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The literature on the environmental impacts of household consumption in India focuses on carbon and ecological footprints of income groups. This article connects conspicuous/luxury (C/L) consumption in India to its local, regional and global environmental impacts. We evaluate carbon dioxide (CO 2), water, and particulate matter (PM2.5) footprints of consumption disaggregated into food-basic, nonfood-basic, and C/L consumption across expenditure deciles. We find that all three footprints rise, but at different rates, with increasing expenditure. Notably, CO 2 and PM2.5 intensities of C/L consumption increase with income, unlike all other intensities of consumption. However, in all three footprints, there is a disproportionate rise in the top decile, which is driven by C/L consumption expenditure more than the pollution intensity of C/L consumption. These results imply that demand reduction measures in C/L consumption could have broad-based and deep environmental benefits, while pollutant-specific mitigation policies may face trade-offs with other environmental impacts. There is a need for further research on connecting local and regional environmental footprints with the actual impacts, to better understand the relationships between conspicuous/luxury consumption and multi-dimensional environmental impacts in developing countries context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economic valuation of ecosystem benefits and their aggregation in a benefit–cost analysis (BCA) framework is the norm in mainstream environmental economics. But valuation and BCA have also attracted criticisms. ‘Internal’ criticisms point to the absence of alternative scenarios in valuation, overlooking of ecological trade-offs and dis-services, and inattention to context. Others criticize aggregation across diverse stakeholders and the problem of non-monetizable benefits, and dismiss BCA as fatally flawed. They suggest approaches such as deliberative decision-making and multi-criteria analysis. We propose a middle path that uses the strengths of economic analysis for decision support while avoiding the pitfalls. We disaggregate economic impacts by stakeholder groups, link ecosystem changes to benefits as well as dis-benefits, and examine how socio-technological context shapes the magnitude of economic impact. We illustrate this approach by studying the impact of creating the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats forests of southern India. Our analysis shows that while some stakeholders are net beneficiaries, others are net losers. Changes in forest rights, irrigation technologies, and ecosystem dynamics influence the magnitude of benefits and sometimes convert gainers into losers. Such disaggregated analysis can provide useful information for deliberative decision-making and important academic insights on how economic value is generated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Researchers, policy makers and civil society organizations have been discussing the potential of biofuels as partial substitutes for fossil fuels and thereby as a simultaneous solution for climate change and rural poverty. Research has highlighted the ambiguity of these claims across various dimensions and scales, focusing on ethanol-producing or oilseed crops in agricultural lands or Jatropha-type crops on common lands. We studied the agronomic and economic viability and livelihood impacts of Jatropha curcas plantations on private farms in Tamil Nadu, India. We found that Jatropha yields are much lower than expected and its cultivation is currently unviable, and even its potential viability is strongly determined by water access. On the whole, the crop impoverishes farmers, particularly the poorer and socially backward farmers. Jatropha cultivation therefore not only fails to alleviate poverty, but its aggressive and misguided promotion will generate conflict between the state and the farmers, between different socio-economic classes and even within households. The water demands of the crop can potentially exacerbate the conflicts and competition over water access in Tamil Nadu villages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]