Economic Damage Due to Ozone Pollution in NCR

Air pollution is a serious concern not just for human health but for agriculture also. This puts significant burden on the economy of a region. This paper assesses the health and agricultural damage caused by prevailing Ozone concentrations in National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The analysis is based on modelled and validated Ozone concentrations using state of the art air quality models. Established dose response relationships are used for assessment of impact over human health and agriculture. Value of statistical life approach and minimum support prices are used for economic evaluation of health and agricultural impacts, respectively. More than 3000 mortalities and loss of more than 1300 kt of agricultural crops can be attributed to Ozone pollution. An annual economic loss of about 1.27 billion USD is estimated on account of Ozone pollution in NCR. This study calls for sustainable development of the region which promotes growth without affecting the environmental quality.

The Distributional Impact of Efficient Energy Pricing in India

This chapter by Coady and Hanedar revisits the issue of the distributional impact of energy subsidy reform. It adds to the existing literature on a number of fronts. First, based on recent estimates of efficient energy taxes for India in the literature, it calculates the domestic energy price increases required to bring energy prices to levels that reflect the true social cost of energy consumption, including domestic and global environmental damage. It then simulates the impact of these price increases on household real incomes and how this varies across household income groups. Second, it extends the analysis to the efficient pricing of coal, the most polluting of all energy sources. Third, it also identifies key sectors of the economy that are likely to be the most impacted by higher energy prices.

Enabling Policies for Advancing Sustainability of Electricity Access Programs

As 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity globally, the challenge of ensuring universal electricity access in accordance with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative remains herculean. This chapter maps policy linkages, identifies the gaps in policies and recommends options for developing the enabling environment. The chapter suggests that the policy environment governing electricity access at present is weak and that improvements are required to deliver a sustainable outcome. Although grid extension remains the preferred mode of electrification in many countries, it is not the least-cost option in remote areas where decentralized off-grid solutions may be required. Successful promotion of off-grid solutions would require a clear regulatory environment, a non-discriminatory support mechanism for various stages of a project, financing options, policy co-ordination and linkage with other economic activities for rural development. The chapter concludes that capacity remains weak and non-transparent policy lobbying can distort the development of an enabling environment.

Exogenous Shocks and Macroeconomic Policy Analysis using Applied Macro-Econometric Models in Africa

In this study we have developed a macro-econometric model for a typical supply constrained African economy. This is aimed at developing a theoretical and empirical template for such policy tools which are increasingly demanded in Africa. We have concretized it by building a macro-econometric model for Rwanda. The Rwanda macro-econometric model has 107 equations of which 72 are endogenous. In addition, a supplementary ARIMA based model with 33 equations for exogenous variable is built to make the model useful for forecasting. The fiscal, balance of payment and money supply block of the model is fairly disaggregated to offer an adequate picture of the macro economy. An econometric estimation of the core behavioral equations of the model using equilibrium [error]-correction approach is made with the database that stretches from 1960 to 2009. The model is similar to successful macro models in the region such as that of the KIPPRA-Treasury model of Kenya. It can also easily be further extended to the support budgeting, forecasting and macroeconomic policy analysis work at the relevant ministries in Africa such as the Ministry of Finance in Rwanda. We have managed to successfully solve the model from 1999 to 2009 and forecast major macro outcomes from 2010 to 2014. We have also used it to conduct a policy simulation exercise which is very important for policy makers such as those in Rwanda. We hope this model offers a theoretical and empirical framework for building macro model across Africa which is increasingly being demanded in many countries.

Consumer Power Subsidies

Energy pricing in India usually hinges on political, economic or social considerations of the government. Consumer power tariff, a State subject in the country, is no exception to that. However, continued subsidising of power has led to mounting losses of discoms, mostly State-owned, sometimes to a level of insolvency. This has taken a serious toll on financial stability of distribution sector, triggering a cross-sector domino effect. This has happened in spite of regulatory oversight. This study has brought forth some compelling analyses which affirm that current crisis is the outcome of vested interests of some actors and apathy of the administration. It is seen that power tariffs have been skewed disregarding tariff guidelines, whereby liabilities of the State governments to compensate the discoms through payment of subsidies are limited. This study uncovers effective consumer power subsidy across the States, and offers insights into the consequences. This study also identifies key issues plaguing the sector, followed by a brainstorming on possible corrective action-points.

Economic Value of Regulating and Cultural Ecosystem Services of Oasean Biome

The oasean rangelands surrounding and the scattered steppic area, is commonly viewed as degraded landscapes. The dynamics of oasean ecosystems is indeed affected by human and climatic disturbances and stresses which induce desertification processes. In this context, the objectives of this research are to identify and quantify ecosystem services as a tool for measuring changes in arid lands. Monetization has enabled a more complete diagnosis of ecosystems and their ecosystem services. In this paper, we examine the economic value of the regulating and cultural ecosystem services provided by the oases of Middle Draa Valley (MDV), which is part of Biosphere Reserve of southern Moroccan Oasis (UNESCO). The economic values are standardized to US$ per hectare per year (2008-2010 period prices). The total value of regulating services is found to be 2478,9 US$/ha/year for the arable area (26000ha) and 43,14 US$/ha/year for the whole Middle Draa Valley (1500 000ha). The economic value of the cultural services in the arable area is 1776,8 US$/ha/year and 30,83US$/ha/year for the total area.

Prioritizing Sectors for Sustainable Growth in India

This chapter has adopted method of Environmental Social Accounting Matrix (ESAM) and its multiplier analysis to identify sustainable growth path for India. Given the surge of GHG emissions, all developed countries and large emerging economies like India are coming under pressure in global forum to adopt a growth path that is sustainable from the environmental point of view. In this chapter, we propose to analyse the inter-linkage between sectoral GDP growth and its implications on growth in employment, income, GHG emissions and in energy use. The results indicate that the cereal productions other than rice and wheat should be given higher priority to reduce GHG emissions. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the existing pattern of government expenditure is sub-optimal as its reallocation based on their sustainable growth index increases GDP by 1%, reduces GHG emission by 1.57% and increase employment by 2.57%.

A CGE Analysis of the Effects of Global Climate Change Mitigation Policies on India

This paper compares the effects of a global carbon tax and a global emissions trading regime on India using a dynamic CGE framework. The sensitivity of the results to the value of a crucial elasticity parameter is also analysed. The results suggest that the choice of the mitigation policy is relatively unimportant from an efficiency perspective. However, the choice of the mitigation policy and the value of the substitution elasticity between value added and energy were found to be important determinants of welfare effects. Global climate change mitigation policies have the potential for promoting low carbon and inclusive growth in India.

Smart Cities in Spain – Policy, Sustainability, and the National Plan

According to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, half of humanity lives in cities. The urban population has increased from 750 million people in 1950 to 3,600 million in 2011. It is estimated that by 2030 almost 60% of the population world will reside in urban areas. In Spain already does more than 80%. This will lead to significant growth in the coming years, and cities must be prepared to serve new services on a sustainable way: from meeting the needs of potable water or clean air transport will be a challenge of extraordinary magnitude and an opportunity for the industry. The Spanish National Plan for Smart Cities is a continuation of different initiatives proposing to do a set of new political measures that involve the mobilization of resources that will put special emphasis on sustainability.

Nonlinearity of Energy Transition in India and Implications for Sustainability Science

Policy discourse on rural energy transition within developing countries approach the issue of energy transition through linearly structured, causality based models. This work aims to explore, question the authenticity of such an approach through exploring existence of non linearity in the rural energy transition process of India. Energy transition of rural households impact social, economic and environmental domains of sustainability. For instance, a switchover of a household from smoke generating mudstoves to clean cookstoves can reduce smoke generation, chance of respiratory diseases, impacting the economic, environment and social domains of sustainability. Transition to clean cookstoves can be non-linear and such a transition in a non-linear way impacts domains of sustainability. Hence this work tries to contextualize rural energy transition process through econometric methods, spatial theory of chaos. The work concludes with the exploration of non linear aspects of rural energy transition process within the local rural context and connects it to sustainability science.