| 101. |
- Slunge, Daniel, 1968, et al.
(författare)
-
REACH authorisation and the substitution of hazardous chemicals: The case of trichloroethylene
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 364
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Through a survey with European companies and expert interviews we study how REACH authorisation affects the phase-out of hazardous chemicals focusing on trichloroethylene, a well-studied solvent used in metal parts cleaning. We find that most of the firms have substituted trichloroethylene by perchloroethylene, which has similar chemical characteristics. This allows them to continue to use the same machines and routines at low costs. Although perchloroethylene is only classified as a suspected rather than a proven carcinogenic substance in Europe, the “improvement” as the result of much regulatory effort must be considered fairly limited, particularly in the light of less hazardous alternatives being used on the market for a long time. Our survey shows that the REACH authorisation process has some effect. Many firms cited as their main reason for substitution that they wanted to avoid the renewed application process. Still, the fact that many firms report using old machines reinforces the impression that some firms are not feeling enough pressure to modify routines and engage in a more fundamental substitution process. The results illustrate the limited effectiveness of a substance by substance approach in chemical risk management. When companies can substitute chemicals of concern to substances with similar chemical characteristics, the health and environmental objectives of chemical regulation are not achieved. An important policy conclusion is that additional incentives need to be introduced in order to realize the ambition of a non-toxic environment in the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Increased use of measures targeting broader groups of structurally similar hazardous chemicals, in combination with fees that incentivize substitution, are promising avenues for a more sustainable European chemicals strategy.
|
|
| 102. |
- Slunge, Daniel, 1968, et al.
(författare)
-
Valuation when baselines are changing: Tick-borne disease risk and recreational choice
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Resources and Energy Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0928-7655. ; 58
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding how changes in baseline risk influence preferences for risk reduction is important when valuing the welfare effects of environmental change, including the spread of disease. We conduct a survey-based choice experiment among respondents residing in areas with different prevalence of ticks and incidence of Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden. Respondents face a trade-off between risk and travel cost when choosing between visiting recreational areas differing in prevalence of ticks and disease incidence. Our study indicates that the presence of ticks and the associated risk of tick-borne diseases significantly influence the choice of recreational area and have substantial welfare effects. The mean willingness to pay (WTP) per trip to avoid areas with different levels of ticks, LB risk and TBE risk ranges from 12 to 78 EUR. The WTP for risk reduction is significantly lower among respondents residing in risk areas compared to respondents in emerging risk areas. Explanations for these differences in WTP for risk reduction between groups with different baseline risks include differences in reference point utility, knowledge and learning, leading to adaptation of behaviour and preferences.
|
|
| 103. |
|
|
| 104. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952, et al.
(författare)
-
An Even Sterner Review - Introducing Relative Prices into the Discounting Debate
- 2007
-
Ingår i: RFF Discussion Paper.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review has had a major influence on the policy discussion on climate change. One reason is that the report has raised the estimated cost of unmitigated climate damages by an order of magnitude compared to most earlier estimates, leading to a call for strong and urgent action on climate change. Not surprisingly, severe criticism has been levied against the report by authors who think that these results hinge mainly on the use of a discount rate that is too low. Here we discuss the Ramsey rule for the discount rates and its implications for the economics of climate change. While we find no strong objections to the discounting assumptions adopted in the Stern Review, our main point is that the conclusions reached in the review can be justified on other grounds than by using a low discount rate. We argue that nonmarket damages from climate change are probably underestimated and that future scarcities that will be induced by the changing composition of the economy and climate change should lead to rising relative prices for certain goods and services, raising the estimated damage of climate change and counteracting the effect of discounting. We build our analysis on earlier research (Hoel and Sterner 2007) that has shown that the Ramsey discounting formula is somewhat modified in a two-sector economy with differential growth rates. Most importantly, such a model is characterized by changing relative prices, something that has major implications for a correct valuation of future climate damages. We introduce these results into a slightly modified version of the DICE model (Nordhaus 1994) and find that taking relative prices into account can have as large an effect on economically warranted abatement levels as can a low discount rate.
|
|
| 105. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952, et al.
(författare)
-
An Even Sterner Review - Introducing Relative Prices into the Discounting Debate
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. - 1750-6824. ; 2:1, s. 61-76
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By estimating that the cost of unmitigated climate damages is an order of magnitude higher than most earlier estimates, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change has had a major influence on the policy discussion on climate change. Not surprisingly, severe criticism has been levied against the report, especially by those who claim that the Stern Review's results hinge mainly on a discount rate that is too low. While we have no strong objections to the discounting assumptions adopted in the Stern Review, our main point in this article is that the conclusions reached in the Stern Review can be justified without using a low discount rate. We argue that nonmarket damages from climate change are probably underestimated and that future scarcities caused by the changing composition of the economy and climate change should lead to rising relative prices for certain goods and services. This will raise the estimated damage of climate change and modify as well as counteract the effect of discounting. We illustrate this effect using a slightly modified version of Nordhaus's DICE model and show that taking relative prices into account can have as large an effect on economically warranted abatement levels as a low discount rate.
|
|
| 106. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952, et al.
(författare)
-
An Introduction to the Green Paradox: The Unintended Consequences of Climate Policies
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. - : University of Chicago Press. - 1750-6824 .- 1750-6824 .- 1750-6816. ; 9:2, s. 246-265
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How important is the Green Paradox? We address this question in three ways. First, we present a simple model explaining how announcing a future climate policy may increase carbon emissions today – the Green Paradox effect. This effect is a result of fossil fuel producers increasing their extraction today as a response to a reduction in future resource rents. Second, we examine the theoretical and empirical literature to assess whether green paradoxes are likely to occur, and if they are, whether they are big enough to be of concern for policy makers. We consider several factors that affect the existence of the green paradox, including long-term extraction costs, short-term extraction capacities, the mix of policy instruments, and potential spatial carbon leakage to countries that have no climate policy. We find that these and other factors can sometimes strengthen, but mostly weaken, the case for concern about the green paradox. Third, we identify the lessons the literature offers for policy makers. We argue that in designing climate policy, policy makers need to consider the supply side of the fossil fuel market.
|
|
| 107. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952, et al.
(författare)
-
Att fimpa koldioxidskatten sänder ödesdiger signal
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Göteborgs Posten. - 1103-9345.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Det spelar totalt sett mindre roll om man använder ett effektivt eller ett ineffektivt styrmedel i ett litet land som Sverige, eftersom det är de globala utsläppen som spelar roll. Därför är fortfarande koldioxidskatt ett effektivt verktyg att minska utsläppen, skriver bland andra Thomas Sterner, professor i miljöekonomi.
|
|
| 108. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952, et al.
(författare)
-
Barsebäck inte den stora utmaningen
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Göteborgs-Posten. ; 14 dec 2004
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 109. |
|
|
| 110. |
- Sterner, Thomas, 1952
(författare)
-
Beyond IPCC, Research for Paris 2015 and Beyond
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Environmental and Resource Economics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0924-6460 .- 1573-1502. ; 62:2, s. 207-215
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
|
|
