1,721,004 research outputs found
Urban sprawl, land use and air pollution in urban areas with a case study on the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico
Get PDFDefining urban sprawl is a difficult task. Beyond low-density, uncontrolled development and urban expansion, there is no one unified concept or definition. As a consequence, several metrics and indicators are used to characterize urban sprawl. A literature review has been done in the first part of this thesis in order to complete the difficult task of finding the ideal set of indicators and thereby an ideal definition, that may also be applied to our case study of the San Juan Metropolitan Area. One of the main concerns of this thesis is the environmental consequences of urban sprawl. Therefore, further on in the literature review, a discussion of the causes and consequences of sprawl will show how the automobile plays a very important role in both being the origin of the 'problem' and in its increased use resulting in more carbon dioxide emissions and concentrations. The change and loss of landscape is the other important environmental consequence of sprawl. The second part of this thesis draws its focus to the San Juan Metropolitan Area in Puerto Rico (SJMA). Representing the main urban areas of the island, the San Juan Metropolitan Area has gone through an interesting process of development and urban growth. Following in the United States' footsteps, Puerto Rico experienced rapid growth in population and in infrastructure development during the 1950s. With a steady population growth rate until the late 1990s to early 2000s and an ever increasing use of the car as a means of transport, suburbanization was practically inevitable. More recent years show for a slow-down in population growth, but the consequences and outcomes - traffic congestion and loss of landscape, for instance - of sprawl remain. To fulfill the ultimate aim of this research - finding appropriate policy approaches to mitigate and control the negative effects of sprawl in the SJMA - census data, income data, transport data, land use regulation data, and remote sensing image information have been used and analyzed to list the policy implications accordingly. In order to make urban life more attractive than suburban life in the SJMA, more investments are required in the public transportation system and in the betterment of the other public amenities the urban centers of the SJMA have to offer. An island-wide land use regulation system is also required
Haciendo frente al cambio climático : reparto justo de la carga entre países industrializados y en vías de desarrollo
Get PDFEl Acuerdo de París requiere que tanto países desarrollados como en desarrollo contribuyan con la mitigación del cambio climático. Sin embargo, estos últimos aún necesitan apoyo, ya que su capacidad de mitigación está limitada por factores tecnológicos y financieros. Antes del Acuerdo, este apoyo se daba a través del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL); sin embargo, para alcanzar la meta de 2º C., se requiere de nuevos mecanismos que puedan significativamente reducir emisiones de CO2, así como promover desarrollo sostenible. Esta tesis analiza los impactos de los proyectos MDL en Brasil, y luego investiga los efectos de tratados comerciales con disposiciones en materia de cambio climático como propuesta de un nuevo mecanismo en la era post-Kyoto. Se aplicaron dos enfoques econométricos para analizar cómo el MDL ha contribuido con el desarrollo sostenible local. Todos los tipos de MDL han mejorado el ingreso local, pero solo los MDL hidroeléctricos han contribuido a reducir la pobreza en el periodo analizado. Para complementar, se investigaron los efectos del MDL sobre el empleo local, el cual se incrementó solo temporalmente. Finalmente, se aplicó un modelo de equilibrio general computable para explorar la efectividad de un acuerdo comercial entre Brasil y la Unión Europea. Se encontró que los acuerdos que promueven la inversión directa extranjera en cambio climático son una alternativa efectiva para reducir las emisiones de CO2, mientras contribuyen positivamente en el desempeño económico local.Financiamiento otorgado por el Fondo de Ciencia de Austria (Fondo zur wissenschaftlichen Forschung - FWF) en el marco del Programa Doctoral Cambio Climático - Incertidumbres, Barreras y Estrategias de Enfrentamiento, beca de investigación W1256-G15Tesi
Environmental Policy in an Open Economy: Refocusing Climate Policy to Address International Trade Spillovers
No full textOn looking at the development of greenhouse gas emissions over the last few decades, we find that while some countries and regions (such as the EU) have succeeded in reducing territorial emissions, their consumption patterns have often resulted in an increase in emissions elsewhere on the globe (consumption-based emissions). We thus argue that given the current piecemeal nature of (global) climate policy, and in order to address global emission development more adequately, existing policy instruments need to be augmented. We discuss improvements needed in the emission indicator system (i.e. emission accounting beyond the current UNFCCC standards), and identify the core fields of future development in emission reduction policy. These are discussed in some detail to be in consumption-oriented, extraction-oriented, and income-oriented policy instruments. All these are needed in order to ensure effective greenhouse gas emission reduction at the global level
EXISTENCE AND EFFICIENCY OF STATIONARY STATES IN A RENEWABLE RESOURCE BASED OLG MODEL WITH DIFFERENT HARVEST COSTS
Get PDFhttps://doi.org/10.1515/subboec-2017-0011
In a renewable resource based overlapping generations (OLG) model without harvest costs, a complex combination of the time discount factor, the resource production share, and the natural regeneration rate ensure the existence of a stationary market equilibrium and its intergenerational efficiency when the own rate of return on natural capital is positive. This paper investigates to what extent previous findings carry over to an OLG economy with two types of unit harvest costs (constant, inverse stock dependent) arising from the competition for labor between resource harvesting and resource processing. In contrast to the model without harvest cost, we show why large unit harvest costs, surprisingly, do not require a complex combination of basic parameters for the existence of a stationary state, and that in the model with stock dependent costs intergenerational efficiency might occur even when the own rate of return on natural capital is negative.
JEL classification: C62; D90; Q2
External balance, dynamic efficiency, and the welfare effects of unilateral and multilateral permit policies in interdependent economies
No full textThis paper investigates domestic and foreign welfare effects of unilateral and multilateral permit policies in a two-country overlapping generations model with producer carbon emissions. We show that the welfare effects of a more stringent cap on emissions depend on the external balance of the policy implementing country, the dynamic (in)efficiency of the world economy, and the preference for environmental quality. Under dynamic efficiency, the global welfare loss of policy implementation in a net foreign creditor country is lower than of a policy in the net foreign debtor country. Moreover, although the country which has unilaterally implemented a permit policy would gain from a multilateral policy, the associated welfare loss for the other country is larger than that of a unilateral policy abroad.Emission permits Trade Overlapping generations Welfare
Internationally coordinated emission permit policies : an option for withdrawers from the Kyoto protocol?
Get PDFThis paper investigates the welfare costs of unilateral versus internationally coordinated emission permit policies in a two-country overlapping generations model with producer carbon emissions. We show that, for a net foreign debtor country, the domestic welfare costs of a unilateral domestic permit policy are larger than of an internationally coordinated policy if the world economy is dynamically efficient. From the perspective of a net foreign debtor country that has withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol, an internationally coordinated permit policy is dominated by climate political inaction also in the post-Kyoto era since bearing the costs of foreign actionism is cheaper, in terms of welfare, than agreeing on international policy coordination - unless the world economy becomes dynamically inefficient
Economic Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts, Development of a Cross-Sectoral Framework and Results for Austria
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Willingness to Pay for Species Conservation Programs: Implications for National Park Funding. eco.mont (Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research)|eco.mont Vol. 1 No. 1|
No full textNational park management increasingly considers voluntary contributions from visitors as potentially important sources of private funding for species conservation. We investigate visitors willingness to pay (WTP) for the protection of two species differing in degree of endangerment and popularity (alpine ibex and rock partridge) in Austrias Hohe Tauern National Park. Our analysis reveals that visitors attitudes towards and preferences for nature conservation in general determine the WTP and not so much the species characteristics. The results suggest that conservation funding should be essentially public and only complemented by private funding because (i) potential (voluntary) contributions by visitors might not be sustainable in the long run, (ii) visitors WTP mirrors preferences for nature conservation in general rather than for specific species conservation programs, (iii) the collection of private contributions by a new system might be complicated, and (iv) many protected areas lack the resources and capacities for marketing and branding which are essential prerequisites for attracting funds in the first place
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