Economy & carbon markets

Fiscal Monitor: How to Mitigate Climate Change

22 October 2019By
The October 2019 edition of the Fiscal Monitor by the International Monetary Fund focuses on the design of fiscal policies for climate mitigation at the domestic and international level.

This report emphasizes the environmental, fiscal, economic, and administrative case for using carbon taxes, or similar pricing schemes such as emission trading systems, to implement climate mitigation strategies. It provides a quantitative framework for understanding their effects and trade-offs with other instruments and applies it to the largest advanced and emerging economies. Alternative approaches, like “feebates” to impose fees on high polluters and give rebates to cleaner energy users, can play an important role when higher energy prices are difficult politically. At the international level, the report calls for a carbon price floor arrangement among large emitters, designed flexibly to accommodate equity considerations and constraints on national policies. The report estimates the consequences of carbon pricing and redistribution of its revenues for inequality across households. Strategies for enhancing the political acceptability of carbon pricing are discussed, along with supporting measures to promote clean technology investments.

Source: IMF

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Water, agriculture, forestry

New FAO Digital Report on the State of Food and Agriculture 2019

15 October 2019By

This report explores the food loss and waste issues. The broad estimate FAO provided in 2011 suggested that around 1/3 or 30 percent of the world’s food was lost or wasted every year. This can be considered a preliminary estimate that raised awareness of the issue.

To provide more clarity on the subject, that figure is in the process of being replaced with two separate SDG indicators, the Food Loss Index and the Food Waste Index. These two indices will allow to measure more precisely how much food is lost in production or in the supply chain, or is wasted by consumers or retailers.

Surf through the platform by FAO

Download the Full Report here

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Economy & carbon markets

EEA Report: Paving the way for a circular economy – insights on status and potentials

10 October 2019By

This new report by the EEA takes stock of the initiatives for creating a circular economy that reduce the use of natural resources and minimise harmful emissions and waste. According to the report, European companies are increasingly adopting circular business models, focused mainly on operational efficiency and reducing waste. Another promising development is to shift from product-based to service-based business models. The largest barriers to a greater uptake of such models appear to be corporate culture, market factors and system complexity.

Read the Full Report

Image © Donnie Rosie on Unsplash

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OPEN CALL FOR LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE – EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL IN RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS FROM YEAR 2021 ONWARDS

9 October 2019By

Call for Expressions of Interest
Deadline: November 15th, 2019

The European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) solicits proposals for the Organising Committee for its series of “European Summer School in Resource and Environmental Economics” to be run from 2021 onwards. An overview of the Summer School series is available here.
Universities, research organisations, or groups of organisations that intend to propose their candidature are kindly requested to submit their expressions of interest by November 15th, 2019.

Expressions of interest consist of:

(1) a formal letter stating that the candidate will assume all the administrative, organisational and financial responsibilities related to the School;
(2) a clear indication of the years for which the expression of interest applies (es. only year 2021 or a set of years starting from 2021;
(3) a presentation of the candidate including the candidate’s relevant experience in organising similar events;
(4) a preliminary description of the Summer School(s) topics, inclusive of an abstract, names of School Coordinators, and Faculty Members;
(5) a preliminary budget for the School(s);
(6) a presentation of the Summer School location and facilities.

Expressions of interest may be accompanied by any other documentation that the candidates judge useful for the evaluation process. EAERE may ask candidates to present additional documents at a later date. They should be sent by e-mail to EAERE at the address below. Any material that cannot be sent electronically should reach EAERE by mail by the relevant deadline. Selections will be made by the EAERE Council. Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
(a) candidates’ experience;
(b) quality of location and facilities;
(c) interest of the topic for the EAERE membership;
(d) reputation of Coordinators and Faculty;
(e) budget (availability of grants for students, other sponsorships, fund-raising capacity).
A final decision is expected to be taken by February 2020.

Expressions of interest and full proposals should be sent to:
European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE)
Via della Libertà, 12 – 30175 Marghera-Venice (VE), Italy – e-mail: eaere@eaere.org

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Impacts, risks, adaptations

IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

25 September 2019By

This new Report by IPCC highlights the urgency of prioritizing timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere. The report reveals the benefits of ambitious and effective adaptation for sustainable development and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action. The ocean and the cryosphere – the frozen parts of the planet – play a critical role for life on Earth. A total of 670 million people in high mountain regions and 680 million people in low-lying coastal zones depend directly on these systems. Four million people live permanently in the Arctic region, and small island developing states are home to 65 million people.

Source: IPCC Press Release

The Report can be downloaded here

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