published_or_final_version / abstract / Urban Planning and Environmental Management / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Environmental costs of products are closely related to their environmental impacts incurred at all life cycle stages of a product. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methods are often used to estimate these environmental costs and impacts. However, LCA analysis is known to be a costly and time-consuming method, whereas LCC analysis often neglects the social cost which is currently paid by society as a whole. Therefore, this research proposes a new methodology to assess the environmental impact and social cost for the entire life cycle of a product, which can be used as a simple and transparent tool for the early conceptual design stage. The methodology delivers the Environmental Impact Drivers and the associated Social Cost Drivers for all product life cycle stages via spreadsheets, and it provides the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method in the SimaPro software as a user interface. Furthermore, the drivers provide the values for four different geographical regions and damage categories. The conceptual model is based on the impact pathway approach which integrates the Simplified LCA (SLCA) model and the social cost databases. The SLCA model is derived from an extension of previous research whereas the social costs are based on the most suitable Economic Valuation (EV) studies such as the EPS2000d, EXMOD, Ecosense and Asian EV studies. The data collection for the SLCA database was accomplished by using the LCA analysis of the Eco Indicator 99 H/A method and the Hierarchical clustering technique. The data for the social cost database was collected using the Benefit Transfer Method which obtains the EV studies mainly from the Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory (EVRI) data source. Several case studies utilising existing products, including a product redesign case study were used to prove the concept and demonstrate the efficiency of this proposed methodology.

Environmental costs of products are closely related to their environmental impacts incurred at all life cycle stages of a product. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) methods are often used to estimate these environmental costs and impacts. However, LCA analysis is known to be a costly and time-consuming method, whereas LCC analysis often neglects the social cost which is currently paid by society as a whole. Therefore, this research proposes a new methodology to assess the environmental impact and social cost for the entire life cycle of a product, which can be used as a simple and transparent tool for the early conceptual design stage. The methodology delivers the Environmental Impact Drivers and the associated Social Cost Drivers for all product life cycle stages via spreadsheets, and it provides the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method in the SimaPro software as a user interface. Furthermore, the drivers provide the values for four different geographical regions and damage categories. The conceptual model is based on the impact pathway approach which integrates the Simplified LCA (SLCA) model and the social cost databases. The SLCA model is derived from an extension of previous research whereas the social costs are based on the most suitable Economic Valuation (EV) studies such as the EPS2000d, EXMOD, Ecosense and Asian EV studies. The data collection for the SLCA database was accomplished by using the LCA analysis of the Eco Indicator 99 H/A method and the Hierarchical clustering technique. The data for the social cost database was collected using the Benefit Transfer Method which obtains the EV studies mainly from the Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory (EVRI) data source. Several case studies utilising existing products, including a product redesign case study were used to prove the concept and demonstrate the efficiency of this proposed methodology.

Orientador: Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T17:18:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrade_DanielCaixeta_D.pdf: 4066865 bytes, checksum: 5e25da640ac725d68adf0240e7e7e430 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Esta tese teve como principal objetivo contribuir para o aperfeiçoamento metodológico do processo de valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos. A hipótese básica adotada foi de que esta deve contar com a utilização da ferramenta de modelagem econômico-ecológica como requisito básico para compreensão da dinâmica ecológica envolvida e a incorporação dos valores de outros serviços ecossistêmicos que de outra maneira não seriam captados. Os serviços ecossistêmicos são a interface básica entre o capital natural e o bem-estar humano. São os benefícios diretos e indiretos gerados a partir das complexas interações entre os componentes do capital natural. Apesar de sua importância, o funcionamento dos mercados tradicionais não os considera nas transações econômicas, pois eles são considerados "gratuitos" ou "presentes" da natureza. O fato de não serem precificados como outro bem ou serviço faz com que não haja incentivos para sua preservação, levando à sua superexploração e, muitas vezes, perda total. Enquanto ferramenta importante de gestão, é preciso se avançar em termos de propostas para o aperfeiçoamento da valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos, de forma a contornar seu viés reducionista. É neste sentido que o presente trabalho apresenta como contribuição maior a proposta da valoração dinâmico-integrada, a qual visa integrar a valoração stricto sensu à análise mais geral das alterações nos fluxos físicos de serviços ecossistêmicos e seus efeitos sobre as variáveis econômicas. Com o auxílio de aplicações práticas da valoração dos serviços ecossistêmicos, demonstrou-se que o processo de valoração não pode dispensar o uso da modelagem enquanto instrumento de avaliação biofísica dos fluxos de serviços ecossistêmicos. Sem essa ferramenta não há como proceder-se a um exercício de valoração que realmente se aproxime do real valor dos serviços ecossistêmicos. / Abstract: This dissertation had as main goal to contribute to the methodological improvement of the ecosystem services valuation process. The basic hypothesis adopted was that it should consider using the ecological-economic modeling as a basic tool required to better understanding the ecological dynamics involved and incorporating the other values of ecosystem services that otherwise would not be captured. Ecosystem services are the basic interface between natural capital and human well-being. They are the direct and indirect benefits generated from the complex interactions among natural capital components. Despite its importance, the functioning of traditional markets does not consider them in economic transactions, because they are considered "free" or "gifts" from nature. As they are not priced like other good or services, there are no incentives for its preservation, leading to over-exploitation and often to its total loss. As an important management tool, it is vital to go beyond with proposals for improving the ecosystem services valuation, in order to overcome its reductionist bias. In this sense the most important contribution of this dissertation is the proposal of a dynamic-integrated valuation approach, which is aimed at integrating the stricto sensu valuation to the more general analysis of changes in ecosystem services flows and its effects on economic variables. Through practical applications of ecosystem services valuation, it was shown that this process cannot do without the use of modeling as a tool for assessing biophysical flows of ecosystem services. Without this tool there is no way to conduct a valuation exercise that really comes close to the real value of ecosystem services. / Doutorado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

My dissertation develops and analyzes ecological economic models to study the complex dynamics of an ecological economic system (EES) and investigate various conditions and measures which can sustain a developing economy over the long term in view of resilience and sustainability. Because of the intrinsic complexity of the system, I take a systems approach, using economics as the foundation for the basic structure of an ecological economic model, and system dynamics as the method to build and analyze such a complex ecological economic model. Throughout my dissertation, the model developed by Brander and Taylor (1998) is adopted as a baseline model (henceforth the BT model). The BT model explains population-resource dynamics and is characterized as a general equilibrium version of the Gordon-Schaefer Model, using a variation of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. The findings are presented as three articles. The first article provides a comprehensive analysis of the BT model and its descendants, to elicit directions for further research, including population growth logic, substitutability, innovation, capital accumulation, property rights and institutional designs, and modeling approach. The second article extends the BT model to study the resilience of an EES reflecting three key issues in modeling such systems: 1) appropriate system boundary, 2) non-convexity of ecosystems, and 3) adaptation. The article discusses two types of thresholds: the ecological threshold, a threshold for an ecological system independent of economic systems, and the ecological economic threshold, a threshold for an EES. The latter is often different from the former and is highly dynamic and context dependent. The third article is another extension of the BT model to study the sustainability of an EES by implementing the suggestions made by the first article except for property rights and institutional designs. The main focus is on the impact of endogenous innovation regarding input substitutability on the system sustainability. The main finding is that improvement in the input substitutability, ceteris paribus, may not contribute to sustainable development despite its contribution to expanding the economy. However, it could be possible for susbstitutability improvements to contribute to sustainable development when combined with other specific types of technological progress.

The current environmental movement calls for a re-evaluation of many economic-ecologic relationships. The objective of this study is to identify industrial sectors and final demands most responsible for particular types of residual discharge and resource use. An economic-ecologic model was constructed for the Canadian economy from the Statistics Canada I-O as modified by Thomassin et al. (1992). This modified version with its 12 agricultural sectors and 16 food processing sectors is best suited for agricultural policy analysis. The model estimates national erosion, pesticide and fertilizer use as well as air and water pollutants, solid waste, and water use associated with specified economic activities. / Two different scenarios were analyzed. In the first, the impact on both the economy and the environment from changes in the final demand for agricultural and food commodities was simulated. Each commodity's final demand was increased by $1 million and its impact compared to the other simulated results. The ten commodities studied yielded similar economic impacts, while their environmental impacts differed considerably. Changes in the demand for wheat and oilseeds had the largest environmental impacts. / In the second scenario, the effects of a $1 million increase in each final demand category were compared. This scenario focussed on markets rather than products. The construction, exports and personal expenditures categories were the greatest generator of wastes and the largest user of free resources. The exports category yielded twice as much erosion than personal expenditures and twenty times more than the next highest value (construction).

No description available.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, 2017 / This research report conducts a critical examination of Ayo Akinfe’s Fuelling the Delta Fires by paying attention to the writer’s use of satire to highlight social problems such as corruption, deception and exploitation in Nigeria. The focus is on how Akinfe’s novel represents exploitation, waste, and excess that have become normative in a country on the brink of collapse. The work also seeks to identify and critique how Akinfe employs satire to interrogate the syndrome of the ‘big-man’ in Nigeria, showing how their actions contribute to social decay and violence. The research will also examine issues of ecology in the Niger Delta. Ecology has often been construed as a Western ideology that has little resonance within the framework of the African novel. However, this work, tries to show that as the scholarship on ecological humanities has evolved over the years, African alternatives which take account of the unique challenges of the continent have also being developed. Akinfe draws from these proposed models of ecology to focus attention on the ecological issues that are a direct outcome of the exploration of oil in the Niger Delta and by so doing, brings attention to the transgressions of government and multinational corporations who go to great lengths to extract oil in the region. Applying ecocritical examples suggested by scholars like Anthony Vital, Byron Caminero-Santangelo and others, the research report demonstrates how literature has been used as a medium to expose greed that facilitates ecological degradations and how the culture of consumerism affect the daily lives of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta. / XL2018

Lake St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, experiences severe ecological stress during dry periods largely as a result of diminishing freshwater supplies and conditions of hypersalinity. Possible intervention involves diverting the Mfolozi River to the St Lucia Lake system. However, due to high sediment loading, water from the Mfolozi river requires considerable filtration before a link can be established. A suggested option considered in this study is to restore the existing sugarcane farmlands on the Mfolozi Floodplain (~20 800 ha) to previous wetland conditions to reinstate a sediment removal function amongst other benefits. Proposed restoration will have a direct impact on the industries currently supported by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Mfolozi Floodplain (tourism, sugar, conservation). to understand a measure of such impacts, ecosystem services for both Lake St Lucia and the Mfolozi Floodplain were analysed (flood alleviation, water provision, water purification, sediment regulation, tourism, fisheries, vegetation for harvest, existence, cultural and research). Annual economic values for each ecosystem service were determined by means of valuation methods that included benefit transfer and replacement cost. Results showed a current annual minimum value of the Mfolozi Floodplain and Lake St Lucia as greater than R21 million and R1.1 billion respectively. Partial restoration of the floodplain (~6 000 ha) is expected to increase the sum of all ecosystem services values by approximately 26% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and by 23% for the St Lucia System. Full restoration (~20 800 ha) increases the total ecosystem services value by 88% and 50% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and St Lucia System respectively. Results showed that economic values for existence, fisheries, tourism and water provision increase by the greatest percentage for the St Lucia System under both restoration scenarios. Partial and full restoration of the floodplain will result in the greatest increases in economic value for the services existence, tourism, fisheries and the harvesting of vegetation on the Mfolozi Floodplain.

That natural resources (NRs) are important to those experiencing adversity, and, especially, vulnerability associated with HIV/AIDS, is well documented, particularly with respect to food and energy security. What is unclear is where HIV/AIDS ranks in terms of its significance in comparison to other household shocks, the role local ecological knowledge may (LEK) play in households' response to shock, a propos the types of coping strategies that are employed. Consequently, this research aims to bridge the knowledge gap between HIV/AIDS and the degree to which it is contributing to the expansion of NR commercialisation and to explore the unknowns surrounding the influence of LEK on people's choice of coping strategy. A two phase study was designed to provide quantitative rigour with qualitative depth. Phase one was an extensive, rapid survey of NR traders within urban and rural settings in five southern Africa countries. The principle objective was to profile the trade, the livelihoods of those involved and their reasons for entering the trade, to ultimately establish to what degree HIV/AIDS may have been a catalyst for this. Almost one third of the sample entered the trade in response to illness and/or death in their households, with 80% of deaths being of breadwinners. The findings illustrated considerable dependence on the sale of NRs; for almost 60% of the sample it was their household's only source of income. There was evidently increased blurring of the lines between rural and urban NR use with a greater diversity of products being traded in urban areas. Phase two involved in-depth interviews and work with a smaller sample at two sites selected based on the findings from the first phase. It incorporated three groups of households; non-trading, inexperienced trading and experienced trading households. Key areas of focus were household shocks, coping strategies employed in response to these and the role LEK may be playing in the choice of coping strategies. Within a two year period, 95% of households registered at least one shock, of which 80% recorded AIDS-related proxy shocks. Non-trading households were significantly worse-off in this regard, while in the case of non-AIDS proxy shocks, there was no such difference between groups. The most frequently employed coping strategy was the consumption and sale of NRs and was of particular importance when households were faced with AIDS proxy shocks. Trading households emerged as having superior levels of LEK in comparison to non-trading households, even for non-traded NRs, suggesting that prior LEK of NRs opened up opportunities to trade in NR as a coping strategy. Further inspection of the latter group however revealed that the portion of non-trading households who traded on a very ad hoc basis actually had comparable levels of LEK to the trading households. Despite the ad hoc trading households' vulnerable state and their disproportionately high level of AIDS proxy measures, they had at their disposal, sufficient LEK to unlock certain key coping strategies, namely the NR trade. In this sense there are apparent linkages between LEK, HIV/AIDS and the expansion of the commercialisation of NRs.