From economic general equilibrium to ecological system services for nature conservation and management: a methodological analysis and an empirical study based on 30 Italian industries

Zagonari, Fabio (2015) From economic general equilibrium to ecological system services for nature conservation and management: a methodological analysis and an empirical study based on 30 Italian industries. Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze economiche DSE, p. 32. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/4336. In: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE (1023). ISSN 2282-6483.
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Abstract

In this paper, I develop an operational methodology to consistently compare alternative sustainability paradigms (weak sustainability [WS], strong sustainability [SS], a-growth [AG], and de-growth [DG]) and different assessment approaches (life-cycle assessment [LCA], cost-benefit analysis [CBA], and multi-criteria analysis [MCA]) within alternative relationship frameworks (economic general equilibrium [EGE] and ecosystem services [ESS]). The goal is to suggest different environmental interventions (e.g., projects vs. policies) for nature management and guide decisions to achieve nature conservation, defined here as reducing environmental pressures to preserve the future environment and its functioning over time. I then apply the methodology to 30 interdependent industries in Italy for three pollutants (greenhouse-effect gases, polluted rain, and air pollution) and four resources (water, minerals, fossil fuels, biomass) during two periods (from 1990 to 2007 and from 1990 to 2012). The industries were prioritised in terms of interventions to be taken to diminish pollution damage and resource depletion (e.g., fishing and non-energy mining for any sustainability paradigm), whereas sustainability paradigms are compared in terms of their likelihood (i.e., WS > AG = DG > SS), robustness (i.e., AG > SS > DG > WS), effectiveness (i.e., SS > AG > DG > WS), and feasibility (i.e., SS > DG > WS > AG). Proper assessment approaches for projects are finally identified for situations when policies are infeasible (e.g., LCA in WS and SS, MCA in DG and SS within ESS, CBA in WS and AG within EGE), by suggesting MCA in WS within ESS once ecological services are linked to sustainability criteria.

Abstract
Document type
Monograph (Working Paper)
Creators
CreatorsAffiliationORCID
Zagonari, Fabio
Keywords
economic general equilibrium, ecosystem services, weak sustainability, strong sustainability, a-growth, de-growth, cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis, life-cycle assessment
Subjects
ISSN
2282-6483
DOI
Deposit date
02 Sep 2015 07:46
Last modified
23 Oct 2015 09:06
URI

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