ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

Transcription

1 ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS 1

2 IN SHORT The Department of Environmental Economics is one of the largest groups of environmental economists in Europe, consisting of 14 staff members and close to 20 international PhD researchers. The Department is led by Professor Roy Brouwer. The Department s mission is to acquire and transfer academic knowledge and expertise on the relationship between the environment and the economy in order to address societal concerns and inform environmental policy. To this end, the Department aims to conduct innovative, high-quality research, addressing critical needs from society, in order to produce policy relevant output. Besides research, the Department is also involved in the teaching of environmental economics, water and energy economics, and the economics of ecosystem services. The main strength of the Department lies in the application of high-quality academic knowledge and expertise in interdisciplinary policy relevant research projects. MAIN RESEARCH THEMES RESEARCH CLUSTERS Climate Change & Energy Water Resources Management Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Economic Valuation Economic Modelling Economic Instruments Research themes and research clusters of the department of Environmental Economics 2

3 Research CLUSTERS The research in the Department is organized around three methodological research clusters on economic valuation, economic modelling and economic instruments, applied to cross-cutting themes such as climate change, energy, water, biodiversity and ecosystem services. ECONOMIC VALUATION The Department has a long tradition in economic valuation of the environment, dating back to the early 1970s when it advised the Dutch government about the negative externalities associated with noise from Schiphol Airport. Since then, a large number of national and international valuation studies have been conducted, for instance related to water quality in the context of the European Water Framework Directive, and ecosystem services in the context of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). The valuation cluster is specialized in market and non-market valuation methods. The cluster contributes to the development of novel valuation approaches, focusing on the role of risk and uncertainty in choice experiments, meta-analysis and value transfer based on GIS-based ecosystem services value mapping. Economic modelling Economic models are powerful tools for understanding and quantifying the complex link between economic activities and the natural environment. 3

4 Economic models developed in the Department have, for example, been used to inform policy and decisionmaking based on a sustainable national income level for the Netherlands. The cluster contributes to state-of-the-art modelling of climate change impacts through its integrated assessment models and the development of hydroeconomic general equilibrium models, applied to transboundary river basins such as the Rhine in Europe and the Blue Nile in East Africa. Economic Instruments The cluster on economic instruments focuses on the design and evaluation of incentive-based mechanisms to assess conditions for cooperation in environmental resource management. The Department has a long history of informing policy and decision-making with respect to the use and usefulness of market-based instruments, for instance for solid waste, air pollution and water. Examples include greenhouse gas trading mechanisms and the perverse incentives of environmentally harmful subsidies. Recent novel policy instruments include climate change driven flood risk and drought insurance, payments for ecosystem services, and community-based nature conservation. 4

5 RESEARCH THEMES Although the Department touches upon a wide range of issues, the majority of the research is concentrated in three focal areas: Climate Change & Energy, Water Resources Management, and Biodiversity Ecosystem Services. Climate Change & Energy The Department contributes to the design and evaluation of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in response to global warming, for instance in the context of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). Special emphasis is placed on the transition towards sustainable renewable energy supply and use in developed and developing countries, for instance related to the shift in national energy portfolios after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services This theme aims to highlight the growing cost of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation through estimating the economic importance of ecosystem services and to translate these values into cost-effective policies, including payments for ecosystem services. The Department plays a central role in the global TEEB network, and has worked on ecosystem services provided by coral reefs, wetlands, forests and freshwater resources. Water Resources Management The Department addresses the financial and economic dimensions affecting the use and management of water resources in different sectors such as agriculture, energy, industry and urban water supply. Research covers such topics as transboundary water allocation agreements, water extraction and pollution in the context of the European Water Framework Directive, and floods in the context of the Floods Directive. The Department has its own journal Water Resources and Economics. 5

6 COMPENTENCES In the Department s mission to acquire and transfer academic knowledge and inform environmental policy, several competences are particularly important. Academic excellence Having one of the largest concentrations of environmental economists in Europe, the Department plays a leading role in the development of the Environmental Economics field. Our economists are involved in international journals as members of the editorial board and editors in chief of the journal Water Resources and Economics and Energy Economics. Moreover, we publish in top, international journals such as Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and International Economic Review. Teaching The Department is active in the teaching of environmental economics, the majority of which takes place in the MSc programme Environment and Resource Management, and the BSc and MSc courses in Earth Sciences and Economics. Department members supervise about 30 MSc and close to 20 PhD students each year. The Department organizes international PhD summer schools on various topics and provides tailor-made international courses to practitioners. Policy relevance The policy and societal relevance of the work in the Department is evidenced by the awards and prizes the Department wins. For example, Dr Wouter Botzen won the VU University Social Impact Award in The Department is well connected to relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations such as World Wildlife Fund. Professor Marjan Hofkes is a member of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER). 6

7 STAFF The Department s staff consists of a balanced group of junior and senior economists of which 40% is on a permanent and 60% is on a temporary contract. Dr Roy Brouwer, Professor and Head of the Department Environmental Economics Dr Marjan Hofkes, Professor Environmental Economics Dr Daan van Soest, Professor Environmental Economics Dr Richard Tol, Professor Climate Change Economics Dr Pieter van Beukering, Associate Professor Dr Wouter Botzen, Assistant Professor Dr Onno Kuik, Senior Researcher Dr Jetske Bouma, Senior Researcher Dr Erik Ansink, Senior Researcher Dr Mark Koetse, Senior Researcher Dr Elissaios Papyrakis, Senior Researcher Mr Frans Oosterhuis, Senior Researcher Mrs Anna Wieczorek, Junior Researcher Mr Oleg Sheremet, Junior Researcher Research Associates Prof. Dr Jeroen van den Bergh (Autonomous University of Barcelona) Dr Luke Brander (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) Dr Rob Dellink (OECD, Paris) Dr Frederic Reynes (TNO, the Netherlands) Current PhD Candidates Justin Dijk, Francisco Estrada Porrua, Trond Husby, In Chang Hwang, Tewodros Kahsay, Bianca van der Kroon, Jason Levin-Koopman, Sam Okullo, Youbaraj Paudel, Ha Phan Dang, Derk van Ree, Oleg Sheremet, Musharaf Talpur, Solomon Tarfasa, Abonesh Tesfaye Tulu, Aschalew Demeke Tigabu, Anna Wieczorek. Ms Marjolijn Staarink, Department Secretary 7

8 INFORMATION AND CONTACT ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS Department of IVM, Institute for Environmental Studies VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1085 (visiting address) De Boelelaan 1087 (postal address) 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands t f e info.ivm@vu.nl i Head of Department: Prof. Dr Roy Brouwer Studio VU