1,721,048 research outputs found
How uncertainty of air emission inventories impacts policy decisions at sub-national level. A Shift-Share Analysis undertaken in Piedmont (Italy).
No full textEmission inventories are compiled at national and regional levels and used without taking uncertainty into account. We attempt to check whether and to what extent uncertainty related to emission inventories affect quantitative analysis used by policy makers to set strategies and implement actions at regional and sub-regional levels. We consider the regional air emission inventory of the Piedmont region in Italy. Uncertainty is calculated by adapting the insurance-based method. A hybrid accounting matrix is built and a Shift-Share analysis is undertaken for manufacturing and construction activities, and for the transport sector at regional and provincial levels. The procedure is repeated for data without uncertainty and data with uncertainty. Although in absolute terms total emissions are remarkably different, the outcomes of the Shift-Share Analysis vary among provinces: sometimes the messages are misleading when uncertainties are not included in the calculation; sometimes the differences are negligible. Some general conclusion can be drawn
A use-chain model to deal with uncertainties : a focus on GHG emission inventories
No full textThe measurements necessary to estimate GHG emission inventories create uncertainty.
Currently emission inventories are built on statistical data, parameters and some “other information.” Investigating the role of the latter has driven this analysis, since it has proven to be a key concept in understanding and reducing uncertainty. This article proposes a use-chain model to guide researchers in choosing the appropriate available method to deal with uncertainty. The model involves three main parts: data production, data analysis and data use. The findings suggest, first, that statistical techniques, although crucial, do not represent the only possible way to reduce uncertainty; and, second, that the appropriate way to deal with uncertainty depends on whether one is dealing with data production or data analysis or data use, each characterized by a different degree of specificity and by a different influence of the surrounding context
The role played by uncertainty of GHG emissions in transport policy analysis. The case of Piedmont region in assessing direct and indirect emissions
No full textAssessing direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases in road transportation, taking into account the role of uncertainty in the emissions inventory
No full textGreenhouse gas (GHG) concentration in the atmosphere has increased since the beginning of the industrial era, with dramatic effects on climate change. Transportation is one of the main sources of GHGs, with more than two-thirds of transport-related GHG emissions emitted by road vehicles. Any policy that aims to reduce GHG emissions needs robust measuring methods that guarantee the quality and reliability of primary data and estimates. However, these estimates are subject to uncertainty, both at the stage of compiling accounting tables and at the stage of using this information to formulate a specific policy question.
This paper considers how to reduce uncertainty in estimating GHG emissions from road transport, with specific reference to a regional emissions inventory in Italy. We propose the application of a use-chain model that can tackle uncertainty in measuring GHG emissions by enhancing the quality of the emissions data registry in the inventory. This new metric, that we call emission value at risk, draws from methodologies and concepts from the insurance and financial sectors. Moreover, additional assessments are performed, integrating the inventory data with those available in the regional energy balance and disaggregated sectoral economic dataset. The results show that a sound accounting method allows addressing uncertainty in emission data, thus improving the design of appropriate strategies to reduce GHG emissions
A screening procedure to measure the effect of uncertainty in air emission estimates
No full textEmission inventories are compiled at regional level. When these sources of information are used, uncertainty of emission estimates is never considered. In this paper, we propose an initial screening to identify whether and to what extent uncertainty related to emission inventories affects quantitative analysis used to set strategies and implement actions at regional and subregional levels. We consider the regional air emission inventory of the Piedmont region in Italy. For each pollutant and each sector, uncertainty is calculated by adapting the insurance-based method. A hybrid accounting matrix is built, three environmental themes are analyzed, and a shift-share analysis is undertaken considering jointly air emission estimates and the number of employees at regional and provincial levels. The same procedure is undertaken for data processed with and without uncertainty. Based on the obtained outcomes, few comments are drawn in order to reach some general conclusion to feed discussion on the importance of integrating and prioritizing uncertainty into decision-making at subnational level
Ecosystem services accounts: Valuing the actual flow of nature-based recreation from ecosystems to people
Get PDFNatural capital accounting aims to measure changes in the stock of natural assets (i.e., soil, air, water and all living things) and to integrate the value of ecosystem services into accounting systems that will contribute to better ecosystems management. This study develops ecosystem services accounts at the European Union level, using nature-based recreation as a case study and following the current international accounting framework: System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA). We adapt and integrate different biophysical and socio-economic models, illustrating the workflow necessary for ecosystem services accounts: from a biophysical assessment of nature-based recreation to an economic valuation and compilation of the accounting tables. The biophysical assessment of nature-based recreation is based on spatially explicit models for assessing different components of ecosystem services: potential, demand and actual flow. Deriving maps of ecosystem service potential and demand is a key step in quantifying the actual flow of the service used, which is determined by the spatial relationship (i.e., proximity in the case of nature-based recreation) between service potential and demand. The nature-based recreation accounts for 2012 show an actual flow of 40 million potential visits to ‘high-quality areas for daily recreation’, with a total value of EUR 50 billion. This constitutes an important contribution of ecosystems to people's lives that has increased by 26% since 2000. Practical examples of ecosystem services accounts, as shown in this study, are required to derive recommendations and further develop the conceptual and methodological framework proposed by the SEEA EEA. This paper highlights the importance of using spatially explicit models for ecosystem services accounts. Mapping the different components of ecosystem services allows proper identification of the drivers of changes in the actual service flow derived from ecosystems, socio-economic systems and/or their spatial relationship. This will contribute to achieving one of the main goals of ecosystem accounts, namely measuring changes in natural capital, but it will also support decision-making that targets the enhancement of ecosystems, their services and the benefits they provide
Livestock and Ecosystem Services: An Exploratory Approach to Assess Agri-Environment-Climate Payments of RDP in Trentino
Get PDFThe identification of an appropriate justification for Agri-Environment-Climate (AEC) payments is a crucial issue in the new Rural Development Programme (RDP).
Given the environmental importance of grasslands in Trentino (Italy), the Management Authority in charge of the RDP decided to integrate an approach based on Ecosystem
Services (ES) into the calculation of AEC payments. The paper presents the methodology used for this approach as well as the preliminary results. The first step entails building a probabilistic model for the ES, named Sustainable Fodder Production. Model outputs are then integrated with the accounting results based on the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) database (2009–2012) with the aim of calculating the additional costs and income waived due to the environmental commitments deriving from the sustainable management of permanent grassland in livestock farming. Sustainability measures imply more extensive management practices that maintain meadows in a healthy state
How to account for nature-based tourism in Europe. An operational proposal
No full textEurope is a leader in the tourism industry, with half of the world's international arrivals in 2018. Nowadays tourism activities related to the enjoyment of nature, Nature-based tourism (NBT), are amongst the main tourism markets worldwide. NBT represents both a challenge and an opportunity. In fact, on the one hand, it contributes to creating new markets and spurring job growth, especially for small businesses and, on the other hand, it might impact the environment and local communities. What's more, it is extremely difficult to quantify the role of nature in traditional economic accounting. In this context, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) covers this gap by reporting information not included in the traditional system of economic accounts. The Central SEEA framework was adopted by the UN Statistical Commission in 2012 and the Ecosystem Accounting module (SEEA EA) has recently been adopted to quantify the role of ecosystems. In this study, we fine-tune a methodology applied to account for daily outdoor recreation to measure the contribution of nature to the tourism sector respecting the SEEA EA rules.The approach was tested in Italy, which in 2019, had more than 430 million nights per year spent in the country for tourism. In our exploratory study, 56.69% (246 million) of the overnight stays were allocated to NBT. Our analysis shows that 43% (more than 30 million) of the overnight stays in the Veneto Region were allocated to nature; 75% (more than 39 million) in Trentino Alto Adige and 61.6% (29 million) in Tuscany.The top ranked municipalities, with very high numbers of overnight stays and very low share of NBT are cities of art: namely: Venice (Veneto Region), Milan (Lombardy Region) and Florence (Tuscany Region) and sea locations on the Adriatic Sea, specifically San Michele al Tagliamento and Jesolo (Veneto Region). On the contrary, the top-ranked locations with very high numbers of overnight stays and very high share of NBT are mountain, lakes and sea locations that have natural protected areas or other key iconic landmarks in their proximity and endorsed specific types of travel accommodation, such as camp sites.Based on our exploratory study, we argue that this approach allows us to disentangle the contribution of ecosystems to tourism. Not only is it compliant with the requests of the SEEA EA framework, but, thanks to the spatially-explicit outputs, it allows us to further explore the environmental and social impacts of tourism in a multi-scale perspective. In this study, a biophysical map developed at the EU level was used for illustrative purposes. In order to become operational at the national or local level, we suggest creating biophysical maps starting from local detailed datasets and, successively, to implement the methodology described in this paper
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