While traditional economic models consider human beings as rational agents that maximize their pleasure (or “utility”), Behavioural Economics questions the rationality of people’s decisions. How can governments promote environmental policies more efficiently? We selected four policy insights from the Behavioural Economics literature.
The end of 2018 is a crucial date for the implementation of the climate agreement adopted in Paris in 2015 and currently ratified by 178 countries. At COP24 in Katowice, Poland, countries are due to finalized and adopt the operational guidelines of the treaty, also known as “the Paris rulebook”.
Oceans are facing increasing pressures: biodiversity loss, pollution, over-exploitation and illegal activities; and diverse impacts of climate change, such as ocean warming, acidification and rising sea level, are increasingly alarming. From the headquarters of international organizations as well as in the most vulnerable and ocean dependent countries, it is acknowledged that it is time to change the way we manage oceans and their resources in order to keep them healthy, productive, safe, secure and resilient.
An article by James Rising* Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics *The article has been published on the new
Human innovations created widespread human prosperity. However, they are also threatening the global environmental systems on which our economy and civilization depend. The likely solutions to these challenges will require yet more innovation: 3 policy proposals that would support more innovation of the environmentally beneficial kind.
If recent agreements show the worldwide political willingness to deal with climate change, countries’ promises have yet to be turned into practical policy designs. Carbon Taxes are widely praised by economists as the most efficient way to internalize the social impact of carbon emissions, yet their implementation is still slow. What are the barriers to their implementation and how can governments improve their policy designs? Some insights from a paper recently published.
At a key meeting in May, the Council of the European Union formally adopted the regulation on emission reductions by the EU Member States from 2021 to 2030, also known as the Effort Sharing Regulation.
Environmental threats dominates the landscape depicted by the Global Risks Report 2018, the latest report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The 2018 edition
May session of UN climate negotiations closed in Bonn with slow progress on the operational guidelines of the Paris Agreement, due to be finalized and
Climate finance is among the most disputed issues during UNFCCC negotiations and the halfway climate talks taking place in Bonn this May made no exceptions.
The Paris climate deal agreed in 2015 has set a new cycle for climate change policy. Among the several new mechanisms (many of which still to be settled down), the increasing engagement of non-Party stakeholders in the decision-making process it is a hallmark of the new course.
Sent out for comments from governments and other experts, the text is a work in progress which could change substantially and do not necessarily represent the IPCC’s final assessment of the state of knowledge. According to leaked IPCC drafts, we need unprecedented changes in energy use, industry and other sectors to limit global warming below 1.5°C.
