Author: CCATTANEO
Company: LIUC

Introduction to Ecological Economics

Academic year: 2004-2005

Lecturer: Claudio Cattaneo 
This module is 12 hours long and covers 10 topics.
ACCORDING TO THE INTEREST OF THE STUDENTS SOME OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS WILL BE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED IN CLASS
The topics and some higly recommended readings are:

1. The state of the world and future risks: atmospheric emissions, soil erosion, forest and biodiversity loss, population growth, climate change, agriculture, successful histories (the ban on CFCs)
* - Europe's environment: the third assessment, 2003
*Panayotou, T.: Population and environment in "Yearbook of environmental and resource economics 2000/2001" (in LIUC library: A 333.7 INT YEA)
*Rigby, D. and Bown, S., Organic food and global trade: is the market delivering agricultural sustainability?, January 2003 (paper presented at ESEE conference FRONTIERS 2) 

2. Environmental (neoclassical) economics: Cost-Benefit Analysis and other techniques of monetary evaluation for the environment. Polluter pays principle, negative externalities and the reality, environmental Kuznets curve.
*Verhoef, E.: Externalities, in van den Bergh: Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 13. (in LIUC library: L 333.7 HAN)
*van den Bergh, J., Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. and Munda, G., Alternative models of individual behaviour and implications for environmental policy, Ecological Economics vol. 32 (1), 43 - 61.
*Gowdy, J., The Revolution in Welfare Economics and its Implications for Environmental Valuation: A Partial Critique of Ecological Economics, presented at ESEE conference FRONTIERS 2.
*De Bruyn S. and Heintz, R., The environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 46. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)

3. Open system versus closed system economics: entropy law, economic growth paradigms, technological perceptions, environmental perceptions 
* Ecological Economics, Special issue on the work of Georgescu-Roegen, September 1997, (within LIUC free download)
**Boulding, K., The economics of the coming spaceship Earth (available to photocopy from the Int. Rel. Office)
**Daly, H: The economic growth debate: what some economists have learnt but many have not

4. Ecological economics: meaning, transdisciplinarity, and its fundaments: limits to physical growth, ignorance and precautionary principle, multicriteria analysis. 
**Diesendorf, M. and Hamilton, C. (eds.) 1997: Human ecology, human economy: ideas for an ecologically sustainable future (chapter 2 and 3) (in LIUC library: L 333.7 HUM; also available from the Int. Rel. Office)
 *Giampietro, M., 2002: The Precautionary Principle and Ecological Hazards of Genetically Modified Organisms. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment: Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 466–470 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
**Hanley, N.: "Cost-benefit analysis of environmental policy and management", in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 57. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN; also available from the Int. Rel. Office)
**Martinez-Alier, Munda and O'Neill, Weak comparability of values as a foundation of ecological economics, Ecological Economics 26, pag 277-286 
Munda, G.: Conceptualising and responding to complexity, (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
*Munda, G.: Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics and the Concept of Sustainable Development, Environmental Values, 6 (1997) 213-233 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
**The Economist, February 8th, 1992: "Let them eat pollution" pag.82 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
 **van den Bergh, J., "Ecological economics: themes, approaches and differences with environmental economics", Regional Environmental Change, 2001, vol.2 (1): 13-23 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)

5. Sustainability: definition, the three pillars of sustainability, human capital, natural capital, man-made capital, measures of sustainable development, weak or strong sustainability 
**Ecological Economics, September 1997: special issue on the work of Georgescu Roegen (especially pag. 261 to 273)
*Cabeza Gutes, M.,The concept of weak sustainability, Ecological Economics 17 (1996) 147-156 

6. Indicators: GDP, NNP, green NNP and ISEW, Human Development Index, Ecological Footprint, Material Flow Analysis
*WWF report: "The living planet 2002" (ecological footprint)
*Martinez-Alier, J. and Schandl, H., Special Section: European Environmental History and Ecological Economics, Ecological Economics, vol.41 (2) 175-176. (also available to photocopy from the Int. Rel. Office)
**Wuppertal Institute: Annual report (pag. 63 to 70)
*European Environmental Agency reports: Europe's environment: the third assessment (pag. 15 to 23)
 **Max-Neef, M.: "Economic growth and quality of life: a threshold hypothesis" Ecological Economics, vol. 15 (1995) 115-118 
 **Daly, H. and Cobb, J., 1989: For the common good: redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future (appendix on the detailed methodology for calculation of the ISEW) (in LIUC library L 338.9 DAL FOR and available from the int. rel. office)

7. North-South trade from a southern perspective, ecological debt (carbon debt, bio-piracy, environmental passive and toxic waste transportation), the environmentalism of the poor
*Muradian, R. and Martinez-Alier, J.: "Trade and the environment: from a 'Southern' perspective", Ecological Economics vol 36 (2), 281 - 297 
**Martinez-Alier, J.: "The environmentalism of the poor" (DRAFT) 
Simms, A., Robins, N. and Meyer, R.: "Who owes who", 2000.
*Martinez-Alier, J., The environment as a luxury good or too poor to be green?, Ecological Economics, vol 13 (1) 1-10 
 *Book on ecological debt (excellent but in spanish)
http://www.deudaecologica.org/librodeuda.doc

8. Environmental risks, complexity and Post Normal Science 
*O'Connor, M., Faucheux, S., Froger, G., Funtowicz, S and Munda, G.: "Emergent complexity and procedural rationality: post-normal science for sustainability" in Costanza, R., Segura, O. and Martinez-Alier, J. <eds,>, 1996: "Getting down to earth : practical applications of ecological economics" (in LIUC library L 333.7 GET and also available from the Int. Rel. Office)
**Giampietro, M., 2002: The Precautionary Principle and Ecological Hazards of Genetically Modified Organisms. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment: Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 466–470 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)

9. Enterprise and environment: ethical consumption, life cycle assessment, industrial ecology.
**European Environmental Agency: "Environmental Management tools for SMEs", 1998
Baldo, Life Cycle Assessment (in Italian, in LIUC library L 333.72)
Maritano, Beltrano and Vesce, Environment & Company (in Italian, in LIUC library L 658.408)

10. Policies: case studies and implications in the decision making context. Participation in decision making. The “tragedy” of the commons.
*De Marchi, B.; Funtowic, S.O.; Lo Cascio, S.; Munda, G.: "Combining participative and institutional approaches with multicriteria evaluation. An empirical study for water issues in Troina, Sicily" Ecological Economics vol 34 (2), 267 - 282 
*Tietenberg, t.: Lessons from using transferable permits to control air pollution in the United States, in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 19. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)
 
**The Ecologist, vol 22 no 4 july/augut 1992: “The Commons: Where the Community has Authority pag 123-130; Development as Enclosure pag.131-148; Power: the Central Issue pag.157-165; Economy and Economics pag 173-179; Technology Transfer pag 187-192; Reclaiming the Commons pag. 200-204”.

Other interesting readings for each topic are:

1. IPCC reports (i.e. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis)
UNEP-GRID Arendal: 
- Climate change web page
- Global Environment Outlook
European Environmental Agengy:
- Glossary of climate change terminology 
Wuppertal Institute, Annual reports
WWF, Living Planet Report, 2002
World Bank, World Development Indicators 2003 (make your own query and see the results)
Worldwatch Institute, State of the World, 

2. van den Bergh, J.: An overview of environmental and resource economics in van den Bergh: Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 1. (in LIUC library: L 333.7 HAN)
Turner, R., Environmental and ecological economics perspectives in van den Bergh: Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 67. (in LIUC library: L 333.7 HAN)
Barbier, E.: Environmental valuation in developing countries, in "Yearbook of environmental and resource economics 2001/2002" (in LIUC library: A 333.7 INT YEA; also available to photocopy from the Int. Rel. Office)
Pearce, D.: Economic analsys of global environmental issues: global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion and biodiversity, in van den Bergh (ed.) Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 33. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)

3. Costanza, R., What is ecological economics? Ecological Economics 1 (1989) 1-7 
Daly, H, 1999, Ecological economics and the ecology of economics: essays in criticism (Introduction and chapters *1, *2, 10, 11 and 12) (in LIUC library L 333.7 DAL ECO)

4. Edwards-Jones, G, Hussain, S, and Davies, B, 2000: Ecological Economics, an introduction, (chapter 7: The Ecological Approach to Environmental Evaluation) (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
Janssen and Munda: "Multi-criteria methods for quantitative, qualitative and fuzzy evaluation problems", in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 58. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)
Proops, J.: Integration and communication between environmental economics and other disciplines, in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 79. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)
Spash, C., The development of environmental thinking in economics, Environmental Values, 8 (1999) 413-435 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)

6. Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W.: "Perceptual and structural barriers to investing in natural capital: Economics from an ecological footprint perspective" Ecological Economics, 20 (1997) 3.24
Haberl, H.: "Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production as An Environmental Indicator: Implications for Sustainable Development". Ambio, May 1997, vol.26 (3): 143-146 (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
Seppälä, Haukioja and Kaivo-oja: "The EKC does not hold for Material Flows! Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis Tests of Direct Material Flows of Some Industrial Countries", presented at the ESEE 2000 conference in Vienna.
Wuppertal Institute: "Green accounting and material flow analysis. Alternatives or complements?"
Jackson, T. and Marks, N.: "Consumption, sustainable welfare and human needs – with reference to UK expenditure patterns between 1954 and 1994" Ecological Economics, vol 28 (1999) 421-441 
Herendeen, R.: EMERGY, value, ecology and economics in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 64. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)
El Serafy, S.: Natural resources accounting in van den Bergh (ed.), Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 77. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)

7. Daly, H.: "Globalization versus internationalization – some implications" Ecol. Econ. vol.31 (1999) 31-37 
Daly, H.: "Free trade, sustainable development and growth: some serious contradictions. A review" in "Ecological economics and the ecology of economics: essays in criticism", chapter 15 ( in LIUC library: 333.7 DAL ECO; also available at int. rel. office)
Leff, E.: "From ecological economics to productive ecology: perspectives on sustainable development from the South" in Costanza, R., Segura, O. and Martinez-Alier, J. <eds,>, 1996: "Getting down to earth : practical applications of ecological economics" (in LIUC library L 333.7 GET and also available from the Int. Rel. Office)
Martinez-Alier, Joan: "Mining conflicts, environmental justice, and valuation" Journal of Hazardous Materials vol. 86, Issue: 1-3, September 14, 2001, pp. 153-170 
Muradian, R., O'Connor, M. and Martinez-Alier, J.: "Embodied pollution in trade: estimating the 'environmental load displacement' of industrialised countries" Ecol. Econ. vol 41 (1) 51 - 67 
*Martinez-Alier, J.: "Ecological Distribution Conflicts in a Context of Uncertainty", February 2003 presented at the ESEE conference FRONTIERS 2
List of various articles on ecological debt, carbon debt and environmental justice:
http://www.deudaecologica.org/cd-rcade/articulos.htm
http://www.deudaecologica.org/cd-rcade/angles/cdbet.htm
http://www.deudaecologica.org/cd-rcade/angles/Ecologist_climate_debt.htm
http://www.ecoethics.net/hsev/200003txt.htm

8. Strand, R.: "Crazy theory" (available from the Int. Rel. Office)
*Strand, R.: "The role of risk assessments in the governance of genetically modified organisms in agriculture" Journal of Hazardous Materials 86 (2001) 187-204.
European Environmental Agency: "Late lessons from early warnings: the precautionary principle 1896-2000", Environmental Issue Report No. 22, 2001.

9. Journal of Industrial Ecology (volume 3, number 1)
Company environmental reports:
http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/07B9BBC7-DF91-456C-815E-42E914998365/27/rappinglese.pdf (english)
http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/07B9BBC7-DF91-456C-815E-42E914998365/28/rapporto.pdf (italiano)

10. Button, K. and Rietveld, P.: Transport and the environment, in van den Bergh: Handbook of environmental and resource economics, chapter 19. (in LIUC library L 333.7 HAN)

The Commons: http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/sotp/commons.shtml

Other books and text books not yet available at LIUC library: 
Martinez-Alier and Roca (2000): Economia ecologica y politica ambiental PNUMA, Mexico D.F. (in Spanish)
Edwards-Jones, G., Hussain, S. and Davies, B.; (2000): Ecological Economics, an introduction Blackwell Science, Oxford
Sahlins, M. (1974): Stone Age Economics, Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago
Whose Common Future? The Ecologist, Vol 22 No 4, July/ August 1992

Exam 

During the class I will recommend you some readings (books, chapters of a book, academic papers, reports….) that develop or explain better some of the topics presented in class. I expect you to read them if you want to learn the subject.

International students have the possibility to gain a total of 1,5 credits by doing some work:
§ It can be done by writing a 2.000 words essay. The title of the essay is: "Explain the theoretical difference between environmental economics and ecological economics and the practical implications for decision making. Discuss."
§ In alternative you can group with classmates (groups of 4 or 5), write one essay of 4.000 words and give a group presentation during the last class of the seminar. The title of the essay will be the same.
§ According to your interests, we can also agree on a different title, but it's better if we discuss your choice before the end of the course. Deadline for the essay will be discussed according to your present work load.