During this spring term 33 students from 15 countries converge on the University of Gothenburg to attend specialization courses in Environmental and Climate Economics. They are taught by lecturers from nine countries. Among them is Elizabeth Robinson from the UK who lived in Tanzania for several years. The course coordinator is Thomas Sterner, one of the authors of this year’s UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
“It is very important to offer promising young scholars from developing countries the possibility to acquire the tools they will need to analyze and understand world environmental problems and maybe help represent their governments at international negotiations,” says Thomas Sterner, professor of environmental economics at University of Gothenburg.
Prof. Thomas Sterner
Sterner is the only Swedish researcher serving as a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 3, Fifth Assessment Report. This international group of experts wil
l present their Summary for Policymakers in Berlin on 13 April 2014.
”There is a striking asymmetry between countries in the capacity to analyze and deal with joint international problems related to the global commons, like climate change,” says Thomas Sterner.
“Many people depend on forestry, fish and land”
Among the course lecturers from nine different countries (see box below) is Elizabeth Robinson, Reader in Environmental Economics at the University of Reading in the UK, and Research Associate at the Environment for Development center in Tanzania. She teaches on the course in natural resource economics.
“I think students are attracted to the topic of natural resources because they are so central to many peoples’ lives. Many people in low and middle income countries are directly dependent on forestry, fish and land,” says Elizabeth Robinson, and she adds:
“For me Gothenburg is great because of the concentration of environmental economists. We speak the same language and I feel intellectually at home here.”
Elizabeth Robinson already had an existing relationship with University of Gothenburg through the Environment for Development initiative. Now she is also Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg.
“It means that we can build closer research links and I’m able to teach and supervise students at Gotheburg. Cross-country institutional links are increasingly important for funding of research projects, and for intellectual stimulation,” says Elizabeth Robinson.
Dr. Elizabeth Robinson.
You are teaching about spatial modelling for evaluating protected areas. Can you explain this in layman’s terms?
Elizabeth Robinson often laughs heartily and now she guffaws and exclaims that she is already brain-fried from three hours of teaching:
“Okay, managing natural resources is inherently spatial. Policy makers decide where to situate a protected area to protect a forest or a fishery, and how large a buffer zone to introduce. These decisions change peoples’ behavior in a spatial way: It affects where and how far people go to look for and collect natural resources. It also changes the patterns of resources use and resources degradation.”
In this research field economists are modelling how people’s spatial decisions change in response to certain policies. The purpose is to predict the impact of policies, and to improve them.
Carbon sequestration vs direct dependence
Twenty years ago people in western countries might have perceived some biodiversity value of a forest in Tanzania. Meanwhile, local people had and still have a direct dependence on the same forest for fuel wood and medicine.
"Today, we are aware of this forest’s value for carbon sequestration, and we realize that we all have a much greater interdependence. So, do we protect an area for biodiversity and carbon sequestration, or do we recognize how dependent local people are on that resource base? My research is about trying to understand some of the spatial drivers behind this potential conflict, and how we can reduce such conflicts."
What is the best part of your job as a researcher?
“Addressing real life puzzles. Streching my brain all the time. I love theory. But what is exciting is to know that my theoretical models can give policy makers the tools to make decisions that may lead to less conflict and greater possibilities for improving livelihoods and resources management,” says Elizabeth Robinson.
Olof Johansson-Stenman
Capacity building in line with core values of the university
According to Olof Johansson-Stenman, Professor of Economics and Vice-Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Law, the specialization courses as well as the Environment for Development initiative (EfD) are perfectly in line with the school’s and the university’s profile and vision:
“We express this very clearly in our core values. The aim of the school and the university is to try to make the world a little better and promote sustainable development. One example of us taking global social responsibility seriously is our sustainable development economics training of PhD students from different countries,” says Olof Johansson-Stenman.
By Karin Backteman