1,721,122 research outputs found
Water conservation and management: common sense for a common resource?
No full textThe increasing water scarcity and pollution problems that are affecting large areas of the globe are provoking a heated debate both among scholars and in the public opinion on two main issues: first, on the very nature of water as a common resource and the related management problems that this generates and, second, on the most appropriate market instrument to apply the polluters' (user's) pays principle and thus price water pollution (consumption).
This chapter analyzes these two intertwined issues and critically examines the experiences of various countries that have applied a specific kind of market-based instrument, tradable water permits programmes. For this purpose, the author first investigates the recent debate on water as a common resource and its practical implications in terms of water pricing, emphasizing the rationale and limitations underlying the use of market instruments for water. The chapter then focuses on tradable permits as this might become the main market instrument for water management and conservation to be adopted in many countries in the years to come. In this regard, the work critically evaluates the most significant applications of water tradable permit systems all over the world, focusing attention on the crucial role that the government can play for their successful implementation, in order to provide a few suggestions which can be drawn from these programs for their application in other countries in the future
A room with a view : a special issue with a special perspective (Introduction)
Full text linkThe present article describes the main insights deriving from the papers collected in this special issue which jointly provide a ‘room with a view’ on some of the most relevant issues in climate policy such as: the role of uncertainty, the distributional implications of climate change, the drivers and applications of decarbonizing innovation, the role of emissions trading and its interactions with companion policies. While looking at different issues and from different angles, all papers share a similar attention to policy aspects and implications, especially in developing countries. This is particularly important to evaluate whether and to what extent the climate policies adopted thus far in developed countries can be replicated in emerging economies
Environmental Degradation, Self-protection Choices and Coordination Failures in a North–South Evolutionary Model
No full textWith or without U(K): A pre-Brexit network analysis of the EU ETS
Full text linkThe European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) is commonly regarded as the key pillar of the European climate policy and as the main unifying tool to create a unique carbon price all over Europe. The UK has always played a crucial role in the EU ETS, being one of the most active national registry and a crucial hub for the exchange of allowances in the market. Brexit, therefore, could deeply modify the number and directions of such exchanges as well as the centrality of the other countries in this system. To investigate these issues, the present paper exploits network analysis tools to compare the structure of the EU ETS market in its first two phases with and without the UK, investigating a few different scenarios that might emerge from a possible reallocation of the transactions that have involved UK partners. We find that without the UK the EU ETS network would become in general much more homogeneous, though results may change focusing on the type of accounts involved in the transactions
Climate Change in the MENA Region: Environmental Risks, Socioeconomic Effects and Policy Challenges for the Future
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EU ETS facets in the net: Structure and evolution of the EU ETS network
Full text linkIn this work, we investigate which countries have been more central during Phases I and II of the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) with respect to the different types of accounts operating in the system. We borrow a set of centrality measures from Network Theory's tools to describe how the structure of the system has evolved over time and to identify which countries have been in the core or in the periphery of the network. Performing partitions on the different types of accounts and transactions characterizing the EU ETS, we investigate whether intermediaries have affected the overall structure of the system. From the analysis of the European Union Transaction Log data over the period 2005–2012, we find that some national registries (France, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, The Netherlands) were much more central than others in the network. Empirical evidence, moreover, shows that some account holders strategically opened additional accounts in the more central registries, thus reinforcing their centrality in the network. Finally, it turns out that Person Holding Accounts (PHAs) have played a prominent role in the transaction of permits, heavily influencing the configuration of the system. This motivates further research on the impact of non-regulated entities in the EU ETS design
Searching for a Carbon Laffer Curve: Estimates from the European Union Emissions Trading System
No full textCarbon prices have grown remarkably in the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) in recent years, raising distributional concerns. Revenues are expected to grow with higher carbon prices, thus providing resources to address distributional issues. Beyond a certain point, however, higher prices can discourage the purchase of allowances and ultimately reduce revenues, describing a Carbon Laffer Curve (CLC). We empirically investigate the CLC in the EU ETS between 2012 and 2021 using auction revenues at the country level. Results indicate that ETS revenues follow an inverted‐U relationship in both the volume and the price of auctioned allowances, with an estimated optimal price between 86 and 125 euros
Satisfied or reimbursed : an innovative index-based mechanism for the environmental protection of a tourist region
Full text linkFirst published online: 22 October 2020This article describes and discusses an innovative index-based environmental protection mechanism involving both tourists and local firms of a given region. The public administration offers tourists (non-polluting firms) the possibility of being reimbursed if the environmental quality in the region turns out to be below (above) a given threshold level. Since the two kinds of reimbursements (to visitors and firms) are linked to the same ecological indicator, they will tend to compensate each other, so that the mechanism could be implemented without incurring any cost for the public administration. The article identifies potential difficulties that may arise in its application and proposes corresponding solutions to address them
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