scholarly journals Environmental-economic benefits and trade-offs on sustainably certified coffee farms

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 330-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Haggar ◽  
Gabriela Soto ◽  
Fernando Casanoves ◽  
Elias de Melo Virginio
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matin Qaim ◽  
Kibrom T. Sibhatu ◽  
Hermanto Siregar ◽  
Ingo Grass

Rising global demand for vegetable oil during the last few decades has led to a drastic increase in the land area under oil palm. Especially in Southeast Asia, the oil palm boom has contributed to economic growth, but it has also spurred criticism about negative environmental and social effects. Here, we discuss palm oil production and consumption trends and review environmental, economic, and social consequences in different parts of the world. The oil palm expansion has contributed to tropical deforestation and associated losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Simultaneously, it has increased incomes, generated employment, and reduced poverty among farm and nonfarm households. Around 50% of the worldwide oil palm land is managed by smallholders. Sustainability trade-offs between preserving global public environmental goods and private economic benefits need to be reduced. We discuss policy implications related to productivity growth, rainforest protection, mosaic landscapes, land property rights, sustainability certification, and smallholder inclusion, among others.


Author(s):  
Roger H Bezdek ◽  

This paper assesses the relative economic and jobs benefits of retrofitting an 847 MW USA coal power plant with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology compared to replacing the plant with renewable (RE) energy and battery storage. The research had two major objectives: 1) Estimate the relative environmental, economic, and jobs impacts of CCUS retrofit of the coal plant compared to its replacement by the RE scenario; 2) develop metrics that can be used to compare the jobs impacts of coal fueled power plants to those of renewable energy. The hypotheses tested are: 1) The RE option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will reduce CO2 emissions more than the RE option. 2) The RE option will generate greater economic benefits than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create greater economic and jobs benefits than the RE option. 3) The RE option will create more jobs per MW than the CCUS option. We reject this hypothesis: We found that the CCUS option will create more jobs per MW more than the RE option. We discuss the implications of these findings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 2223-2234
Author(s):  
Seth J Dorman ◽  
Dominic D Reisig ◽  
Sean Malone ◽  
Sally V Taylor

Abstract Economically damaging infestations of Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), tarnished plant bug, were sporadic in Virginia and North Carolina cotton before 2010. Given the sudden rise of L. lineolaris as an economic pest in these states, regionally specific management practices (i.e., chemical and cultural control) are needed to help producers protect yield potential while minimizing input costs. Field experiments were conducted in Virginia and North Carolina in 2018 and 2019 to 1) determine the effects of various management practices on L. lineolaris density, plant injury (i.e., square retention, internal boll injury), and lint yield, 2) calculate the economic trade-offs between integrated pest management (IPM) systems approach and current management practices for L. lineolaris in these states, and 3) evaluate economic benefits associated with various sampling thresholds. Lygus lineolaris populations peaked mid-season (i.e., August) during cotton flowering in both states. Weekly scouting and applying foliar insecticides when the current University Extension recommended economic threshold was reached was the most critical management treatment in maximizing economic returns. Additional costs among various IPM practices did not translate into significant yield protection and economic gains. Moreover, there were additional economic benefits associated with protecting glabrous and longer maturing varieties in Virginia. Lygus lineolaris density varied significantly between states; therefore, management recommendations should be modified based on the growing region. Results from this study will be used to create an IPM strategy to help cotton producers effectively manage this insect pest in the Southeast.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Bottero ◽  
Chiara D’Alpaos ◽  
Alessia Marello

In recent years, governments, public institutions, and local communities have devoted growing attention to the identification of promising strategies for the preservation and valorization of cultural heritage assets. Decisions on the management of cultural heritage assets based on multiple, often conflicting, criteria and on the stakes of various, and potentially non-consensual actors and stakeholders. In this context, in which the trade-offs between the preservation of assets historical symbolic values and the adaptation to alternative and economically profitable uses play a key role in investment decisions, multi-criteria analyses provide robust theoretical and methodological frameworks to support decision-makers in the design and implementation of adaptive reuse strategies for cultural heritage and public real estate assets. In this paper, we provide a multi-criteria decision aiding approach for ranking valorization strategies of cultural heritage assets aimed at promoting their restoration and conservation, as well as at creating cultural and economic benefits. In detail, we present a novel application of the A’WOT analysis to support the design and implementation of alternative management strategies of abandoned cultural heritage assets. The paper focuses on the potential reuse and management of four historical farmhouses (Cascina Mandria, Cascina Lavanderia, Cascina Gozzani, and Cascina Ortovalle) located in the Agliè Castle estate, one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, currently listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


Oryx ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 732-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falko T. Buschke ◽  
Susie Brownlie ◽  
Jeff Manuel

AbstractAichi Biodiversity Target 11 under the Convention on Biological Diversity sets out to conserve at least 17% of terrestrial area by 2020. However, few countries are on track to meet this target and it is uncertain whether developing countries have allocated sufficient resources to expand their protected areas. Biodiversity offsets could resolve this conservation shortfall if developers who affect biodiversity negatively at one locality are made responsible for its protection elsewhere. Here we simulate the use of biodiversity offsetting to expand protected area coverage in South Africa's grassland biome. South Africa's biodiversity offsets policy has been designed specifically to compensate for the residual loss of biodiversity caused by development, by establishing and managing protected areas within the same ecosystem type. We show that it is possible to meet protected area targets using only offsets, while facilitating economic development. However, doing so could slash the current extent of intact habitat by half. These losses could be reduced considerably should the gains in protected areas through offsetting supplement rather than supplant existing government commitments to protected area expansion. Moreover, supplementing existing government commitments would result in comparatively small reductions in potential economic gains, because the marginal economic benefit of transforming habitat decreases as more intact habitat is lost. Therefore, the intended role of biodiversity offsetting in achieving a country's protected area target should be made explicit to fully understand the associated trade-offs between conservation and economic development.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pute Wu ◽  
La Zhuo ◽  
Guoping Zhang ◽  
Mesfin M. Mekonnen ◽  
Arjen Y. Hoekstra ◽  
...  

Abstract. Water issues in many river basins associated with droughts, water over-exploitation and pollution are increasingly being driven by remote pressures through intensified virtual water (VW) flows. However, little attention has been paid to the internal trade-offs between the (physical and virtual) water flows and the associated economic benefits and incomes that the water generated. Here we estimate the concomitant reversed flows of economic benefits and values to the physical and VW flows in crop production and consumption at a basin level, by taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) in both current three typical years (2003, 2004, and 2006, which were dry, average, and wet, respectively) and possible four scenarios for 2050 under climate-socio-economic changes as the study case. An algorithm for estimation of the economic net benefits of green and blue water use for crop production based on the water footprint (WF) accounting is developed. Results show that the net benefit of blue water (irrigation) was 13–42 % lower than that of green water used in irrigated croplands in the basin. Cropping pattern has defined the spatial heterogeneity in the levels of net benefits of water used for crops within the YRB. Provinces located in the relatively drier upper and middle reaches had high irrigation withdrawal rates while a low economic return to farmers because of growing relatively cheap crops. The YRB got increasingly net income due to exports of wheat, cotton and apples even though as a crop-related net VW importer associated to the intra-national trades. Considered scenarios for 2050 suggested that the economic returns of crop-related physical and VW flows were more sensitive than the quantity levels of corresponding water flows. This study implies the importance of managing the internal trade-offs or mutual effects between the water resources consumption and economic returns, in order to get a win-win situation in maximizing both the water use efficiency and economic productivities per drop of water flows.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Settele ◽  
Cortnie Shupe

Abstract We study the role of perceived trade-offs between human lives and economic benefits in shaping policy views. In an online experiment with a representative sample from the US conducted during the early Covid-19 pandemic, we provide randomized information on the medium-run costs of restricting economic activity to mitigate infections. A one standard deviation lower perceived economic cost of lockdowns increases support by about twice as much as having a Covid at-risk condition, and by half as much as being a Democrat. Varying projected health benefits has a similar effect. Personal exposure to health risks reduces people’s responsiveness to cost-benefit considerations.


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