Environmental economics
Sub-field of economics
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We include updates on Human Development Index, Tragedy of the commons, Good Country Index, Sustainability, Degrowth, Circular economy, Externality, Water scarcity, Global Reporting Initiative, Gross National Happiness, Sustainable fashion, Steady-state economy, Pigouvian tax, Riparian water rights, Eco-economic decoupling, Aviation taxation and subsidies ... and more.
| 2025 |
Steady-state economy
Digital technologies' greenhouse gas emissions expected to reach 8%, equivalent to car emissions.
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| 2025 | Estimated 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under water stress conditions. |
| 2025 | Projected water withdrawals expected to rise by 50 percent in developing countries and 18 percent in developed countries. |
| 2024 |
Sustainability
An interdisciplinary group of experts including Chip Fletcher, William J. Ripple, Phoebe Barnard, Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Christopher Field, David Karl, David King, Michael E. Mann and Naomi Oreskes advocated for a paradigm shift toward genuine sustainability and resource regeneration, emphasizing the need to reverse biodiversity loss and secure food and water supplies for global populations.
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| April 2024 | Ten green groups called for a veto of the San Tin project's environmental impact assessment, criticizing it as 'the worst wetland assessment since EIA regulations came into place in 1998'. |
| March 13 2024 | The United Nations Development Programme released the Human Development Report 2023/24, which calculates Human Development Index (HDI) values based on data collected in 2022. |
| 2023 |
Good Country Index
Finland ranked 1st in the Good Country Index version 1.6, demonstrating the country's significant global contribution and positive international impact across multiple dimensions.
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| 2022 |
Good Country Index
The Good Country Index version 1.5 was published, ranking 50 countries based on their global contributions and overall impact, with Sweden topping the list and Bosnia and Herzegovina ranking 50th.
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| 2022 |
Genuine progress indicator
GPI study conducted for the United States and California by Eli Lazarus and Clair Brown, covering the period from 1995 to 2017.
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| 2022 |
Sustainability
An assessment examined the political impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting the critical importance of 'the integrity of the earth's life-support systems' for sustainability.
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| 2022 | HDI values were calculated for countries, ranking them from 1 to 69 in terms of human development, with Switzerland topping the list with an HDI of 0.967. |
| 2022 | IIASA expanded its membership through the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Member Organization (SSARMO), including 17 African countries participating in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI). |
| 2022 |
Steady-state economy
Research published describing degrowth toward a steady-state economy as potentially positive, calling for more serious international cooperation and attention to transitioning high-income and rapidly growing economies to a low-throughput, low-emissions model.
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| 2022 | A modeling study revealed that northern China experienced more severe ecological water scarcity compared to southern China, with water pollution identified as the primary driving factor in most provinces. |
| 2022 | Half a billion people reported to be living in areas with severe water scarcity throughout the entire year, highlighting the ongoing global water crisis. |
| 2021 |
Sustainable fashion
Levänen et al. published research highlighting that the lowest global warming impacts in fashion are achieved by reducing consumption, followed by reusing and recycling.
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| 2021 |
Sustainable fashion
The Changing Markets Foundation released a report highlighting the fashion industry's dependence on oil extraction, revealing that synthetic fibers account for 1.35% of global oil consumption.
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| 2021 | ESG reporting requirements changed in the EU and UK, with the EU beginning to enforce the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) to unify climate risk disclosures across the private sector by 2023. |
| 2021 | IIASA embarked on a new strategy to develop and apply systems science to support transformations to sustainability, launching its Strategy 2021-2030 to position itself as the primary destination for integrated systems solutions and policy insights for global sustainability challenges. |
| 2021 |
Steady-state economy
A study confirmed predictions from 'Limits to Growth', concluding that global GDP will begin to decline within 10 years, either through deliberate transition or ecological disaster.
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| March 2021 |
Sustainable fashion
Oxfam reported on a joint project with the Burberry Foundation and PUR Projet, working with goat farmers in Afghanistan to improve cashmere production conditions.
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| January 2021 |
Sustainable fashion
Shein offered over 121,000 garments made from polyester, representing 61% of their total clothing inventory, highlighting the company's heavy reliance on synthetic materials.
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| 2020 |
Sustainability
A meta-analysis of 180 scientific studies was conducted, finding no evidence of the necessary decoupling for ecological sustainability, challenging the feasibility of green growth strategies.
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| 2020 |
Sustainability
The World Economic Forum released a report highlighting that $44 trillion of economic value generation depends on nature, which represents more than half of the world's GDP, demonstrating the vulnerability of economic systems to nature loss.
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| 2020 |
Sustainable fashion
Research findings revealed that voluntary, self-directed reform efforts by large textile companies to reduce environmental impacts were largely unsuccessful, highlighting the need for more structured and enforced sustainability measures in the fashion industry.
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| 2020 | The Government of India proposed a controversial EIA 2020 Draft, which was widely criticized by environmental groups for potentially weakening environmental protections. |
| 2020 |
Steady-state economy
A multinational team of scientists published a study identifying overconsumption as the biggest threat to sustainability, calling for a drastic change in lifestyle.
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| 2020 |
Steady-state economy
The rate of natural resource use reached over 110 billion tons per year for the first time.
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| 2020 | Escalation of water dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, with Egypt viewing the dam as an existential threat due to potential reduction of Nile water supply. |
| September 14 2020 | The new CEQ rule went into effect, marking the first update to environmental assessment regulations since 1978. The rule limits Environmental Assessment (EA) duration to 1 year and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) duration to 2 years, and prevents consideration of cumulative environmental impacts including climate change. |
| July 2020 | President Donald Trump moved to significantly weaken NEPA by proposing new CEQ regulations that would limit environmental assessment durations and exempt certain projects from review. |
| May 2020 |
Sustainable fashion
Plymouth Marine Laboratory conducted a study off the coasts of the UK and US, suggesting that the number of microplastic particles from textiles is at least double previous estimates.
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| February 2020 |
Steady-state economy
The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) proposes the slogan 'Degrowth Toward a Steady State Economy', aiming to unite degrowthers and steady-state economy advocates.
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| 2019 | Gonzalez, Marciano, and Solal use cooperative game theory to demonstrate limitations of the Coase theorem in social cost problems involving more than three agents. |
| 2019 |
Sustainable fashion
UK Parliament's Environment Audit Committee publishes a report recommending systemic changes in fashion sustainability, including suggestions like lowered value-added tax for repair services.
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| 2019 | The Chinese Government officially adopted the GAINS model to strengthen air quality management in the country. |
| 2019 |
Steady-state economy
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services published a comprehensive study summary in Paris, detailing unprecedented and accelerating nature deterioration over the past 50 years.
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| 2019 |
Steady-state economy
A report titled 'Plastic and Climate' was published, revealing that plastic would contribute greenhouse gases equivalent to 850 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2019.
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| 2019 | A major report by over 200 researchers revealed that Himalayan glaciers could lose 66 percent of their ice by 2100, threatening water sources for approximately 2.4 billion people across major Asian river basins. |
| 2019 | World Economic Forum listed water scarcity as one of the largest global risks for the next decade, highlighting the potential severe impact of water availability challenges. |
| September 2019 |
Steady-state economy
UN Climate Action Summit creates the 'Action Towards Climate Friendly Transport' coalition, targeting reduced transport needs and promoting non-motorized transportation systems.
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| September 20 2019 |
Steady-state economy
Global Climate Strike took place, drawing attention to consumption and environmental issues.
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| September 19 2019 |
Steady-state economy
The Guardian published an article one day before the Global Climate Strike, summarizing research emphasizing the necessity of limiting consumption to save the biosphere.
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| 2018 |
Good Country Index
Good Country Index version 1.3 released, ranking Finland as the top country overall, followed by Netherlands and Ireland in the top three positions.
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| 2018 | Goldlücke and Schmitz publish research showing potential inefficiencies in pollution negotiations when parties learn private information after negotiations, particularly with bounded transfer payments. |
| 2018 |
Sustainable fashion
By this year, global per-capita textile production had increased by 7.1 kg compared to 1975, highlighting the dramatic growth in textile manufacturing.
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| 2018 |
Sustainable fashion
Burberry reported burning unsold goods worth approximately £28.6 million (about $37.8 million), highlighting the issue of overproduction in the fashion industry and sparking discussions about sustainable fashion practices.
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| 2018 | Published three reports as part of the Challenges and Opportunities for Economic Integration project, analyzing product standards, foreign direct investment, and trans-Eurasian land transport corridors. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Human Development Index, Good Country Index, Environmental impact assessment, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Steady-state economy, Genuine progress indicator, Water scarcity, Environmental economics, Sustainable fashion & Sustainability, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.