It is commonly asserted that the successful management of common property resources (CPR), and by extension, the provision of public goods such as biodiversity and carbon, requires the devolution of control to local communities. However, where trust in community institutions is low, the intrinsic motivation to co-operate may be diminished. In this study, we carried out surveys and framed field experiments on the introduction of payments for ecosystem services (PES) to Namibia’s communal conservancies, established under the community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programme.

Deforestation and burning of forest products to meet cooking need massively contribute to global warming. In order to reduce the biomass fuel consumption of households in developing countries, various improved cookstove (ICS) interventions were implemented by governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders in the past decades. This paper synthesizes the impact evaluation literature on the adoption and impact of ICS, and their role in improving household welfare while reducing the pressure on forest resources and mitigating the emission of CO2.

Do institutional and geographical characteristics matter for energy consumption similar to the case of economic development? Why do coastal Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries appear to be more energy-consuming than inland ones? To answer these questions, surprisingly rarely addressed in the existing literature, we empirically assess the determinants of primary energy use across SSA, exploiting spatial analysis methods. Our results highlight the existence of positive geographical spillovers in primary energy use.