The Environmental Economics Program uses
the tools of economics to understand and help solve the many environmental
problems facing people today, especially the poor.
The Program recognizes that one of the biggest environmental problems
that threaten humanity is climate change. Thus, the Program’s
research and advocacy center on solutions which reduce the risks climate
change presents. Special focus is given to the Clean Development Mechanism,
a market-based instrument that allows for additonal investments that
will make possible climate-friendly and environmentally-sound projects.
These projects contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gases, the
main cause of climate change, and help promote sustainable development.
The Program also
seeks to analyze the impacts of various environmental problems on
the poor and to find ways of dealing effectively with poverty without
jeopardizing the environment. The research and advocacy agenda include:
• Cost-benefit
evaluation and cost effectiveness of various carbon sequestration
and carbon reduction projects
• Analyses of the diffent carbon markets
• Economic valuation of environmental problems (e.g. air and
water pollution, forest degradation)
• Economic instruments to provide clean water and other environmental
services to the poor
• Financial sustainability of community-based natural resource
management
