Mapping and valuation of South Africa's ecosystem services: A local perspective

Submitted by Felicity Downes on 25 October 2017

We used locally-sourced and other relevant information to value ecosystem services provided by South Africa's
terrestrial, freshwater and estuarine habitats. Our preliminary estimates suggest that these are worth at least
R275 billion per annum to South Africans. Notwithstanding benefits to the rest of the world, natural systems
provide a major source of direct income to poor households, and generate significant value in the economy
through tourism and property markets, as well as providing considerable non-market benefits. Higher values

Conservation, Water

Valuing the Health Risks of Particulate Air Pollution in the Pearl River Delta, China

Submitted by admin on 11 March 2012

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) in Southern China is a region where the manufacturing industry is rapidly developing, accounting for about 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) with 4% of China’s population.

Experiments

Health Impacts of Power-Exporting Plants in Northern Mexico

Submitted by admin on 23 May 2011
EfD Authors:

In the past two decades, rapid population and economic growth on the U.S.–Mexico border has spurred a dramatic increase in electricity demand. In response, American energy multinationals have built power plants just south of the border that export most of their electricity to the United States. This development has stirred considerable controversy because these plants effectively skirt U.S. environmental air pollution regulations in a severely degraded international airshed.

Energy, Policy Design

Choice Experiments in Enviromental Impact Assessment: The Toro 3 Hydroelectric Project and the Recreo Verde Tourist Center in Costa Rica

Submitted by admin on 23 May 2011

Choice experiments, a stated preference valuation method, are proposed as a tool to assign monetary values to environmental externalities during the ex-ante stages of environmental impact assessment. This case study looks at the impacts of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity’s Toro 3 hydroelectric project and its affects on the Recreo Verde tourism center in San Carlos, Costa Rica.

Energy, Policy Design

The Value of Air Quality and Crime in Chile: A Hedonic Wage Approach

Submitted by NENRE Concepcion on 4 February 2011

We estimate the implicit prices of the crime rate and airborne pollution in Chile, using spatially compensating price differentials in the housing and labor markets. We evaluate empirically the impact of different estimation strategies for the wage and rent equations, on the economic value of these two amenities. The results show that increments in the crime rate or in air pollution have a negative impact on welfare and that the estimated welfare measures and their variances are sensitive to selection bias, endogenous amenities and clustering effects.

Air Quality

Dealing with Ignored Attributes in Choice Experiments on Valuation of Sweden´s Environmental Quality Objectives

Submitted by admin on 19 August 2010

Using a choice experiment, this paper investigates how Swedish citizens value three environmental quality objectives. In addition, a follow-up question is used to investigate whether respondents ignored any attributes when responding.

Policy Design

Estimation of the Water Quality Amelioration Value of Wetlands:A Case Study of the Western Cape, South Africa

Submitted by admin on 30 June 2010

Wetlands are commonly understood to have the capacity to reduce the loads of excess nutrients, pathogens, sediments, and other contaminants generated by various activities in their catchment areas. However, quantifying these “services” is difficult and most research in this field has concentrated on artificial treatment wetlands. Understanding the value of their water treatment characteristics, as well as the other services they provide, is increasingly recognized as essential to achieving a balance between conservation and activities that degrade or replace wetlands.

Policy Design