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Introduction to Environmental Economics
Published in Toolseeram Ramjeawon, Introduction to Sustainability for Engineers, 2020
To produce the goods and services that humans want, resources such as land, labor, and raw materials are necessary. However, these resources exist in limited supply and scarcity arises when the demand exceeds supply. At any point in time, there is only a finite amount of resources available. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources, of how markets function, and of how incentives can affect the behavior of people, businesses, and institutions. It had been the practice in the past to consider the resources and services provided by the environment to be limitless, having no cost, and not scarce. However, this is not the case. Environmental economics deals specifically with the application of the principles of economics to the study of how environmental and natural resources are developed and managed. It focuses on the incentives rational humans have when deciding to use our natural environment’s scarce resources. Although economics is often blamed for many of the problems we are currently facing, it helps us to explain the perverse incentives present in society that increase unsustainable behavior and can help us change these incentives that support the desired, more sustainable behavior. In 2002, for example, Ireland introduced a tax on the consumer for plastic bags. The results were significant: one year after the introduction of the fee, the consumption of plastic bags decreased by more than 90% (Convery et al., 2007). By putting a tax on plastic bags, the Irish government created economic incentives for environmentally friendly behavior.
Modern condition and prospects for the development of forest infrastructure to improve the economy of nature management
Published in Vladimir Litvinenko, Scientific and Practical Studies of Raw Material Issues, 2019
A.A. Kitcenko, V.F. Kovyazin, A.Y. Romanchikov
This method of cadastral valuation of forest lands, taking into account the degree of development of their infrastructure, can be applied on the territory of the Leningrad Region and in the North-West region of Russia. In this part of the country, the forest land infrastructure is most developed. The influence of indicators of forestry infrastructure on the level of territorial economic development should be assessed on the basis of indicators of the level of use of the calculated cutting area and the overall infrastructure development rate for each district. Environmental economics involves the internal and external economic assessment of natural resources and the contribution of each natural resource to environmental, health, social and other spheres. Based on the obtained indicators, it will be possible to obtain an objective picture of the development of forest infrastructure within the boundaries of a specific territory. In addition, an objective cadastral assessment is the main factor stimulating the development of infrastructure on forest land by the state and industrial companies. Consequently, the size of payments for the use of forest land will correspond to real time and bring large investments in the forest complex (Federation Council, 2018).
Roles of Design and Construction Teams in Sustainable Housing Delivery
Published in AbdulLateef Olanrewaju, Zalina Shari, Zhonghua Gou, Greening Affordable Housing, 2019
AbdulLateef Olanrewaju, Seong Yeow Tan
Sustainable development or sustainability is a global challenge because it’s causes, impact and solutions has an effect on everyone. The origin of sustainable development can be traced back to environmental economics, which dates back to 1960. Environmental economics primarily seeks to measure the implications (i.e., costs) of economic decisions on the external environment and to proffer solutions to mitigate or eliminate these implications. The implications are usually significant but are not often known when economic decisions are taken. Thus, sustainable development goals are future based activities. The topical issues faced in the efforts towards sustainable development are the need to integrate economic, environment and social factors in decision making. For simplicity, but without losing its meaning and generalization, sustainable development places a limit on the use of natural resources. Essentially, the bottom line is, globally, we are currently consuming more than the earth can produce and support. Moreover, we are producing and discharging waste that is far beyond what the earth can accommodate. In simple terms, sustainable development is a practice that integrates various criteria, including energy efficiency, durability, waste minimization, social impact, a good indoor environment, durability, pollution control, life-costs, user-friendliness, user comforts and others.
Composite indicators of sustainable urban mobility: Estimating the rankings frequency distribution combining multiple methodologies
Published in International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2018
Romeo Danielis, Lucia Rotaris, Adriana Monte
A criticism to these approaches is that they quantify the environmental impacts without taking into account the consumers’ preferences. Conversely, the welfare economics approach, typically used in the environmental economics literature, is based on the assumption that individuals have preferences and their utility (welfare) derives from consumption. Benefits increase human well-being and costs reduce human well-being. Consumers have well-defined preferences, and consistently behave to advance their self-interest. Environmental goods, however, are in most cases not subject to property rights and are not subject to market transactions. The interaction between economic agents, mediated by these kinds of “special” goods, takes place outside the market, raising externality and public good issues. Environmental economists have defined different concepts of value (use value, option value, and existence value) and identified methods to estimate them, such as the hedonistic pricing, the contingent valuation, the discrete choice, the travel costs, and the cost of protection methods. Aggregation over individuals (individual preferences into a collective preference), over time (social discount rates and intergenerational equity) and over risk are, nonetheless, recognized as problematic areas.