ore and transformed bauxite exports, represents in the calculation of the extractive mining sector's GDP. Data for the period 1985-1998 was used. The adjusted GDP values, under the 'net-price', ranges from 20% to -69% of the original values. Over the1985-1998 period, the depreciation of natural resources amounted to 5.2 billion dollars. The 1999-2005 forecasted State's natural resources wealth would be diminished, by an additional 4.6 billion dollars. Due to the extension of the mineral reserves, the 'user-cost' fails to capture the 'real depletion' of the State's natural stock. The results show a depreciation not greater than 0.27% of the traditional GDP.
Madhu Verma
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Integrated modelling of solid waste flows: analysis of policy options for Bangalore
http://www.iifm.org
The current urban planning problem of efficiently managing solid waste is addressed in this paper, by developing a framework for an Integrated Approach for waste management, and, suggesting various policy options for sound practice in waste management, for Bangalore, India. Such an 'Integrated Waste Assessment Model' describes the cost-effectiveness of the integrated approach and aims at minimising the maximum costs for the waste management sector as a whole. The paper also includes a literature review of some of the models built to address the waste management problem in developed and developing countries. In a situation where resources and expertise are scarce, the goal of the model should be such, that it not only conceptualises and designs an integrated system out of the present situation but is also capable of formulating new strategies to accommodate policy changes. This is an important subject for India where due to social and political uncertainties there are frequent economic policy changes at the macro level, having multiple effect on various sectors at the micro/local level as well. Thus, the impact of various socio-economic and environmental policy options for effective waste management in the city are analysed in this paper through scenario runs. These scenario runs also test the sensitivity of the model to accommodate sudden fluctuations.
Marsha Walton
Ecological Economics Program, Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA
Growth, development, and sustainability--existence values and cost benefit analysis: the case of ANWR
This paper considers some problems with using economic cost benefit analysis (CBA) to make environmental decisions and discusses current environmental economic and ethical thinking on existence values using the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the environmental record of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil development as examples. Even though the oil companies operating in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska have a long record of environmental abuses in the Arctic, their push to open the coastal plain of ANWR is being considered by the U.S. Congress. Major difficulties in applying CBA to environmental decisions are 'uncertainty, ' 'ecosystem complexity, ''institutional capture, ' 'irreversibility, ' 'sustainability, 'and 'bequest' issues. The probability of another major spill, such as the Exxon Valdez disaster, related to the proposed development scenarios is extremely difficult to include in CBA. The U.S. Department of the Interior's study was able to make its CBA appear more convincing for development by enhancing the economic benefits of oil development in the coastal plain with probabilities that increased the values. The long-term benefits of forever preserving a world class ecosystem like the coastal plain are foregone if development is allowed. Developing the coastal plain would develop the last potentially large oil reserve in the U.S., destroy a unique resource, and leave future generations relatively impoverished in terms of both oil and an intact Arctic/subarctic ecosystem. Existence values generally refer to non-use values of 'intrinsic values, ' for which market values do not exist. Economists have developed several methods for estimating non-market goods, but this has not yet been conducted for ANWR. But eliciting individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for a world class ecosystem has inherent problems. These problems include the issues of functional transparency (Bromley), local WTP vs. the universe of WTP (Krutilla); the existence of lexicographic preferences (Sagoff, O'Neil, Sen); and ethical commitments (Sen).
Hua Wang
The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
Susmita Dasgupta
The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
David Wheeler
The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
Policy reform and the future of industrial pollution in China
Economic reforms have moderated the growth of industrial pollution in China, but much tighter regulation will be necessary to reduce it significantly. Regulation of air pollution is an extremely cost-effective option for health improvement; continued inaction amounts to valuing a life at less than $500. In this paper, we analyse China's industrial pollution problem and the possibilities for significant improvement through policy reform. Our assessment is based on a large-scale econometric exercise, with data provided by China's National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). We focus particularly on two major determinants of changes in the pollution intensity (or pollution per unit of output) of industry: General economic reforms, and China's pollution charge system. Using our econometric equations for forecasting, we develop three future pollution scenarios under varying assumptions about policies during the next two decades:
(1) Continuation of the economic reforms with no further tightening of regulation: We find that organic water pollution will stabilise in many areas, and actually decline in some. Emissions of airborne particulates and sulfur dioxide will continue growing, but at a much slower pace than industrial output.
(2) Continued reforms, plus 5% annual increases in pollution charge (maintaining the trend for water pollution charges since 1987): Organic water pollution will decline sharply enough to restore the health of many waterways; air pollution will stabilise or decline in most cities, saving many thousands of lives.
(3) Continued reforms, plus 10% annual increases in pollution charges: This option will eliminate most of the organic water pollution from regulated Chinese factories, and induce major improvements in urban air quality.
Robert Wasson
Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Finding useful levers: policy connections to responsive parts of the biophysical system
Managing natural resources was once viewed as primarily a matter of getting the science right, then making decisions on that basis. But it became apparent that managing resources is very much about people and institutions, so now the analysis and design of policy and institutional arrangements for integrated land and water management (and other sectors) is attracting much more attention. In this, there is a danger of reducing the status of bio-physical understanding in policy debates - of the pendulum swinging too far other way. The challenge is in connecting and integrating the most critical elements of biophysical and human system understanding - an inevitably interdisciplinary task. Using land and water management at catchment scales as an example, this paper will explore the possibilities for isolating the most useful of these connections, with the aim of identifying effective 'levers' for policy and management interventions. Particular attention is paid to the potential of material budgeting approaches to inform effective policy design.
Bill Watson
Centre for Integrated Catchment Management (ICAM),The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Open-format session. Panel-members: Bill Watson, Bob Wasson, David Lindenmayer
Integrated Natural Resource and Environmental Management of the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment
The upper Murrumbidgee catchment is the host catchment for the ISEE 2000 conference and provides a convenient case study of natural, environmental and biodiversity resource management issues. Key issues include those related to water resource quantity and quality, sustainable land use and management of threatened environments and biodiversity. Although these issues are common to many of the upland regions of the catchments of the southern region of Australia, they have some unique features associated with their proximity to Sydney, the national bush capital and the Snowy Mountains. Bob Wasson will talk on natural resources issues and management in the catchment. David Lindenmayer will present on environmental resources and biodiversity management in the catchment, and Bill Watson on integrated and sustainable management in the catchment.
Bruce A. Wilcox
Center for Conservation Research and Training, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Kristin N. Duin
Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Integrated watershed assessment and restoration in an Hawaiian Ahupua'a
While watersheds provide a convenient scale for interdisciplinary approaches to conservation, the Hawaiian Ahupua'a provides a particularly interesting opportunity to apply transdisciplinary integration, employing ecological economic concepts. The Ahupua'a is a historic land division, often extending from forested mountaintops to fringing reefs, that was at the centre of the land production system in pre-Cook Hawaii. In this paper we report on a watershed assessment and restoration effort employing ecological economic notions of natural and social capital, the integration natural and social sciences, and participatory process involving local and indigenous knowledge and values in a contemporary Ahupua'a. We describe how these Western conceptions are being applied along with local (including indigenous) and historic Hawaiian ones, to frame, operationalise, and implement 'community-based' assessment and restoration. The paper describes the general model and underlying principles used as a basis of this approach, and discusses the results of its application to date in a particular Ahupua'a and community, Waimanalo, Island of O'ahu. Although this study system has unique contemporary and history cultural characteristics, we show how the model and its underlying principles appear to be generalisable. Finally, we describe how it provides a basis for understanding sustainability at the scale of the regional ecosystem, and ultimately, globally.
Elizabeth Wilman
Department of Economics, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
An economic model of Aboriginal fire stick farming
http://econ.ucalgary.ca/fac-files/eaw/Wildfire.PDF
A delayed-response optimal control model of traditional Aboriginal fire-stick farming is developed to explain a collective welfare maximising system of burning regimes that successfully controlled wildfires. When the parameters of the model are changed to reflect the current realities of reduced access to the land, and less direct dependence on it, Aboriginal burning is delayed, fuel loads build up, and uncontrolled fires occur. If traditional resource management systems are to be used successfully in modern contexts, it is necessary to understand role that constraints and motivations played. Modern outcomes are no less dependent on these parameters.
Alice Woodhead
Wollongbar Agricultural Institute, Wollongbar, NSW, Australia
Advantages of benchmarking to establish social indicators on attitude
This presentation explores the advantages of benchmarking stakeholders' attitudes and management practices when a major environmental problem requires an interdisciplinary approach. Specifically it will discuss issues concerning identification and analysis of social indicators and the value of developing credible data for future policy and education of multiple stakeholders. Acid sulfate soils are a feature of coastal lowlands and they affect landholders, fishermen and the general community through acidification of the soil and water. 287 landholders in New South Wales (NSW) on potential acid sulfate soils (ASS) participated in a benchmarking survey of their responses to qualitative and quantitative questions. The results were used to develop social indicators. An interdisciplinary team was formed with the initial aim of developing an understanding of stakeholders' attitudes and management practices. All stakeholders were surveyed over a three-year period. However, landholders were the major survey group because they are the major stakeholders in the future management of ASS. The four principal industry groups (sugar cane, tea tree, beef and dairy) in seven catchments were interviewed. The experimental design was stratification of stakeholders by industry and catchment. This enabled comparison of qualitative and quantitative responses. Social indicators identified from quantitative responses were whether landholders felt 'in control' or 'out of control' and 'negative' or 'positive' about the future management of ASS. Communicating the results back to stakeholders and recording their responses to the survey was intrinsic to the ongoing monitoring and education stages of this research. Workshops with stakeholders were conducted showing results from the landholders survey. Social indicators were used in conjunction with quantitative data and differences between the catchment and the industries approaches were highlighted. Landholders related strongly to the 'feeling in control' social indicator and were most interested in the approaches of other industries and catchments to ASS. Indeed learning about other landholder attitudes and understanding where their industry and catchment was positioned in this complex environmental issue, was a powerful learning tool. Results were presented in a glossy book distributed to all respondents and relevant NSW government agencies.
Jing Xu
Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Health impacts of climate change: an analysis
Canada's commitment toward the Kyoto Protocol calls for a national strategy to be implemented so that GHG emission targets will be met by 2010. The challenge facing policy makers is to choose a set of measures that are environmentally appealing, economically and socially sound. The impacts on human health of climate variability and change become an emerging area of importance as a National Implementation Strategy is advanced to Canadians. Valuation of climate change related health outcomes becomes necessary if we want to choose responsible measures for our National Implementation Strategy. Despite the awareness of health and environmental co-benefits that may be generated by climate change control options, existing methodologies being used to value the co-benefits are highly debatable. This paper studies various possible health impacts of climate change, reviews the methodologies that are currently used for valuing reductions in mortality and morbidity risks, and identifies challenges in exploring new and improved ways of valuing health co-benefits of some proposed GHG mitigation policies. This paper may help policy makers to gain economic expertise necessary to choose appropriate climate change control measures.
Fumikazu Yoshida
Faculty of Economics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
The political economy of waste management in Japan
http://www.econ.hokudai.ac.jp/seminar/yoshidas/fyoshida/
This paper analyses the issues of waste and waste disposal which face present-day Japan, with special regard to the political economy of the following topics: (1) the illegal dumping of waste and environmental pollution; (2) the revision of the law concerning waste disposal and public cleansing; (3) an account of the law for the promotion of the sorted collection of waste and the recycling of containers and packaging (points at issue, a comparison of the Japanese, German and French systems, the heavy burden of local government, weak incentive to waste reduction, the problems of mismatch); (4) an economic analysis of possible garbage charging systems (point at issue, household garbage disposal service, the income and substitution effects of charging the public for the disposal of household waste, the waste reduction effect of a garbage charge system); and (5) the pollution caused by chlorinated dioxins and related compounds. For the solution of the problems it is necessary to change the social system as well as the introduction of new technology.
Carlos Eduardo Frickmann Young
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Integrating national accounts and the environment: a NAMEA-type system for Brazil
The paper combines the conventional Brazilian national accounts with estimates of the environmental impacts of economic activities. The framework adopted follows the National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA) basic guidelines, originally developed by Statistics Netherlands and later applied to a number of OECD countries (Keuning and Steenge, 1999). The environmental variables considered are: (1) Deforestation: estimates are based on satellite images, which estimate the loss of forest areas in both Amazonian and Atlantic forest; (2) Industrial emissions: estimates are based on an input-output model which estimates emissions using the IPP (Industrial Pollution Projection System, developed by the World Bank) coefficients and industrial production data. The parameters refer to local pollution, including both water (BOD and heavy metals) and air (particulate matter, SO2, NOx and hydrocarbons) pollution; (3) Greenhouse gases (GHG): estimates are based on the Brazilian GHG Inventory. The economic data are extracted from the conventional Brazilian national accounts, produced by IBGE. According to the NAMEA approach, the results are presented as physical indicators, therefore avoiding the controversies over valuation of these impacts. Even though preliminary, these numbers provide important insights about the pressures created by economic activities to the environment in Brazil.
Lyuba Zarsky
Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, Berkeley, California, USA
Havens, halos, and spaghetti: untangling the relationship between foreign direct investment and the environment
http://www.nautilus.org/
Given the increasing globalisation of capital, the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the environment is a topic of hot debate. Environmentalists argue that gaps in national environmental standards draw the dirtiest industries to developing countries, creating 'pollution havens' and propelling a global 'race to the bottom'. Free marketeers counter that, on average, FDI diffuses best management practices and spawns 'pollution halos' in developing countries. This paper examines the evidence in support of both claims. Part I describes what is at stake in the debate -- the shape and content of emerging global-and corporate-governance of investment. Part II develops an analytical framework to map micro and macro linkages between FDI and the environment. Part III evaluates recent statistical and case study evidence. Part IV reflects on the evidence and offers four insights. First, the mix of positive and negative effects militates against any conclusion about the effects of FDI 'on average. ' There is no average--performance is context-dependent. Second, because of concerns about competitiveness, standards are not 'racing' to top or bottom but are 'stuck in the mud.' Third, gaps between nations seem to matter less than gaps in income and education in explaining the pattern of pollution agglomeration. Fourth, the quality of the evidence is poor and there is a 'micro-macro gap' between what has been studied and what is at stake. Part IV concludes with a call for the development of new, global investment rules that define the environmental and social responsibilities of foreign investors and enhance corporate social accountability.
Ceres Zenaide Barbosa
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Jose Lamertine Tavora Junior
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Denise Dumke de Medeiros
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Proposal of a model of environmental management system (EMS) implementation process costs and benefit analysis
The growth of demands for environmental performance mean that environmental performance is turning into an opportunity for improving the competitiveness of companies with environmental responsibility and a threat to companies that do not possess an environmental strategy. Due to this market situation, more and more companies are looking for a system of efficient environmental management. This study develops a tool for companies to manage the costs and benefits of an EMS, based on ISO 14001.They can locate the options that result in larger returns and the more deficient options. The method consists of first a model for the company to compute costs, based on goods produced, using activity-based costing. In the second stage the benefits of an EMS are computed with the company establishing criteria for evaluation. Finally, a model was developed for cost-benefit evaluation, where the financial part was based on an evaluation of the liquid current value. The use of this tool will aid companies in choosing where to invest during and after the implementation of the environmental management system.
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