Policy Resources

EAERE aims at promoting the policy impact of environmental economics. In this page a series of useful resources regarding policy is provided.
The content of this page is the result of a number of suggestions collected from EAERE members, not a selection carried out by EAERE. Contributions are welcome, please send them to eaere@eaere.org.

Climate Action

The Directorate-General for Climate Action ("DG CLIMA") furnishes a list of all the European legal texts in the field of climate action and ozone layer protection, applicable to current Member States.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/index.htm

Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable development. Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the Convention has been conceived as a practical tool for translating the principles of Agenda 21 into reality

DG Environment

The main role of the European Commission's Environment Directorate-General (DG) is to initiate and define new environmental legislation and to ensure that agreed measures are put into practice in the EU Member States.

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

ECHA is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the EU's groundbreaking chemicals legislation for the benefit of human health and the environment as well as for innovation and competitiveness. ECHA helps companies to comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals, provides information on chemicals and addresses chemicals of concern.

European Environment Agency (EEA)

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union. Our task is to provide sound, independent information on the environment. We are a major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public. Currently, the EEA has 32 member countries.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. The UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Established in 1994, UNCCD is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to cooperatively consider what countries could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES)

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance strong policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change. Launched in November 2011, C2ES is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, long recognized in the United States and abroad as an influential and pragmatic voice on climate issues.

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is among the most experienced and authoritative think tanks operating in the European Union today. CEPS serves as a leading forum for debate on EU affairs, but its most distinguishing feature lies in its strong in-house research capacity, complemented by an extensive network of partner institutes throughout the world.

Climate Policy Watcher

The blog aims at providing a critical “state-of-the-art” picture of current climate and energy policies with easy access to different resources. It is meant to collect information that are often presented in a disaggregated way on policy developments at the national and international levels; and to provide critical analyses of undergoing and proposed policies.

Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change

The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change is a Ltd Company (CMCC S.c.a.r.l.) with its registered office and administration in Lecce and local units in Bologna, Venice, Capua, Sassari, Milan and Benevento. The society doesn't pursue profitable ends and aims to realize and manage the Centre, its promotion, and research coordination and different scientific and applied activities in the field of climate change study. These activities are developed exclusively for the Center's work objectives, and favour collaboration among Universities, national and international research bodies, territorial bodies and the industrial sector. It operates in these circles in the name and on behalf of its consortium partners.
The publications section gathers a nunber of interesting resources regarding policy

FEEM Sustainability Index

FEEM Sustainability Index (FEEM SI) is an effective aggregate index which provides current and future projections of sustainability at both national and macro-regional scale over time. It manages to summarise and merge the information derived by a selection of relevant sustainability indicators chosen among the most well-known and reliable international indicators sets. The aggregation methodology is based on experts’ elicitation and exploits all the interactions across indicators.

Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

The goal of the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements is to help identify and advance scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic public policy options for addressing global climate change. Drawing upon leading thinkers in Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, and the United States, the Project conducts research on policy architecture, key design elements, and institutional dimensions of international and domestic climate policy.

High-Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue

The panel has been established to conduct a dialogue on the past and future of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It consists of distinguished policy makers and representatives of civil society and business who will engage a wide range of stakeholders through meetings and studies to gain a full and unbiased picture of the operations, benefits and shortcomings of the CDM.

Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)

The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is an independent research organisation concerned with policies affecting the environment in Europe and beyond. The IEEP’s aim is to disseminate knowledge about Europe and the environment and to analyse and present policy options.

International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG)

The International Center for Climate Governance (ICCG) is a joint initiative of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, which focuses its research activities on the design of climate policy and related governing institutions. Located on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, in front of Saint Mark’s Square in Venice, the ICCG gathers researchers in economics and political sciences who explore the interdependencies between the economic, social, cultural, religious and political aspects of climate governance.
ICCG offers a wide collection of e-publications, which aim at supporting research and learning. Dedicated to dissemination, the purpose of this section is to further the ICCG objective of fostering international knowledge of climate change issues.
ICCG observatories are tools to provide updated information, news on initiatives related to climate change and governance. While focusing on climate change related topics, the observatories aim at enhancing active participation and interaction.

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is a Canadian-based, public policy research institute that has a long history of conducting cutting-edge research into sustainable development.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Mandated by the governments worldwide, IRENA will promote the widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms or renewable energy. Acting as the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA will facilitate access to all relevant renewable energy information, including technical data, economic data and renewable resource potential data. IRENA will share experiences on best practices and lessons learned regarding policy frameworks, capacity-building projects, available finance mechanisms and renewable energy related energy efficiency measures.

Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21)

REN21 convenes international multistakeholder leaders to enable a rapid global transition to renewable energy. REN21 promotes renewable energy to meet the needs of both industrialised and developing countries that are driven by climate change, energy security, development and poverty alleviation.

World Resources Institute (WRI)

WRI spurs progress by providing practical strategies for change and effective tools to implement them.

Climate Change Adaptation in Europe

The European Climate Adaptation Platform (CLIMATE-ADAPT) aims to support Europe in adapting to climate change. It is an initiative of the European Commission and helps users to access and share information on Expected climate change in Europe, Current and future vulnerability of regions and sectors, National and transnational adaptation strategies, Adaptation case studies and potential adaptation options, Tools that support adaptation planning.

ECOLEX

ECOLEX is an information service on environmental law, operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and UNEP. Its purpose is to build capacity worldwide by providing the most comprehensive possible global source of information on environmental law. This unique resource, which combines the environmental law information holdings of FAO, IUCN and UNEP, seeks to put this information at the disposal of users world-wide, in an easily accessible service, employing modern technology. The ECOLEX database includes information on treaties, international soft-law and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, national legislation, judicial decisions, and law and policy literature. Users have direct access to the abstracts and indexing information about each document, as well as to the full text of most of the information provided.

FAOLEX

FAOLEX is a comprehensive and up-to-date computerized legislative database, one of the world's largest electronic collection of national laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources.

IEA Policies and Measures Databases

The IEA’s Policies and Measures Databases offer access to information on energy-related policies and measures taken or planned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and support renewable energy development and deployment.

InforMEA

The MEA Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) Initiative brings together 13 Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) and other relevant international instruments to develop harmonized and interoperable information systems for the benefit of Parties and the environment community at large. The Initiative is facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme, the participation of IUCN as the host of Ramsar and invites observers involved with MEA data and information, such as the Environmental Management Group (EMG), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN – Columbia University)

IISD Reporting services

The International Institute for Sustainable Development – Reporting Services Division – provides a variety of multimedia informational resources for environment and sustainable development policymakers, including daily coverage of international negotiations, analyses and photos. IISD provides various products on the issues of climate change, biodiversity, energy, forestry, water and other environmental topics.

MURE

MURE (Mesures d’Utilisation Rationnelle de l’Energie) provides information on energy efficiency policies and measures that have been carried out in the Member States of the European Union and enables the simulation and comparison at a national level of the potential impact of such measures.

OECD/EEA database

The OECD/EEA database provide information on environmentally related taxes, fees and charges, tradable permit systems, deposit refund systems, environmentally motivated subsidies and voluntary approaches used in environmental policy in OECD member countries, OECD accession countries, EEA member countries and countries otherwise co-operating with EEA, not being members of OECD. A number of other countries have also been invited to provide information for the database, and information on some environmentally related taxes in South Africa is available. Generally the information is more complete for taxes than for other instruments, but coverage of the other instruments is improving.

Renewables Interactive Map

The REN21 Renewables Interactive Map is a research tool for tracking the development of renewable energy worldwide. The Map offers a streamlined method for gathering and sharing information on economic development and policy frameworks in the field of renewable energies. The interactive features of the map allow for browsing by country or world region and for searches by RE technology or RE sector. In conjunction with the Renewables Global Status Report (GSR) the Renewables Interactive Map offers an updated, interactive, and user friendly picture of the global status of renewables.

Think Thank Map

The International Center for Climate Governance has launched the Think Tank Map, a new worldwide observatory that provides an overview on the think tanks active in the field of climate change governance. Through an interactive world map, this tool makes it possible to see which organizations are working in the main fields related to climate governance all over the world, which projects and activities they are currently developing, and how they cooperate with other entities to influence the policy sphere. This instrument does not only allow think tanks to present their research activities to a specialized public; it also eases the formation of networks, by creating new opportunities for interaction and for building new linkages, to discuss and to share new ideas.

WITCH (World Induced Technical Change Hybrid model) Policy simulator

WITCH (World Induced Technical Change Hybrid model) is one of the main modelling tools developed within FEEM’s Sustainable Development research programme. The model is designed to assist in the study of the socio-economic dimensions of climate change and to help policy makers understand the economic consequences of climate policies.

David Pearce Lectures
2012: Ian J. Bateman, CSERGE, University of East Anglia. To be held during the 19th EAERE Annual Coference, Prague 27-30 June.
2011: Prof. Erik S. Maskin, Princeton University, How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: an Application of Auction Theory
2009: Rick van der Ploeg, University of Oxford and University of Amsterdam, Global Crisis and Natural Resources: A Developing Country Perspective.