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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Luis Ángel Maza (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an indicator to estimate the carbon footprint of the business lending of Spanish credit institutions. The growing interest in our societies in environmental issues means that the action taken by financial institutions to support the fight against climate change and the green transition needs to be analysed. In this respect, it is essential to have quality environmental information available and to establish robust methodologies to assess the climate exposure of the financial sector. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate, offering an experimental statistic to measure the degree of exposure of the banking sector in Spain to the risks involved in the transition to a more sustainable economic model. The results obtained show that the carbon footprint of the loans of Spanish credit institutions seems to have been significantly reduced recently. This decline is compatible with the overall reduction in the intensity of pollutant emissions that has taken place in the Spanish economy in recent years, but also with a slight shift in the composition of the loan portfolio towards less polluting activities. |
| Keywords: | climate change, carbon footprint, financial risks |
| JEL: | Q50 Q56 G10 G20 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2220e&r=env |
| By: | Leonor Dormido (Banco de España); Isabel Garrido (Banco de España); Pilar L´Hotellerie-Fallois (Banco de España); Javier Santillán (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the fight against climate change and for sustainable growth has been gaining prominence on the international agenda. Reducing pollutant emissions depends on a sufficiently large number of countries adopting efficient mitigating measures that are in line with international agreements. International cooperation is essential to deliver on the commitments undertaken pursuant to these agreements, implement the energy transition and stop climate change. Both the G-20, some of whose members are among the largest greenhouse gas emitters, and the International Monetary Fund are increasingly taking into account climate issues when performing their functions. The European Union plays an active and leading role in this global commitment and is pursuing increasingly ambitious goals. In compliance with the European Green Deal, the European Union has enshrined its goal of climate neutrality in the European Climate Law and has launched a number of groundbreaking policies to implement it, such as the “Fit for 55” package. The war in Ukraine adds an element of uncertainty to this path, given the importance of Russia as a supplier of fossil fuels to the European Union. |
| Keywords: | climate change, decarbonisation, European Union, G-20, IMF, COP, Green Deal, Ukraine/Russia. |
| JEL: | F53 P18 H23 H87 Q54 F64 F68 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2213e&r=env |
| By: | Yacouba Coulibaly (UO - Université d'Orléans, UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | Resource-backed loans are used today by many resource-rich countries as an effective means of providing public goods and services. However, this type of financing can undermine environmental sustainability (e.g., forest cover loss, CO2 emissions, pollution, ecological collapse, material footprint, etc.). In this paper, we first use propensity score matching, which allows for self-selection bias in signature policies, coarsened exact matching, and the entropy balancing method to test whether resource-backed loans have a causal impact on forest cover loss in 64 developing countries from 2004 to 2018. Through a series of econometric and alternative specification tests, we find that resource-backed loans increase forest cover loss. Nevertheless, when we disaggregate resource-backed loans to run the regressions, we find that mineral, tobacco, and cocoa-backed loans increase forest cover, while oil-backed loans have no significant direct impact on forest cover. We recommend that signatory countries and those considering signing resource-backed loans put in place a very strong compensation mechanism, such as introducing taxes or reforming the current tax system in resource-backed loan agreements, to protect biodiversity and mitigate the environmental impacts of these loans. Signatory countries must ensure full transparency of resource-backed loans to make the characteristics of the loans more fluid, avoiding a situation of budgetary debauchery. |
| Keywords: | H81, C12, Q54, Q01, Resource-backed loans, Resource rents, Forest cover loss, Resource taxation, Environment, Climate Change, Propensity score matching O13 |
| Date: | 2023–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04072352&r=env |
| By: | Aldy, Joseph E. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Over the past year, governments across the world have called for more ambitious goals to combat climate change. The European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and many other countries have pledged net-zero emission goals by mid-century, with China aiming to do so by 2060. In April, the Biden Administration pledged to cut its emissions in half by 2030 as part of a broader set of aims that includes a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050.At the same time, a number of governments have raised concerns about how ambitious domestic mitigation policies may impose adverse competitiveness pressures on domestic energy-intensive industries that in turn result in emissions leakage. To address such risks, policymakers have turned their attention to carbon border adjustments, a surcharge on imports from countries that do not have comparable climate policies.Challenges in Implementing Ambitious US Climate GoalsUnder current law, the United States has imperfect tools to deliver on the Biden Administration’s ambitious climate change goals. US climate policy is characterized by a patchwork of energy and environmental tax expenditures, appropriated spending, and regulations at federal, state, and local levels of government. These are subject to legal uncertainty, such as emissions regulatory standards; political uncertainty, such as tax credits with sunset provisions; technological uncertainty, such as on the innovation necessary to decarbonize the economy; and environmental uncertainty, such as the eventual emissions-cutting outcomes of the complicated, overlapping policy patchwork. Crafting an economy-wide, long-term emissions-cutting program requires new legislation. In the interim, making progress in combatting climate change, driving innovation, and leveraging partners around the world necessitate the Biden Administration’s use of all existing authorities as effectively as possible until Congress acts on a credible, durable climate change policy.Applying US Trade Law to Address Competitiveness ConcernsAs a part of this effort, the Biden Administration can explore ways of applying existing trade law to ensure that competitiveness pressures do not result in the leakage of emissions and the shifting of jobs to other jurisdictions with insufficient domestic emissions mitigation policies. Below, I describe briefly the policy principles that could guide this effort to use trade law to mitigate competitiveness risks, before elaborating on how US countervailing duty law could effectively satisfy these principles. |
| Date: | 2021–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-14&r=env |
| By: | Hafstead, Marc (Resources for the Future); Look, Wesley (Resources for the Future); Roy, Nicholas (Resources for the Future); Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Resources for the Future (RFF) staff utilized a suite of models to estimate the projected energy-related carbon dioxide emissions reductions under different climate policy proposals, including alternative carbon fee scenarios.The first scenario includes tax incentives for renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency, and clean light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles (similar to the Clean Energy for America Act, CEAA) AND clean electricity targets embodied in grants to retail electricity service entities (similar to the goals embodied in the Clean Electricity Performance Program, CEPP) set at $150/MWh for the first year of operation. [1]The second set of scenarios includes the “central case†carbon fee scenario in which an economy-wide fee on emissions is set at $15 per metric ton CO2 beginning in 2023, rising to $30 in 2028, and increasing at $10 per year (above inflation) through 2040. We show results for this scenario for multiple policy cases:With and without an exemption for gasoline; andWith and without an exemption for gasoline in addition to CEAA and CEPP-type programsThe third scenario is an alternative economy-wide carbon fee that starts at $15 in 2023 and increases 5 percent annually (above inflation), without exemptions and without additional policies.Details on all major modeling assumptions are included in the RFF Issue Brief “Emissions Projections for a Trio of Federal Climate Policies.†[2]Figure 1 displays the two price path scenarios. By 2040, under the central case scenario, the carbon fee is $150 (in 2023$) whereas in the alternative carbon fee scenario, the fee is $34 in 2040. |
| Date: | 2021–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-13&r=env |
| By: | Halem, Zachery M.; Aldy, Joseph E. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | As governments, firms, and universities advance ambitious greenhouse gas emission goals, the demand for emission offsets—projects that reduce or remove emissions relative to a counterfactual scenario—will increase. Reservations about an offset’s additionality, permanence, double-counting, and leakage pose environmental, economic, and political challenges. We review the role of offsets in regulatory compliance, as an incentive for early action, and in implementing voluntary emission goals. The rules and institutions governing offsets drive large variations in prices and in the types of projects deployed to reduce or remove emissions across offset programs. A lack of carbon price convergence and potential information asymmetries may contribute to limited price discovery and market segmentation. Taking into account the financial properties of offsets, an array of financial and technological innovations could enhance offsets’ environmental integrity and promote liquid offset markets. Unresolved questions about the future of policy will influence the evolution of voluntary offsets markets. |
| Date: | 2022–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-17&r=env |
| By: | English, Leah; Morrissey, Karla; Popp, Jennie; Thoma, Greg; Greenlee, Lauren |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea22:334171&r=env |
| By: | Nguyen, Minh-Hoang; Quang-Loc, Nguyen; Jin, Ruining; Nguyen, Minh_Hieu Thi Dr; Nguyen, Thi-Phuong; La, Viet-Phuong; Vuong, Quan-Hoang |
| Abstract: | Preventing climate change from reaching the tipping point requires the reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Woody biomass is suggested as a substitute for fossil fuels to achieve sustainable development. Transitioning the land purpose entails investment and a tradeoff between wood pellet production and the current utilities created by the land, hindering the private landowners’ willingness. The current study suggests that utilizing the woody leftover on the land can potentially increase the woody biomass supply. Employing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 707 private landowners in the United States (US), we aimed to identify the characteristics of woody-resource-wasting landowners and examine how to increase their likelihood to contribute to woody biomass-based energy. We discovered that landowners being male, having higher income, and being a member of a state/national forestry organization are more likely to waste woody resources. Moreover, woody-resource-wasting landowners perceiving woody biomass-based energy as a substitution for fossil fuel are likelier to sell wood, while those perceiving environmental costs over benefits of woody biomass-based energy are less likely to sell. These findings can be used as insights for policymakers, logging companies, and state agencies to find an additional supply of woody biomass-based energy from landowners likely to waste woody resources. |
| Date: | 2023–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:356x2&r=env |
| By: | Olatunji A. Shobande (University of Aberdeen, UK); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | The study examines the role of natural resources and energy consumption in managing the climate crisis in Africa, using annual series data from the World Bank from 1980 to 2019. The empirical strategy is based on the second-generation panel techniques that account for cross-sectional dependency in the series. Specifically, the empirical evidence is based on the Westerlund (2017) panel cointegration test, panel augmented mean group, common correlated effects mean group and the vector autoregressive-vector error correction approach. Evidence from the panel analysis confirmed the existence of Carbon Kuznets Curve (CKC) U-shaped nexus in Africa, but the country-level results are mixed. Furthermore, results using the vector autoregressive-vector correction model indicate possible convergence among the variables across the African countries. Natural resource unidirectionally Granger-causes carbon emissions. We suggest the consideration of environmental factors in the utilisation of natural resources. Similarly, energy efficiency is crucial to decouple carbon from energy usage. The study complements the extant literature by assessing the role of natural resources and energy consumption in managing climate crisis in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Kuznets Curve; carbon emission; Natural resource; climate crisis; energy consumption; Africa |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:23/026&r=env |
| By: | Olatunji A. Shobande (University of Aberdeen, UK); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | The study examines the role of natural resources and energy consumption in managing the climate crisis in Africa, using annual series data from the World Bank from 1980 to 2019. The empirical strategy is based on the second-generation panel techniques that account for cross-sectional dependency in the series. Specifically, the empirical evidence is based on the Westerlund (2017) panel cointegration test, panel augmented mean group, common correlated effects mean group and the vector autoregressive-vector error correction approach. Evidence from the panel analysis confirmed the existence of Carbon Kuznets Curve (CKC) U-shaped nexus in Africa, but the country-level results are mixed. Furthermore, results using the vector autoregressive-vector correction model indicate possible convergence among the variables across the African countries. Natural resource unidirectionally Granger-causes carbon emissions. We suggest the consideration of environmental factors in the utilisation of natural resources. Similarly, energy efficiency is crucial to decouple carbon from energy usage. The study complements the extant literature by assessing the role of natural resources and energy consumption in managing climate crisis in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Kuznets Curve; carbon emission; Natural resource; climate crisis; energy consumption; Africa |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:23/026&r=env |
| By: | Dussaux, Damien; Vona, Francesco; Dechezleprêtre, Antoine |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes imported carbon emission at the firm level. To do so, we combine information on emissions, imports, imported emissions and energy prices for French manufacturing firms between 1997 and 2014. We document a significant increase of the carbon emissions embedded in imports of French manufacturing companies over the period 1997 to 2014 that is attributable mainly to a shift towards more carbon-intensive products and countries. We then estimate the impact of imported emissions on domestic emissions and emission intensity using a shift-share instrumental variable strategy based on third countries supply shocks. We do not find compelling evidence of an impact of carbon imports on total emissions, but emission efficiency improves significantly in companies offshoring emissions abroad. A 10% increase in carbon offshoring causes a 4% decline in emission intensity. In addition, we find that the elasticity of domestic emission intensity to imported emissions is stronger in energy-intensive sectors, on high-productivity companies and among exporters. Reassuringly, the relationship between imported emissions and emission intensity does not seem to be driven by a pollution haven motive. |
| Keywords: | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme; project INNOPATHS (grant number 730403 |
| JEL: | F18 F14 Q56 |
| Date: | 2023–07–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:118751&r=env |
| By: | Jang, Youngook (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Lee, Seungho (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Song, Jihei (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Kim, Jegook (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)); Jeong, Minji (KOREA INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (KIEP)) |
| Abstract: | 본 보고서는 환경이주의 다양한 양상을 종합적으로 다룬 최초의 국문 연구이다. 본 보고서에서는 기후 및 환경 변화가 이주와 노동시장에 미치는 영향을 현지조사, 전문가 면담, 사례조사, 문헌조사 및 실증분석을 통해 규명하고자 하였다. 분석 결과 기후변화 및 자연재해의 직간접적 영향으로 인한 국제이주는 앞으로 가속화될 것으로 보인다. 한국 역시 이 영향력에서 자유롭지 않은바, 환경이주가 야기할 산업 및 노동시장 재편에 대한 선제적인 대응책 마련이 필요하다. This report provides a comprehensive investigation of environmental migration, which is expected to accelerate in the future due to the direct and indirect effects of climate change and natural disasters. The report is the first Korean-language study to address the various aspects of environmental migration and employs various research methods, includingfield research, expert interviews, case studies, literature review, and empirical analysis.Chapter 2 classifies migration due to climate and environmental factors into three categories: i) displacement due to extreme weather events and disasters, ii) displacement due to gradual climate change, and iii) displacement due to a combination of factors. It reviews the current status, cases, and prospects of each category. This chapter also highlights the impact of various environmental factors such as typhoons, floods, extreme heat events, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, which can cause immediate displacement of large numbers of people.Chapters 3 through 5 conduct case studies in Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, respectively. Chapter 3 provides case studies of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, examining how climate change and the frequent occurrence of intense natural disasters are linked to migration in these countries. In these countries, declining agricultural productivity, particularly among subsistence farmers and seasonal laborers, is likely to worsen the socioeconomic situation, leading them to choose migration as a last resort climate change adaptation mechanism. Chapter 4 examines climate and environmental factors and migration trends in Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, and Somalia. This chapter illustrates how climate change and environmental change are driving migration in these countries through case studies and field research. The impact of drought on migration in Morocco, Senegal, and Nigeria is particularly significant, with increased internal, international, temporary, and permanent migration due to drought. The more agriculturally dependent and drought-affected communities are, the more likely they are to choose to migrate themselves or their family members as an adaptation to environmental change.(the rest ormitted) |
| Keywords: | 국제이주; 노동시장; international migration; labor market |
| Date: | 2022–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kieppa:2022_016&r=env |
| By: | Darlington Agbonifi (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the socioeconomic and environmental dynamic impacts of an exogenous public-financed increases in infrastructure investments and modernization projects (CIS) of around EUR 1097 billion for the 2021-2026 period on industrial outputs, household employment and income distribution, in the Italian province of Taranto using an environmentally extended Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) techniques for the year 2015. This method reconciles the analysis of the impact of an investment policy aiming at climate neutrality on a local economy. As well as an in-depth evaluation of the intersectoral production linkages through trade and multiplier analysis, with the cost-benefit (CB) analysis of a large-scale investment project. The evaluation of the dynamic impacts on the local economy produces a benefit/cost ratio of 5.63 that increases to 7.88 when the CB analysis of the project, and therefore the revenues generated during the operational period, are also included. The inclusion of environmental externalities associated with industrial greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions reduces by about 16% the benefit/cost ratio in the construction period. In the operational period, when we assume that green production technologies are adopted, the reduction of the ratio is more consistent. The distributional impact of the investments on the annual income of households is also acceptably equitable. |
| Keywords: | Policy Impact Evaluation, Cost Benefit Analysis, Local Economic Development, SAM |
| JEL: | C67 D57 Q56 Q58 R11 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:04/2023&r=env |
| By: | Lint Barrage; William D. Nordhaus |
| Abstract: | The present study examines the assumptions, modeling structure, and preliminary results of DICE-2023, the revised Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy (DICE), updated to 2023. The revision contains major changes in the carbon and climate modules, the treatment of non-industrial greenhouse gases, discount rates, as well as updates on all the major components. The major changes are a significantly lower level of temperature of the cost-benefit optimal policy, a lower cost of reaching the 2° C target, an analysis of the impact of the Paris Accord, and a major increase in the estimated social cost of carbon. |
| JEL: | C6 H4 Q5 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31112&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Villanueva, Seth (Resources for the Future); Domeshek, Maya (Resources for the Future); Shih, Jhih-Shyang (Resources for the Future); Lambert, Kathy Fallon |
| Abstract: | This analysis provides one of the first nationwide estimates of health benefits associated with meeting the United States’ Paris Agreement climate goal. The target, which was established by the Biden Administration in April 2021, aims for a 50-52 percent reduction in the United States’ economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. A new report by scholars at Resources for the Future (RFF) finds that the health benefits associated with avoiding premature deaths are significant and accrue in every state in the nation.The authors examine avoided premature deaths in the context of “secondary†PM2.5, which is formed when several pollutants associated with the combustion of fossil fuels—sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), nitrous oxide (NOx ), and ammonia—combine in the atmosphere. The team analyzes the distribution of health benefits across states, counties, and demographic groups in a future that includes a binding cap on CO2 emissions, sector-specific regulations, and innovation policies in line with US climate goals.All regions of the United States would experience health benefits by reducing PM2.5, with the Midwest seeing the most benefits per capita. Benefits accrue broadly across income levels and racial and ethnic groups as well. These estimates are likely an underrepresentation of total health benefits because they exclude benefits related to averted non-lethal health problems, premature mortality associated with other pollutants, and environmental improvements. |
| Date: | 2022–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-02&r=env |
| By: | Raimi, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The urgent challenge of climate change necessitates an energy transition at unprecedented speed and scale (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 2021). As the United States seeks to deeply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and as public policies coupled with innovation accelerate the deployment of clean energy and associated technologies, economic changes will occur across the nation. But where are those economic changes likely to be concentrated, and which communities might be most vulnerable to disruptions?This analysis seeks to help answer those questions by combining a near-comprehensive view of fossil fuel activities at the county level with a range of socioeconomic, environmental, and public health indicators. The results can help policymakers better understand and prioritize which communities may be most vulnerable, and which may be most resilient, to accelerating changes in the US energy economy.Several recent analyses have sought to achieve related goals. In the scholarly literature, Carley et al. (2018) develop a framework to evaluate county-level vulnerability associated with the energy transition, incorporating measures of exposure (e.g., job losses), sensitivity (e.g., share of population living in poverty), and adaptive capacity (e.g., institutional capacity). They apply the framework to the case of renewable portfolio standards, which reduce emissions but increase electricity costs, and focus on communities that are vulnerable to these higher costs.Other recent work has reviewed the social outcomes of climate mitigation policies (Lamb et al. 2020), assessed transition-related socioeconomic and environmental risks for communities around the world (Sovacool et al. 2021), examined the vulnerability of low-income US households to higher energy costs (Brown et al. 2020), and proposed principles to guide policymakers (Muttitt and Kartha 2020; Bazilian et al. 2021). Scholars have also provided case studies of US coal communities, identifying challenges and proposing policy pathways to improve transition planning (Haggerty et al. 2018; Jolley et al. 2019; Roemer and Haggerty 2021). A recent analysis examines Appalachian communities, seeking to identify the main factors that help enable economic resilience as coal production has declined (Lobao et al. 2021).Taking a similar approach to this analysis, Snyder (2018) combines fossil fuel employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) with socioeconomic measures to create an index of energy transition vulnerability for US counties. The paper provides an analogue to the current analysis but is limited in two ways. First, it aggregates all fossil fuel employment into a single category. As discussed in more detail below, the risks from climate policies vary considerably across fuels and technologies, a dynamic that Snyder does not take into account. As a result, for example, counties in Wyoming, which dominates US coal production, do not appear near the top of the index. Second, the rationale for including and weighting various metrics in the index is not clear, making it difficult to know whether the most important contributors to vulnerability are truly reflected in the index.In recent months, government entities and policy researchers have produced analyses to provide more practical guidance for policymakers. The White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization recently identified 25 US regions where fossil energy activities are concentrated, grouping regions by BLS metropolitan and nonmetropolitan classifications (Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization 2021). These groupings provide a useful starting point for understanding which regions are likely to be affected, but they offer limited geographic specificity and limited detail on socioeconomic and environmental risk factors.To develop a more granular geographically picture of which communities are most dependent on fossil energy as an economic driver, I produced a series of maps identifying the counties where fossil energy accounts for large shares of employment and wages (Raimi 2021). However, these maps were incomplete because the BLS data that underpin them are often suppressed for low-population (typically rural) counties, which may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of the energy transition. In addition, that analysis did not incorporate additional measures of socioeconomic or environmental vulnerability.The purpose of this analysis is to produce a tool that can guide policymakers in focusing attention and resources on the appropriate places at the appropriate time. To that end, it makes three main contributions. First, it identifies all US counties (or equivalent governmental units) that are heavily dependent on fossil energy as an economic driver, ranking them by the scale of the relevant energy activity. Second, it provides a high level of geographic specificity (county level). Third, it includes not only measures of energy activity but also metrics to assess the socioeconomic and environmental risk factors present in each county. Taken together, these metrics should give policymakers practical guidance on which US communities are most vulnerable to the economic effects of a transition away from fossil fuels.Importantly, this analysis can (and will) be improved in the months ahead. Future work will seek to refine the relevant socioeconomic and environmental indicators, perhaps developing an index to more easily prioritize counties (though, as noted above and discussed more below, index creation presents methodological issues). In addition, it will seek to better characterize how effects may evolve over time in different locations. For example, ambitious climate policies are likely to cause more rapid declines in coal production than natural gas production, leading to differential timing between coal-producing and natural gas–producing communities. What’s more, there is variation within fuels: coals, oils, and natural gases produced in different locations have different life-cycle emissions characteristics, and those with lower life-cycle emissions, better access to markets, and other economic advantages are likely to be most resilient, at least in the near to medium term.Read the full paper here.The data tool, which includes maps for all listed indicators, can be found here. |
| Date: | 2021–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-36&r=env |
| By: | Kopp, Raymond J. (Resources for the Future); Pizer, William (Resources for the Future); Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from carbon-intensive industrial sectors like steel, aluminum, cement, and chemicals will be aided by the introduction of new low- and zero-carbon production process technologies. While the cost of new technologies will decline over time, in the short run they will likely cost more than more carbon-intensive, incumbent technologies. When the products from these sectors are exchanged on highly competitive international markets, decarbonization efforts could therefore lead to lost competitive advantage vis-à -vis nations with weaker environmental policies.A recent issue brief, “Industrial Decarbonization and Competitiveness: A Domestic Benchmark Approach†(hereafter, “Benchmark†), introduced an idea for a domestic emissions reduction policy that targets the US industrial sector, paired with a border adjustment tariff. The Clean Competition Act recently introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) builds on the paired policy structure. As US industry continues to decarbonize, these paired policies would protect domestic producers from competitive imports, maintain competitiveness in export markets, and provide incentives for trading partners to increase environmental ambition.In this issue brief, we introduce the related idea of a “performance alliance†in which a group of countries align industrial decarbonization efforts and trade policies to maintain competitiveness, limit leakage of emissions, and provide incentives for others to pursue ambitious decarbonization policies. This idea can be traced to work on “climate clubs, †initially popularized by William Nordhaus. The most recent reference to a climate club can be found in the G7 Leaders Communiqué, released May 20, 2022. Catalyzing leadership, action, and inclusivity is a key element of the G7 grouping and suggests the idea of an alliance more than the notion of exclusivity and protectionism suggested by a club.The international policy proposed in the Clean Competition Act and the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) proposal point to implicit climate clubs. In the EU case, a nation exporting primary commodities to the European Union could be a member of the club if that nation imposes a carbon price on its domestic production. That carbon price for the nation’s primary commodities would have to be equal to or greater in magnitude to the price charged within the European Union. In such a case the exporting nation does not face an EU-imposed border fee. In the case of the Clean Competition Act, a nation exporting primary commodities to the United States could be a member of the club if the GHG intensity of its domestic primary commodity production is less than the US benchmark intensity. In such a case the exporting nation does not face a US-imposed border fee. If one were to consider the Clean Competition Act and the EU CBAM as forms of climate clubs, true members of each club might further align their own border measures to match the European Union and the United States.Admission to such an EU club requires the adoption of a common policy to address emissions from the industrial sector; that policy is a specific and explicit carbon price. Admission to such a US club requires environmental performance on a par with the United States, where that performance is measured in terms of GHG intensity of production. We might think of the EU approach as a policy club, while thinking of the US as a performance club.In the remainder of this issue brief we elaborate on the idea of an alliance, rather than a “club, †where members work to drive industrial sector decarbonization–this would happen through an alignment of efforts and advanced technology that levels the playing field of economic competition and negates the need for border measures within the alliance. Border measures would remain a component of this approach for countries that do not choose to increase their ambition and join the alliance. The border measures need not be harmonized among the alliance members. This reduces the protectionist feel of the alliance. |
| Date: | 2022–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-05&r=env |
| By: | Rafaty, Ryan; Dolphin, Geoffroy (Resources for the Future); Pretis, Felix |
| Abstract: | We study the impacts of carbon pricing on CO2 emissions across five sectors for a panel of 39 countries covering 1990–2016. Constructing new sector-level carbon price data, we implement a novel approach to estimate the changes in CO2 emissions associated with (i) the introduction of carbon pricing regardless of the price level, (ii) the elasticity of emissions with respect to the price level, and (iii) the potential response of future emissions to possible carbon price trajectories. Using a synthetic control factor model, we find that the introduction of carbon pricing has reduced growth in total aggregate (national) CO2 emissions by 1–2 percent on average relative to imputed counterfactuals, with most abatement occurring in the electricity and heat sector. Exploiting variation in observed carbon prices to explain heterogeneity in treatment effects, we decompose the average treatment effect obtained from the synthetic control factor model to distinguish the effect of merely introducing a carbon price from the effect of the price level itself. We find a small and imprecisely estimated semielasticity of a 0.03 percent reduction in emissions growth per average $1/metric ton of CO2. Simulating the response of future global emissions to several possible carbon price trajectories, we conclude that carbon pricing alone, even if implemented globally at a level equivalent to the world’s current highest recorded price in Sweden, is unlikely to be sufficient to achieve emission reductions consistent with the Paris climate agreement. Click "Download" above to read the full working paper. |
| Date: | 2021–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-33&r=env |
| By: | Kopp, Raymond J. (Resources for the Future); Pizer, William (Resources for the Future); Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | To achieve the net-zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement, emissions from the “hard-to-abate, †greenhouse gas–intensive industrial sectors (steel, aluminum, cement, and chemicals) must be reduced. The pace of current decarbonization efforts will be aided by the introduction of new low- and zero-carbon production technologies driven by government policies. In many cases, products from these sectors are exchanged on highly competitive international markets, raising concerns that domestic decarbonization policies could result in lost competitive advantage vis-à -vis nations with weaker environmental policies.To address such competitiveness concerns, decisionmakers have proposed policies to couple domestic industrial decarbonization efforts with trade policies and thereby address three goals: a) maintain domestic competitiveness against imports produced in countries with relatively weaker environmental policies, b) maintain competitiveness in export markets, and c) provide incentives for trading partners to improve their environmental performances. A prominent example of such a trade policy is a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that applies a fee to imported goods. A proposed CBAM is under active discussion in the European Union and CBAM legislation is in the early stages of development within the US Congress. Traditionally, trade policies to address competitiveness concerns have been proposed as a layer on top of a country’s preexisting approach to decarbonizing the industrial sector. Another approach, which may be more appropriate for the current state of global climate policy, is to design an industrial decarbonization policy that natively and explicitly addresses competitiveness concerns.This issue brief outlines such an alternative approach. This policy would define a performance metric for a selected set of industrial sectors and apply a fee based on the greenhouse gas (GHG) content of produced goods in those sectors, but only to the extent the goods’ GHG content exceeds the metric. The fee would be applied equally to both foreign and domestically produced goods, maintaining a level playing field. Overall, this policy approach inherently addresses competitiveness concerns and creates incentives to reduce emissions down to the performance metric, while offering additional advantages. By starting with a performance metric close to current US industrial performance, it would primarily affect those trading partners with higher emissions and not US producers. By assessing the fee only on emissions above the performance metric, the metric would reduce potential effects on the price of regulated industrial goods compared to a traditional carbon price, thereby minimizing downstream and export disruptions.In a follow-on issue brief, we will introduce the idea of an alliance of like-minded nations working to drive decarbonization in selected industrial sectors through an alignment of comparable efforts. Such an alignment would level the playing field of economic competition and negate the need for border measures within the alliance. Border measures would continue to be imposed on countries that do not choose to meet the minimum comparable effort and join the alliance. |
| Date: | 2022–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-03&r=env |
| By: | Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future); Roy, Nicholas (Resources for the Future); Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Resources for the Future (RFF) deployed its electricity market model, Haiku, to examine the expected effects on the electricity sector of three policy proposals being considered for the budget reconciliation process: Clean Energy for America Act (CEAA) tax credit extensions, the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), and a carbon fee. Policy impacts were evaluated in terms of clean electricity generation, emissions reductions, and cost burden on consumers. We find:In 2030, the CEAA tax credit extensions achieve 69 percent clean generation, the CEAA combined with the CEPP achieves 78 percent clean generation, and the CEAA, CEPP, and a central case carbon fee achieve 91 percent clean generation.In 2030, the CEAA and CEPP together achieve 81 percent reduction from 2005 emissions levels in the electricity sector. Adding the central case carbon fee yields a 94 percent reduction.The combination of the CEAA, CEPP, and a central case carbon fee yields a 4.3 percent reduction in nationally averaged retail electricity prices for the 2022-2031 period.Policy scenario details can be found in the RFF issue brief “Emissions Projections under Alternative Climate Policy Proposals†and general modeling assumptions are detailed in the appendix of the issue brief “Emissions Projections for a Trio of Federal Climate Policies.†The CEAA as modeled includes direct pay to generators but excludes the energy efficiency investments to allow for direct comparison of cost-effectiveness across different supply-side policy investments. The CEAA as written is technology neutral, but Haiku only represents new builds of solar and wind. The CEPP is modeled as a $150 per MWh incentive to new solar and wind generation for the first year of operation and does not include a penalty for not achieving performance targets.[1] We assumed policies are implemented as described without strategic behavior from load serving entities. All policies modeled are exclusive to electricity generation and do not account for economy wide electrification, demand response (consumption is fixed for all policy scenarios), revenue use, or a broader economy-wide carbon fee. All dollar values are reported in 2018 USD and emissions estimates in metric tons. The Haiku model solves over a 30-year time horizon with outputs from 2020 to 2040. |
| Date: | 2021–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-15&r=env |
| By: | Víctor Saavedra; Fernando Carriazo; Rafael Puyana; Carlos Felipe Reyes; María Mónica Salazar |
| Abstract: | El Ordenamiento Territorial, que define la configuración urbana de los municipios y su relación con el entorno suburbano y rural, juega un papel central en las políticas públicas de mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático, así como para cumplir con el compromiso de reducción de emisiones en Colombia. El Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2022-2026 “Colombia, potencia mundial de la vida†establece como eje central un ordenamiento territorial al rededor del agua, lo que representa un avance significativo, reconociendo la importancia de la configuración del territorio para lograr el desarrollo de objetivos que han sido esquivos en el pasado. Considerando las discusiones en curso sobre el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo (PND), esta nota conceptual identifica elementos a destacar en las propuestas realizadas por el gobierno nacional, e identifica brechas y oportunidades de mejora que aún pueden fortalecerse para asegurar una reforma exitosa de las herramientas de ordenamiento territorial y un logro más efectivo de los objetivos climáticos a través de la planificación urbana.****** Abstract: Territorial Planning, which defines the urban configuration of the municipalities and their relationship with the suburban and rural environment, plays a central role in public policies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as to comply with the commitment to reduce emissions in Colombia. The National Development Plan 2022-2026 "Colombia, world power of life" establishes as a central axis a territorial ordering around water, which represents a significant advance, recognizing the importance of the configuration of the territory to achieve the development of objectives that have been elusive in the past. Considering the ongoing discussions on the National Development Plan (PND), this concept note identifies elements to highlight in the proposals made by the national government, and identifies gaps and opportunities for improvement that can still be strengthened to ensure a successful reform of the tools. territorial ordering and a more effective achievement of climate objectives through urban planning. |
| Keywords: | Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, Simplificación de Instrumentos, Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales, Estudios de Riesgo, Catastro Multipropósito, Política Urbana, Deforestación, Suelo Suburbano, Maduración de Proyectos, Categorías de Usos de Suelo, Recomendaciones, National Development Plan, Simplification of Instruments, Regional Autonomous Corporations, Risk Studies, Multipurpose Cadastre, Urban Policy, Deforestation, Suburban Land, Project Maturation, Land Use Categories, Recommendations |
| JEL: | Q10 Q20 J10 Q40 Q51 Q52 Q53 Q56 Q57 Q58 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R20 R21 R22 R23 R28 R31 R32 R33 R38 R41 R42 R48 |
| Date: | 2023–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000124:020742&r=env |
| By: | Biggs, Trent; Caviglia-Harris, Jill; Rodrigues Ribeiro, Jime; Ottoni Santiago, Thaís; Sills, Erin; AP West, Thales; Mullan, Katrina |
| Abstract: | We estimate the amount of avoided deforestation due to the use of near-real-time satellite imagery (DETER) to support the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), the conservation of indigenous and other protected areas, and compliance with the Brazilian Forest Code (FC). We develop a Directed Acyclical Graph (DAG) that outlines some of the econometric challenges that arise from the role of policy in the estimation of satellite data on deforestation and consider that policy could be a mediator and/or a moderator along this causal chain. We control for other policies that were introduced simultaneously with DETER, and allow for changes in the influences of prices, agricultural settlement, and forest conservation policies on deforestation after near-real-time monitoring was introduced. We find both direct impacts of DETER on deforestation, and indirect impacts via changes in the influences of commodity prices on deforestation. Our counterfactual estimates suggest that 652, 216 km2 of forest was saved from 2000 to 2015 in the Legal Amazon region due to the presence of satellites (43, 481 km2 per year). We estimate that avoided emissions amount to approximately 24 Pg CO2 during our study period. At the municipality level, standardized carbon emission reductions ranged from -1447 to 288, 611 Mg CO2 per km2. |
| Date: | 2022–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-22&r=env |
| By: | Pablo Aguilar (Banco de España); Beatriz González (Banco de España); Samuel Hurtado (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a general equilibrium sectoral model designed to produce macroeconomic scenarios that incorporate transition risks associated with policies to curb climate change (but not physical risks associated with the long-term costs of climate change). The model is calibrated to the Spanish economy, and can simulate the impact of shocks to the price and coverage of greenhouse gas emission allowances, with particular attention to sectoral asymmetries arising from (i) the energy intensity of each industry, (ii) the source of that energy, and (iii) the interdependencies with other industries. We show that for an increase in the price of emission allowances similar to that observed in recent years (from approximately €25 per tonne of CO2 in 2019 to almost €100 per tonne in 2022) the model predicts a cumulative decline in Spanish GDP after three years of 0.37%. The loss in value added is very heterogeneous across industries, ranging from 4% in the most severely affected industries to virtually no impact in the least affected industries. In terms of the use of the model for stress testing, this heterogeneity points to potential risks for financial stability and the importance of the right diversification for banks to diminish their exposure to transition risks. |
| Keywords: | climate change, stress test, input-output matrix |
| JEL: | Q48 H30 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2218&r=env |
| By: | Gilbert E. Metcalf |
| Abstract: | While carbon pricing, in general, and carbon taxes, in particular, are popular with economists, they are subject to considerable misunderstanding among policy makers and the public. In this paper I consider and refute five myths about carbon taxes: 1) that a carbon price will hurt economic growth; 2) that carbon pricing will kill jobs; 3) that a carbon tax and cap and trade program have the same economic impacts; 4) that we can’t achieve carbon reduction targets with a carbon tax; and 5) that carbon pricing is regressive. I then discuss implications for policy making. |
| JEL: | H23 Q43 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31104&r=env |
| By: | Andrés Alonso-Robisco (Banco de España); José Manuel Carbó (Banco de España); José Manuel Marqués (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Preventing the materialization of climate change is one of the main challenges of our time. The involvement of the financial sector is a fundamental pillar in this task, which has led to the emergence of a new field in the literature, climate finance. In turn, the use of Machine Learning (ML) as a tool to analyze climate finance is on the rise, due to the need to use big data to collect new climate-related information and model complex non-linear relationships. Considering the proliferation of articles in this field, and the potential for the use of ML, we propose a review of the academic literature to assess how ML is enabling climate finance to scale up. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a structure of application domains in a highly fragmented research field, aiming to spur further innovative work from ML experts. To pursue this objective, first we perform a systematic search of three scientific databases to assemble a corpus of relevant studies. Using topic modeling (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) we uncover representative thematic clusters. This allows us to statistically identify seven granular areas where ML is playing a significant role in climate finance literature: natural hazards, biodiversity, agricultural risk, carbon markets, energy economics, ESG factors & investing, and climate data. Second, we perform an analysis highlighting publication trends; and thirdly, we show a breakdown of ML methods applied by research area. |
| Keywords: | climate finance, machine learning, literature review, Latent Dirichlet Allocation |
| JEL: | L93 R4 R11 |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2310&r=env |
| By: | Mares, Jan (Resources for the Future); Flannery, Brian (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In recent work, we proposed the GHG index (GGI) as a central concept and administrative tool to determine border adjustments (BAs)—export rebates and import charges for covered products.Flannery 2021. Accounting for Emissions in Global Trade with a Greenhouse Gas Index. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future. With colleagues Jennifer Hillman and Mathew Porterfield (both at Georgetown University Law Center at the time), we initially developed the GGI in the context of a potential upstream US GHG tax. Our Framework report describes how GGIs could be used to determine border tax adjustments (BTAs) compatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. Flannery, Brian P., Jennifer A. Hillman, Jan W. Mares, and Matthew C. Porterfield, 2020. Framework Proposal for a US Upstream GHG Tax with WTO-Compliant Border Adjustments: 2020 Update. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future. Among other criteria for WTO compatibility, the GGI incorporates relevant aspects of recognized international standards to determine the GHG emissions from an industrial facility and its supply chain, and then allocates them to products it manufactures (see Section 3 of the Framework). Essentially, a product’s GGI, which is expressed as tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per tonne of product, multiplied by the GHG tax rate (US$ per tonne of CO2) determines its BTA (US$ per tonne of product). Note that the GGI itself does not depend on the policy used to set a GHG price. Rather, it is a technical metric, based on physical quantities associated with products (i.e., the carbon content of produced fossil resources and GHG process emissions required to create covered products used and produced by manufacturers). For that reason, the GGI could be used in the context of climate policies for BAs other than a GHG tax—or, more generally, as the basis for an international metric that associates GHG emissions with GHG-intensive products for various analyses and policies.For BAs based on a range of policies (besides a tax) that are now under consideration (see footnote 1), the GGI could serve as a metric to assign GHG emissions to products as the basis to apply a price, if there were an objective way to determine the effective GHG price for covered products of these policies. Proposals include the Coons–Peters bill (the FAIR Transition and Competition Act of 2021) and other recent US legislative proposals based on a variety of price-based and regulatory policies, See, for example, the Whitehouse bill (The Clean Competition Act 2022); as well as the European Union’s (EU’s) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) based on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which applies to facilities, not products. Both provide for BAs only for imports, not exports. The Coons–Peters bill requires procedures both to determine an effective price for US GHG emissions and to assign GHG emissions to imported products. CBAM, which calls for emissions permits for imports, requires procedures to assign emissions to covered products (not facilities). Both proposals also require procedures to determine the effective price of GHG policies in nations from which they import covered products. While designing procedures to determine effective GHG prices pose significant challenges (see discussion in the reference cited in footnote 1), here we focus on the potential application of the GGI to assign emissions as the basis to apply a price or charge to covered products.Our related Policy Guidance report Flannery, Brian P., Jennifer A. Hillman, Jan W. Mares, and Matthew C. Porterfield. 2020. Policy Guidance for US GHG Tax Legislation and Regulation: Border Tax Adjustments for Products of Energy-Intensive, Trade-Exposed and Other Industries. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future. discusses tasks for legislators and regulators In Section 3 of the policy guidance report (footnote 4), we proposed that the US Department of the Treasury should establish a new office as the lead agency to manage implementation of the Framework with assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Commerce. We referred to this set of agencies as the US “Regulator†that would be responsible, among other tasks, for administering BTAs under the Framework. In this introduction to the modules, we refer to US and other national officials responsible for administering BAs as “regulators†but use “Regulator†as defined above throughout the modules. to authorize and implement the Framework. Of note, these tasks include procedures to promote continuous improvement as national and international climate policies and practices inevitably evolve. In particular, they include an appeals process allowing affected parties to challenge information from exporters and importers that they suspect to be incorrect, incomplete, or fraudulent. This appeals process recognizes and relies on existing capabilities of US regulators to conduct investigations in foreign nations regarding relevant data for covered, imported products.In the 25 modules that follow, we provide procedures and information to estimate indicative values of the GGIs for representative, covered products. These modules cover 39 industrial sectors and over 100 individual products, as listed in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). As discussed in a related working paper, Flannery, Brian P., and Jan W. Mares. 2021. “Export Rebates and Import Charges for Border Tax Adjustments under an Upstream US GHG Tax: Estimates and Methods.†Working paper 21-32. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future. these procedures rely on information from publicly available sources, such as national average values of products and the resources required to produce them. Our work on this project is ongoing. We are preparing additional modules that cover other sectors. We note that other nations classify covered sectors and products in different ways, and that sectors with similar names in different nations may not include identical products.The modules demonstrate the feasibility of determining indicative estimates for GGI values. They also provide a basis to inform the development of official procedures for BTAs by the regulators in the United States, as well as to engage input from affected industries. We use a variety of publicly available sources of national and sectoral averages for key factors that contribute to GGIs (e.g., average GHG emissions for electricity generation, fuels for thermal energy, and GHG process emissions in key sectors). We refer to these estimates for the GGIs of products as “indicative†and “representative†because they are based on a variety of sources and, for the most part, use average factors rather than facility-specific information. Note that we do not aim to determine GGI values for all possible covered products; rather, we do so for a representative set to demonstrate the process. In many cases this involves only a single product. We used data from national agencies, international institutions, industry and academic sources, and, in a few cases, our own estimates. The GGI values are representative of national averages, rather than actual determinations of the GGI for products of specific facilities, which can differ significantly from national averages.These estimates and procedures to determine the GGI provide a starting point for regulators and manufacturers to determine initial values for export rebates and import charges of GHG-intensive products based on their GGIs. The approaches could be especially useful as a model or template for the US regulators to determine initial import charges based on average values of GGIs for products (or groups of products) exported to the United States from nations that do not currently require detailed reporting of GHG emissions from industrial facilities. In practice, under the Framework, the regulators would develop official estimates for initial import charges based on more up-to-date information using uniform procedures within a sector to allocate emissions from manufacturers to the products they create. During an initial two-year start-up period, import charges would be determined by the US regulators based on national average values of the GGIs for imports. After the start-up period, GGI values for products imported into the United States would be based on facility- and firm-wide averages (as required for US manufacturers seeking export rebates, see immediately below). The start-up period would allow time for capacity building by foreign governments and firms that export to the United States to implement available international procedures to determine GGI values (see Section 3.1 of the Framework). As well, even in the initial years, if the foreign exporter had firm-wide data demonstrating lower values for the GGIs of their products, they would be entitled to appeal for a reduced import charge.In a related working paper, Flannery, Brian P., and Jan W. Mares. 2021. “Determining the Greenhouse Gas Index for Covered Products of Specific Manufacturers.†Working paper 21-31. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future. we describe procedures that would be used to determine GGI values for covered products manufactured in specific facilities, and the use of domestic firm-wide averages as the basis to claim rebates for exports from the United States. In the United States, the information required to determine such GGI values exists and much of it is publicly reported annually. This information could be used by the US regulators to develop authorized procedures for facilities to determine and report their GGI values as the basis for firms to claim export rebates based on their entire domestic production of each covered product. |
| Date: | 2022–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-16&r=env |
| By: | Srivastav, Sugandha; Singh, Tanmay |
| Abstract: | Laws that govern land acquisition can lock in old paradigms. We study one such case: the Coal Bearing Areas Act of 1957 (CBAA) which provides minimal social and environmental safeguards, and deviates in important ways from the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR). The lack of due diligence in the CBAA confers an undue comparative advantage to coal development, which is inconsistent with India's current stance to phasedown coal use, reduce air pollution, and advance modern sources of energy. We argue that the premise under which the CBAA was historically justified is no longer valid due to significant changes in the local context. Namely, the environmental and social costs of coal-based energy are far more salient and the market has cleaner energy alternatives that are cost competitive. We recommend updating land acquisition laws to bring coal under the general purview of LARR or, at minimum, amending CBAA to ensure adequate environmental and social safeguards are in place, both in letter and practice. |
| Keywords: | coal, land acquisition, environmental protection, social impact assessment, rehabilitation and resettlement. |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amz:wpaper:2023-07&r=env |
| By: | John Voorheis; Jonathan Colmer; Kendall Houghton; Eva Lyubich; Mary Munro; Cameron Scalera; Jennifer Withrow |
| Abstract: | The natural environment is central to all aspects of life, but efforts to quantify its influence have been hindered by data availability and measurement constraints. To mitigate some of these challenges, we introduce a new prototype of a microdata infras tructure: the Census Environmental Impacts Frame (EIF). The EIF provides detailed individual-level information on demographics, economic characteristics, and address level histories – linked to spatially and temporally resolved estimates of environmental conditions for each individual – for almost every resident in the United States over the past two decades. This linked microdata infrastructure provides a unique platform for advancing our understanding about the distribution of environmental amenities and hazards, when, how, and why exposures have evolved over time, and the consequences of environmental inequality and changing environmental conditions. We describe the construction of the EIF, explore issues of coverage and data quality, document patterns and trends in individual exposure to two correlated but distinct air pollutants as an application of the EIF, and discuss implications and opportunities for future research. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:23-20&r=env |
| By: | Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Despite recent progress in securing international commitments to fight climate change, such as the Paris Agreement, current climate policies remain far from sufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. While this indicates more aggressive steps are needed, many policy levers remain underutilized. By and large, the policies pursued thus far have focused on demand-side measures, such as fuel economy standards, that directly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, whereas supply-side measures that directly reduce fossil fuel extraction have received relatively little attention. This lopsided focus is at odds with the International Energy Agency’s 1.5°C-consistent pathway, which entails “no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects†starting immediately. Similarly, Welsby et al. (2021) calculate that the same target would require leaving 60 percent of existing oil and gas reserves and 90 percent of coal reserves in the ground. Such reserves would seem to be a natural focus of climate policy. In the United States, greenhouse gas emissions associated with federally owned fossil fuels are equivalent to about 24 percent of annual US emissions (Merrill et al. 2018; Ratledge et al. 2022), giving the federal government direct control over the extraction of these resources. Abroad, even larger shares of fossil fuel reserves are directly owned by governments. Yet governments have largely eschewed policies that directly reduce fossil fuel extraction.Climate mitigation policies can generally be classified as either demand-side, directly reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and hence greenhouse gas emissions, or supply-side, directly reducing fossil fuel extraction. Historically, policymakers have overwhelmingly focused on demand-side measures. For example, in the United States, the Obama administration primarily pursued demand-side policies such as fuel economy standards and power plant regulations but did relatively little to directly reduce the production of fossil fuels. That focus on the demand side may stem in part from a common perception by policymakers and economists that supply-side policies are vulnerable to emissions “leakage†—in which reduced domestic fossil fuel production (and hence emissions) is simply offset by increased production and emissions elsewhere—to which demand-side policies are supposedly immune. But is that truly the case? Are these types of policies fundamentally different? More specifically, what are the major differences between these policies with respect to key outcomes such as leakage and, ultimately, global emissions reductions? This paper explores those questions and shows that the two types of policies are not fundamentally different with respect to leakage concerns. Although both types of policies can induce leakage on their own, when pursued jointly, they are in fact complementary, mitigating or even eliminating leakage.Critics frequently dismiss supply-side policies based on a notion that leakage undermines their effectiveness in reducing emissions globally. However, it is commonly overlooked that leakage is an issue for demand-side climate actions as well. For example, whereas analyses of the effects of federal oil and gas development frequently emphasize the potential for leakage of production to other regions, analyses of demand-side policies like fuel economy standards typically do not consider the analogous potential for leakage of consumption elsewhere.On their own, demand-side policies generate leakage by reducing the price of fossil fuels, making it cheaper for other consumers, such as those in other countries, to burn them. Supply-side policies analogously generate leakage by increasing the price of fossil fuels, encouraging more production elsewhere. The climate benefits of either supply- or demand-side policies are each reduced by emissions leakage, or substitution, just via different mechanisms. Despite this symmetry, leakage concerns are disproportionately raised in the context of supply-side policies.Leakage is not inevitable, though. Standard neoclassical economic theory shows that leakage can be avoided if supply- and demand-side policies are implemented in tandem and with equal ambition, in a quantitative sense in terms of the direct number of barrels of oil of consumption and production reduced. Intuitively, leakage is a problem either when demand-side policy suppresses global fossil fuel prices, making it cheaper for other countries to emit, or when supply-side policy boosts those prices and thereby makes it more profitable for other countries to produce more fossil fuels. But if both types of policies are implemented in parallel and in equal magnitude, these two effects can exactly offset each other: reduced supply is offset by reduced demand, muting or even eliminating the effect on global prices and hence the leakage problem. Conversely, a lopsided policy approach that addresses only demand or only supply will continue to generate leakage, demonstrating how the two kinds of policies can create synergies if pursued with similar ambition.In this study, I consider leakage under both types of climate policies and argue that these policies are better thought of as partners that complement each other, and not rivals or alternative policies, as they are commonly seen. I demonstrate this point using standard neoclassical economic theory. This exercise demonstrates conceptually symmetric leakage effects from both demand-side and supply-side policies—if each type of policy is pursued alone. But when both types of policies are pursued in parallel, their individual weaknesses become synergies, mitigating leakage.I first demonstrate this effect using a simple theoretical model that shows the effects of each policy type on the regional distribution of fossil fuel production and consumption. It shows how leakage can be reduced or eliminated, demonstrating that leakage can be eliminated by pursuing supply- and demand-side policies in tandem and with equal ambition.In addition to this theoretical exercise, I use an empirically calibrated model of US and global markets for oil and gas, developed in Prest (2022), to conduct a quantitative exercise of the synergies produced by pursuing supply-side policies (such as reduced development of oil and gas on US federal lands and waters) in parallel with the more commonly implemented demand-side ones (such as fuel economy standards). The results demonstrate how such policies complement each other by mitigating or even potentially eliminating leakage.Beyond the issue of leakage, I outline other benefits of pursuing parallel policies, from both economic and political economy perspectives. I also discuss how the demand-centric structure of existing emissions accounting systems inefficiently skews policymakers’ incentives away from supply-side actions and in favor of demand-side ones. Overall, supply-side policies represent underappreciated tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, given their complementarities with more commonly pursued demand-side policies. This underappreciation is a contributor to the disproportionate focus by policymakers and economists alike on demand-side policies like fuel economy standards and power plant emissions intensity regulations. |
| Date: | 2022–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-06&r=env |
| By: | Favour C. Onuoha (Evangel University Akaeze, Nigeria); Stephen K. Dimnwobi (Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria); Kingsley I. Okere (Gregory University, Uturu, Nigeria); Chukwunonso Ekesiobi (Igbariam, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | Prompted by the renewable energy funding challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) amid surging public debt in the region, this study investigates the moderating role of governance quality in the relationship between public debt and REC in the region using the Feasible Generalized Least Squares. The study established that public debt positively impacts REC, but the interactive effect of governance quality and public debt impedes REC. Policy prescriptions are put forward to address the funding challenges of transitioning to a green energy future in SSA by highlighting the critical role of governance. |
| Keywords: | Public Debt, Renewable Energy Consumption, Governance Quality, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:23/028&r=env |
| By: | Bioret, Lucie (Resources for the Future); Shih, Jhih-Shyang (Resources for the Future); Krupnick, Alan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In 2022, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) issued a request for information on the design and implementation of a possible clean hydrogen hubs program as a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA has a goal of “accelerating research, development, demonstration, and deployment of hydrogen from clean energy sources, †primarily by allocating 8 billion dollars for the development of clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs) around the United States. On June 6, after receiving over three hundred responses to a detailed list of questions in its request for information, DOE released a Notice of Intent (NOI) on the implementation of a new H2Hubs program. The NOI alerts all potential bidders to the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to come in the Fall.To get started, under the IIJA, the hubs are to:“Demonstrably aid achievement of the clean hydrogen production standard developed under section 822(a) [of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 USC 16166a)];Demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end use of clean hydrogen; andCan be developed into a national clean hydrogen network to facilitate a clean hydrogen economy.†The first point is a requirement for every funded hub to meet the minimum clean hydrogen production standard: Less than 2kg of CO2e emissions per kilogram of hydrogen produced at the site of production. The second point concerns the development of a full clean hydrogen value chain within the H2Hubs. The last point is more vague, since neither the NOI nor the IIJA seems to detail the meaning of a “national clean hydrogen network.†A few possible definitions exist for this network:A physical network linking the various hubs;Hubs that learn from one another about technologies and best practicesEconomic, environmental and social impacts that are optimized at a national scale rather than at an individual hub level; andThe establishment of a mature national clean hydrogen market with sufficient producers and end-users and stable prices competitive with carbon intensive hydrogen and substitute fossil fuels. It would be useful for DOE to clarify this term, perhaps in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and/or the expected national clean hydrogen strategy and roadmap.However these objectives are defined, this program faces a daunting task. Achieving these goals will require dramatic reductions in the cost of creating low greenhouse gas (GHG) hydrogen and the generation of enough demand to buy the production at a price necessary to cover costs and a reasonable profit, irrespective of the subsidies provided by the H2Hubs program. Production will need to be large to take advantage of economies of scale. New technologies on the supply and demand sides will be needed to aid achievement of the clean hydrogen standard and reach the Hydrogen shot goal of decreasing the cost of clean hydrogen production to $1 per kg in a decade. In addition, the applicants must navigate multiple requirements involving production inputs, specific targeted end-uses, varied locations, as well as environmental justice considerations and jobs growth, all under timeline and budget constraints. On the latter constraint, the risk of having an unsuccessful hub has to be low enough to attract at least 50 percent of the financing from private sources.In this issue brief, we offer our comments on the DOE’s outline of the H2Hubs program. |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-04&r=env |
| By: | Amri, Tariq Al; Otaibi, Naif Al; Marey-Perez, Manuel |
| Abstract: | This research aims to highlight the obstacles to green buildings and reveal the factors that can help in reducing these obstacles. It uses a qualitative approach and collects data from previous studies. The results highlight that the literature on green buildings mentions barriers and obstacles in different categories, including financial, governmental, organizational, management, operational, technical, and socio-cultural barriers. Most of these barriers, directly and indirectly, affect the development of green buildings. To overcome these barriers, there are some important factors to be considered, including the introduction of new government rules and regulations, offering incentives to industry to encourage businesses, creating a collaborative culture among stakeholders to spread awareness and knowledge, information regarding green building, ensuring the sharing of success factors, and sharing of critical cases to add knowledge to others. Emphasis on these factors or strategies can help in the development of green buildings, which will lead to sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. Project managers can consider these results as guidelines to ensure sustainable development. |
| Date: | 2023–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:a352b&r=env |
| By: | Eskander, Shaikh; Barbier, Edward B. |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of natural disaster on agricultural households who make rent-in or rent-out transactions. Our econometric approach accounts for the effects of disaster-exposure both on the adjustments in the quantity of operated land and agricultural income conditional on the land quantity adjustments. Using a household survey dataset from Bangladesh, we find that farmers were able to partially ameliorate their losses from exposure to disasters by optimizing their operational farm size through these land rental transactions. Land rental market may be an effective instrument in reducing disaster risks, and post-disaster policies should consider this role more systematically. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh; natural disasters; extensive and intensive margins; land rental markets |
| JEL: | Q24 Q54 D13 D64 Q15 |
| Date: | 2023–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:118648&r=env |
| By: | Rennert, Kevin (Resources for the Future); Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future); Pizer, William (Resources for the Future); Newell, Richard G. (Resources for the Future); Anthoff, David (Resources for the Future); Kingdon, Cora; Rennels, Lisa; Cooke, Roger (Resources for the Future); Raftery, Adrian E.; Å evÄ íková, Hana; Errickson, Frank |
| Abstract: | The social cost of carbon is a vitally important metric for informing the climate policy of numerous entities, including most notably its role in guiding climate regulations issued by the US federal government (USG). Characterization of uncertainty and transparency of assumptions are critical for supporting such an influential metric used in policy analysis. Challenges inherent to SCC estimation push the boundaries of typical analytical techniques and require augmented approaches to assess uncertainty, which in turn also raises important considerations for discounting. This paper addresses challenges related to projecting very long-term economic growth, population, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as calibration of key discounting parameters for consistency with those projections. Our work improves upon alternative approaches that have been used by the USG, such as the use of non-probabilistic scenarios and constant discounting. The most prominent set of scenarios commonly used for this purpose do not fully characterize the uncertainty distribution of fully probabilistic model input data or corresponding SCC estimate outputs. Incorporating the full range of economic uncertainty in the SCC further underscores the importance of adopting a stochastic discounting approach to account for such uncertainty in an integrated manner.Click "Download" above to view the full working paper.To read the Appendix, click "Online Appendix" below. |
| Date: | 2021–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-28&r=env |
| By: | Dolphin, Geoffroy (Resources for the Future); Pahle, Michael; Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Kosch, Mirjam |
| Abstract: | Jurisdictions around the world increasingly affirm their contributions to the 2015 Paris Agreement by pledging net zero targets. We argue that delivering on a net-zero target compels a backward induction approach to climate policy, which differs from the prevailing approach by stipulating that the objective for designing policy pathways must change from minimizing the cost of the policy to maximizing its credibility. Our argument rests on the premise that private investments play a key role for net zero, and to align them with net zero, getting expectations right is more relevant than getting the prices right. Backward induction compels a dynamically consistent pathway that can overcome the problem that emitters may expect the rules and targets of climate policy as open for constant political renegotiation. We furthermore sketch the main elements for a regulatory strategy to put this approach into action that builds on instilling commitment. |
| Date: | 2022–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-18&r=env |
| By: | Barbara Buljat (Université Côte d'Azur, France; GREDEG CNRS) |
| Abstract: | We often read about environmental issues, but we rarely personally witness them. Because of this lack of direct experience, people often perceive environmental threats as events distant in space and time and therefore underestimate their risks. Although direct contact with environmental threats might enhance people's risk perception and engagement, in reality such experiences may be dangerous, costly, and complicated to implement. One strategy to bridge this gap could be communication through virtual immersive experiences. This meta-research identifies the key psychological factors that lead to voluntary pro-environmental behavior (PEB) that have been investigated in previous studies using virtual experiments. After a systematic review of the existing literature, we conclude that immersive virtual experiences can influence some of the psychological factors that are important predictors of pro-environmental behavior, namely, concern, risk perception, connectedness to nature, intrinsic motivation for pro-environmental behavior, psychological distance, and presence. This work makes an academic and a practical contribution. It provides a foundation for policy makers and environmental communicators who want to enhance their campaigns with immersive storytelling, and for researchers who want to enrich and contextualize laboratory experiments that test environmental behaviors and risk preferences. |
| Keywords: | Pro-environmental behavior (PEB), immersive technology, virtual experiments, meta research |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2022-15&r=env |
| By: | Susana Moreno Sánchez (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Since the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, policy decisions made by both the UK and the EU will, over time, lead to regulatory divergence and create barriers to trade between the two separate regulatory and legal spaces. The UK government has already undertaken a comprehensive review of all retained EU law, to reap the benefits of its regulatory autonomy, and specific regulatory reforms have been identified in high-growth sectors. Yet there are some constraints. The UK has committed to respecting certain EU and international standards provided for in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement concluded with the EU. Most notably, a common level of protection is secured in certain areas deemed relevant for the level playing field, such as subsidy control, taxation, labour and social standards and environment and climate, although the strength of the level playing field safeguards differs considerably by area. Moreover, regulatory divergence would come at the expense of single market access. In this setting, certain regulatory measures and subsidies granted to economic operators could be a potential source of political friction between the EU and the United Kingdom and could lead to future legal disputes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. At the first meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee on Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development held on 12 October 2021, EU and UK representatives addressed issues related to subsidy control (the UK’s Subsidy Control Bill and the EU’s proposed Regulation on foreign subsidies), specific subsidies (the UK’s renewable energy schemes and the EU’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve) and several regulatory initiatives on labour and social standards and environment and climate. These technical discussions could prove crucial in limiting the risk of EU-UK disputes arising in level playing field issues. |
| Keywords: | Brexit, EU-UK relationship, Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), level playing field (LPF), regulatory autonomy, regulatory divergence |
| JEL: | F53 K33 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2221&r=env |
| By: | Cullen S. Hendrix (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | Concerned about critical mineral supply chains and its own strategic vulnerabilities, the European Union is advancing a buyers club to procure minerals critical to the clean energy transition, such as bauxite, cobalt, lithium, and nickel. The European Union is deeply dependent on imports of both raw and processed critical minerals and materials and thus highly exposed to global price volatility. The door appears to be open for the United States or other EU trading partners and like-minded countries to join this club. Decarbonization is not the only impetus behind the proposed Brussels buyers club. Both the European Union and United States view China's dominance of critical mineral supply chains as a national security issue, because these minerals are key inputs to modern military technology. Hendrix agrees that supply chains for critical minerals desperately need widening to meet projected global demand and tackle climate change mitigation, but he warns that a purchasers club would not be a step in the right direction. A buyers club would be prone to free riding, set up distributive conflicts within the European Union, and reduce the share of climate mitigation benefits accruing to critical mineral-producing countries, many of which are developing and middle-income economies. |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:pbrief:pb23-6&r=env |
| By: | Flannery, Brian (Resources for the Future); Mares, Jan (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In the context of a US upstream GHG tax, our 2020 Framework and related Policy Guidance reports propose a Framework to create and implement border tax adjustments (BTAs)—export rebates and import charges for covered greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive products—consistent with US obligations under the World Trading Organization (WTO). They provide background and details on internationally recognized methodologies to determine GHG emissions from facilities and how they can be used to create WTO-compatible BTAs for GHG-intensive products eligible for and subject to BTAs.The GHG index (GGI) is a central concept and administrative index proposed in the Framework that is used to determine BTAs for covered products. Given the GGI (with units of carbon dioxide-equivalent [CO2e] per tonne of product) of a covered domestic product, the rate for its export rebate (US$ per tonne of product) is given by the GGI multiplied by the GHG tax rate (US$ per tonne CO2). Similarly, for a covered imported product, the import charge is the US GHG tax rate multiplied by its GGI. GGI values for like products produced by different manufacturers in different ways (e.g., using different natural resources, technologies, processes, sources of thermal energy, and electricity) can have significantly varied GGI values. While like products will be taxed at the same US GHG rate, the amount of the import charge or export rebate will differ depending on the product’s GGI. Section 3.6 of the Framework report details how GGI is determined in a manner analogous to value-added taxes (VATs), but here we apply it to propagation of the upstream sources of taxed emissions.Click "Download" above to read the full working paper. |
| Date: | 2021–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-31&r=env |
| By: | Laura Hospido (Banco de España, CEMFI and IZA); Carlos Sanz (Banco de España and CEMFI); Ernesto Villanueva (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Air pollution is an increasing cause of concern among the scientific community, policymakers and the general public. This interest has led to a sharp increase in the number of scientific papers on air pollution. This paper provides a summary of the most prominent recent economic literature on the effects of air pollution, the main policy lessons that can be drawn from it, and the areas in which more research would be especially valuable. The literature has found sizable negative effects of air pollution on health and mortality. There is also some evidence that air pollution may have negative non-health effects, reducing labour supply and productivity, although the evidence is more mixed on the latter aspect. The literature also suggests that effects on both health and non-health dimensions may be heterogeneous in a number of dimensions, most prominently age, with more negative effects for the elderly. Finally, more research is needed on which policies to tackle air pollution would be more cost-effective. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, health, labour supply, productivity |
| JEL: | I12 J22 J24 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:2301&r=env |
| By: | Aziz, Sonia; Boyle, Kevin; Akanda, Ali S.; Hanifi, M.A.; Pakhtigian, Emily L. |
| Abstract: | In Bangladesh, cholera poses a significant health risk. Yet, information about the nature and severity of cholera risk is limited as risk varies over time and by location and changing weather patterns have made historical cholera risk predictions less reliable. In this paper, we examine how households use geographically and temporally personalized cholera risk predictions to inform their water use behaviors. Using data from an eight month field experiment, we estimate how access to a smartphone application containing monthly cholera risk predictions unique to a user’s home location affects households’ knowledge about their cholera risk as well as their water use practices. We find that households with access to this application feel more equipped to respond to environmental and health risks they may face and reduce their reliance on surface water for bathing and washing—a common cholera transmission pathway. We do not find that households invest additional resources into drinking water treatment, nor do we find reductions in self-reported cholera incidence. Access to dynamic risk information can help households make safer water choices; tailoring information provision to those at highest risk could reduce cholera transmission in endemic areas. |
| Date: | 2022–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-24&r=env |
| By: | Andrea Orame (Bank of Italy); Daniele Pianeselli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We study the European automotive industry in the 2013-2018 period. Volkswagen's Dieselgate scandal and the Paris Agreement, both in 2015, substantially caused a technological shock prompting firms to produce low-emissions cars. By using patent and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) data, we test how firms reacted to that shock. We provide evidence that Italian firms intensified their internal R&D activity but, unlike the rest of Europe, they did not increase their M&A activity. This can potentially reduce the speed of the green transition of Italian firms to the advantage of their competitors. |
| Keywords: | automotive, green transition, technical change, mergers and acquisitions, innovation, patents, electric car |
| JEL: | G34 L62 O14 O3 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_767_23&r=env |
| By: | Burtraw, Dallas (Resources for the Future); Fischer, Carolyn (Resources for the Future); Fowlie, Meredith; Williams III, Roberton C. (Resources for the Future); Cropper, Maureen L. (Resources for the Future); Aldy, Joseph E. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Economists have for decades recommended that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases be taxed—or otherwise priced—to provide incentives for their reduction. The United States does not have a federal carbon tax; however, many state and federal programs to reduce carbon emissions effectively price carbon—for example, through cap-and-trade systems or regulations. There are also programs that subsidize reductions in carbon emissions. At the 2022 meetings of the American Economic Association, the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis brought together five well-known economists—Joe Aldy, Dallas Burtraw, Carolyn Fischer, Meredith Fowlie, and Rob Williams—to discuss how the United States does, in fact, price carbon and how it could price carbon. Maureen Cropper chaired the panel. This paper summarizes their remarks. |
| Date: | 2022–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-19&r=env |
| By: | Laura Bakkensen; Toan Phan; Russell Wong |
| Abstract: | We theoretically and empirically investigate how climate risks affect collateralized debt markets. First, we develop a debt model where agents have different beliefs over a long-run risk. In contrast with existing two-period competitive-equilibrium models, our infinite-horizon competitive-search model predicts more pessimistic agents are more likely to make leveraged investments on risky collateral assets. They also tend to use longer maturity debt contracts, which are more exposed to the long-run risk. Second, employing large data on real estate and mortgage transactions, combined with high resolution sea-level-rise maps, we find robust evidence for these findings. We also show how monetary and securitization policies affect mortgage climate risk exposure. Our results highlight the importance of heterogeneous beliefs in understanding the effects of climate change on the financial system. |
| Keywords: | climate finance; sea-level rise; heterogeneous beliefs; real estate; mortgage; search and matching; monetary policy |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedrwp:95450&r=env |
| By: | Liu, Wen; Onel, Gulcan; Useche, Pilar |
| Keywords: | Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea22:334169&r=env |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Abstract: | In 2022, the world faced multiple crises. Disruptions to food systems from the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, major natural disasters, civil unrest and political instability, and the growing impacts of climate change continued, as the Russia-Ukraine war and inflation exacerbated a global food and fertilizer crisis. The growing number of crises, their increasing impact, and rising numbers of hungry and displaced people have galvanized calls to rethink responses to food crises, creating a real opportunity for change. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; development; food security; hunger; policy; resilience; crises |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:136675&r=env |
| By: | Kim, Yeong Jae; Sarmiento, Luis |
| Abstract: | This study identifies the effect of Uber on the air quality of urban agglomerations in the United States. For this, we infer its causal impact on the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index with state-of-the-art difference-in-difference estimators accounting for Uber’s staggered implementation and dynamic treatment effects. Results show that Uber improves air quality. The value of the air quality index and the number of unhealthy air quality episodes decrease after its introduction. We provide evidence that the bulk of the improvement comes from declining ozone levels during the summer. Notably, results hold for a plethora of different specifications, samples, and robustness exercises. To the best of our knowledge, this article is the first to estimate the air quality effects of ride-hailing technologies empirically in the United States. However, further research is required to identify the exact mechanisms through which Uber’s impact on the transportation system affects air quality. |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-34&r=env |
| By: | Giulia Bettin (Universitá Politecnica delle Marche and MoFiR.); Amadou Jallow (University of the Gambia.); Alberto Zazzaro (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and MoFiR.) |
| Keywords: | migrants’ remittances, international migration, natural disasters. |
| JEL: | F24 F22 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:673&r=env |
| By: | Vieira, João Pedro; Dahis, Ricardo; Assunção, Juliano |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of general deterrence in improving forest law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon. Using a difference-in-differences strategy and novel farm-level data, we find that sanctions curbed deforestation and promoted reforestation among punished farmers and their neighbors. Heterogeneities reveal that even sanctions lacking incapacitation components lead to substantial behavioral changes and that farmers’ responsiveness to sanctions coincides with the government's commitment to enforcement. We find no evidence of significant strategic responses regarding spatial displacement or monitoring evasion. Overall, sanctions prevented 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions between 2006-2019, equivalent to 31% of US emissions in 2021. |
| Date: | 2023–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:vqpkm&r=env |
| By: | Matteo Basei; Giorgio Ferrari; Neofytos Rodosthenous |
| Abstract: | The socioeconomic impact of pollution naturally comes with uncertainty due to, e.g., current new technological developments in emissions' abatement or demographic changes. On top of that, the trend of the future costs of the environmental damage is unknown: Will global warming dominate or technological advancements prevail? The truth is that we do not know which scenario will be realised and the scientific debate is still open. This paper captures those two layers of uncertainty by developing a real-options-like model in which a decision maker aims at adopting a once-and-for-all costly reduction in the current emissions rate, when the stochastic dynamics of the socioeconomic costs of pollution are subject to Brownian shocks and the drift is an unobservable random variable. By keeping track of the actual evolution of the costs, the decision maker is able to learn the unknown drift and to form a posterior dynamic belief of its true value. The resulting decision maker's timing problem boils down to a truly two-dimensional optimal stopping problem which we address via probabilistic free-boundary methods and a state-space transformation. We show that the optimal timing for implementing the emissions reduction policy is the first time that the learning process has become ``decisive'' enough; that is, when it exceeds a time-dependent percentage. This is given in terms of an endogenously determined threshold uniquely solving a nonlinear integral equation, which we can solve numerically. We discuss the implications of the optimal policy and also perform comparative statics to understand the role of the relevant model's parameters in the optimal policy. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.10344&r=env |
| By: | Simon Briole (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Augustin Colette (INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques); Emmanuelle Lavaine (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | While a sharp decline in air pollution has been documented during early Covid-19 lockdown periods, the stability and homogeneity of this effect are still under debate. Building on pollution data with a very high level of resolution, this paper estimates the impact of lockdown policies on P M 2.5 exposure in France over the whole year 2020. Our analyses highlight a surprising and undocumented increase in exposure to particulate pollution during lockdown periods. This result is observed during both lockdown periods, in early spring and late fall, and is robust to several identification strategies and model specifications. Combining administrative datasets with machine learning techniques, this paper also highlights strong spatial heterogeneity in lockdown effects, especially according to long-term pollution exposure. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, P M 2.5, lockdown, spatial heterogeneity, machine learning, Covid-19 |
| Date: | 2023–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04084912&r=env |
| By: | Timo Goeschl; Marcel Oestreich; Alice Soldà (-) |
| Abstract: | How to design audit mechanisms that harness the benefits of self-reporting for achieving compliance with regulatory targets while limiting misreporting is a pressing question in many regulatory contexts, from climate policies to public health. Contrasting random audit and competitive audit mechanisms, this paper theoretically and experimentally studies their performance in regulating socially undesirable emissions when peer information about others’ emissions is present or absent. Our focus is on the compliance of emission levels with regulatory targets, going beyond existing results on truthfulness of reporting. Confirming theoretical predictions, the experiment shows that in contrast to the random audit mechanism, the competitive audit mechanism can leverage peer information for compliance: emission levels are closer to the social optimum. Yet, emission levels fall somewhat short of full compliance. The results highlight the considerable potential of competitive audit mechanisms for achieving not only more truthfulness, but also more compliance. |
| Keywords: | Regulation; compliance; tournament theory; online experiment |
| JEL: | D62 H41 H83 L51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:23/1069&r=env |
| By: | Markus Grillitsch; Bjørn T. Asheim |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we empirically and theoretically present regenerative regional development in responsible value chains as an alternative to the prevailing traditional, neoliberal economic rationale of globalization. We develop the argument on the back of a longitudinal in-depth case study on actors’ engagement in the recurring crises in the maritime industry in Sunnmøre/Norway. The alternative perspective is an agentic response from the business community in the wake of recent crises. It builds on advanced manufacturing capabilities, automation, and precision technologies, which promise local economic regeneration while reducing the reliance on low-cost labor, substantially cuts emissions through reduced long-haul transport, use of green energy, and more energy-efficient production processes. To succeed, however, it calls for policies that promote the building of local capabilities and penalize practices causing environmental and social harm in global value chains, making it possible to move towards responsible and shorter value chains. |
| Keywords: | Regional resilience, sustainability transformation, human agency, global value chains, automation and industry 4.0, innovation, industrial and innovation policy |
| JEL: | R10 R11 R50 R58 O30 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2310&r=env |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Although measurements of biodiversity-related financial risks are in their infancy, several metrics and indicators are available to assess their impacts and dependencies in the financial system, and approaches are emerging to translate biodiversity risks into financial risks. This mapping paper provides a comprehensive catalogue and literature review of existing and emerging definitions, key metrics and indicators, measurement approaches, tools and practices for central banks, financial supervisors, and financial market participants to measure biodiversity-related financial risks. |
| Keywords: | biodiversity, biodiversity loss, central banks, ecosystem services, ecosystems, financial risk, financial system, nature |
| Date: | 2023–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaac:36-en&r=env |
| By: | Borenstein, Severin; Bushnell, James |
| Abstract: | Within most developed economies, the general blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions involves decarbonizing the electric sector, followed by significant transitions to electricity within the transportation, commercial, and residential sectors. Recent trends summarized in Figure 1 reveal how early in this process the United States is. Overall US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions declined from 5, 631 mmTons in 2010 to 5, 298 in 2018 despite a decade of economic growth. However, this drop of 333 mmTons reflected a nearly 500 mmTon/year decline in the electric sector partially offset by increases in all other major sectors, including the residential (958 to 1, 007) and transportation (1, 874 to 1, 935) sectors.Substantial progress has been made in electricity, and the combination of rapidly increasing renewable generation and looming retirements of substantial coal generation capacity suggest this will continue, if not accelerate. The GHG growth in all other sectors during the 2010s indicates just how important decarbonization in these sectors will be to accelerate declines in overall emissions. In this paper, we focus on two of these sectors: residential transportation (i.e., light-duty vehicles) and direct residential emissions. Unlike the decarbonization of electric generation, decarbonizing these sectors will require decisions by millions of individual consumers, who will in turn need to commit to newer technologies capable of providing services powered by electricity. There are a myriad of factors driving such choices, including the relative convenience of using the new technologies, the potential need for upgrading household electrical systems, and the relative costs of the new appliances or vehicles. Another factor is the age of these durable goods. Residential furnaces and water heaters can last more than 20 years, yet according to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey, over two-thirds of these appliances are currently less than 15 years old (Figure 2).One other fundamental factor is the costs of powering an electric vehicle (EV) or appliance relative to their conventional counterparts. While electric vehicles and appliances have been touted as significantly less expensive to use, this is not the case in all locations or circumstances. In a survey of the current electrification landscape, Davis (2021) shows that electricity price relative to other energy sources is the key consideration in consumer choices regarding space heating. Consumer acceptance of electric appliances will be impaired if they are only modestly less expensive, let alone more expensive, to use than their conventional counterparts, given the other challenges confronting a transition to electrification. This challenge is even more daunting when one considers how local environmental and utility regulatory policies affect energy prices. In the next two sections of this paper we characterize the marginal retail prices of the key fuels—electricity, gasoline, and natural gas—relative to the social marginal costs of those fuels. One key takeaway is that gasoline is underpriced relative to its social marginal cost in nearly all of the United States, while electricity is highly overpriced in some of the most populous parts of the country. In section 4 we discuss why the price of electricity, and to a lesser extent natural gas, came to be so much higher than social marginal cost, while gasoline remains underpriced. The main point here is that traditional approaches to utility rate design have created large upward biases in utility prices. While the underpricing of environmental externalities somewhat offsets this upward bias, on both coasts of the United States the externality costs are not sufficient to offset regulatory rate distortions in electricity. In Section 5 we explore options for correcting this situation. Most options involve a rethinking of both the objectives and implementation of utility rate design. In Section 6, we explore how mispricing energy is likely to affect incentives for residential electrification. Section 7 concludes with a list of topics for future research raised by the issues and analysis discussed.To read the full working paper, click "Download" above. |
| Date: | 2021–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-35&r=env |
| By: | Tom Savage; Antonio del Rio Chanona; Gbemi Oluleye |
| Abstract: | Increasing the adoption of alternative technologies is vital to ensure a successful transition to net-zero emissions in the manufacturing sector. Yet there is no model to analyse technology adoption and the impact of policy interventions in generating sufficient demand to reduce cost. Such a model is vital for assessing policy-instruments for the implementation of future energy scenarios. The design of successful policies for technology uptake becomes increasingly difficult when associated market forces/factors are uncertain, such as energy prices or technology efficiencies. In this paper we formulate a novel robust market potential assessment problem under uncertainty, resulting in policies that are immune to uncertain factors. We demonstrate two case studies: the potential use of carbon capture and storage for iron and steel production across the EU, and the transition to hydrogen from natural gas in steam boilers across the chemicals industry in the UK. Each robust optimisation problem is solved using an iterative cutting planes algorithm which enables existing models to be solved under uncertainty. By taking advantage of parallelisation we are able to solve the nonlinear robust market assessment problem for technology adoption in times within the same order of magnitude as the nominal problem. Policy makers often wish to trade-off certainty with effectiveness of a solution. Therefore, we apply an approximation to chance constraints, varying the amount of uncertainty to locate less certain but more effective solutions. Our results demonstrate the possibility of locating robust policies for the implementation of low-carbon technologies, as well as providing direct insights for policy-makers into the decrease in policy effectiveness resulting from increasing robustness. The approach we present is extensible to a large number of policy design and alternative technology adoption problems. |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2304.10203&r=env |
| By: | Alberto Costantiello (LUM University Giuseppe Degennaro); Angelo Leogrande (LUM University Giuseppe Degennaro) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the value of Voice and Accountability-VA in the context of the Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG data of the World Bank using data from 193 countries in the period 2011-2021. We use Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Panel Data with Random Effects and Pooled Ordinary Least Squares-OLS. We found that the level of VA is positively associated, among others, to "Maximum 5-Day Rainfall", and "Mortality Rate Under 5" and negatively associated, among others, to "Adjusted Savings: Natural Resources Depletion", and "Annualized Average Growth Rate in Per Capita Real Survey Mean Consumption or Income". Furthermore, we apply the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method. We found the k-Means useless due to the low variance of the variable among countries with the result of a hyper-concentration of elements in a unique cluster. Finally, we confront eight machinelearning algorithms for the prediction of VA. Polynomial Regression is the best predictive algorithm according to R-Squared, MAE, MSE and RMSE. The level of VA is expected to growth on average of 2.92% for the treated countries. |
| Keywords: | Analysis of Collective Decision-Making General Political Processes: Rent-Seeking Lobbying Elections Legislatures and Voting Behaviour Bureaucracy Administrative Processes in Public Organizations Corruption Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation Implementation D7, D70, D72, D73, D78, Analysis of Collective Decision-Making, General, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behaviour, Bureaucracy, Administrative Processes in Public Organizations, Corruption, Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation, Implementation D7, Analysis of Collective Decision-Making General Political Processes: Rent-Seeking Lobbying Elections Legislatures and Voting Behaviour Bureaucracy Administrative Processes in Public Organizations Corruption Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation Implementation D7, D70, D72, D73, D78, Implementation D7, D70, D72, D73, D78 |
| Date: | 2023–03–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04043775&r=env |
| By: | Chad P. Bown (Peterson Institute for International Economics) |
| Abstract: | The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 provoked a transatlantic trade spat. After the law was passed, the Biden administration addressed some of the concerns raised by the European Union by writing controversial rules to implement the legislation. These regulations are expected to have complex effects that, in some instances, may offset the intended impact of other provisions in the original legislation. This paper examines how the law, its implementing regulations, policy decisions on leasing, as well as potential critical minerals agreements all have the potential to affect the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain. The EV case study showcases the political-economic complications involved in US and EU attempts to cooperate over clean energy transition policy to address the global externality of carbon dioxide emissions. EVs are but one example of the challenge facing partners with integrated supply chains and similar levels of economic development that share concerns about climate change, rising inequality, workers, other social issues, and democracy itself. The EV conflict laid bare the differing US and EU prioritization of these issues relative to economic efficiency, World Trade Organization rules, the approach to nonmarket economies, and national security vulnerabilities that arise from depending on an authoritarian regime such as China for import sourcing of critical inputs. |
| Keywords: | Electric vehicles, industrial policy, supply chains, climate, US, EU |
| JEL: | L52 F13 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp23-1&r=env |
| By: | Siobhan O'Neil |
| Abstract: | Terrorist and other types of armed groups often exploit natural and human-made disasters and emergencies to advance their causes. This paper studies how some armed groups have responded to two recent global emergencies—climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the messaging and actions of the Boko Haram in Nigeria and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) dissident groups in Colombia in response to COVID and climatic shifts. |
| Keywords: | Armed conflict, Decision making, COVID-19, Climate change |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2023-58&r=env |
| By: | McCarthy, Nancy; Ringler, Claudia; Agbonlahor, Mure Uhunamure; Pandya, A. B.; Iyob, Biniam; Perez, Nicostrato |
| Abstract: | Irrigation is increasingly being called upon to help stabilize and grow food and water security in the face of multiple crises; these crises include climate change, but also recent global food and energy price crises, including the 2007/08 food and energy price crises, and the more recent crises triggered by the COVID 19 pandemic and the war on Ukraine. While irrigation development used to focus on public, large-scale, surface- and reservoir-fed systems, over the last several decades, private small-scale investments in groundwater irrigation have grown in importance and are expected to see rapid future growth, particularly in connection with solar-powered pumping systems. But is irrigation ‘fit-for-purpose’ to support population growth, economic development, and multiple food, energy and climate crises? This paper reviews how fit-for-purpose irrigation is with a focus on economies of scale of surface and groundwater systems, and a particular examination of systems in Sub-Saharan Africa where the need for expansion is largest. The review finds challenges for both larger surface and smaller groundwater systems in the face of growing demand for irrigated agriculture and dwindling and less reliable water supplies. To support resilience of the sector, we propose both a holistic design and management improvement agenda for larger surface systems, and a series of suggestions to improve sustainability concerns of groundwater systems |
| Keywords: | SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; AFRICA; ASIA; irrigation; agriculture; food security; water security; crises; climate change; Coronavirus; coronavirus disease; Coronavirinae; COVID-19; Ukraine; development; scaling; solar energy; economics; groundwater; |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2178&r=env |
| By: | CDP Subgroup on voluntary national reviews |
| Abstract: | The fourth in a series of annual analyses of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), this paper analyses the 2020 reports. It consists of an introductory chapter with general conclusions and recommendations for consideration by governments and other stakeholders participating in future VNRs; and a short series of authored thematic chapters. The document revisits issues addressed in the previous editions, such as the pledge to leave no one behind, inequalities, gender inequality, COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness, and SDG 17, and includes new topics of analysis, such as how countries have treated the issue of structural transformation and sustainable consumption and production. In doing so it identifies issues that are absent or under-reported in the VNRs while criti- cal for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The general finding is that while there have been notable improvements in the VNRs over time, and the 2020 reports showcase numerous positive developments and initiatives, the reports suggest a disconnect between the ambition to meet the SDGs and the attention given to the type of developmental transformation that could drive and sustain SDG implementation in the long run such as strategies to secure sustainable, climate resilient productive capacities and structural transformation. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable development, SDGs, 2030 Agenda, voluntary national reviews, leaving no one behind, global partnership, inequality, gender inequality, structural transformation, productive capaci- ties, COVID-19, pandemic preparedness, sustainable consumption and production |
| JEL: | F55 O1 Q01 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:cpaper:052&r=env |
| By: | CDP Subgroup on voluntary national reviews |
| Abstract: | This paper is the fifth in a series of annual analyses of voluntary national reviews (VNRs) conducted by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) and examines the VNR reports presented at the 2021 High Level Political Forum (HLPF). It consists of an introductory chapter with general conclusions and recommendations for consideration by governments and other stakeholders participating in future VNRs; and follows with a short series of authored thematic chapters. The document revisits issues addressed in the previous editions, such as the pledge to leave no one behind, inequalities, gender equality, COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness, and SDG 17, but also adds a new chapter on the environment. In doing so it identifies issues that are absent or under-reported in the VNRs while critical for the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The overall conclusion is that while there are important improvements and positive developments in the VNRs over time, there remains a significant gap between the ambitions of the 2030 agenda and the policies, strategies and actions reported in the VNRs. The deep transformative change that is envisioned in the agenda and required to meet the SDGs is not evident in the VNRs. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable development, SDGs, 2030 Agenda, voluntary national reviews, leaving no one behind, global partnership, inequality, gender inequality, COVID-19, environment |
| JEL: | F55 O1 Q01 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:cpaper:054&r=env |
| By: | Junya Ino; Fabrice Murtin; Michal Shinwell |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the conceptual framing and measurement of transboundary impacts in the context of the 2030 Agenda. It starts by defining transboundary impacts and reviewing different measurement approaches used so far. It then proposes a typology of transboundary impacts, classified depending on the type of international flows involved: financial flows, trade flows, movements of people, environmental flows and knowledge transfers. For each of these flows, transboundary impacts can be either positive or negative, depending on the aspect considered and on the conditions in origin and destination countries. Based on this framework, the paper presents evidence from a qualitative survey of experts about the potential impact of these five flows on each of the 17 Goals and 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda. Transboundary impacts are deemed by experts to be quite pervasive across SDGs, but also limited in scope to a small number of well-identified targets. Finally, the framework is operationalised for some specific areas within each of the five types of flows mentioned above, with the help of some proxy indicators. At the global level, the five types of transboundary relationships are dominated by three macro-regions, namely China, the United States-Canada and Europe, mainly reflecting the large size of these regions in most cases. When the assessment is conducted in relative terms (i.e. when impacts are normalised by population size or GDP), the picture becomes more nuanced, as 7 out of the 11 world regions considered record at least two large transboundary impacts. While this operationalisation is only meant to show how the proposed framework could be applied to concrete cases, the paper recommends its applications to other areas within each of the five flows, based on a richer set of indicators. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Development Goals, Transboundary Impacts |
| JEL: | Q01 Q56 F00 |
| Date: | 2021–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:wiseaa:01-en&r=env |
| By: | Costantiello, Alberto; Leogrande, Angelo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the value of Research and Development Expenditures as a percentage of GDP-RDE in the context of Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG model. We use the ESG World Bank database. We analyze data from193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We apply a set of econometric techniques i.e. Pooled Ordinary Least Squares-OLS, Panel Data with Random Effects, Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Weighted Least Squares-WLS. We found that the level of RDE is positively associated, among others, to “Nitrous Oxide Emissions” and “Scientific and Technical Journal Articles”, and negatively associated, among others to “Heat Index 35”, “Maximum 5-day Rainfall”. Furthermore, we perform a cluster analysis with the application of the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method. The results show the presence of four clusters. Finally, we confront eight different machine-learning algorithms to predict the future value of RDE. We find that Linear Regression is the best predictive algorithms. RDE is expected to growth on average of 0.07% for the analysed countries. |
| Date: | 2023–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:85v3f&r=env |
| By: | Natalia Fabra (UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III); Eduardo Gutiérrez (Banco de España); Aitor Lacuesta (Banco de España); Roberto Ramos (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether investments in renewable energy – solar and wind plants – create jobs in the municipality where they are located. Using 13 years of monthly data, we exploit the variation in the timing and size of investment projects across more than 3, 200 municipalities in Spain, a country with substantial investments in this area. We use a new estimator for staggered differences-in-differences analysis that extends the local projections approach with clean controls (Dube et al., 2022). We find strong heterogeneity in the magnitude and pattern of the impacts of solar and wind investments. On average, solar investments increase employment by local firms, but the effects on the unemployment of local residents are weak. The effects of wind investments on local employment and unemployment are mostly non-significant. These findings have important implications for public policy. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy, employment, unemployment, NIMBY, spatial effects |
| JEL: | L94 C33 O25 R23 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2307&r=env |
| By: | Dehler, Marcel |
| Abstract: | Chemisch-synthetische Pflanzenschutzmittel sind ein bedeutender Bestandteil des konventionellen Ackerbaus in Deutschland. Sie haben dazu beigetragen, die Flächenproduktivität zu erhöhen, die Ertragsverluste zu mindern und dadurch einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Ernährungssicherung geleistet. Jedoch haben Pflanzenschutzmittel (PSM) negative Auswirkungen auf die Biodiversität. Zudem sind ihre Abbauprodukte in Grund- und Oberflächengewässern zu finden, und sie werden damit in Verbindung gebracht, die menschliche Gesundheit negativ zu beeinflussen. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es das Ziel der Politik, den Einsatz von Pflanzenschutzmitteln und die damit verbundenen Risiken zu senken. Die Fragen, ob und wie landwirtschaftliche Betriebe ihre Produktionssysteme anpassen können und welche Kosten daraus resultieren, bleiben hingegen weitgehend unbeantwortet. Ebenso werden zwar die Vor- und Nachteile verschiedener politischer Umsetzungsstrategien zur Reduktion von Pflanzenschutzmitteln sowohl auf europäischer als auch auf nationaler Ebene diskutiert, jedoch zielen die wissenschaftlichen Publikationen vorrangig auf die Einführung eines Steuermodells ab. Ein konkreter Vergleich unterschiedlicher Politikmaßnahmen und eine Abschätzung der Anpassungsreaktionen sowie der damit einhergehenden Folgen unter Berücksichtigung landwirtschaftlicher Expertise erfolgt meist nicht. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde in der vorliegenden Dissertation anhand eines typischen Modellbetriebs im Boden-Klima-Raum 'Südhannover' und unter der Nutzung eines Fokusgruppenansatzes mit Landwirt*innen sowie Berater*innen untersucht, mit welchen betrieblichen Anpassungsmaßnahmen die mit dem Einsatz von Pflanzenschutzmitteln verbundenen Risiken für Mensch und Umwelt um 25 bzw. um 50 % reduziert werden können und welche Anpassungskosten daraus resultieren. Dabei wurden die Risiken durch Pflanzenschutzmittel mit Hilfe des Pesticide Load Indikators (PLI) ermittelt. Um die Ertragseffekte in Folge eines reduzierten PSM-Einsatzes quantifizieren zu können, wurden regionale und nationale Versuchsauswertungen hinzugezogen. Außerdem wurden die zu erwartenden Ertragseffekte zwischen einem Best- und Worst-Case sowie einem 'Normaljahr' differenziert betrachtet... |
| Keywords: | Ackerbau, Pflanzenschutz, umweltpolitische Maßnahmen, Pesticide Load Indicator, Anpassungskosten, Nachhaltigkeit, Anpassungsreaktionen, arable farming, plant protection, environmental policy measures, Pesticide Load Indicator, adaptation costs, sustainability, adaptation reactions |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtire:104&r=env |
| By: | Eoin McLaughlin; Cristián Ducoing; Les Oxley |
| Abstract: | We introduce a new database of historical Genuine Savings (GS), an indicator of sustainable development promoted by the World Bank and widely used in contemporary economic research. GS derives from the theoretical work on wealth accounting, and addresses shortcomings in conventional metrics of economic development by incorporating broader measures of saving and investment, including human capital (education), and natural resource depletion. Its value as an indicator is determined by its ability to be used to predict future well-being. This article provides consistent historical estimates of GS since 1850 for 25 countries to enhance, complement, and contextualise the work of the World Bank and others. |
| JEL: | N10 N50 Q01 Q32 Q56 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31155&r=env |
| By: | Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future); Villanueva, Seth (Resources for the Future); Iler, Stuart; Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Demand for data on the CO2 intensity of US electricity consumption is growing as governments and private companies seek to understand the emissions effects of both their electricity consumption and their clean energy investment choices. The desire for transparent and consistent data on electricity emissions rates led the US Congress, in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to call for the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) to publish spatially and temporally granular electricity emissions rate data, beginning in late 2022. This report reviews the use cases for emissions rate data and options available to EIA to publish data on both average and marginal emissions rates, and it presents relevant findings and recommendations for EIA to consider. |
| Date: | 2022–08–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-08&r=env |
| By: | Prest, Brian C. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Methane (CH4) is both the primary component of natural gas and also a highly potent greenhouse gas. Methane routinely leaks out from oil and gas wells, pipelines, and processing facilities into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change. While there is a private incentive for operators to reduce methane leaks to capture and sell it as a valuable commodity, the private incentive to capture the gas falls far short of — around 1/10th of — the social costs imposed by its leakage. As a result, basic economics demonstrates that industry will exert insufficient effort to capture that gas, relative to the social optimum. To combat this problem, economists and policymakers have proposed methane fees to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise federal revenues (for example, as seen in S.645, H.R.4084).While, on the one hand, fees on methane leaks will further encourage oil and gas operators to proactively seek out and mitigate methane leaks, the additional fees will also raise the marginal cost of producing each unit of gas (typically measured in either thousand cubic feet, mcf, or million British thermal units, MMBtu). This increase in marginal cost is the net of three effects, two of which are cost increases (+) and one which represents a decrease (–).(+) The methane fee, assessed as a percentage of each MMBtu of gas production, represents a direct increase in gas producers’ operating cost;(+) The fee will induce gas producers to deploy more time, effort, and resources to reduce methane leaks, representing an indirect, induced operating cost; and(–) The reduced leakage rate resulting from (2) will mean more produced gas can be sold, reducing the cost of each delivered unit of gas.On net, these effects are likely to increase the marginal cost of gas production. In this issue brief, I use a simple economic model to estimate the effects of proposed methane fees on the marginal cost of gas production, methane leakage rates, and the resulting increase in wholesale natural gas prices. While the details are presented in the Appendix, the model simulates how a gas producer would respond to alternative methane fees, based on an augmented version of the model in Marks (2018). The model simulates, for each of a variety of potential methane fees (in units of $/ton CH4), how much gas producers may mitigate their methane leak rates and how much those fees may increase the cost of producing each unit (MMBtu) of gas, as well as how much of those resulting costs may be passed on to consumers. Finally, as a point of comparison, this brief presents as reference points various natural gas prices, such as wholesale and retail prices of natural gas delivered to different end-users (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial, and electric power). |
| Date: | 2021–09–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-12&r=env |
| By: | Curtis, David Stuart (University of Utah) |
| Abstract: | Socially disadvantaged groups generally are more likely to reside in areas with less desirable conditions. We examined longitudinal relationships between neighborhood resident characteristics and amenities from 1990 to 2010 in a four-county urban area of Utah, U.S. Four temporal patterns of social inequities are described using mixed-effects models: historical inequities in amenities; differential selection into amenity-rich tracts; differential investment in amenities; and simultaneous twenty-year change. Results indicate historical differences by nSES, with lower status tracts having fewer green/natural amenities and higher air pollution in 1990 but also greater walkability and more food stores. Differences widened over time as nSES disproportionately increased in tracts with more green/natural amenities, less air pollution, and lower walkability in 1990, consistent with differential selection. Tract percentage non-Hispanic White did not predict historical differences, but tracts that were less walkable and had fewer healthy food stores per capita in 1990 experienced larger subsequent increases in racial/ethnic diversity. Tracts with higher percentage non-Hispanic White in 1990 had larger decreases in air pollution but also declining green/natural amenities relative to more diverse tracts. This study shows how social inequities in neighborhood amenities change over time, providing strong evidence of historical socioeconomic differences that increased due to differential selection. |
| Date: | 2023–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:pyt83&r=env |
| By: | Aldy, Joseph E. (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act authorized and appropriated unprecedented spending and tax expenditures to decarbonize the American economy. In the spirit of “build back better, †this paper examines how integrating evaluation in the design and implementation of these new clean energy policies can facilitate the learning necessary for policymakers to make policy better over time. It draws lessons from two case studies: (1) on institutionalizing evaluation based on the experience with regulatory review, and (2) on conducting evaluation based on the research literature assessing the 2009 Recovery Act’s clean energy programs. The paper identifies in recent legislation the programs and their characteristics amenable to various evaluation methodologies. The paper closes with recommendations for a clean energy program evaluation framework that would enable implementation of climate-oriented learning agendas under the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. |
| Date: | 2022–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-15&r=env |
| By: | Alberto Costantiello (LUM University Giuseppe Degennaro); Angelo Leogrande (LUM University Giuseppe Degennaro) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we estimate the role of Political Stability and Absence of Violence and Terrorism-PS in the context of Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG data at world level. We analyse data from 193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We apply Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Panel Data with Random Effects and Pooled Ordinary Least Square-OLS. We found that PS is positively associated, among others, to Population Density and Government Effectiveness, and negatively associated, among others, to Research and Development Expenditure and Maximum 5-day Rainfall. Furthermore, we apply the k-Means algorithm optimized with the application of the Elbow Method and we find the presence of four clusters. Finally, we propose a confrontation among eight different machine-learning algorithms for the prediction of PS and we find that the Polynomial Regression shows the higher performance. The Polynomial Regression predicts an increase in the level of PS of 0.25% on average for the analysed countries. |
| Keywords: | Analysis of Collective Decision-Making General Political Processes: Rent-Seeking Lobbying Elections Legislatures and Voting Behaviour Bureaucracy Administrative Processes in Public Organizations Corruption Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation Implementation D7, D70, D72, D73, D78, Analysis of Collective Decision-Making, General, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behaviour, Bureaucracy, Administrative Processes in Public Organizations, Corruption, Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation, Implementation D7 |
| Date: | 2023–04–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04055326&r=env |
| By: | Linn, Joshua (Resources for the Future); Liang, Jing; Qiu, Yueming |
| Abstract: | After growing steadily for decades, in the mid-2000s, average US household energy consumption began declining. Using household-level data from the Residential Energy Consumption Survey and Current Population Survey between 1990 and 2020, we decompose overall changes in per-household consumption into three components: a) average income; b) cross-household income and geographic distribution; and c) consumption habits, which includes energy efficiency. Growth of average income caused consumption to increase by 11 percent, and rising income inequality reduced consumption by 9 percent, nearly entirely offsetting the effect of income growth. If inequality had remained at 1990 levels, average consumption would have continued growing steadily through 2020. After controlling for average income and the income distribution, changes in habits reduced consumption by a similar amount as rising income inequality. Back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate an unexpected effect of rising income inequality: climate and air quality improvements valued at $3.14 billion in 2020 due to lower electricity consumption. The results indicate the importance of coordinating inequality and pollution policies. |
| Date: | 2022–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-09&r=env |
| By: | Leogrande, Angelo; Costantiello, Alberto |
| Abstract: | In this article, we estimate the value of Government Expenditure on Education-GEE in the context of Environmental, Social and Governance-ESG dataset of the World Bank. We use data from 193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We use Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Panel Data with Random Effects, Pooled Ordinary Least Squares-OLS, and Weighted Least Squares-WLS. Our results show that the value of GEE is positively associated among others to “Case of Death, by communicable disease and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions”, and “Unemployment”, and negatively associated among others to “Hospital Beds” and “Government Effectiveness”. Furthermore, we apply the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method and we find the presence of four clusters. Finally, we confront eight machine learning algorithms for the prediction of the future value of GEE. We found that the Polynomial Regression is the best predictive algorithm. The Polynomial Regression predicts an increase in GEE of 7.09% on average for the analysed countries. |
| Keywords: | Analysis of Collective Decision-Making, General, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behaviour, Bureaucracy, Administrative Processes in Public Organizations, Corruption, Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation, Implementation. |
| JEL: | D70 D72 D73 D78 |
| Date: | 2023–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117216&r=env |
| By: | Look, Wesley (Resources for the Future); Haggerty, Mark; Mazzone, Daniel |
| Abstract: | The increasing competitiveness of clean energy and growing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are reshaping the US energy economy. For energy communities—cities, towns, and regions with deep ties to fossil fuel production and electricity generation—this transition may pose significant costs for workers, businesses, and local governments. Federal investments through things such as workforce development and infrastructure expansion can mitigate such costs and provide new opportunities for prosperity.A critical component of making such investments successful is tailoring them to the specific needs and unique circumstances of each community (Davis and Dumont 2021). Such tailoring can improve outcomes for workforce development programs (Harper-Anderson 2008; Pynes 2004) and possibly the cost-effectiveness of federal economic development efforts (Markusen and Glasmeier 2008).Such tailoring requires mechanisms for coordination between local leaders and the federal government. Local leaders, often working through community-based organizations (CBOs), tend to have the most nuanced understanding of the needs and opportunities in their communities and the local relationships and trust needed to get projects done. However, especially in low-income and isolated rural communities, they often lack resources to fully engage with the variety of federal programs that could benefit from their expertise (Pipa and Geismar 2020; Ajilore and Willingham 2020; Haggerty et al. 2018). It is therefore reasonable to consider that a federal energy transition policy would not only invest in workforce, infrastructure, and economic development but also local capacity required to effectively implement such policies. Capacity is generally defined here as “increasing the ability of people and institutions to do what is required of them†(Murray and Dunn 1995).This brief provides an overview of one option for building and supporting capacity in energy-dependent communities: creating a network of community “hubs†(Aspen Institute 2019; BlueGreen Alliance 2021) supported by a federally chartered development corporation. This concept leverages recent policy roadmaps produced by stakeholders from energy regions in transition emphasizing the importance of customization and investing in local leadership (Just Transition Fund 2020; BlueGreen Alliance 2021). Community hubs and the federal development corporation described here also share institutional design features with recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences (2021) related to just transition and a congressional proposal to reform the fiscal relationships between natural resources and rural economies (Forest Management for Rural Stability Act 2019; Iglehart 2018; Haggerty 2018).The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better (BBB) framework recognizes the need for local capacity building in rural America. For example, BBB proposed a $1 billion investment in a Rural Partnership Program (RPP), For more information on the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better framework (the American Jobs Plan) and the Rural Partnership Program, see https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/. which is intended to build the capacity of local organizations. Flexible, multiyear grants could be used to support collaborative planning, staffing, and implementation of locally led economic development efforts. Collaborations may include rural and Tribal governments, nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, community colleges, and other CBOs.These proposals and efforts reflect an embrace of place-based and people-centered models for economic development (Shambaugh and Nunn 2018; Topolsky 2021, Muro et al. 2021) and of government’s role in shaping markets and driving innovation (Mazzucato 2021). In the following sections, we provide detail on what we mean by a “community hub†and outline the key structural components of how a supported network of hubs might work—including the potential challenges. |
| Date: | 2022–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-01&r=env |
| By: | Bisuk Abraham Sisungkunon (Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI)); Atiqah Amanda Siregar (Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI)); Wildan Al Kautsar Anky (Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI)) |
| Abstract: | Municipal solid waste (MSW) management remains a challenge in in Pekanbaru. To avoid the negative externalities associated with improper waste disposal, the development of waste-based power plant (or PLTSa), including through incineration technology, is increasingly viewed as an attractive option. This study estimated that electricity generation potential from MSW in Pekanbaru could reach 0.021 MW/ton MSW and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from incineration PLTSa is around 21.03¢ per kWh. Waste calori?c value and feedstock supply are essential to maintain the cost competitiveness of incineration PLTSa in Pekanbaru. |
| Keywords: | international economy — open economy — economic integration — digital economy — sustainable economy — ASEAN |
| JEL: | Q42 Q48 Q55 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lpe:wpaper:202273&r=env |
| By: | Christophe André; Hélia Costa; Lilas Demmou; Guido Franco |
| Abstract: | Soaring energy prices have raised concerns about the risks energy price shocks pose for firms’ performance and the green transition. This paper estimates the impacts of energy price changes on firms’ productivity as well as their dynamics, distinguishing between the short and medium-to-long term, using historical data. The analysis shows that following an energy price shock, firms adjust down their capacity utilisation, and their productivity declines. The estimates suggest that a 5% increase in energy prices reduces productivity by approximately 0.4% one year later. However, firms may display positive productivity gains in the medium term. Specifically, a shock corresponding to a 10% increase in energy prices is associated with an increase in productivity growth of around 0.9 p.p four years after the shock. These gains are more likely in less energy-intensive sectors, but tend not to materialise for larger shocks. There is some evidence that investment may be the channel behind productivity gains, the latter being larger for firms that had made investments in capital just before the shock. |
| Keywords: | Energy prices, environmental policy, firm performance, productivity |
| JEL: | D22 D24 Q40 Q48 Q52 |
| Date: | 2023–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1755-en&r=env |
| By: | Raimi, Daniel (Resources for the Future); Cook, Kamil |
| Abstract: | The imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will almost certainly lead to a major economic transition for the people and places where coal, oil, and natural gas are produced, processed, and consumed at certain facilities, such as power plants. Although the needed scale and speed of the energy transition is unique (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 2021), previous economic transitions may provide insight for decisionmakers at the local, regional, and national levels. In this analysis, we draw insights from textile manufacturing, which has undergone multiple transitions in the United States. We focus on public policies that were designed to support this industry and its workers during disruptions, and we draw four key lessons for the energy transition:Advanced planning and notification are crucial. This concept applies to individual workers, plants, and communities and extends further to reflect the importance of developing a predictable, long-term timeline for energy transition that allows all actors to plan appropriately for the future.Employment is more than a paycheck. Policymakers need to carefully consider the social dynamics associated with employment and transition. Workers value the identity and community created by their employment, and programs that preserve these connections are more likely to be successful.Flexibility is important. Each worker has a unique set of circumstances and preferences. Programs that restrict eligibility based on arbitrary criteria or impose tight timelines for benefits are unlikely to allow the flexibility that would benefit individuals and families as they make decisions about their future.We can do better. Evidence on the benefits of federal Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is mixed at best, particularly for textile workers. The energy transition will need to improve on these outcomes if it is to be truly equitable. |
| Date: | 2021–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-11&r=env |
| By: | Popp, Jennie; English, Leah; Pelkki, Matthew; Montgomery, Rebecca; Tian, Nana |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Health Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea22:334167&r=env |
| By: | Ballesteros, Marife M.; Lorenzo, Pauline Joy M.; Ramos, Tatum P.; Ancheta, Jenica A.; Mercado, Elmer S.; Rodil-Ocampo, Amillah |
| Abstract: | Interlocal cooperation has long been promoted in the Philippines to address the resource limitations of local government units; however, there is a lack of discussion on how it can efficiently deliver urban services. This study aims to investigate cooperation models in the delivery of critical urban services by evaluating the management structure, financing strategies, sustainability, and issues/challenges of the interlocal arrangement in relation to operationalization. It focuses on answering the following policy questions: (1) what forms of interlocal cooperation have been utilized in the delivery of urban services; (2) how has interlocal cooperation improved the delivery of urban services; and (3) how can interlocal cooperation work better and be sustained given the decentralized nature of local politics. A closer look through findings from desk reviews and interviews is given to solid waste management and healthcare since they have been identified as services wherein cooperation among LGUs is extensively developed. Reforms are then proposed to improve the effectiveness of interlocal cooperation in efficiently delivering urban services. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from the date of posting. Email publications@pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | interlocal cooperation;Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court Ruling;metropolitan arrangement;solid waste management;healthcare;local government units;LGU |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2023-08&r=env |
| By: | Leonard, Bryan; Gigliotti, Laura; Middleton, Arthur; Kroetz, Kailin (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | Cost-effective conservation program design to support seasonal migratory species is urgently needed, but to-date has received little attention by economists. Conserving migratory corridors is a complicated design problem because of the large spatial scales over which migratory species can travel and the weakest-link characteristic of the problem. If one section or area of a potential migratory corridor is unable to support species movement, the migration through that route will not be successful. We develop and apply an integer-programming modeling approach that leverages innovative new data products to propose a cost-effective, landscape-scale conservation planning approach. We apply our approach to the Cody elk herd range within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), leveraging satellite data on crop type and density over time and GPS collar data on elk migrations. We provide empirical evidence that using new satellite data products can avoid unconnected corridors and increase the cost effectiveness of corridor construction. In the Cody context, we estimate that achieving the conservation outcome associated with using satellite data on both costs and benefits would cost close to twice as much when using satellite benefit data but only limited cost data and about three times as much when using satellite cost data but only limited benefit data. Empirical work across additional herds is needed to provide additional insights into characteristics of contexts under which we expect gains from satellite and/or GPS collar data. |
| Date: | 2022–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-21&r=env |
| By: | Noblit, Graham Alexander; Hadfield, Gillian |
| Abstract: | Human life is riddled with norms, many though not all of which are costly for individuals to adopt. Similarly, human ecological adaptation relies on costly-behaviors that often generate non-rivalrous and non-exclusionary benefits for group-members. Yet, in a dynamic world, innovations, environmental change, and information-revelation mean that what norms are beneficial for a group to adopt will inevitably change over time. However, multiple game-theoretic models studying the various mechanisms stabilizing normative behaviors have demonstrated that the stability of a norm does not depend on the benefits it confers. In turn, explanations of normative change have either relied on group-selective mechanisms to explain the presence of adaptive norms or have failed to identify conditions under which normative change occurs. We study normative change by means of costly-punishment and conflict resolution. We identify social differentiation in goals and punishment capacity as a key condition permitting normative change. While normative change that results from such social differentiation need not be group beneficial it will be beneficial to some subset of agents in the population. We additionally discuss how the intra-societal forces of normative conflict that we study might interact with group-selective forces and in turn determine the dynamics and outcomes of group-selection. |
| Date: | 2023–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:tvg7b&r=env |
| By: | Grohs, Hannes; Grumiller, Jan; Peham, Andreas |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:oefser:162023&r=env |
| By: | Pesek, Sophie (Resources for the Future); Raimi, Daniel (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 seeks to dramatically increase clean energy innovation, manufacturing, and deployment in the United States. Unlike most previous federal energy policy, it ties many incentives to labor requirements, domestic manufacturing, and project location. We examine a provision of the law that offers additional financial incentives for projects to locate within “energy communities.†Our analysis indicates that the law’s definition of energy communities could vary widely depending on interpretation of key phrases. In addition, we find that the law, as written, is unlikely to steer investment specifically toward those communities that will be most heavily affected by a transition away from fossil energy. We illustrate these findings through three interpretations of the energy communities definition and show that it does not specifically target fossil energy–dependent local economies, but instead is likely to cover between 42 and 50 percent of US land area. We then offer our own definition of “energy communities, †which more narrowly targets locations that have been or are heavily dependent on fossil fuels as a driver of local economic activity, employment, and government revenue. |
| Date: | 2022–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-12&r=env |
| By: | Hönle, Susanna |
| Abstract: | Der vorliegende Thünen-Report 103 beinhaltet die im Rahmen einer Qualifikationsstelle an der Stabsstelle Klima und Boden im Zeitraum von 2016-2022 entstandene Dissertation zum Thema 'Wie gelingt eine ambitionierte Agrarklimaschutzpolitik?'. Die Arbeit wurde an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster im Fach Politikwissenschaft eingereicht. Die mündliche Prüfung fand am 21. November 2022 statt und wurde von Frau Prof. 'in Doris Fuchs (Erstprüferin) sowie Herrn Prof. Folkhard Isermeyer (Zweitprüfer) abgenommen. Die Dissertation setzt sich mit der Entwicklung von klimapolitischen Zielen und Programmen im Sektor Landwirtschaft auseinander und behandelt die Frage, wie der Anspruch einer ambitionierten staatlichen Klimapolitik umgesetzt wird. Die empirische Arbeit beruht maßgeblich auf der Analyse zweier kontrastierender Fälle, Uruguay und Deutschland. Dafür fanden im Jahr 2019 ausführliche Experten-Interviews in beiden Ländern sowie ein zweimonatiger Aufenthalt in Montevideo, Uruguay statt. Dieser wurde vom Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienst (DAAD) gefördert und vor Ort durch das Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuario (INIA) unterstützt. Aus diesem Grund enthält die Arbeit neben der deutschen und englischen auch eine spanische Kurzfassung. |
| Keywords: | Nationale Klimapolitik, Landwirtschaft, Politik-Integration, Vergleichende Analyse, National climate policy, Agriculture, Policy-integration, Comparative analysis |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtire:103&r=env |
| By: | Michel Allé |
| Abstract: | J’ai découvert Jean-Marc Jancovici en 2013. Professeur à l'Université Libre de Bruxelles, j'avais décidé quelques années auparavant de réorienter mon cours d'Economie politique et mon séminaire de Science & Technologies vers la problématique climatique. Il m'était en effet apparu que cette question et plus particulièrement la transition énergétique seraient au coeur du XXIème siècle dans lequel s'engageaient mes étudiants de l’Ecole Polytechnique et de la Solvay Brussels School of economics and management. Jancovici, avec ses talents pédagogiques, était bien placé pour les informer et les soutenir dans la compréhension des mécanismes complexes du climat et de l’énergie. Avec en plus une dose judicieusede scepticisme critique sur les bienfaits de la croissance économique quantitative et du libéralisme à tout crin qui me paraissait bien utile aux futurs ingénieurs, entrepreneurs et cadres supérieurs auxquels je m’efforçais de transmettre un peu de mon expérience. Jancovici devînt donc un familier de mes cours et séminaires au travers de ses livres, écrits et vidéos. Avec le temps toutefois mon esprit critique commença à s’aiguiser lorsqu’à la lecture de « Dormez tranquilles jusqu’en 2100 et autres malentendus sur le climat et l’énergie » (2015, éditions Odile Jacob)je me rendis compte que nombre de chiffres et faits cités par Jancovici ne correspondaient pas à ce qu’un esprit scientifique bercé au libre-examen pouvait vérifier dans les statistiques et publications fiables. Et j’ai ensuite dû constater, progressivement, que Janco s’écartait des vérités incontestables pour laisser cours, tout aussi progressivement, à quelques obsessions convergentes :• le lien mécanique entre produit, bien-être humain, machinisme et énergie (par essence fossile) ;• l’obsession nucléaire et, en conséquence, la supériorité du modèle énergétique français sur toutle reste du monde ;• et ensuite, presque mécaniquement, l’obsession anti-renouvelables et en particulier antiéolienneset leur ridiculisation. |
| Keywords: | Energy transition Climate Nuclear Renewables France Jancovici |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/357966&r=env |
| By: | Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman; Maria Monica Wihardja |
| Abstract: | Municipal solid waste (MSW) management remains a challenge in in Pekanbaru. To avoid the negative externalities associated with improper waste disposal, the development of waste-based power plant (or PLTSa), including through incineration technology, is increasingly viewed as an attractive option. This study estimated that electricity generation potential from MSW in Pekanbaru could reach 0.021 MW/ton MSW and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from incineration PLTSa is around 21.03¢ per kWh. Waste calori?c value and feedstock supply are essential to maintain the cost competitiveness of incineration PLTSa in Pekanbaru. |
| Keywords: | digital technology — impact assessment — SDG |
| JEL: | L86 N70 O14 Q55 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lpe:wpaper:202274&r=env |
| By: | Maike Spilger; Dennis Schneider; Christoph Weber (Chair for Management Sciences and Energy Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | Reductions in gas supply following the Russian invasion of Ukraine have affected the security of supply of the European power system along with other stress factors like low availability of French nuclear reactors. Consequently, more sophisticated approaches to investigate generation adequacy and to anticipate risks in security of supply are needed. Especially a thorough assessment of generation adequacy taking into account both the variability of renewable infeed and the availability of thermal power plants based on a probabilistic approach has been missing so far. In this paper, we apply a novel integrative approach to analyze generation adequacy in a case study for Central Western Europe during the winter half year 2022/2023. The approach makes use of a multivariate probabilistic framework built on publicly available data. For assessing generation adequacy, stochastic distributions are fitted to the data and Monte Carlo simulations are performed to identify future threats to generation adequacy. Results show that based on data available at the end of September 2022, generation adequacy (GA) was at risk in several core European countries, yet that the European interconnected power grid contributed to a strong risk reduction. |
| Keywords: | Security of Supply, Generation Adequacy, Probabilistic, Monte Carlo, Energy System Modeling |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dui:wpaper:2303&r=env |
| By: | Shen, Tonggaochuan; Cheng, Long; Yang, Yongjiang; Deng, Jialin; Jin, Tanhua; Cao, Mengqiu |
| Abstract: | Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an urban designed model aimed at attracting more sustainable travellers. However, not all TOD projects succeed in maintaining a high rate of sustainable travel behaviour. To examine the impacts of TOD on residents' travel behaviour, this paper applies binary logistic regression to analyse survey data for 1, 298 residents living in the TOD areas in Hangzhou collected in 2020. The results show that socioeconomic characteristics, built environment factors, and travel attitudes play important roles in influencing their travel mode choices. Furthermore, the number of children in households and higher levels of car ownership significantly influence residents' sustainable travel behaviours. However, it appears that only a limited number of factors can convince car users to shift to sustainable modes of travel, such as their workplace being accessible by metro and attitudes towards changes in accessibility. This research study contributes to the existing literature in terms of enhancing the understanding of travel mode choice behaviours, particularly with regard to people who live near public transport infrastructure, as well as formulating evidence-based TOD policies to achieve more sustainable transport systems. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2023–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:118813&r=env |
| By: | Lindley, Sarah; Albeke, Shannon; Viers, Joshua; Parsons, George; Johnston, Robert; Newbold, Stephen C. |
| Abstract: | In this study we develop an information valuation framework for harmful algal blooms (HABs), and we apply the framework to a case study of outdoor recreation in California. We obtained estimates of the concentration of cyanobacteria from remote sensing satellite data at 100 lakes in California in 2019 from the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). We developed a new approach to estimate a recreation demand site-choice model that includes a full set of fixed effects for both destinations and origins. We examined the statistical performance of the estimator using simulated data in a Monte Carlo analysis, and we applied the approach using cell phone mobility data, which indicate the total number of visitors from around 1400 ZIP codes to the study lakes. We estimated the value of a perfect early warning system by comparing the total willingness-to-pay for access to the lakes under a counterfactual scenario wherein the presence or absence of HABs at all lakes could be known with certainty before recreators select which site to visit to the value of access under the status quo scenario assuming recreators form expectations about HAB occurrences based on the historic frequencies of HABs at each site. Our benchmark results suggest that the total value of the complete mitigation of HABs at the 100 California lakes selected for our study between April and September 2019 would have been $7.41 million, and the total value of a perfect early warning system would have been $2.46 million. |
| Date: | 2022–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-23&r=env |
| By: | Bowen, Thomas; Ivanova, Chrissie; Palmer, Karen (Resources for the Future); Shobe, Bill; Domeshek, Maya (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | All over the United States, state governments are pursuing decarbonization on their own and in concert with other states. Much of this effort has focused on the electricity sector, where decarbonization will require investment in clean generation and transmission and a bigger focus on demand management. On April 5, 2022, the University of Virginia, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Resources for the Future gathered experts to discuss the unique barriers that states face as they work toward electricity decarbonization.Three important institutional issues arise when pursuing subnational climate policy: coordination, authority, and expertise. Coordination among a large number of states (and other jurisdictions) is challenging even when the costs and benefits of acting are confined to the jurisdictions involved. For decarbonization, with costs and benefits shared both among and beyond the acting states, the transaction costs of coordination can be expected to rise rapidly. Such problems exist within states as well, as effective decarbonization policies require actions across traditionally independent lines of agency authority. The difficulty of inducing cooperation across agency lines of authority presents a substantial friction that can slow the drive to decarbonization. Add to this the important role of regional Independent System Operators (ISOs) and other nonstate actors, and the coordination problems for state-level action can appear daunting indeed.The federal structure of authority in the US limits the range of state action. US states, as with subnational jurisdictions everywhere, have limited authority, especially in addressing problems that cross state lines, and they are also limited in the ways in which they can cooperate.Finally, large economies of scale exist in developing the expertise and institutional capacity needed to address the challenge of global warming. Once again, coordinating investments in new knowledge and expertise among the states would probably yield large gains, but allocating costs and benefits across jurisdictions poses significant challenges.For clean generation investment, barriers include market structures that disfavor renewable energy resources, backed-up interconnection queues, local siting opposition, policy uncertainty, and challenges in arranging for efficient procurement of clean power. Barriers to needed transmission investment include institutional mismatch between state agencies and Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs) with authority over transmission, difficulty agreeing on cost allocation for interstate and interregional transmission, insufficient state government capacity for studying and engaging with the planning process, and local opposition. Demand management is hampered by lack of access to energy efficiency for low-income households and renters, inadequate metrics for energy efficiency, inadequate price incentives for consumers, incomplete incentives for utilities and transmission investors, and inequitable and confusing rate structures. Workshop participants suggested ways that states can engage with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, RTOs, state public utilities commissions, other state agencies, regulated utilities, independent power producers, and local governments to address these barriers. Participants also suggested many promising areas for future research that academics, state and federal agencies, national labs, and independent research organizations can address to help states move toward electricity decarbonization. |
| Date: | 2022–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-10&r=env |
| By: | Marco Amendola; Francesco Lamperti; Andrea Roventini; Alessandro Sapio |
| Abstract: | Improvements in energy efficiency can help facing the on-going climate and energy crises, yet the energy intensity of economic activities at the global level in recent years has decreased more slowly than it is required to achieve climate goals. Based on this premise, the paper builds a macroeconomic agent-based K+S model to study the effects of different policies on energy efficiency. In the model, energy efficiency of capital goods improves as the outcome of endogenous, bottom-up technical change. Public policies analysed range from indirect policies based on taxes, incentives, and subsidies, rooted in the traditional role of the State as fixing market failures, to direct technological policies, akin to the entrepreneurial state approach, in which a public research laboratory invests in R&D with the aim to establish a new technological paradigm on energy efficiency. Simulation results show that while most policies tested are effective in reducing energy intensity, the public research lab is extremely effective in promoting energy efficiency without deteriorating macroeconomic and public finance conditions. The superiority of the national lab policy, however, emerges on a relatively long time-horizon, highlighting the importance of governments that are patient enough to wait for the returns of that policy and the necessity to complement this strategy with more ''ready to use'' indirect measures. Additionally, results indicate that the macroeconomic rebound effect induced by most of the policies is rather small. Concerns about macroeconomic rebound effects are, therefore, most likely often overstated. |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency policies; Sustainability; Rebound effect; Agent-based modelling. |
| Date: | 2023–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/20&r=env |
| By: | Alessandro Bucciol (Department of Economics (University of Verona)); Roberta Muri (University of Bologna); Francesca Rossi (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique dataset combining administrative data from the municipalities of the Veneto region of Italy for the years 2010-2019, we develop a spatial econometric model to study the effect of two policies (Door-to-Door collection and Pay-As-You-Throw tariff) on waste sorting and waste accumulation. We are especially interested in the spatial spillover effect of the policies. Both policies are successful and with similar impact on the outcome variables. Interestingly, we also find evidence of a spatial spillover effect. The effect is mostly negative and limits the effectiveness of the policies (especially PAYT). Our results highlight the importance of coordinating decisions on the implementation of waste management policies. |
| Keywords: | Waste, Door-to-Door, Pay-As-You-Throw, Spatial effects |
| JEL: | Q53 C23 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:05/2023&r=env |
| By: | Tuki, Daniel |
| Abstract: | Although many studies have been conducted on the conflicts between Fulani nomadic herders and sedentary farmers over land and water resources in Nigeria, very few have examined the religious dimension of these conflicts. In fact, some studies have described the religious dimension as an oversimplification of a complex social problem. But is this really the case? Is religion important in understanding the dynamics of the conflict? My instrumental variable regression results show that Muslim domination – a scenario where the population in a local government area (LGA) (i.e. municipality) is predominantly Muslim – reduces the likelihood of being concerned about farmer-herder conflicts. It also shows that Muslims are less concerned about the conflict than Christians. A plausible mechanism behind this finding is that the common religion of Islam shared by the nomadic herders and the Muslim sedentary population makes it easier for resource-motivated conflicts to be resolved amicably. |
| Date: | 2023–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:e6bhk&r=env |
| By: | Raimi, Daniel (Resources for the Future); Greenspon, Jacob |
| Abstract: | Driven by technological innovation, public policy, and other factors, the US energy system is facing rapid changes, raising concerns over potential job losses, particularly among fossil fuel workers. Because there will be considerable variation across the United States in the employment impacts of a changing energy landscape, policies must be tailored to local contexts. This analysis develops and implements a tool to help policymakers understand the localized opportunities and challenges that the US energy workforce may face in the years ahead. We first identify the exposure of local labor markets to job displacement in fossil fuel extraction, transportation, processing, and electricity industries. We then develop an empirical framework that assesses the extent to which the skill sets of existing fossil energy workers are a good match for growing job opportunities with similar pay in their local labor markets. We document substantial differences across local labor markets in terms of the demographics of local fossil fuel workforces, the skills they have attained from their current work, and how well these skills align with those in demand locally over the coming decade. We find that, with the exception of technical skills, the skills important to fossil fuel jobs typically are not the same as those necessary for fast-growing occupations with similar levels of pay, many of which require extensive service-oriented and management skills. Our methodology and associated analytical tools can be readily used to provide locally tailored information about skills gaps between the existing fossil energy workforce and in-demand sectors, suggesting areas where workforce development may bear the most fruit. |
| Date: | 2022–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-25&r=env |
| By: | Salim Turdaliev (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the heterogeneous effects of the experimental introduction of increasing-block-tariffs (IBT) for residential electricity on the propensity to purchase dirty fuels using panel household data (RLMS-HSE) in a number of regions of Russia. The study demonstrates that despite the design of the IBT being based on prescribed social norms and accounting for various household and dwelling characteristics, the adverse effects of this policy (in the form of increased propensity to purchase dirty fuels) are still more pronounced among households with higher base energy consumption, those receiving subsidies for utilities, and those in a vulnerable social position where the household head's primary occupation is childcare or housekeeping. Additionally, the paper finds that households headed by females are actually 20% less likely to purchase dirty fuels due to the introduction of IBT. The findings suggest that policymakers should fine-tune the calculation of social norms to minimize the negative impacts of IBT. Furthermore, the study's results may be relevant and useful for policymakers in other developing and transition economies that aim to implement various energy reforms, including IBT. |
| Keywords: | residential electricity pricing, increasing-block-tariffs, heterogeneous treatment effects, social norms, dirty fuels, post-Soviet economy, Russia, natural experiment |
| JEL: | Q41 Q48 L98 L94 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2023_09&r=env |
| By: | Look, Wesley (Resources for the Future); James, Joey; Fedorko, Evan; Pesek, Sophie (Resources for the Future); Mazzone, Dan; Barone, Aurora; Shelton, Rebecca |
| Abstract: | This report examines implementation of the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative (2015–2020), established by the Obama administration to assist communities hurt by declines in coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation. It examines the distribution of POWER funds by state, county, project type, and career sectors. The lessons learned through this retrospective analysis can be used to guide current and future federal policymaking to revitalize the economies of US coal communities.The POWER Initiative was a collaboration across several federal entities, with four agencies playing primary roles: the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Grants were awarded for projects that would benefit communities affected by employment loss in coal and associated industries.We developed a novel data set of grant recipients, and we identified 641 coal counties across the United States, based on the presence of coal production or a coal-fired power plant in recent decades (Section 3). Those criteria, along with direct coal mining job loss and ARC’s economic status classification, allow for comparison of counties with potential need and the actual distribution of funds.Between 2015 and 2020, POWER provided $410 million through 484 grants awarded across 200 counties in 30 states (Section 5). ARC administered around 60 percent of total funding, and EDA, just under 40 percent. More than 75 percent of the funding went to five Appalachian states: Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. Appalachia, which has faced serious challenges from the energy transition, is the focus of all ARC grants. The amounts awarded to grantees within a county varied substantially, ranging from $30, 000 to $15.9 million over the five-year period.The majority of coal counties did not receive POWER grants; only 200 of the 641 coal counties received POWER funds directly. Moreover, only 134 of the 200 counties that received POWER funding were coal counties, and 28 percent of funding was granted to applicants outside coal counties. However, we could not identify all the communities served by every project and therefore assigned funding according to the location of the primary grantee. Since grantees sometimes serve communities beyond the county in which they are located, it is possible that more coal counties benefited than our research indicates.In general, we find low levels of federal funding explicitly designed to support communities impacted by the decline of coal (there are other federal programs that benefit coal communities, but not much is explicitly tailored to coal community transition). For example, if we divide total 2015 – 2020 POWER funds identified through our research by all 641 eligible coal counties, each county would have received under $640, 000 over the five-year period.We also classified grants by six project types (Section 6): education and workforce development; business development; economic asset development; health; research, planning, and feasibility studies; and leadership and community capacity development. Education and workforce development projects received the greatest amount of POWER funds ($165.5 million), followed by business development ($160.7 million) and economic asset development ($83.1 million).More than half of all POWER funding went to projects with an infrastructure component (Section 7). The top three infrastructure funding categories were building construction or renovation ($89.2 million), water and wastewater ($51.9 million), broadband ($39.4 million), and equipment and materials ($33.7 million).By career sector (Section 8), the top spending categories were manufacturing ($102.6 million), health and social services, including substance abuse prevention and treatment ($81.2 million), tourism and hospitality ($42.9 million), information technology ($40.0 million), and agriculture and forestry ($33.4 million). Renewable energy; arts, design, and entertainment; and education and public service received little funding and are potential future areas of growth.The report reveals the counties and project types that were prioritized in the POWER Initiative. It also indicates the possibility that little funding flowed to some particularly distressed coal communities. Further analysis is needed to elucidate whether this reflects a lack of capacity in local economic assistance programs, a lack of need, or (as noted above) data limitations. A deeper understanding of these gaps will allow future initiatives to holistically support communities across the country. |
| Date: | 2022–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-22-07&r=env |
| By: | MANO, Yukichi; ARIMOTO, Yutaka; Nguyen, Duy Can; Do, Van Hoang; KOJIN, Emi; Nguyen, Thiet; TSUKADA, Kazunari; Vo, Hong Tu |
| Abstract: | Quality control in fertilizer markets is critical to food security by facilitating fertilizer application and increasing agricultural productivity. With the active proliferation of new fertilizer producers, Vietnam has also faced this problem, but public and market initiatives have recently been taken to address the issue This paper evaluates the quality of 141 randomly sampled fertilizers in the Mekong Delta, the country’s central rice producing area. We intentionally sampled unbranded products to focus on the most vulnerable market segment. On average, our sample contains the labeled nutrient content. However, the quality variability is high, and half of the sample has at least one nutrient content below the legal requirement. We also find that nitrogen is over-concentrated and phosphate is diluted. These findings suggest that the quality of fertilizers in Vietnam, even unbranded ones, is reliable on average, but efforts are needed to stabilize quality variability. In addition, over-concentration of nitrogen may warrant policy attention as farmers may inadvertently over-apply nitrogen and harm the environment. |
| Keywords: | low-quality fertilizer, experience goods, Vietnam |
| JEL: | L15 L51 Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-129&r=env |
| By: | Fernando Aragon (Simon Fraser University); Juan Pablo Rud (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| Abstract: | This paper pools panel data from Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Malawi to examine the heterogeneous impact of extreme heat on subsistence farmers. Despite significant differences in agricultural practices and performance between smaller and larger farms, we find that high temperatures have a negative impact on agricultural productivity, output, and food security regardless of farm size. Farms of different size seem to respond differently to extreme temperatures: small farms increase their land use while larger farms use more pesticides. While all farms also increase off-farm work, these responses do not fully mitigate the effects on output and food insecurity. |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp23-02&r=env |
| By: | Gérard Mondello (Université Côte d'Azur, France; GREDEG CNRS) |
| Abstract: | The efficiency criterion (the highest level of care at the lowest accident cost) governs the comparison of performance between strict liability and negligence. This view stems from the initial standard accident model which under ideal conditions, ensures equivalence among liability regimes and assumes their potential substitutability. We develop a more general accident model which retains the neutral to risk assumption by assuming divergent views among the parties about the scale of the damages. Efficiency then no longer appears a sufficient relevant criterion to compare liability regimes. Consequently, each belongs to a specific field: Ultra-hazardous activities in the case of strict liability and the remaining areas of negligence. |
| Keywords: | Tort law, Law & Economics, Unilateral accident model, Risk, Safety, Strict liability, Negligence, Ultra-hazardous activities |
| JEL: | D62 K13 K23 K32 Q52 Q58 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2022-12&r=env |
| By: | Sara Lowes (UC San Diego - University of California [San Diego] - UC - University of California); Etienne Le Rossignol (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 UFR02 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - École d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, London Business School) |
| Abstract: | Moral universalism, the extent to which individuals exhibit similar altruism and trust towards in-group and out-group members, varies widely across societies. We test the hypothesis from anthropology that the requirements of transhumant pastoralism – a livelihood in which populations seasonally migrate and herd livestock – made individuals highly interdependent and cohesive within groups but hostile to individuals beyond the radius of extended kin. Using global data, we find that historical reliance on transhumant pastoralism is strongly predictive of greater in-group relative to out-group trust. This result is consistent across countries, between residents of the same country, among second-generation migrants, and with an instrumental variable strategy. We find evidence that these results are specific to transhumant pastoralism. The effects are particularly pronounced when transhumant pastoralists interact with groups that rely on other forms of economic production and in areas that are prone to climate shocks and conflict. Finally, we explore the economic implications of limited moral universalism. We find that greater reliance on transhumant pastoralism is associated with less objective promotion criteria within firms and smaller firm size. |
| Keywords: | Transhumant pastoralism, Trust, Moral universalism, Kinship, Culture, Firms |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-04083412&r=env |