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761. Evaluating the Impact of Alternative Policy Scenarios on Multifunctionality: A Case Study of Finland

Author:
Heikki Lehtonen, Jussi Lankoski, and Jyrki Niemi
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper provides first results of the sector-model approach to analysing the effects of alternative policy scenarios on the multifunctional role of Finnish agriculture. In terms of environmental non-commodity outputs, this study focuses on nutrient runoffs, landscape diversity and biodiversity. As regards other non-commodity outputs, the paper considers rural socio-economic viability. The results suggest that, on the whole, reform of the common agricultural policy is not likely to result in any drastic decline of agricultural production in Finland. The amount of green fallow will increase considerably when agricultural support payments are decoupled from production, and as a result the remaining cultivated agricultural land will become biologically richer. The agricultural labour force is likely to decrease substantially irrespective of agricultural policy. The study concludes that the credibility of the production economics and biological relationships of the economic model determine the validity of the results of the many indicators examined. Further, the economic logic of microeconomic simulation models provides a consistent assessment of the many aspects of multifunctionality.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Environment
Political Geography:
Europe and Finland

762. The Importance of Politics to Nuclear New Build

Author:
Malcolm Grimston
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Though difficult to model as accurately as, say, the effects of oil price or the influence of climate change on decision-making in energy, the stance of the political establishment, locally, nationally and internationally, towards a major technical-scientific issue such as nuclear energy can be enormously important.
Topic:
Civil Society, Climate Change, Environment, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, and Science and Technology

763. OPEC and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities

Author:
Jacqueline Karas and Tatiana Bosteels
Publication Date:
11-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
OPEC countries tend to be highly reliant on revenues from the export of fossil fuels and they have consistently argued, throughout the climate negotiations, that measures taken by countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would have a major impact on their economies. They have advocated financial compensation to offset any adverse impacts.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Oil
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Arab Countries

764. Environmental Change Security Program Report 11

Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Wilson Center
Abstract:
Since 1994, the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) has promoted dialogue on the connections among environmental, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy. ECSP brings international policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to Washington, D.C., to address the public and fellow experts.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, and Environment
Political Geography:
Washington

765. Subsidies: a Way Towards Sustainable Fisheries?

Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Governments pay out some USD 6 billion a year to support the fisheries sector in OECD countries. This money, variously called subsidies, support or financial transfers, is used to help manage fish stocks, to modernise fishing fleets, and to help communities and regions that can no longer make a living out of fishing to develop other economic activity. The money is also intended to assist in resolving problems of over-fishing and over-capacity that affect many parts of the OECD fishing industry.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, and Government

766. Solutions in Space

Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Space, and man's relationship to it, has captured the human imagination for centuries. During the 20th century, dreams of space exploration became reality, and now dozens of countries, in particular in the OECD area, devote major resources to space programmes. But is this money well spent? Can we use space to find solutions to Earth's problems not available on the ground, or are we just pursuing high-priced star-filled dreams? Space technology may have brought us benefits from satellite telecommunications and their associated benefits such as telemedicine, but could we be doing more to exploit the link between space exploration and Earth application?
Topic:
Development, Economics, Environment, and Science and Technology

767. Opening Markets for Environmental Goods and Services

Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Trade barriers can be hazardous to the environment, at least those that prevent the free flow of environmental goods and services (EG). Roughly, these refer to the goods and services used to measure, prevent, limit, minimise or correct environmental damage. Studies have stressed the importance of eliminating barriers to trade in environmental goods and services as a key to improving environmental protection. And negotiations to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade in environmental goods and services are included in the current World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks. Today, because OECD countries have already eliminated most barriers to trade in EG, increasing trade flows in these products requires commitments from countries in the developing world.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Markets, and Third World

768. Intellectual property and competition policy in the biotechnology industry

Publication Date:
06-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
The science of biotechnology has been pushing the frontiers of human knowledge and intellectual property (“IP”) for three decades. As scientists developed techniques for isolating and creating genetic material and began to apply them commercially, a new industry grew and so did its appetite for patent protection. Although the wisdom of granting patents on DNA is still debated, the policy of OECD countries to allow such patents has been fairly well settled for some time. The door was therefore open for biotechnological innovators to create a flood of IP, and they did
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology

769. Preserving Biodiversity and Promoting Biosafety

Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Abstract:
Biodiversity – the variety of life and of habitats on Earth – is vital to human welfare. The loss or degradation of biodiversity can have important economic, environmental, and social consequences. Altering a watershed (the area draining into a common waterway), for example, not only leads to the potential loss of an ecosystem – through loss of habitat – but may also create economic costs for water filtration in cities using its water.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Environment, and Human Welfare

770. Katrina and the Environment

Author:
Steven F. Hayward
Publication Date:
10-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
The New Orleans flood is shaping up to take its place alongside the Cuyahoga River fire and the Santa Barbara and Exxon Valdez oil spills as one of the major environmental catastrophes of modern times. The issue of hurricanes and climate change—a linkage not established in current climate science—distracts from the most significant environmental lessons of the Katrina disaster. The rebuilding of New Orleans offers an opportunity to begin reversing the long-term Gulf Coast erosion that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Human Welfare, and Politics