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Abstract: Internalizing environmental costs is a necessary condition for an effective environmental policy. Since the majority of socio-economic activities cannot be free of environmental impacts, the noninternalized (external) environmental costs impose a peculiar thievery of welfare. Charging environmental costs through environmental taxes and other economic instruments is a necessary condition for avoiding welfare thievery. In this context, the anti-tax approaches emerging within ecological economics are found to be misleading and directing away from an effective environmental policy. Environmental responsibility is a different issue from the charging of the environmental costs. Therefore, environmental taxes should not be considered as an induction to less environmental responsibility and, hence, to environmental degradation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper assesses the effects of public policies on the occurrence of natural disasters related to extreme rainfall. By using a unique and geolocated database on natural disasters in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I test whether variables related to public policies - e.g. forest cover and urban infrastructure - affect the occurrence of natural disasters, conditional on the existence of extreme rainfall. Results point to a significant role for public policies in order to mitigate effects of extreme weather events. More specifically, results point to an important role for urban infrastructure, as proper sewage and waste collection, and forest cover in reducing the impacts of extreme rainfall. Moreover, I discuss how these heterogeneous effects have distributional consequences and can be linked to the Environmental Justice literature. Finally, this paper reinforces the idea that adaptation policies to disasters are essential in reducing local vulnerabilities and can yield distributional and fiscal benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the conflictive relationship between corruption and the implementation of rigorous environmental policies. According to our initial hypothesis, the higher the degree of corruption, the more likely it is that governments defend individual interests rather than environmental goals established to benefit society. Using panel data of 34 OECD members from 1996 to 2020, we investigate the potential determinants of the updated Environmental Policy Stringency index. This is a contribution from previous analysis, since the sample is significantly extended, and the analysis disaggregates among the three dimensions of the index. The estimation of the fixed-effects model confirms our assumption: perceived corruption negatively affects the development of ambitious policies in the environmental field. Specifically, more corrupt cabinets apply laxer market-based instruments and fewer technology support policies. Our empirical outcomes also hint at significant connections between other political, institutional, social or economic factors and the strictness of environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental justice is a more sustainable constraint on polluting behavior than administrative instruments. Previous literature has explored the impact of various administrative instruments applied to environmental regulation on green innovation but has neglected the possible role of environmental justice. This paper examines the effect of environmental justice on green innovation using the multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) approach by taking the establishment of the Chinese environmental court as a policy shock, thus filling the gap in previous studies. We conclude that: first, the establishment of environmental courts significantly contributes to the level of green innovation. This finding holds after a series of robustness tests. Second, environmental justice pushes polluters to engage in green innovation through the mechanism of pollution control. Third, the effect of environmental courts on green innovation is not significant in resource-based cities, which depend more on high-polluting industries for development. Fourth, a better legal environment can help improve the effectiveness of environmental justice in promoting green innovation. This paper not only supplements the existing literature on the factors influencing green innovation and explains the operational mechanisms and effects of environmental justice, but also provides theoretical support for promoting green innovation in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To secure effective and sustainable climate change policies, it is of the utmost importance to create synergies between socioeconomic and environmental development goals. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs are being promoted as a suitable mechanism furthering, among others, carbon offsetting and poverty reduction in ecologically fragile areas of developing countries. Rural households are compensated for the loss of property and business income through income transfers and potential job opportunities connected to environmental programs. While the potential pro-poor effects of such policies are well recognized, the impact of PES on extremely poor households has not been systematically reviewed. Drawing on a pooled cross-sectional dataset of 5225 households in the Province of Sichuan, this paper analyzes the income and distributional effects among poor households in rural China participating in a forest carbon sink (FCS) program. To be able to make causal inferences, we employ an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to control for potential endogeneity and self-selection. Our results indicate a strong need to adjust the PES program: While moderately poor rural households benefit from program participation, extremely poor rural households, in fact, suffer net losses. The main reason is that income reduction resulting from limited access to forest resources is compensated mainly via wage income from participating in forest tending work. Extremely poor households with low labor ability cannot make use of these job opportunities, and thus they'll not only fail to benefit but even incur losses from a PES program. While PES programs can be a viable tool for poverty reduction in underdeveloped regions due to their overall pro-poorness, they need to be accompanied by additional benefits for extremely poor rural households to avoid net losses among marginalized population groups especially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change economics is now four decades old. Much of what it has achieved as a field of academic enquiry can be linked back to issues of integrated assessment modelling. This paper shows that the standard approach is going through a major change in scope as of the last five years. The conventional focus on determining optimal mitigation paths based on modelling the social cost of carbon is being enlarged to embrace promising new waves of research. These are: (1) the economics of insurance against catastrophic risks; (2) the economics of trade and climate; and (3) the economics of climate change adaptation. The paper helps to bridge the gap between economics and climate policy by showing that the analytical toolkit of climate change economics has shifted towards more realistic representations of climatic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment (SA) is a complex appraisal method. It is conducted for supporting decision-making and policy in a broad environmental, economic and social context, and transcends a purely technical/scientific evaluation. This paper focusses on the systematisation of knowledge on technical/scientific sustainability evaluation, by addressing critical decision-making elements focussed on by domain experts. We make a distinction between integrated assessment and SA. Our systemic approach outlines how to move from integrated assessment to SA. The fundamental differences involved concern three levels: ontological, methodological and epistemological. We present a novel methodological framework for SA, based on a literature meta-review of multi-scale and multi-purpose appraisal methodologies, models and indicators. SA is essentially a structured procedure encompassing different field-specific analytical methods and models, for specific applications and decision contexts. External inputs to the methodology are “values” considered in the analysis and boundaries defined, including the relevant sustainability framework. Internal methodological elements comprise approach to be adopted (e.g. “what-if” vs. “what-to”), scenario design and analytical models and measurable indicators for an operational analysis. Methods to quantify uncertainty are key ingredients of the assessment framework. The paper highlights the relevance of and policy challenges for SA development, with due attention for applicability in real-world decision contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using patents data on environmental road transport technologies filed by 355 assignees over the period 1999–2010, the paper investigates under what conditions the European environmental transport policy portfolio and the intrinsic characteristics of assignees' knowledge boost worldwide green patent production. The findings suggest that post-tax fuel prices, environmental vehicle taxes, CO 2 standards and European emission standards, introduced into the empirical model through an innovative methodology based on Self-Organising Maps (SOM) (Kohonen, 1990, 2001), positively influence the creation of environmental inventions. Most importantly, the paper highlights that assignees anticipate the introduction of regulatory instruments ( i.e. European emission standards and CO 2 targets) by filing patents before the effective implementation of regulations when legislation is announced. Furthermore, the paper provides evidence that in a technological space (which measures the applicants' technological proximity), closely located assignees enhance their patent output through the exploitation of technological knowledge produced by others. This means that the greater the proximity between assignees, the higher their likelihood of gaining advantage from this potential spillover pool. Finally, the paper observes that dynamic changes in assignees' patent portfolios spur inventive performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of environmental policy instrument choice for achieving deep emission reductions in the industrial sector. Specifically, it provides: (a) a theoretical and empirical review of the conditions under which performance standards can provide efficient incentives for deep emission reductions and technology adoption; and (b) an analysis of the design and the outcomes of the standards-based regulation of industrial pollutants in Sweden during the period 1970–1990. Our empirical findings suggest that the Swedish regulatory approach comprised many key elements of an efficient policy-induced transition towards radically lower emissions in the metal smelting and pulp and paper industries. The regulation relied solely on performance standards, thus granting flexibility to firms in terms of selecting the appropriate compliance measures. These standards were implemented in combination with extended compliance periods. R&D projects and the new knowledge that was advanced incrementally in interaction between the company, the environmental authorities and research institutions provided a direct catalyst to the regulatory process. In these ways the Swedish regulatory approach provided scope for creative solutions, environmental innovation, and permitted the affected companies to coordinate pollution abatement measures with productive investments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Empirical analyses of eco-innovation determinants have rarely been able to distinguish between different areas of environmental impact. The present paper tries to close this gap by employing a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey, conducted in 2009. The main purpose of this paper is to test whether different types of eco-innovation (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors. Beside a complex set of different supply, firm-specific, and demand factors, the literature on determinants of eco-innovation accentuates the important role of regulation, cost savings and customer benefits. We find that current and expected government regulation is particularly important with regard to pushing firms to reduce air (e.g. CO2, SO2 or NOx) as well as water or noise emissions, avoid hazardous substances, and increase recyclability of products. Cost savings are an important motivation for reducing energy and material use, pointing to the role of energy and raw material prices as well as taxation as drivers for eco-innovation. Customer requirements are another important source of eco-innovations, particularly with regard to products with improved environmental performance and process innovations that increase material efficiency, and reduce energy consumption, waste and the use of dangerous substances. Firms confirm a high importance of expected future regulations for all environmental product innovations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential gains from changing the existing regulatory framework for fresh water aquaculture production in Denmark. The regulatory framework is changed from an input regulation based on farm-specific feed quotas, to an individual transferable quota system on nitrogen pollution. The regulatory change is analyzed using Data Envelopment Analysis to model the underlying production structure. The effect of allowing trading of nitrogen quotas on production and profitability is analyzed in a joint production model with good and bad output under different behavioral and technical assumptions, whilst keeping the overall pollution level of nitrogen constant. Furthermore, the effect of a catchment area restriction on nitrogen is analyzed to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive. The paper quantifies the gains of a policy change from a command and control system to an incentive based system. The estimated results suggest that the changed regulation could increase Danish aquaculture production by 16 to 55%, whilst actual profitability could be increased 5 to 10 times. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Equity, efficiency and effectiveness are three key criteria use to assess environmental policy instruments. Part 1 of this survey shows that, in terms of equity, Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) – a widely discussed personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme - cannot be differentiated from Cap and Dividend (C&D) or Cap and Share (C&S). Hence, Part 2 explores whether they can be differentiated in terms of efficiency and/or effectiveness. The paper reviews two studies that compare the efficiency of TEQs and C&D. Whilst their estimates of the costs and abatement potential of TEQs differ, neither study considers that there is a case, on efficiency grounds, for its implementation. The paper goes on to sketch two arguments for the implementation of PCT that might, nevertheless, be made on efficiency grounds and one – relating to public acceptability – that might be made on effectiveness grounds. Exploring the various public surveys conducted on the acceptability of PCT, the paper concludes that support for PCT is not obviously greater than for alternative instruments and notes a methodological limitation in the work reviewed. The paper concludes that, to date, the case against implementation of PCT is stronger than the case for. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, there has been considerable discussion within UK climate policy circles regarding the appropriateness of personal carbon trading as an instrument for greenhouse gas emission reduction. This paper is the first in a two-part survey of personal carbon trading (PCT), the term used here to describe proposed (sub-)national greenhouse gas emission trading schemes under which at least some emissions rights are allocated to and surrendered by individuals. After introducing the various proposed PCT schemes, the paper compares, in terms of equity, the two most-discussed PCT schemes with two alternative emission trading schemes and a carbon tax. The papers' two key findings are as follows. First, there are strong arguments that the equal per capita allocation proposed under some instruments is not completely fair. Second, the five instruments compared can be equivalent in terms of their equity. Along with equity, efficiency and effectiveness make up three key criteria for comparing environmental policy instruments. As PCT has no advantage in terms of equity, the paper concludes that any case for PCT will depend on it having advantages in terms of efficiency and/or effectiveness. Whether PCT has such advantages is explored in Part 2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recent analyses maintain that recycling in developed countries, being mostly the result of costly policies, may be already above its socially optimal level. These analyses in fact underestimate such level if increasing recycling not only reduces residual waste, but also total waste. We find that this is the case: a 10% increase in recycling rate is associated with a 1.5–2% decrease of total urban waste. This effect is largely attributable to curbside collection programs, whose adoption increases recycling rates by 8–14% and reduces waste generation by about 4%. This paper contributes to the literature on the relations between waste and recycling by providing estimates of the source reduction effect of recycling policies and pointing out the important role played in it by curbside collection programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the late 1990s, China initiated the Conversion of Croplands to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP) based on the Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) principle. Positive socioeconomic outcomes of the programs are essential for the long-term success of eco-environment conservation. However, there is lack of understanding of their longer-term (over 10 years) impacts on rural livelihoods. In this paper, we examine income distribution and inequality of rural households under CCFP and EWFP in rural Anhui, China after 12 years of program implementation. Results show that CCFP-participating households have higher income inequality than non-participants, while the EWFP does not have a significant effect. Local off-farm work and out-migration with remittances are the two principal income sources and both add to inequality. A regression-based decomposition of inequality shows that the CCFP indirectly alters livelihoods by increasing out-migration with remittances, but it also adds to inequality from shifting livelihoods to non-agricultural activities. Meanwhile, EWFP payments positively affect agricultural incomes and contribute 16% to agricultural income inequality. Finally, human capital, natural capital and physical capital all play important roles in generating income and inequality, but the factors affecting inequality from agricultural and non-agricultural activities are different. Highlights • We examine rural household income distribution under two concurrent PES programs. • CCFP positively affects non-farm income via out-migration followed by remittances. • EWFP positively affects agricultural income and adds slightly to inequality. • Factors affecting agricultural and non-agricultural income distributions differ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Various environmental footprint concepts have already been developed and applied in sustainability research. However, these analyses tend to remain restricted to historical observation samples. At least in comparison with related research activities in other environmental policy domains (like, e.g., climate policy), it seems that applications of integrated assessment tools represent rather seldom exceptions within the resource policy domain. Our paper is, therefore, intended to strengthen the related evidence base. We present recent projections from the dynamic Multi-Region Input-Output (MRIO) simulation model GINFORS (Global Inter-Industry Forecasting System), which provide an outlook on global development trends until the year 2050. Our detailed material footprint and climate policy assessment indicates that a global agreement on a policy mix will allow a clear turnaround towards climate protection and a sustainable use of natural resources without deteriorating economic performance. If the EU decides unilaterally to lead the way, then this turnaround could also be achieved for the EU while the EU would also benefit economically from this pioneering role. A third pathway towards a resource efficient and low-carbon Europe quantifies the environmental and economic impacts of a strong transitional change induced by European citizens' commitments to far-reaching sufficiency objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the innovation effects of environmental policy instruments in four literatures: theoretical models on incentives for eco-innovation, econometric studies based on observed data, survey analysis based on stated information and technology case studies. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the methods and the results. We argue that the case studies literature, even when its results are specific and difficult to generalise, is a necessary source of empirical evidence about policy impacts and the factors responsible for these impacts, pointing to issues that are neglected in the theoretical and econometric literature such as the specifics of the innovation context and policy interaction effects. The paper states five synthesised findings and makes a plea for multi-method analysis. One other important synthesised finding is that the influence of market-based instruments on innovation (such as emission trading and taxes) is far weaker than assumed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) explicitly integrates economics into water management and water policy in Europe. Specifically, Article 11 and Annex III of the Directive call for a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of alternative mitigation measures as a requirement in formulating Programme of Measures (PoMs) to achieve ‘good ecological status’ for all waters in Europe. As agriculture is supposed to be the major contributor to diffuse water pollution, CEA of agri-environmental measures has been given paramount importance in establishing the PoMs. This paper summarises the status, significance, and methodological limitations of WFD-related CEA studies in Europe. Cases from the United Kingdom, countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and central and southern Europe were included in the review. Review results indicate that most WFD-related CEA studies: (1) were based on models of ‘representative’ farms without capturing the variability among real-world farms; (2) concentrate on a single ecological effect of measures or are based on cost estimates of the sectors directly involved in the pollutant-reduction programme (i.e., co-benefits, trade-offs, and external costs were not examined); and (3) did not incorporate uncertainties in both cost and effectiveness estimates. Based on the review results, the paper suggests policy implications and recommendations for future research in the field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper considers the problem of designing PES-type contracts to encourage participation and spatial coordination amongst private forest owners in Finland. The aim of the policy is to increase efforts to mitigate risks from invasive forest pests and diseases. Such control actions yield spill-over benefits to other landowners and to wider society, meaning that the level of privately-optimal disease control is likely to be less than the socially-optimal level. The policy designer may wish to encourage spatial coordination in the uptake of such PES-type contracts, as spatial coordination delivers an increase in the effectiveness of control measures on disease risks. We conducted a choice experiment with private forest owners in Finland in October 2016. The study elicited the preferences of woodland owners with respect to the design of forest disease control contracts, and gauged their willingness to cooperate with neighbouring forest owners within the framework of such programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic niche management and transition management have been promoted as useful avenues to pursue in order to achieve both specific product or process changes and system transformation by focusing on technology development through evolutionary and co-evolutionary processes, guided by government and relevant stakeholders. However, these processes are acknowledged to require decades to achieve their intended changes, a timeframe that is too long to adequately address many of the environmental and social issues many industrialized and industrializing nations are facing. An approach that involves incumbents and does not consider targets that look beyond reasonably foreseeable technology is likely to advance a model where incumbents evolve rather than being replaced or displaced . On the other hand, approaches that focus on creating new entrants could nurture niche development or deployment of disruptive technologies, but those technologies may only be marginally better than the technologies they replace. Either approach may take a long time to achieve their goals. Sustainable development requires both radical disruptive technological and institutional changes, the latter including stringent regulation, the integration of disparate goals, and changes in incentives to enable new voices to contribute to new systems and solutions. This paper outlines options for a strong governmental role in setting future sustainability goals and the pathways for achieving them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric nitrogen pollution has severe impacts on biodiversity, but approaches to value them are limited. This paper develops a spatially explicit methodology to value the benefits from improvements in biodiversity resulting from current policy initiatives to reduce nitrogen emissions. Using the UK as a case study, we quantify nitrogen impacts on plant diversity in four habitats: heathland, acid grassland, dunes and bogs, at fine spatial resolution. Focusing on non-use values for biodiversity we apply value-transfer based on household's willingness to pay to avoid changes in plant species richness, and calculate the benefit of projected emission declines of 37% for nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and 6% for ammonia (NH 3 ) over the scenario period 2007–2020. The annualised benefit resulting from these pollutant declines is £32.7 m (£4.4 m to £109.7 m, 95% Confidence Interval), with the greatest benefit accruing from heathland and acid grassland due to their large area. We also calculate damage costs per unit of NO 2 and NH 3 emitted, to quantify some of the environmental impacts of air pollution for use alongside damage costs for human health in policy appraisal. The benefit is £103 (£33 to £237) per tonne of NO 2 saved, and £414 (£139 to £1022) per tonne of NH 3 saved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive review of ecosystem services and their economic valuation in China. The main objective of this review is to introduce the findings of the various valuation studies, and explore the challenges that emerged in these studies. This paper shows that ecosystem services research in China went through four stages covering all the main ecosystem types and multi-scales. These studies have raised public awareness of the value of ecological and bio-resource issues, and promoted the establishment of eco-compensation mechanisms in China. However, there are still many controversies and challenges that have emerged from current ecosystem services research. We propose that future ecosystem services research focuses on i) the corresponding definition and classification systems for all ecosystems; ii) the observation and establishment of the relationship between ecosystem structures and corresponding functions; iii) the improvement and normalization of valuation methods; and iv) the exploration and analysis of the spatial and temporal variations of ecosystem services. Furthermore, it is important to improve the accessibility of ecosystem services valuation in environmental decision-making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most ecosystem services (ES) are neither priced nor marketed. Resource managers may fail to take into account degradation of unpriced services in their resource management decisions. Being able to estimate values for ES is fundamental to designing policies to induce resource users to provide (or improve) ES at levels that are acceptable to society. Conducting ecosystem valuation via non-market methods is costly and time consuming. Benefit transfer (BT) using choice experiment (CE) is a potentially cost-effective method for valuing ES by transferring information from existing valuation studies (and study sites) to a target area of interest (policy sites). The prime objective of this paper is to examine the validity of BT and hence whether it is feasible to conduct the transfer process and assist policy making. The paper focuses on the environmental impact of winegrowing practices in two New Zealand winegrowing regions. The two sites, Hawke''s Bay and Marlborough, have similar environmental issues and attributes but are geographically separated. The study estimates Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Compensating Surplus (CS) for ES applying CE and, subsequently, given the preferences of respondents across sites and populations, tests the transferability of unadjusted value transfer (WTP) and benefits function (CS) assessing four different types of BT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reviews definitions and uses of the Driving Forces–Pressures–State–Impacts–Responses (DPSIR) framework and argues that it is a relevant tool for structuring communication between scientists and end-users of environmental information, while it is inappropriate as an analytical tool. An apparently deterministic ‘causal’ description of environmental issues inevitably downplays the uncertainty and multiple dimensions of causality inherent in complex environmental and socio-economic systems. Consequently, the paper complements and reframes ‘DPSIR’ using a complex system methodology based on the distinction between four ‘spheres’ of sustainability (environmental, economic, social and political) and the analysis of their functioning and relationships. The pair-wise interface aspects are characterised through investigation of the ‘demands’ and ‘supply’ of each sphere relative to the others. Within the resulting conceptual framework, each of the five D, P, S, I and R concepts are specified, for application in integrative analysis of relationships between policy, society, economy and biodiversity in one of the world's largest European integrated research projects on biodiversity (ALARM). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the economic impact of climate change on livestock production in Kenya. We estimate a Ricardian model of net livestock incomes and further estimate the marginal impacts of climate change. We also simulate the impact of different climate scenarios on livestock incomes. The Ricardian results show that livestock production in Kenya is highly sensitive to climate change and that there is a non-linear relationship between climate change and livestock productivity. The estimated marginal impacts suggest modest gains from rising temperatures and losses from increased precipitation. The predictions from atmospheric ocean general circulation models suggest that livestock farmers in Kenya are likely to incur heavy losses from global warming. The highest and lowest losses are predicted from the Hadley Centre Coupled model (HADCM) and Parallel Climate Model (PCM) respectively, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change A2 Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. The paper concludes that in the long term, climate change is likely to lead to increased poverty, vulnerability and loss of livelihoods. Several policy interventions are recommended to counter this impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper analyzes the contribution of K. William Kapp, widely considered one of the founders of Ecological Economics. This paper will demonstrate how K. William Kapp developed his theory of social costs into a framework for environmental policy development, i.e. the basis for Political Ecological Economics. The latter provides the most comprehensive and non-utilitarian alternative to the main neoclassical approaches provided by Arthur Pigou and Ronald Coase. Kapp determined basic human needs to be necessary values operational for policymaking via politically derived and scientifically determined social minima (criteria) and socio-ecological indicators. This “rational humanism” was inspired by Weber''s concept of substantive rationality and informed by John Dewey''s pragmatic instrumentalism. The paper concludes that Kapp''s contribution is important enough to cement its place in the broader school of Ecological Economics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Material flow accounting and analysis (MFA) has been established as an influential framework for quantifying the use of natural resources by modern societies. So far, however, no reference data for overall scale and trends of global extraction of natural resources and their distribution between different world regions has been available. This paper presents the first comprehensive quantification of the material basis of the global economy, i.e. used domestic extraction in a time series from 1980 to 2002. We analyse time trends for major material groups (fossil fuels, metals, industrial and construction minerals, and biomass) disaggregated into seven world regions. This allows for (a) an illustration of the global economy''s physical growth driven by worldwide processes of economic integration over the past decades, and (b) an indication of the worldwide distribution of environmental pressures associated with material extraction. The results show that annual resource consumption of the world economy increased by about one third between 1980 and 2002. This indicates that scale effects due to economic growth more than compensated for other effects, such as the relative increase of the service sectors'' contribution to GDP (structural effect) and the use of new production technologies with higher material and energy efficiency (technology effect). The observed growth of natural resource extraction is unevenly distributed over the main material categories, with metals showing the highest growth rate. The regional analysis shows the increasing importance of Asia and Latin America in global resource extraction. On the global level, material intensity, i.e. resource extraction per unit of GDP, decreased by about 25%, indicating relative decoupling of resource extraction from economic growth. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for a more sustainable use of natural resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The potential of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in the Mediterranean region as a source of livelihood and sustainable development has been widely recognized. Yet, surprisingly few efforts have been made to value them comprehensively. Valuation efforts usually focused on selected NTFPs traded on formal markets, at local level. This paper aims to provide comprehensive estimates of NTFPs benefits at national and regional level in the Mediterranean region. Six major groups of NTFPs are identified: firewood, cork, fodder, mushrooms, honey and other NTFPs. Valuation is based on a wide variety of techniques, drawing on official statistics, and supplemented by results of local surveys. It shows that at Mediterranean level, NTFPs provide annual benefits of about €39/ha of forests, accounting for about a fourth of the total economic value of forests estimated by this study. The average estimate for southern countries (€54/ha) is considerably higher than for northern (€41/ha) and eastern countries (€20/ha). The paper reveals the degree of importance of the main NTFPs benefits for the country groups and the region as a whole. It also discusses some reasons of concern when drawing policy tools for improving rural income and forest conservation in the Mediterranean. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Based on empirical evidence, the paper discusses the impact of a consulting and information program for the improvement of material productivity with regard to economic and environmental targets for Germany. The instrument used in the analysis is the integrated economic-environmental model PANTA RHEI, which is parameterized econometrically. The paper presents the model and shows in a baseline forecast that without policy changes, sustainability will be violated in both the economic and the environmental dimensions. This applies to the latter particularly with regard to land use and material consumption. The alternative simulation that introduces a consulting and information program for the improvement of material productivity yields a win–win result: growth rates of GDP and employment are rising, the public debt is reduced, and material consumption is much lower than in the baseline and remains at the actual level, which means that a decoupling of growth and material consumption is possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is about stability and change in the policy-making discourse of a traditional neoclassical policy area, the area of car taxation. Stability is here related to the unquestioned continuation of a traditional neoclassical economics perspective in policy-making, whereas change is related to the introduction and impact of environmental concerns. The aim of the paper is to investigate, what makes green discourses matter in traditional policy-making. It is based on an in-depth study of policy-making processes related to car taxation in two environmental front-runner countries, Sweden and Denmark. Making green discourses matter in policy-making is an important contemporary environmental challenge. Therefore, as Tian Shi argues, we need more research into the institutional setting of the policy-making process. Ecological economics as a policy science has to have a broad understanding of the political economic nature of the policy process. Taking this standpoint as the point of departure, the paper seeks to uncover questions such as, what is the policy-making reality in which Swedish and Danish green discourses have to make a difference? How do existing neoclassical regimes react, when green actors attempt to influence policy-making from an environmental point of view? And to what extent can green discourses actually have an impact on the policy world within the area of car taxation? The paper concludes that the traditional neoclassical economic discourse is particularly robust and resistant against alternative green discourses. Stability rather than change is the dominating picture. This does not imply that environmental concerns will not be taken into account in the future. Rather it implies that only the changes, which keep up the existing order, or enhance the narrow power-related interests of the dominating actors, will materialise more or less easily. The rest is a power struggle in which timing, coalition-building, persistence and thorough knowledge about the field in question is of importance. In this struggle change agents will also benefit from the ability to rethink dominating ways of thinking and doing in an environmentally benign way. A rethinking that is based on environmental values while at the same time holding positive visions that are ‘compatible’ with the existing dominating discourse. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper empirically analyzes the effects of permitted effluent limits on compliance levels – discharges relative to limits – at individual polluting facilities. In particular, it constructs and employs effluent limit-related regressors that measure the differences between the actual effluent limit level imposed on a particular facility for a given month and three benchmarks: federally-mandated standard for effluent limit level, a particular facility''s average effluent limit level over a specified period (e.g., entire sample period), and preceding monthly limit at a particular facility (i.e., transition to new limit). By examining the effects of effluent limit levels as measured relative to these three benchmarks, this paper explores whether limit stringency affects compliance level choices (e.g., more stringent limits undermine compliance), whether adjustments to treatment are non-smooth (“lumpy”), and whether quick adjustments are difficult. Evidence of these possibilities would have meaningful implications for environmental protection policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this special issue of Ecological Economics is to elucidate the state-of-the-art and science of environmental benefit transfer and to assist in the design and reporting of future benefit estimation research. Compiling the insights of thirty-two international experts from seven countries, the special issue reviews the latest developments in transfer techniques, as well as ongoing efforts to standardize and validate them. Taken together, the papers in this special issue provide fresh answers to some long-standing questions, offer original research insights on state-of-the-art issues and identify fruitful areas for future research. This introductory paper provides background and context for the issues addressed by the contributing authors. Its purpose is to place the interdisciplinary thinking contained here in a comparative context, highlighting the need for integration and collaboration to maintain the momentum that has propelled environmental benefit transfer into a widely used approach for estimating the economic value of environmental goods and services worldwide. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The conventional implementation of polluter pays principle (PPP) in many countries is based on the use of an environmental tax, which is determined proportionally to the amount of emissions of the polluting substances. In this paper we show that this practice is not adequate because of its real negative impact if the pollutant accumulates to a stock in the environment. Using a specific mathematical model we find, that in many cases there is a danger of an unavoidable conflict between the interests of society as a whole and the interests of private business, generated by these procedures of PPP implementation. This paper also presents a mathematical formula which expresses the time period, when the conflict arises. We call it “the time boundary of investment expediency”. Some results of a numerical simulation for the calculation of this quantity for different investment initiatives are also presented in this article. On the basis of the model analysis, we suggest “a corrected” amount of environmental tax which covers the negative effect on social welfare. We find that it should be dependent on the lifetime of the production project, not only on the amount of emitted pollution. The study gives some practical tools for strengthening governance in the environmental sector and for the evaluation of investment initiatives from a “quality of growth” point of view. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The performance of the small natural gas-fired power technologies has improved remarkably over the last decade. This has aroused the interest of operators, regulators and legislators in natural gas-fired distributed generation (gas-fired DG), namely, the integrated or stand-alone use of small, modular gas-fired power generation close to the point of consumption as an alternative to large power generation and electricity transport over long distances. Gas-fired DG can provide an important benefit from the environmental point of view. Customer proximity, in fact, greatly increases the potential for combined heat and power generation, involving energy saving and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Unfortunately this kind of decentralized supply also determines higher non-GHG emissions (mainly NOx, compared to the best available central power technology) which occur in urban areas (high populated) instead of extra-urban areas (where large power plants are generally located). It is therefore difficult to make a reliable evaluation of gas-fired DG environmental benefits without comparing centralized and decentralized models in terms of external costs, that is without an analysis which allows us to compare the extent of global and local–regional impacts in terms of monetary damage. If, on the one hand, this underlines the (potential) importance of the methods adopted to assess the economic value of environmental externalities (even for policy decisions that are binary, i.e. the choice between different energy technologies), on the other, it raises the crucial question of the uncertainty about the economic estimates. This article aims at demonstrating that the uncertainty about external costs, even if large, does not undermine the possibility of verifying whether gas-fired DG is preferable (or not) to centralized supply. The paper compares centralized and decentralized models in terms of the external environmental costs which are calculated by using the results of the available studies in this field (in particular the results of the dissemination process of the so-called ExternE project, one of the most recent and accurate methodologies, and the results of a meta-analysis, with regard to the marginal cost of GHG emissions). The uncertainty about external costs is substantial but not so large that it is not possible to say anything about the environmental raking of alternative technology solutions involving trade-off between the impacts of different pollutants (or between different kinds of impacts). The literature on external costs provides several studies accounting for a large part of uncertainty by means of appropriate statistical and sensitive analysis. By using and elaborating these results, the analysis described in this paper seems to support the conclusion that centralized supply, and especially the completely electric solution (based on the reversible electric heat pump), is still preferable to natural gas-fired CHP distributed generation. This is not a definitive conclusion but, we hope, a useful (scientific based) contribution for policy decisions under the state of the art. In fact, this result has an interesting policy implication. It suggests unless questioning the current enthusiasm on natural gas-fired CHP distributed generation deployment (e.g. the European Commission is indeed advocating DG as a contribution to GHG emission reduction) and helps us to reflect upon gas-fired DG supporting environmental policies which focus on the reduction of GHG emissions and totally disregard the possible trade-off between the impacts of global and local-regional pollutants. Unless one denies the rationality attributed to making tradeoffs, on the basis of ethical limits of economic valuations. Even in this case, however, cost-benefit analysis seems to be legitimate and a necessary step of the public discourse. We think that the results of this paper are emblematic, from this point of view. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper outlines a new method for determining ecological prices/transformities in complicated ecological–economic systems where non-equilibrium prices are likely to be prevalent. That is, an eigenvalue–eigenvector mathematical solution method for solving an overdetermined, homogeneous system of simultaneous linear equations is proposed and tested. Previous mathematical approaches to the problem of ecological pricing are reviewed before proceeding with an explanation of the new solution method for the determination of ecological prices. The proposed method seeks to avoid the need to make a number of untenable assumptions used in previous methods—e.g., the assumption that there necessarily needs to be an equal number of processes and quantities in the ecological–economic system. The paper also provides practical advice and an algorithm for solving the ecological pricing problem. For example, advice on how to overcome the problem of ill-conditioned matrices which are sometimes encountered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Achieving a working consensus on how to divide the costs of achieving environmental objectives between resource users and the general community is a key part of mobilizing the policy changes and public resources required to address major resource management challenges in Australia and elsewhere. Existing approaches to this issue have not been able to resolve a maladaptive stand-off between those emphasizing a ‘polluter pays’ approach that imposes costs on resource users and a ‘beneficiary pays’ approach which may privilege an unsustainable status quo. This paper outlines ‘the catchment care principle’ advocated by the Wentworth Group [Wentworth Group, 2002. A New Model for Landscape Conservation in NSW. Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists Report to Premier Carr. WWF, Sydney, February, 2002. ], which states ‘that individual resource managers have an obligation to avoid land or natural resource management practices that harm the long-term interests of resource users as a whole’. The principle is interpreted as implying that resource management practices should not damage ecosystem integrity, while accepting that significant ecosystem modification might be consistent with maintaining a healthy working landscape. The paper also argues that the ‘catchment care’ principle offers a principle-based approach that encourages burden sharing rather than a winner takes all political game, and is likely to enhance the ability of societies to craft constructive policy responses to some of our most difficult environmental challenges. In addition to encouraging more adaptive governance and the protection of ecosystem integrity, the paper argues that the application of the catchment care principle provides a middle ground anchoring point for the political negotiation of policy changes. This is likely to encourage more socially efficient outcomes by reducing incentives to invest in economically unproductive lobbying activity and by encouraging political outcomes that diverge less from underlying social preferences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Efficiency forms the bedrock of policy, planning and business approaches to sustainable development. But what do ecological economists mean by efficiency? In the resource use context, efficiency has a wide range of potential interpretations, from the ratio of work output/energy inputs to Pareto efficiency. Despite the potential richness of the efficiency concept, in practice, efficiency is often narrowly conceived within disciplinary boundaries. This appears to be the case even in ecological economics, which purports to be ‘transdisciplinary’ and pluralistic. Such narrow disciplinary perspectives essentially waste the richness of the efficiency concept. This wasting could mean ecological economists and decision-makers are destined to Sisyphean toil in the pursuit of sustainable development. This paper explores the efficiency concept and its interpretation. It then reviews ecological economic literature to find that there is much room for improvement in the way ecological economists apply efficiency. Finally, the paper presents a framework within which a truly ecological economic approach to efficiency can emerge. Armed with this framework, policy makers and planners should be better prepared to make decisions leading to sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper reviews the development of ecological economics in Australia and New Zealand since its beginnings in the late 1970s. A historical account is presented that focuses particularly on the activities of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics and key ecological economics research activities. Achievements of ecological economics in Australia and New Zealand are assessed, using a range of quantitative and qualitative data. The main areas of expertise developed by Australian and New Zealand ecological economists were found to be: theoretical foundations and visions for ecological economics; biodiversity and resilience; input–output analysis; heterodox valuation approaches; analysis of economy–environment interactions; sustainability indicators; sustainable agriculture, fisheries and oceans; and energy/thermodynamics. Both countries are ranked at the top (or near the top) of the world rankings in terms of per capita ISEE membership and publication rates in Ecological Economics. A defining feature of ecological economics in Australia and New Zealand has also been its practical and problem-solving focus and the level of end-user engagement. The paper concludes by discussing the challenges that face the future development of ecological economics in Australia and New Zealand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In considering social, economic and ecological impacts of new technologies it is essential to start from an understanding of human nature. This paper explores this issue drawing out some implications for ecological and neoclassical economics. The paper presents two key arguments. First, we argue that there is a growing tension between our evolved human nature and social structures and our emerging technological prowess. Modern technologies give us increasing power to manipulate the very axes of nature: space, time, energy, matter, and life. Technologies are now so powerful they give us abilities our ancestors would consider godlike. The question is posed: Are humans ready to wield the power of the gods? We have the knowledge, but do we have the wisdom? The myth of Prometheus and Pandora is considered as a metaphor for the interaction between technology, nature and universal aspects of human nature developed over eons of evolution. Second, we argue that even a ‘technologically optimistic’ scenario (employed by some economists) may not actually deliver Utopian outcomes. With technological advancement and diffusion there is a “technological trickle down effect” whereby potent technologies, once available only to governments and powerful elites, become available to greater numbers of groups and individuals. The more accessible a technology, the more likely its social and ecological impacts will be shaped by the full range and extremes of human nature. These issues have implications for the development and regulation of Promethean technologies such as nuclear energy, genetic engineering and nanotechnology; technologies with unprecedented power and reach through nature. Development and diffusion of such technologies may also have implications for the ethics of the social structure of society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Environmental concerns and tightened environmental policy parameters have been associated with the notion of additional costs of compliance rather than with innovation and sustainability. The contrary, has also been suggested, claiming that strict environmental legislation merely serves as a catalyst for firms to retain obvious economic and environmental mutual gains–so called win–wins–laying around waiting to be collected. Such implications can be seen from the Porter and van der Linde writings, heavily criticised by Palmer et al. as being built on faulty examples. This paper supports that conclusion and uses property rights and transactions costs theories to find private incentives to explore the win–wins for those actors who have the largest potentials to diminish the pressure on our environment. By applying the Coase theorem, emphasising transaction costs and property rights, this paper argues that strong public support is needed to create private incentives for exploring economic and environmental win–win innovations. The public support suggested is to (A) extend producer responsibilities–where the same costs which may be neglected by the end consumers will, if transferred to the design owner, be viewed as a production cost–and to (B) enforce environmental public procurement. Both may be combined with a support to (C) actors (such as non-governmental organisations and consumer agencies) positioning themselves as information bridges by informing the consumers. The negative effects of asymmetric information among actors can, thereby, be diminished as well as the low interest to primarily care for the environment among common consumers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is about how institutions determine choices and the importance of this for environmental policy. The model of individual rational choice from neoclassical economics is compared with the model of socially determined behavior. While in the first case, institutions are either exempted from or understood as mere economizing constraints on behavior, the latter perspective views institutions as basic structures necessary also to enable people to act. The paper develops a way to integrate the individualistic model into the wider perspective of social constructivism by viewing it as a special form of such construction. On the basis of this synthesis three issues with relevance for environmental economics are discussed. First, the role of institutional factors in the process of preference formation is emphasized. Next, the role of institutions for the choice of desired states of the environment is analyzed. Finally, the effect of various policy instruments to motivate people to produce these states is discussed. It is concluded that the core policy issue is to determine which institutional frameworks are most reasonable to apply to which kind of problem. Issues, which from the perspective of neoclassical economics are pure technical, become serious value questions if understood from an institutional perspective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: When studying solutions to long-term environmental problems such as climate change, it is important to consider the role that technological change may play. Nonetheless, to date few economic models of environmental policy explicitly model the link between policy and technological change. There is a growing body of evidence that the incentives offered by prices and environmental regulations have a strong influence on both the creation and adoption of new technologies. In several recent papers, I have used patent data to examine the links between environmental policy and technological change. In addition, I have used the results of this research to calibrate the ENTICE model (for ENdogenous Technological change) of climate change, which links energy-related R&D to changes in the price of carbon. Drawing on my experiences from empirical studies on innovation and from modeling the climate change problem, in this paper I review some of the key lessons from recent empirical work using patents to study environmental innovation and diffusion, and discuss its implications for modeling climate change policy. I conclude by offering suggestions for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is concerned with the role played by children in a household on choice behaviour related to willingness-to-pay (WTP) for environmental goods improvements. Data from a contingent valuation (CVM) survey dealing with three environmental improvements are used to examine three hypotheses. The first is that, after controlling for income, individuals with children have higher WTP than childless individuals. The second hypothesis is that women with children are willing to pay more for environmental improvements than men with children, particularly in the case where there is concern for environmental health risks. The third is that childless men and women exhibit significant differences in WTP that arise from greater time constraints faced by women. Estimated WTP functions are shown to be statistically different for four groups of individuals: women with children, men with children, women without children, and men without children. Parents of either gender are willing to pay more than their childless counterparts. Valuations of mothers and fathers are statistically different for only one of the three goods being evaluated. Interestingly, it is the fathers'' mean valuations that are higher. This may arise from the fact that these environmental improvements lead to better recreational opportunities and, as indicated earlier, men are less time constrained. Further support for this view comes from results that show that valuations of childless men are significantly greater than those for childless women for two goods. The paper concludes with some directions for future research in the area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

China has experimented with a wide range of policies to encourage firms to improve their environmental performance, often with mixed results. This paper investigates the effectiveness of combining two different policies at the same time: (1) a more centralised environmental inspection process and (2) new rules on the public disclosure of policy compliance for firms wanting to undertake an initial public offering (IPO). A theoretical framework predicts that a more centralised inspection and public disclosure should improve both a firm's environmental performance and profitability. The results of instrumental variable estimations for 536 listed Chinese firms for the period 2009 to 2019 confirm the theoretical predictions although the positive effect on profitability only lasts for two years after compliance with the IPO requirements. An investigation into possible mechanisms shows that the joint policy promotes investment in green projects while also increasing demand for the firm's products. The findings highlight greater regulatory complexity may be needed if a country wishes to change the behaviour of firms in a manner that is consistent with overcoming environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high level of nitrogen emissions over the last decades and their adverse impact on the natural environment and human health are a pressing environmental issue. A nitrogen tax can be a cost-efficient and effective policy instrument to reduce nitrogen emissions. However, adverse effects on low- and middle-income households might lead to societal and political frictions that could end up in resistance. In this paper we investigate how a hypothetical nitrogen tax covering the specific external costs of nitrogen could be implemented and estimate its short-term distributional effects on household income groups in Germany. The findings show that the proposed tax would be regressive. However, if the tax rate is set equal to the true cost of nitrogen, the monetary impacts would overall be small, ranging from 1.15% of income for the first income quintile to 0.66% for the fifth. Complementary policy measures to lower the burden on low-income households, farmers and the energy sector could preempt social resistance against the tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with a growing sense of urgency to combat climate change, environmental policy is increasingly turning to alternative policy instruments. One method for boosting green behaviour among individuals rooted in applied behavioural economics is loss framing - transforming existing messages so that they emphasise the potential negative consequences of an action or inaction on the environment. This paper provides a systematic review of the existing body of evidence on framing effects in pro-environmental decisions. Based on an analysis of 61 studies captured in 47 distinct papers we find that real behaviour has been largely neglected as an outcome variable, with preference in the literature given to the measurement of self-reporting constructs such as attitudes, willingness to pay and behavioural intentions. In support of the loss aversion hypothesis, loss framing was found to be more or equally effective in all studies examining behaviour and intentions, though gain framing was more successful where the choices taken required lower commitment, namely attitudes. We provide an analysis of other loss framing success factors and draw policy- and research implications. • Loss framing as a green nudge gaining increased traction in policy and research. • Empirical studies on gain- and loss framed environmental messages are reviewed. • Most studies focus on stated preferences at the expense of behaviour. • Loss framing found to be more effective in improving green intentions and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the expanded role of private actors and markets in environmental governance. The public goods dimension of environmental services renders privatization and trading challenging. To illustrate the key issues involved, a series of privatization efforts and market creations are reviewed. Despite the focus on privatization, the empirical material shows that the role of the state is still very pronounced. It defines the commodities and property rights, and plays a key role in setting up and regulating the markets. In the case of payments for ecosystem services, public authorities even appear as the dominant ‘trader’. Privatization and markets may reduce costs of delivering the service, while this is not universally true. Moreover, the service delivered often is transformed to make trade possible. Finally, high transaction costs may prohibit the creation of markets. The conflict between public goods delivery and private profit motive makes public control both important and difficult. Finally, several distributional issues following this neo-liberal development are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction between mitigation and adaptation is a key question for the design of climate policies. In this paper, we study how land use adaptation to climate change impacts land use competition in the agriculture, forest and other land use (AFOLU) sector and how a mitigation policy in agriculture might affect this competition. We use for this purpose two sector-specific bio-economic models of agriculture and forest combined with an econometric land use shares model to simulate the impacts of two climate change scenarios (A2 and B1, 2100 horizon), and a greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture policy consisting of a tax of between 0 and 200 €/tCO 2 equivalent. Our results show that both climate change scenarios lead to an increase in the area devoted to agriculture at the expense of forest which could have a negative impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. The mitigation policy would curtail agricultural expansion, and thus could counteract the effects of land use adaptation to climate change. In other words, accounting for land use competition results in a reduction of the abatement costs of the mitigation policy in the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]