Innovative
Economic Policies for Climate Change
Mitigation
Catalogue
A short synthesis
covering most of the policies presented in the book can be downloaded
for free from the
following page.
We are seriously concerned with
global climate change, the higher frequency of extreme weather
conditions, the rise of sea level, the acidification of the oceans,
the salinisation of sweet water in small islands, the dramatic
reduction in biodiversity, heat waves, freshwater exhaustion and
ubiquitous pollution. But we are optimist that mitigation is still
possible if the world reacts with extreme energy and cohesion.
Economics as a science has been reducing the issue
of climate change to prices and quantities, interest rate and
utility functions, converting health and security issues in tradable
commodities. Neoclassical economics with all its empirical and
logical flaws risks to provide unsufficient advice to goverments
and firms, while neglecting technological and fairness issues.
At the same time, economic aspects of any mitigation
strategy will be crucial for its success. So we have solicited
economists to devise, develop and articulate innovative economic
policies and measures to be integrated in effective and fair climate
change mitigation efforts at every geographical and industry level.
Scholars from such a wide range of countries as
Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, France, Kenya, Hungary,
India, Italy, Iran, Mauritius, The Netherlands, Poland, Singapore,
Slovakia, United Kingdom have accepted this challenge, providing
a unique international and multi-polar perspective.
New insights from evolutionary economics, environmental
economics, sociology, law, marketing and managerial disciplines
have been linked with the experience on the terrain of real policy-making
in ministries and environmental agencies.
Instead of framing climate change mitigation as
a cost, we feel it is a huge opportunity for innovation, profits,
business growth, employment, wages and improvement of real quality
of life.
The book has been submitted to national and international
authorities before the Copenhagen summit, where the new Accord
has been signed, opening the path for elaborating international
and nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs), whose content
can benefit from the policies proposed in the book.
Themes
Main themes of the book are climate change
mitigation policies aimed at the transition towards a low-carbon
economy in terms, mainly but not excusively, of:
Industrial structure and techno-economic paradigms
Firm behaviour
Consumers/Households purchases and behaviour
Government negotiation, legislation and activities
In terms of domains of application, we are
focusing on policies for international agreements, national strategies
(both in developed and developing countries), regional intervention
(e.g. in heavy polluting regions), city planning.
Book
The book is now available in physical
paper form (36 Euros + postal costs). Just click here to go
to the publisher's store:
Public presentations
The
65th Peccei Lecture of the EU-Chapter of the Club of Rome, which
took place in Brussels on Tuesday November 17, was devoted to
the book.
We have also co-organized
a side-event at COP15 (Copenhagen) on Thursday, 10th December.
We are going to further present the book in
European and non-European capitals, including policy-makers, NGOs
and non-profit organization, trade associations, universities
and research centres as the book has potential suggestions for
all these subjects.
For instance, the book has been used as material
for University students at Christ University (Bangalore) and for
a conference paper in Mauritius.
A peer-reviewed article on exploring the political
feasibility of our innovative economic policies has been presented
at Climate2009 conference, where it has received the
Emerald Publisher Best Paper Award and will be soon published
in a Springer book on "The Economic, Social and Political
Elements of Climate Change".
Policymakers
from South East Europe have been presented the opportunities opened
by the Copenhagen Accord in terms of NAMAs for SEE with mention
of the business models and proposal of this book during the session.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
has hosted a presentation
to African Ambassadors held by Valentino Piana, the editor
of the book, including a scheme of the process of devising NAMAs
and obtaining international support as well as an evaluation of
a first wave of climate change NAMAs in the light of a number
of criteria.
In Russia, a seminar on sustainability has
included references to FRAMCOMP, a policy explained in the book.
In
Rome, we reflected on possible
applications for rural development, including in forestry.
In Athens, in
a conference on energy and sustainability we explored the
use of these policies for Action
plans in accordance to the Thessaloniki Declaration on Combating
Climate Change.
Call for papers
After the publication of the book, the Economics
Web Institute lauched a new Call for papers on "Where to
Implement Innovative Economic Policies for Climate Change Mitigation".
Among the papers received, the jury established
that:
The Best Paper
on "Where to Implement Innovative Economic Policies for Climate
Change Mitigation"
is
"Policies for
the Meantime - Case of Vojvodina Province, Serbia"
by Dragana Konstantinovic,
Miljana Zekovic, Jelena Atanackovic-Jelicic (Department
of Architecture and Urbanism,
Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad)
The Second Best Paper
is
Kenya as a Country Where to Implement Green
Microfinance and other Innovative Economic Policies for Climate
Change Mitigation
by Stephen Ouma Otieno (co-coordinator of
the Huruma
Pamoja Development Youth).
The Economics Web Institute congratulates the
authors and will include their contribution to the next edition
of the book.
The team that wrote the book, integrated by further
expertise, can evaluate proposals
to interact with policymakers and make feasibility studies about
the implementation in specific settings the policies and the approaches
outlined in the book.
In particular, we would be glad to cooperate
in staff to responsible people for climate plans as well as nationally
and regionally appropriate mitigation actions.